amicus
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2003
- Posts
- 14,812
I have a young friend I have known since she was a preteen, I have mentioned her before, genius level IQ, diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia at an early age and fighting it since I have known her. She has recently suffered a relapse and communicated that she was 'losing it', with hallucinations and voices and losing focus on the reality around her. She has, for years, been through the entire drug regimen and sought dietary relief, music and meditation, all curatives suggested by the best in the field. None of it has worked and she is about to accept her fate as having an incurable malady.
I think she does not.
Thus my post here is not specifically designed for the Author's Forum, rather as an afterthought as in trying to find a way to give her an avenue of hope, I discovered an abstract by a Dr. Locke, that is perhaps the most complete and concise overview of Objectivist philosophy and psychology I have ever read, thus I thought, for those of you who may have a sincere interest, to share it.
Many forms of mental aberrations, mental illness, can be genetic, inherited, some are physical defects in the brain or functions of the brain, but few will even approach the field from an 'objective' point of view, i.e., that of considering the brain/mind, a sophisticated instrument that cannot perform in a normative sense with invalid input.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
http://www.fireflysun.com/ObjectivistPerspectiveonPsychology.pdf
"...It is also thought that processes in early neurodevelopment are important, particularly prenatal processes. In adult life, particular importance has been placed upon the function (or malfunction) of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway in the brain. This theory, known as the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia largely resulted from the accidental finding that a drug group which blocks dopamine function, known as the phenothiazines, reduced psychotic symptoms. However, this theory is now thought to be overly simplistic as a complete explanation. These drugs have now been developed further and antipsychotic medication is commonly used as a first-line treatment. Although effective in many cases, these medications are not well tolerated by some patients due to significant side-effects. The positive symptoms are more responsive to medications; negative symptoms being less so..."
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/schiz.htm
DSM-IV & DSM-IV-TR:
Schizophrenia
"...Schizophrenia, a term introduced by Bleuler, names a persistent, often chronic and usually serious mental disorder affecting a variety of aspects of behavior, thinking, and emotion. Patients with delusions or hallucinations may be described as psychotic. Thinking may be disconnected and illogical. Peculiar behaviors may be associated with social withdrawal and disinterest..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
Diagnostic issues and controversies
"...It has been argued that the diagnostic approach to schizophrenia is flawed, as it relies on an assumption of a clear dividing line between what is considered to be mental illness (fulfilling the diagnostic criteria) and mental health (not fulfilling the criteria). Recently it has been argued, notably by psychiatrist Jim van Os and psychologist Richard Bentall, that this makes little sense, as studies have shown that many people have psychotic experiences[10][11] and have delusion-like ideas[12] without becoming distressed, disabled or diagnosable by the categorical system (potentially because they interpret their experiences in more positive ways, or hold more pragmatic and commonly accepted beliefs).
Of particular concern is that the decision as to whether a symptom is present is a subjective decision by the person making the diagnosis or relies on an incoherent definition (for example, see the entries on delusions and thought disorder for a discussion of this issue). More recently, it has been argued that psychotic symptoms are not a good basis for making a diagnosis of schizophrenia as "psychosis is the 'fever' of mental illness — a serious but nonspecific indicator".[13]
Perhaps because of these factors, studies examining the diagnosis of schizophrenia have typically shown relatively low or inconsistent levels of diagnostic reliability. Most famously, David Rosenhan's 1972 study, published as On being sane in insane places, demonstrated that the diagnosis of schizophrenia was (at least at the time) often subjective and unreliable. More recent studies have found agreement between any two psychiatrists when diagnosing schizophrenia tends to reach about 65% at best.[14] This, and the results of earlier studies of diagnostic reliability (which typically reported even lower levels of agreement) have led some critics to argue that the diagnosis of schizophrenia should be abandoned.[15]...'
(Partial quote, complete article at link)
Be kind in your comments, I may send her the link to the thread if it proves to be worthwhile...and....thank you...
(Edited to add, the Objectivist Psychology article is a PFD document and I was unable to copy and paste relevant portions. It is about a 27 page abstract, but well worth your time if you have an interest in such things, or wish to understand the posts of Amicus...)
amicus...
I think she does not.
Thus my post here is not specifically designed for the Author's Forum, rather as an afterthought as in trying to find a way to give her an avenue of hope, I discovered an abstract by a Dr. Locke, that is perhaps the most complete and concise overview of Objectivist philosophy and psychology I have ever read, thus I thought, for those of you who may have a sincere interest, to share it.
Many forms of mental aberrations, mental illness, can be genetic, inherited, some are physical defects in the brain or functions of the brain, but few will even approach the field from an 'objective' point of view, i.e., that of considering the brain/mind, a sophisticated instrument that cannot perform in a normative sense with invalid input.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
http://www.fireflysun.com/ObjectivistPerspectiveonPsychology.pdf
"...It is also thought that processes in early neurodevelopment are important, particularly prenatal processes. In adult life, particular importance has been placed upon the function (or malfunction) of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway in the brain. This theory, known as the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia largely resulted from the accidental finding that a drug group which blocks dopamine function, known as the phenothiazines, reduced psychotic symptoms. However, this theory is now thought to be overly simplistic as a complete explanation. These drugs have now been developed further and antipsychotic medication is commonly used as a first-line treatment. Although effective in many cases, these medications are not well tolerated by some patients due to significant side-effects. The positive symptoms are more responsive to medications; negative symptoms being less so..."
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/schiz.htm
DSM-IV & DSM-IV-TR:
Schizophrenia
"...Schizophrenia, a term introduced by Bleuler, names a persistent, often chronic and usually serious mental disorder affecting a variety of aspects of behavior, thinking, and emotion. Patients with delusions or hallucinations may be described as psychotic. Thinking may be disconnected and illogical. Peculiar behaviors may be associated with social withdrawal and disinterest..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
Diagnostic issues and controversies
"...It has been argued that the diagnostic approach to schizophrenia is flawed, as it relies on an assumption of a clear dividing line between what is considered to be mental illness (fulfilling the diagnostic criteria) and mental health (not fulfilling the criteria). Recently it has been argued, notably by psychiatrist Jim van Os and psychologist Richard Bentall, that this makes little sense, as studies have shown that many people have psychotic experiences[10][11] and have delusion-like ideas[12] without becoming distressed, disabled or diagnosable by the categorical system (potentially because they interpret their experiences in more positive ways, or hold more pragmatic and commonly accepted beliefs).
Of particular concern is that the decision as to whether a symptom is present is a subjective decision by the person making the diagnosis or relies on an incoherent definition (for example, see the entries on delusions and thought disorder for a discussion of this issue). More recently, it has been argued that psychotic symptoms are not a good basis for making a diagnosis of schizophrenia as "psychosis is the 'fever' of mental illness — a serious but nonspecific indicator".[13]
Perhaps because of these factors, studies examining the diagnosis of schizophrenia have typically shown relatively low or inconsistent levels of diagnostic reliability. Most famously, David Rosenhan's 1972 study, published as On being sane in insane places, demonstrated that the diagnosis of schizophrenia was (at least at the time) often subjective and unreliable. More recent studies have found agreement between any two psychiatrists when diagnosing schizophrenia tends to reach about 65% at best.[14] This, and the results of earlier studies of diagnostic reliability (which typically reported even lower levels of agreement) have led some critics to argue that the diagnosis of schizophrenia should be abandoned.[15]...'
(Partial quote, complete article at link)
Be kind in your comments, I may send her the link to the thread if it proves to be worthwhile...and....thank you...
(Edited to add, the Objectivist Psychology article is a PFD document and I was unable to copy and paste relevant portions. It is about a 27 page abstract, but well worth your time if you have an interest in such things, or wish to understand the posts of Amicus...)
amicus...
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