# Left-handed people and mental illnesses/other problems. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596 "2017-12-30T21:46:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596/81 "2018-01-05T21:09:35Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > So it seemed to me, but could it be that we were trying to use the lefty scissors just as we’d use right-handed, instead of reversing it somehow, because it was too late to learn or no one ever explained? Or is it that left-handed scissors in fact simply don’t cut, because lefties are so clumsy they’d hurt themselves. > > I didn’t like the fact that they were covered in that green plastic. It’s to distinguish them of course, but then give the righties their own plastic to deal with. > > To me, the most annoying school-related injustice was that every single desk in the school was the right-handed type. They couldn’t order a few left-handed desks? All I know is that the school-provided lefty scissors sucked and wouldn’t cut shit. Nothing wrong with the right-handed ones, so I just taught myself to use those. I have a small pair of shears at home now that will cut equally well using either hand, and I’ll hang on to those forever! ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596/82 "2018-01-05T22:46:02Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > There is one thing that is nearly always done left handed by men and right handed by women: > > Flush the toilet. Oh really:dubious::dubious: ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596/83 "2018-01-05T23:00:06Z")
Odd. Are there very many studies made on lefties? I am left handed mostly only in writing. Right handed writing for me is horrible but it seems as I age I become more ambidextrous. My mother had 2 lefties and 3 rightie children. I dont see a whole lot of similarities with my left handed brother. I wish someone would scan my brain and see what the hell is going on up there!:smack:😃 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596/84 "2018-01-05T23:00:43Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > Oh really:dubious::dubious: If it is _your_ toilet. And men never use it sitting. We stayed in something like 40 hotel rooms last summer, and the handles were on the left, on the right, on the left-front and, for a few, on the top. It is not an easy statement to back up. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596/85 "2018-01-06T08:14:10Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I don’t know when did you try it, but I’ve been sort’a practicing archery for 7 years and leftie bows have always been easily available. Also, for archery what counts is eye dominance, not hand (at least according to the professional instructors I’ve had; I figure they know better than the nice guy from the uni’s archery club). 3 or 4 years ago I suppose. There was only one bow shop here in town then and I think he had maybe one left hand bow. It might have been that i was looking into compounds. They may have had a few more in some sort of traditional type. After a few “should have a couple in a week or two” from the owner I just kinda gave up. I am very much left eye dominate as well. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596/86 "2018-01-06T14:19:18Z")
I think it’s normal to be right handed, and people who are left handed had something go different when they developed. So I’d guess they are over-represented at both ends of most spectra. And probably weighted towards the “something wrong” end. But I think it’s just an association, not a cause. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > So does mixed-handedness appear to be a genuine biological thing, or the result of weird forced socialization? I realize for kids it could be both, since neurological development and rapid brain growth is occurring that could very well embed environmentally-driven behaviors permanently into the brain. I consider myself ambidextrous. But in fact, my gross motor coordination and strength are a little better right-handed, and my fine motor control is better left handed. That being said, most tasks require at least some skill, and with all those tasks I am better with whichever hand I taught myself. I was not forced to use either hand. Except for writing. When my nursery school started to reach writing, they observed me reach for the pen with my left hand, so they encouraged me to use that one. A week later, I fell and broke my right hand. So all of my initial instruction in writing was left-handed. That being said, I broke my left arm in high school, so I learned to write with my right hand. At first it felt really weird, and it was hard for me to both think of things to write and actually write at the same time. But eventually I got the hang of it. My right handed writing isn’t as smooth as my left-handed writing, but it’s as good as a typical second-grader’s. > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > … > > Also, scissors? I know that if you buy expensive big-deal scissors they have a little tail on them, but my scissors are ordinary, and when I use scissors the most, for instance cutting out patterns, there is always part of the pattern that’s easier to cut if you come at it left-handed, and I do that using the same scissors. It has not caused a problem. (I’m probably doing it wrong, because my hands get really tired, either way.)… Scissors work better if you push the blades together when your thumb pushes. Most scissors are designed to do this for right-handed use. If the joint is tight enough, it doesn’t make much difference. (But if you use right-handed scissors exclusively with your left hand, you may eventually loosen the joint.) In kindergarten they offered me left-handed scissors, but they were old and loose and dull. The right-handed scissors were newer and better. So I decided to learn to cut right-handed. “Cutting with scissors” is a relatively low-learned-skill activity, so I can use either hand. And I’ve learned to “pull” rather than “push” when I use mediocre righty scissors with my left hand. (Because yes, some shapes are easier to get to with one hand than the other.) But it’s a nuisance to find left-handed scissors, and it’s easier to use scissors with the hand they were designed for. So I’m glad I choose to learn right-handed. Maybe I’ve spent too much time thinking about scissors… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-handed-people-and-mental-illnesses-other-problems/805596.md?page=4)