Exploring synesthesia — a gift or disability?

What some perceive as a gift, others might perceive as a disability.  This premise is explored in R.J. Anderson’s Ultraviolet, a novel exploring sixteen -year old Alison’s hidden synesthetic abilities. Synesthesia, for those who are unaware of this sensory difference, is heightened sensory ability. This means you might actually smell rotten cabbage when you hear the name Karl, the sound of a piano C chord might leave the impression of the color pink, certain numbers might give you the impression of color or imprint an image in your mind, and some sounds might cause incredible pain.

While these abilities might enhance a creative person’s art, they make Alison’s life a nightmare. Her mother thinks they’re weird and warns her to hide them from the rest of teachers and friends.  The impressions she gets as she grows older leave her unable to tell the difference between the reality of the world and the reality in her mind. Alison ends up medicated in a psychiatric institution when she believes she made a classmate disintegrate.

There is little hope for this heavily medicated teen until a mysterious scientist takes interest in her abilities. He helps her to see that this is “a well-documented neurological  phenomenon which is being studied by researchers around the world,” explains Anderson.  Alison discovers that her she is capable of a lot more than she could ever originally have imagined. She also learns that a group of synesthetes have had transmitters implanted in them so that they can travel the universe via computer transmittal through worm holes.  She uses this technology to try to find the friend she thought she destroyed.

Even as this novel offers science fiction elements, it questions our understanding of mental health issues and mental illness. Our mental health system might encourage medicating highly creative people to help them to better cope in this complex culture filled with rules about socially acceptable behavior at the cost of creativity.  The question arises about when, and if, medication is always the best solution. For instance, how do we balance medication benefits against the artistic or scientific gifts a person with different abilities might leave with the world?

There are no easy answers to these issues but Ultraviolet can open teens to discussions. Meanwhile, they might just like this ultra-sensory novel in which in which incredibly creative and talented teens take on scientists are medicated to help them maintain a “normal” experience of the world.