History Main / DisabilitySuperPower

* Near the end of ''Film/TheMatrix Revolutions'' [[spoiler: Neo is blinded by Bane, a human who has been taken over by Neo's rival Agent Smith. However he still manages to overpower and kill him due to his powers as [[TheChosenOne the One]]: he can see data and machinery as glowing yellow light. This appears to also include humans who have been possessed by programs]].

A realistic twist is to have the power to have {{Logical Weakness]]es. For example, Toph from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was born blind, but uses [[DishingOutDirt Earthbender]] [[ElementalPowers skills]] to [[MagicAIsMagicA feel vibrations through stone]]. This means she can't "see" things that aren't touching the ground and her "sight" is severely impaired if she's not touching solid earthen surfaces - she hates hates '''[[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes hates]]''' flying or boating, sand makes everything "blurry", etc. And in a world without Braille, she's illiterate. But if she's on an earthen surface, she can see all around her, even behind things.

A realistic twist is to have the power not ''quite'' make up for the disability. For example, Toph from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was born blind, but uses [[DishingOutDirt Earthbender]] [[ElementalPowers skills]] to [[MagicAIsMagicA feel vibrations through stone]]. This means she can't "see" things that aren't touching the ground and her "sight" is severely impaired if she's not touching solid earthen surfaces - she hates hates '''[[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes hates]]''' flying or boating, sand makes everything "blurry", etc. And in a world without Braille, she's illiterate. But if she's on an earthen surface, she can see all around her, even behind things.

* ''Film/RoboCop''. Most of his damaged body is replaced by cybernetics, even parts that didn't need to be removed.

** Lee's biggest compensation for his lack of the usual ninja abilities is that he trained himself to be [[SuperSpeed very, very fast]]. In his aforementioned defeat of Sasuke, Lee mocked him for relying on his [[EvilEye Sharingan]], saying that it didn't matter if his eyes could follow his movements, if his body was too slow to keep up.

->''"{{Daredevil}}'s 'power' is that he's not ''quite'' blind."''
--> -- '''CaptainAmerica''', [[http://mightygodking.com/index.php/i-dont-need-your-civil-war/ I Don't Need Your Civil War]]

* An old gardener who'd been blinded in the bombing of Nagasaki during World War II becomes a zombie-killing {{Zatoichi}} reference in ''WorldWarZ'', using precise study and memorization of the landscape and his hearing to track the zombies [[HellIsThatNoise by their moans]], and his gardening spade to kill them.

* LarryNiven's KnownSpace character Gilbert Gilgamesh Hamilton (Gil the Arm) develops a telekinetic replacement arm when his original is lost in an asteroid mining accident. It's very weak (barely able to lift a full shot glass in Earth gravity) and due to Gil's lack of imagination is restricted to the range of the original... however, he manages to keep it when the meat arm is finally [[{{Organlegging}} replaced]], it has its own sense of touch which can feel ''inside'' things (including people), and he can reach through a videophone screen in two ways -- to touch the electronics inside, or to touch the person on the other end of the call...

* Mental disorders are a frequent subject of supposed disability superpowers.
* Unipolar depression provides catastrophic thinking and pessimism. Which, in a culture that's all about "positivity" and "the law of attraction" and similar, might seem like the most horrible curse in the world. Except ''many'' unipolar depressives are actually ''more'' in touch with reality (at least, reality outside their self-concept and self-image) - many tend to be "news junkies" and aware of the world around them, possibly too much so, and while unipolar depression definitely makes one no fun to be around for a lot of people, there have been some studies that say that this "hyper-realistic" and "let me think of the worst that can happen" view is actually good for predicting likely problems and spotting places that more work needs to be done to prevent them, and it is also a very good BS radar. For example, having an untreated unipolar depressive looking over your financials (if, of course, the person is feeling well enough at the time) may well make you notice that you're going into deep debt or that "investment plan" you have deeply invested in is a {{Ponzi}}.
** Another benefit is that catastrophic thinking allows for a wide range of creativity in that direction. Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King... some of the absolute best writers of horror and apocalyptic fiction have been people who could look at the world and go "what would happen if TheLegionsOfHell arrived? What would happen if 90% of the population died?" as opposed to not even entertaining such concepts. One more, shared between unipolar and bipolar, is an increased sense of empathy. One reason depression ''sucks'' so much is that ''everything hurts.'' Having lived through that or living through that often makes people far, far more empathic toward the pain and suffering of others. (Of course, some just become selfish and think ItsAllAboutMe...)
* Persons with bipolar disorder (formerly manic-depressive disorder) have extended periods of supernormal energy and drive, followed by bouts of crashing depression. Some sufferers say that they would not want to be cured of the disorder if it meant losing their "up" periods. However, some sufferers of the disease find that the mania is so great [[BlessedWithSuck they still can't do anything with it.]] As painful bipolar disorder is, many successful patients state that, if given the choice, they would retain this [[BlessedWithSuck incurable]] [[CursedWithAwesome condition]]. On the other hand... Bipolar disorder has the highest suicide rate among mental disorders.
* Paranoia without psychotic features (e.g. the kind of paranoia found in paranoid personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder or with either infrequent stimulant doses or controlled use, ''not'' in paranoid schizophrenia or heavy, uncontrolled stimulant use) is actually life-saving and career-saving in some cultural and social and career environments (e.g. the PoliceState or similar heavily controlled societies, a "dog-eat-dog" environment relying heavily on survival of the fittest, [[DeadlyDecadentCourt somewhere where everyone or a large amount of the people involved are constantly scheming against the others]], TheWildWest). The reason is that people who are paranoid about ''real'' possibilities of betrayal and danger and intrigue, presenting personal destruction and potential violence will often act to protect themselves, ''particularly'' if they have weaknesses that they know could be exploited. Even the knowledge apparent from such preparations that a possible target has considered the possibility (e.g. the person always pours their own drinks or records all communications) is enough to scare away many weaker attempts at assassination (whether character or actual) and encourage smarter potential rivals to look for alliances or truces. Whereas a total non-paranoid would be naive to the danger or intrigue, and unless they had either near-supernatural luck or some other reason to be immune, would soon be seen as an easy target for those seeking to elevate themselves or get someone out of the way. The downside, though, is that some people treated with such suspicion will resent it and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil just attack the person rather than try to prove themselves]], which makes for possibly even more enemies, and also that there are some enemies who will take getting around the safeguards and the security to be a challenge and getting to the person even more satisfying than killing or ruining a naive/unarmed/unguarded or similar foe.
** Alternately, suffering from a disorder that makes it entirely impossible to entertain paranoid or doubtful thoughts at all, nor to tell or notice lies or ill intent (some autism spectrum disorders, some forms of developmental disabilities) is the reverse of this. It will make the person be seen as sweet, inspirational, caring, and positive. InspirationallyDisabled will often be invoked. Many people will go out of their way to look out for the individual, seeing them as naive. This darkens quite a bit though, as many people will be happy to see such an individual as childlike or having a low IQ even if neither are true (e.g. the person functions at an adult level, and their IQ and GAF scores have them in adult range, even if "low" adult range), they attract the WhiteKnight and crusaders and "carers" rather than true friends or lovers (even if they are and can be seen as capable of consent to a relationship). Others will take advantage of such individuals and use them for sex, money, or whatever else they can get, sometimes even enslaving them. The people who hate them will often do so even more viciously since for some bullies and others, being ignored or treated with kindness is seen as a form of escalation. And of course, if they WillNotTellALie or cannot use or spot subterfuge at all, they are dangerous to themselves and others in a PoliceState or similar situation.
* There are claims that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are linked with [[MadArtist artistry and creativity.]] However, actual findings are highly mixed; while studies have shown that people with such disorders are more likely to be in creative professions than the population at large, people with mental disorders are not, on the whole, overrepresented in such professions. More depressingly, while there are some links between psychosis and creativity, there is also evidence to suggest that the overrepresentation of people with these disorders in creative professions (or in the case of schizophrenia, art alone) is not the result of special genius but rather due to the far more depressing fact that these disorders can make holding down an ordinary 9-to-5 job significantly harder - creative professions often allow much greater flexibility in work hours than other jobs, mitigating some of the crippling effects these disorders can have at times. [[RealityEnsues Unemployment is significantly higher amongst people with these mental disorders than the population as a whole.]]
** It is true that historically, there have been a number of people with mental disorders who were artists or otherwise engaged in creative professions, just as there are today. However, not only were many of these people never diagnosed with said disorders (making many such after the fact diagnoses questionable), in many cases people who suffer from disorders, or those who support them, wishing to show that people with said disorders can be successful, will claim that some great dead person suffered from their disorder, despite the fact that they did not. [[WhatAnIdiot There are even some people who claim that Einstein was retarded.]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_Processing_Disorder Sensory Processing Disorder]]. Often, but not always, linked with autism. Ironically enough, the unusually high sensitivity to stimuli is the disability as well as the super power. (If you don't think sensitive hearing is a disability, try listening to music at a volume so loud that you feel like your eardrums are going to bleed. Then imagine getting the same effect from a high pitched cell phone ring tone, or a pair of headphones). Unfortunately, it also can produce exceptionally ''low'' sensitivity in other senses, and/or after the person becomes overloaded. On the other hand, you can get some "superpowers" from the lack of sensitivity side--for example, a high resistance to pain or cold, or a heightened sensitivity to cold and heat. Oh well, at least people can't sneak up on me! Note, however, that the diagnosis of this disorder is not yet accepted.
* Autism is another major source of claims of disability superpowers. Autistic people lack social prowess due to an inability to understand more subtle cues in conversation. For this reason, they find it hard to fit in with people and make friends, and [[TheWoobie are often targets for bullying]]. While they can be fooled in situations where the circumstances would make anyone else suspicious, they are also resistant to certain types of [[ILied emotional manipulation]], because [[TooDumbToFool their same inability to subconsciously detect subtle cues prevents a trickster from using them exploitively]].
** Savants are a particularly interesting case. Some people with severe mental disorders, including autism, show extreme skill or ability in a specific area. While tempting to describe these as DisabilitySuperpowers, the actual cause is far more depressing - EVERYONE has the ability to be a savant with sufficient practice, it is simply that in people with no other abilities, when they focus on a single skill and become extremely good at it, it becomes a defining trait, and very often their disabilities are the very reason they have so much time to practice what they do - they can't or won't do anything else.
* A major factor in many anxiety disorders is noticing details healthy people don't (or, more likely, ''paying attention'' to details healthy people ''can'' ignore). This has certain advantages in any field where attention to detail is important; aside from [[Series/{{Monk}} detectives]], accountants, health inspectors, military scouts, and the people who ensure the continuity of media can turn OCD or GAD into an asset. [[CatchPhrase And a curse.]]
* Color blind persons can see through certain sorts of camouflage, and indeed this ability is made use of in some tests for color blindness. [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_s5m9esR01Gs/Stkn0ean8PI/AAAAAAAADso/irdlDoxDXAI/s1600-h/Ishihara+57+or+35.jpg For example,]] this appears to be a 57 to normally sighted people, but a 35 to people with color vision defects - a normally sighted person can make out the 35 with difficulty, while someone who is color blind can make it out easily - but can't make out the 57 at all. Some militaries have taken advantage of this, as most camouflage is designed with the normally sighted in mind; of course, on the downside, they can also be more vulnerable to specific patterns and have difficulty noticing some things which are not camouflaged at all.
* It's been claimed for a long time that blind people's hearing becomes more acute to compensate for their lack of sight. [[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-can-some-blind-people-process There's now scientific evidence to back that theory,]] and it can frequently venture into what many people would consider super-hearing.
** Ben Underwood was rendered blind at age three due to retinal cancer, but learned to see by echolocation by making clicking sounds with his tongue. He was able to judge distances, ride a skateboard, play football, and could even tell the difference between metal, wood and glass just by the quality of the echo. He was even able to play ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' because the Mons all have distinct voice effects that let him differentiate between them. Other people have developed varying degrees of skill in echolocation, and most people have at least some proficiency in it - it is a learnable skill.
** [[http://seththedragon.deviantart.com/ Seth Cook]] has vision problems and is legally blind, but he still manages to make plenty of beautiful artwork with creative characters.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thurber James Thurber]] was accidentally shot in the eye by one of his brothers as a child and became almost completely blind as a result. This led to him developing a distinctive thick-lined drawing style so he could see what he was doing, making him as famous as a cartoonist as he was as a writer. It also obviously gave him a rather dark sense of humor.
* Some models of hearing aids from the 1990's had a defect that allowed them to pick up radio signals, and the user to listen to the radio inconspicuously wherever and whenever they wanted.
* [[TheHouseOfWindsor King George VI of Britain]] had a severe speech impediment (as depicted in the movie ''TheKingsSpeech''), so when giving speeches he had to speak very slowly and deliberately. Many thought this gave his speeches a very fitting regal dignity.
* Missing limbs can in some cases grant odd advantages due to not having excess mass, or lead people to practicing things that they would not otherwise learn how to do.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader Douglas Bader]], a Royal Air Force ace who shot down over twenty aircraft during WorldWarII, lost both his legs in a pre-war aerobatics accident. Despite originally being discharged on medical grounds, his disability may have actually helped him as a fighter pilot by making him more resistant to "black-outs", which occur whenever high g-forces cause blood to drain from the brain and into the legs. Since he didn't have any legs, it allowed him to pull off maneuvers that would have otherwise left him temporarily unconscious.
** [[WeCanRebuildHim We can build]] enhanced prosthetic legs nowadays, specializing them for running, aesthetic appeal, and height. The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ0iMulicgg social]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius#Dispute_over_prosthetics impact]] of this is slowly shifting parts of the technology world to the Disability Superpower point of view.
*** There were complaints about Oscar Pistorius's appearance at the Olympics, since his prostetic legs couldn't get fatigued, and all the stress went to the thigh instead. It was ruled his fake legs didn't give him an unfair advantage, but he did tend to do better later in races when everybody else was feeling pain and fatigue; the controversy opened debate over when such limbs would eclipse natural ones for running.
*** While motorized prosthetics seem like they could present obvious advantages, even non-motorized prosthetic limbs can grant some advantages - though they have their own drawbacks as well. While they tire out a different part of the body while being used, and some of them require less energy to maintain speed, on the downside they are inferior during acceleration and deceleration and are more difficult to maintain balance on.
** Being born without arms, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuMHSFPOzpc Jessica Cox]] can do almost anything with just her feet. She's got a black belt in Taekwondo, plays the piano and gives motivational speeches. Oh, and she's also the first and ''only'' licensed plane pilot who has no arms.
** A wrestler without legs can gain several rather large advantages - not only are they extremely light relative to their upper body muscle mass, which puts them up against people in lower weight categories than they would otherwise be part of (as wrestling opponents are determined by overall weight of the contender), but because wrestlers in general have all their limbs, people without certain limbs cannot be pinned in the same way, lacking the proper place to hold them by. Dustin Carter, a wrestler with no forearms and no lower legs, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvxc8S5ybS4 is an example.]]
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dempsey Tom Dempsey]] holds the NFL record for longest field goal (''63 yards''), despite being born with only half a right foot. ESPN science has shown multiple times that his kicking shoe, specially modified to fit him, did not give him an unfair advantage (and may have even been a ''disadvantage'', due to the smaller kicking surface potentially increasing inaccuracy). Oh, and did I mention that he set this record in ''1970'', and it still stands? (though it's been equaled thrice.)
* Some female to male transgender people, some intersex people, and some cisgender men who've had [[GroinAttack unfortunate accidents]] find lack of a biological penis the ''least'' problematic part of their life. The reason being that, without being too NSFW for the page, one can select the size, shape, and similar for partners or even for different times with the same partner, and the same for general appearance - one can ''choose'' to be bigger or more understated. They also don't [[TheLoinsSleepTonight go soft]] unless one gets a type that does on purpose for realism, and in most cases as long as they are properly cleaned, are the safest sex possible in that no actual body to body fluid transfer happens.
* Brazilian former soccer player Garrincha's right leg bent inwards, and his left leg was six centimeters shorter and bent outwards. That usually would not bode well for a soccer player, but it enabled Garrincha to dribble like no one's business. He was part of the Brazilian national football team from 1955 to 1966.
* People will allergies are [[http://www.novamov.com/video/sm09ahfo0yjw9 less likely]] to develop brain cancer, presumably because of their over-active immune system reacting early to mutated cells as well as possible mutagens.
** Speaking of allergies, there is some evidence that they're the result of the equivalent of Disability Superpower ''Kryptonite''. Our ancestors had to deal with all manner of parasites and grody hangers-on in their day-to-day lives that have long since been eliminated by hygiene and the like, but we still have immune systems that are primed and ready to keep them in check. So our immune systems get "bored", to oversimplify, and react to otherwise harmless things like pollen or peanuts. At least one proponent of this theory claims to have cured his own allergies by giving himself a controlled hookworm infection. There is some evidence to suggest that overly hygenic environments may be linked to this... but it is difficult to tell for certain.
* People with defective vestibular apparatus in their inner ears are immune to motion sickness. The connection between inner-ear sensory processing and motion-induced queasiness was first recognized by a seasick physician who realized that the only ones who ''hadn't'' become nauseous during a harrowing sea voyage were a party of five deaf-mutes.

* {{Webcomic/Schlock|Mercenary}} comes from a species which is, without the aid of eyes that grow on trees, blind. His own senses are VERY acute, once identifying a man's dietary habits just by smelling him.

* Erza (from ''Manga/FairyTail'') loses an eye to torture as a child. We never get to see the damage thankfully, since it scares her closest friend who just proved that, in spite of this flashback being ''before'' he [[BrainwashedAndCrazy lost it]], he was perfectly capable of murder. She gets a fake eye in its place which makes her completely immune to illusion magic and lessens the effects of another [[TakenForGranite spell that requires eye contact]].

* {{Vandread}}:A planet is encountered where the inhabitants use telepathy to exclusively communicate.This ability mysteriously developed after the villain faction of the series "harvested" the people's vocal cords. There is no explaination for why the muted folk didn't didn't develop something practical, like sign language. There is just the implication that it has to do with their strong spirituality that may have a connection to the other enigmas driving the story.

* ''SlyCooper 3'' has Bentley in a wheelchair (due to the results of SlyCooper 2). Being a genius, he tricks out the wheelchair quite well. He still has moments of envy, but apparently has settled with the fact he's in the chair. A rocket-assisted, explosive-armed, tranquiliser-dart-firing wheelchair.

* Paranoia without psychotic features (e.g. the kind of paranoia found in paranoid personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder or with either infrequent stimulant doses or controlled use, ''not'' in paranoid schizophrenia or heavy, uncontrolled stimulant use) is actually life-saving and career-saving in some cultural and social and career environments (e.g. the PoliceState or similar heavily controlled societies, a "dog-eat-dog" environment relying heavily on SurvivalOfTheFittest, [[DeadlyDecadentCourt somewhere where everyone or a large amount of the people involved are constantly scheming against the others]], TheWildWest). The reason is that people who are paranoid about ''real'' possibilities of betrayal and danger and intrigue, presenting personal destruction and potential violence will often act to protect themselves, ''particularly'' if they have weaknesses that they know could be exploited. Even the knowledge apparent from such preparations that a possible target has considered the possibility (e.g. the person always pours their own drinks or records all communications) is enough to scare away many weaker attempts at assassination (whether character or actual) and encourage smarter potential rivals to look for alliances or truces. Whereas a total non-paranoid would be naive to the danger or intrigue, and unless they had either near-supernatural luck or some other reason to be immune, would soon be seen as an easy target for those seeking to elevate themselves or get someone out of the way. The downside, though, is that some people treated with such suspicion will resent it and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil just attack the person rather than try to prove themselves]], which makes for possibly even more enemies, and also that there are some enemies who will take getting around the safeguards and the security to be a challenge and getting to the person even more satisfying than killing or ruining a naive/unarmed/unguarded or similar foe.

* Comically subverted in the "Blind Kung-Fu Master" {{sketch|Comedy}}es from ''MadTV''. The title character of the sketch is blind, but his years of martial arts training do ''absolutely nothing'' to compensate. HilarityEnsues.

** His henchman also notes that he's profoundly lucky, which may be why he's in the situation that he's in; whether that's referring to his inability to not die in the amazingly dangerous things he sets his mind to doing, or his ability to endear himself to practically everyone around him, is up for debate.

* Helen of ''Manga/HelenESP'' is blind, deaf, and mute but posses some amount of PsychicPowers, such as communicating telepathically with dogs.

* Astrid's little brother in ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' who is severely autistic.

* Some female to male transgendered people, some intersex people, and some cisgender men who've had [[GroinAttack unfortunate accidents]] find lack of a biological penis the ''least'' problematic part of their life. The reason being that, without being too NSFW for the page, one can select the size, shape, and similar for partners or even for different times with the same partner, and the same for general appearance - one can ''choose'' to be bigger or more understated. They also don't [[TheLoinsSleepTonight go soft]] unless one gets a type that does on purpose for realism, and in most cases as long as they are properly cleaned, are the safest sex possible in that no actual body to body fluid transfer happens.

** Two witches are described to have developed some combination of blindness or deafness due to old age but use their magic to compensate - one sees and hears through her animal companions, and another has trained her second sight to work in the present.
** However, in ''Discworld/SmallGods,'' the blind philosopher Didactylos says that the whole "blind people's other senses are superhuman" thing was made up by sighted people so they can feel better. [[HypocriticalHumor While deducing that Brutha is upset from the noise his clothes make...]]

* Some female to male transgendered people, some intersex people, and some cisgender men who've had [[GroinAttack unfortunate accidents]] find lack of a biological penis the ''least'' problematic part of their life. The reason being that, without being too NSFW for the page, one can select the size, shape, and similar for partners or even for different times with the same partner, and the same for general appearance - one can ''choose'' to be bigger or more understated. They also don't [[TheLoinsSleepTonight]] go soft, and in most cases as long as they are properly cleaned, are the safest sex possible in that no actual body to body fluid transfer happens.

* Some female to male transgendered people, some intersex people, and some cisgender men who've had [[GroinAttack unfortunate accidents]] find lack of a biological penis the ''least'' problematic part of their life. The reason being that, without being too NSFW for the page, one can select the size, shape, and similar for partners or even for different times with the same partner, and the same for general appearance - one can ''choose'' to be bigger or more understated. They also don't [[TheLoinsSleepTonight]] go soft, and in most cases as long as they are properly cleaned, are the safest sex possible in that no actual body to body fluid transfer happens.

** Unipolar depression provides catastrophic thinking and pessimism. Which, in a culture that's all about "positivity" and "the law of attraction" and similar, might seem like the most horrible curse in the world. Except ''many'' unipolar depressives are actually ''more'' in touch with reality (at least, reality outside their self-concept and self-image) - many tend to be "news junkies" and aware of the world around them, possibly too much so, and while unipolar depression definitely makes one no fun to be around for a lot of people, there have been some studies that say that this "hyper-realistic" and "let me think of the worst that can happen" view is actually good for predicting likely problems and spotting places that more work needs to be done to prevent them, and it is also a very good BS radar. For example, having an untreated unipolar depressive looking over your financials (if, of course, the person is feeling well enough at the time) may well make you notice that you're going into deep debt or that "investment plan" you have deeply invested in is a {{Ponzi}}.
*** Another benefit is that catastrophic thinking allows for a wide range of creativity in that direction. Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King... some of the absolute best writers of horror and apocalyptic fiction have been people who could look at the world and go "what would happen if TheLegionsOfHell arrived? What would happen if 90% of the population died?" as opposed to not even entertaining such concepts.
*** And yet one more, shared between unipolar and bipolar, is an increased sense of empathy. One reason depression ''sucks'' so much is that ''everything hurts.'' Having lived through that or living through that often makes people far, far more empathic toward the pain and suffering of others. (Of course, some just become selfish and think ItsAllAboutMe...)
** Persons with bipolar disorder (formerly manic-depressive disorder) have extended periods of supernormal energy and drive, followed by bouts of crashing depression. Some sufferers say that they would not want to be cured of the disorder if it meant losing their "up" periods. However, some sufferers of the disease find that the mania is so great [[BlessedWithSuck they still can't do anything with it.]] As painful bipolar disorder is, many successful patients state that, if given the choice, they would retain this [[BlessedWithSuck incurable]] [[CursedWithAwesome condition]]. On the other hand... Bipolar disorder has the highest suicide rate among mental disorders.
** Paranoia without psychotic features (e.g. the kind of paranoia found in paranoid personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, ''not'' in paranoid schizophrenia) is actually life-saving and career-saving in some cultural and social and career environments (e.g. the PoliceState or similar heavily controlled societies, a "dog-eat-dog" environment relying heavily on SurvivalOfTheFittest, [[DeadlyDecadentCourt somewhere where everyone or a large amount of the people involved are constantly scheming against the others]], TheWildWest). The reason is that people who are paranoid about ''real'' possibilities of betrayal and danger and intrigue, presenting personal destruction and potential violence will often act to protect themselves, ''particularly'' if they have weaknesses that they know could be exploited. Even the knowledge apparent from such preparations that a possible target has considered the possibility (e.g. the person always pours their own drinks or records all communications) is enough to scare away many weaker attempts at assassination (whether character or actual) and encourage smarter potential rivals to look for alliances or truces. Whereas a total non-paranoid would be naive to the danger or intrigue, and unless they had either near-supernatural luck or some other reason to be immune, would soon be seen as an easy target for those seeking to elevate themselves or get someone out of the way. The downside, though, is that some people treated with such suspicion will resent it and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil just attack the person rather than try to prove themselves]], which makes for possibly even more enemies, and also that there are some enemies who will take getting around the safeguards and the security to be a challenge and getting to the person even more satisfying than killing or ruining a naive/unarmed/unguarded or similar foe.
** There are claims that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are linked with [[MadArtist artistry and creativity.]] However, actual findings are highly mixed; while studies have shown that people with such disorders are more likely to be in creative professions than the population at large, people with mental disorders are not, on the whole, overrepresented in such professions. More depressingly, while there are some links between psychosis and creativity, there is also evidence to suggest that the overrepresentation of people with these disorders in creative professions (or in the case of schizophrenia, art alone) is not the result of special genius but rather due to the far more depressing fact that these disorders can make holding down an ordinary 9-to-5 job significantly harder - creative professions often allow much greater flexibility in work hours than other jobs, mitigating some of the crippling effects these disorders can have at times. [[RealityEnsues Unemployment is significantly higher amongst people with these mental disorders than the population as a whole.]]
*** It is true that historically, there have been a number of people with mental disorders who were artists or otherwise engaged in creative professions, just as there are today. However, not only were many of these people never diagnosed with said disorders (making many such after the fact diagnoses questionable), in many cases people who suffer from disorders, or those who support them, wishing to show that people with said disorders can be successful, will claim that some great dead person suffered from their disorder, despite the fact that they did not. [[WhatAnIdiot There are even some people who claim that Einstein was retarded.]]
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_Processing_Disorder Sensory Processing Disorder]]. Often, but not always, linked with autism. Ironically enough, the unusually high sensitivity to stimuli is the disability as well as the super power. (If you don't think sensitive hearing is a disability, try listening to music at a volume so loud that you feel like your eardrums are going to bleed. Then imagine getting the same effect from a high pitched cell phone ring tone, or a pair of headphones). Unfortunately, it also can produce exceptionally ''low'' sensitivity in other senses, and/or after the person becomes overloaded. On the other hand, you can get some "superpowers" from the lack of sensitivity side--for example, a high resistance to pain or cold, or a heightened sensitivity to cold and heat. Oh well, at least people can't sneak up on me! Note, however, that the diagnosis of this disorder is not yet accepted.
** Autism is another major source of claims of disability superpowers. Autistic people lack social prowess due to an inability to understand more subtle cues in conversation. For this reason, they find it hard to fit in with people and make friends, and [[TheWoobie are often targets for bullying]]. While they can be fooled in situations where the circumstances would make anyone else suspicious, they are also resistant to certain types of [[ILied emotional manipulation]], because [[TooDumbToFool their same inability to subconsciously detect subtle cues prevents a trickster from using them exploitively]].

** A major factor in many anxiety disorders is noticing details healthy people don't (or, more likely, ''paying attention'' to details healthy people ''can'' ignore). This has certain advantages in any field where attention to detail is important; aside from [[Series/{{Monk}} detectives]], accountants, health inspectors, military scouts, and the people who ensure the continuity of media can turn OCD or GAD into an asset. [[CatchPhrase And a curse.]]

** Paranoia without psychotic features (e.g. the kind of paranoia found in paranoid personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, ''not'' in paranoid schizophrenia) is actually life-saving and career-saving in some cultural and social and career environments (e.g. the PoliceState or similar heavily controlled societies, a "dog-eat-dog" environment relying heavily on SurvivalOfTheFittest, [[DeadlyDecadentCourt somewhere where everyone or a large amount of the people involved are constantly scheming against the others]], TheWildWest). The reason is that people who are paranoid about ''real'' possibilities of betrayal and danger and intrigue, presenting personal destruction and potential violence will often act to protect themselves, ''particularly'' if they have weaknesses that they know could be exploited. Even the knowledge apparent from such preparations that a possible target has considered the possibility (e.g. the person always pours their own drinks or records all communications) is enough to scare away many weaker attempts at assassination (whether character or actual) and encourage smarter potential rivals to look for alliances or truces. Whereas a total non-paranoid would be naive to the danger or intrigue, and unless they had either near-supernatural luck or some other reason to be immune, would soon be seen as an easy target for those seeking to elevate themselves or get someone out of the way.