Children these days still run away from home with their BFF, but they beat them up and shave them bald, to psych out their competition so they can desperately get attention from boys until they get pregnant. That is called, "having a life."
That's why Tallulah Bankhead was lewd and a bisexual sex monster in the 1930s, because that is how "bad" girls did it in great-Grandmama's day. The coke just cut the edge off.
Today, the lewd teens know about illegal drugs, drinking, oral sex, condoms, sextoys, flashing titties onlie, younow, Amanda Todd, and how to love themselves so they don't "steal" their BFF's BF, get beat up in front of their peers, drink bleach, etc. just cos they lost the love of their parents due to be lewd.
At least they weren,t as nude as Amanda got.
Even so, parents should stop judging their kids for being lewd and then deprive their children of love until they get addicted to the internet to get the attention they so desperately want from their MOMs and DADs until they flash their titties while getting nude and worse, like glowstick love. >:)
Otherwise they are going continue to commit suicide, just because parents cut them off from their love and attention, just for having a sex life. And governments are going to police the net until everyone is accused of being a pedobear, a stalker, and other thoughtcrime.
Just for not being aware that lewdness is a violation of internet etiquette and nudity means their well meaning friends exercise their bullying for the good of all.
Well, I accuse all of Amanda Todd's friends of creating the lewd monster she became. At least she was notorious. Y'all are just a bunch of successful sociopaths in training, but she failed to be one, thanks to your reverse psychology.
Now forget what I ranted about, and shut off your computer. You need to have a life because "there is no life on the net."
Karma is a bitch, but it cannot return Amanda. By hiding the truth from the world and letting the propaganda machine called Carol Todd carry on, you ex-friends of "dat bitch" Amanda 'glowsticks' Todd, you all shall lead interesting lives.
Even you RCMP, especially with your "we can't do anything for you until you get Amanda off the Internet for seven weeks" but nobody even addressing her Internet addiction thanks to lack of motherly love.
Let the expert propagandist Carol Todd talk, while you all try to restrict the Internet "to stop internet bullying" when the truth will set you free.
Now forget I wrote this and shut off your computer. Get out and have a life, because like me, if you read up to this point, you are a computer addict and say the first step clearly: Hello, my name is -Stephen- and I am an Internet Addict, my life is unmanageable and I am powerless over it.
Nobody has the right to be on the Internet for days. In due time it will cause mental illness, marital discord, divorce, and loneliness.
However, addicts will continue to abuse others on the Net until they have lost their access, their homes, and sometimes, their lives. Few people seek help. So I have provided it again and again even though it hurts every time.
Life has gotten interesting for all parties indeed.
Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts
20140821
Accidental Childhood Poisoning (satire)
When I was a little boy I had a nasty experience with fuel oil. This experience falls under the category of "accidental childhood poisoning."
My family was visiting friends, and I decided to check out the outside of the house. After spotting a hose attached to a big metal tank behind the house near the kitchen window, I thought, "Oh, there must be water at the other end of this hose."
To my surprise, as I sucked in less than a mouthful of fuel oil, I felt it burn my mouth — the oil probably also temporarily damaged my stomach and intestines. At least, it gave it a good cleansing from the inside out!
Within 48 hours of ingesting the fuel oil, my poo turned green for a day. The major traumatic experience was especially heightened while my mom was scolding me.
Of course, I was a stupid little boy who accidentally poisoned himself, but I survived the experience. It's great being really young, and having a body that is growing. It can shake off being poisoned by a mouthful of oil.
Do I worry about the risk of kidney and liver cancer due to exposure to a toxic petroleum product? No, I see no need to worry about cancer since the stress caused by worrying is much more dangerous on the short-term by causing forgetfulness, depression and mood changes.
Today, I don't even have nightmares about this experience which happened to me over 40 years ago.
Here is what I learned from this experience:
Never suck on a hose attached to a big tank near a house, thinking it contains water. That's not water; that's fuel oil.
A child's body can shake off a mild poisoning. However, there might be unforeseen psychological effects due to child neglect that will have to be worked out with your parents.
Even so, this is a case of accidental childhood poisoning and possible child neglect, for the reason why my family was visiting family friends was due to my father being invited to socialize over a couple bottles of beer.
Within Japanese culture, drink is important to loosen the tongue so that the drinker can relax and unwind while forming social bonds with friends. Unfortunately, most people who drink sometimes do not exercise moderation in their drinking by not setting a limit to how much they drink. At the time, my father was a social drinker and waited until he is sober before the return home.
Quite possibly, I was unsupervised by my parents and wandered off to encounter the childhood poisoning incident.
Whenever my family visited this family friend, I liked exploring their property which had a creek flowing through it, which used to have fish in it. Today, a part of the property was converted into Kiyo Park in Surrey, BC. The creek still flows through the property that became the park.
So I am thankful that I remember this experience today because childhood stupidity led to this near-poisoning.
Instead I take responsibility for that wrong action of mistaking fuel oil for water because it makes it easier to take my parents off the hook and then take myself off the hook. The incident is so old that my mind has buried it deep, having resolved it decades ago.
This incident stays in the pot of my traumatic life experiences because it is so old only I remember it. My father has passed away so he is absolved of his part in the incident, and my mother is 85 and does not need to be reminded.
References:
Overview of petroleum product poisoning: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/toxicology/petroleum_product_poisoning/overview_of_petroleum_product_poisoning.html
Cancer due to petroleum product: http://www.ag.ny.gov/environmental/oil-spill/what-are-health-effects-exposure-petroleum-products
Stress and its effects: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050
Japanese drinking culture: http://www.savoryjapan.com/learn/culture/drinking.etiquette.html
My family was visiting friends, and I decided to check out the outside of the house. After spotting a hose attached to a big metal tank behind the house near the kitchen window, I thought, "Oh, there must be water at the other end of this hose."
To my surprise, as I sucked in less than a mouthful of fuel oil, I felt it burn my mouth — the oil probably also temporarily damaged my stomach and intestines. At least, it gave it a good cleansing from the inside out!
Within 48 hours of ingesting the fuel oil, my poo turned green for a day. The major traumatic experience was especially heightened while my mom was scolding me.
Of course, I was a stupid little boy who accidentally poisoned himself, but I survived the experience. It's great being really young, and having a body that is growing. It can shake off being poisoned by a mouthful of oil.
Do I worry about the risk of kidney and liver cancer due to exposure to a toxic petroleum product? No, I see no need to worry about cancer since the stress caused by worrying is much more dangerous on the short-term by causing forgetfulness, depression and mood changes.
Today, I don't even have nightmares about this experience which happened to me over 40 years ago.
Here is what I learned from this experience:
Never suck on a hose attached to a big tank near a house, thinking it contains water. That's not water; that's fuel oil.
A child's body can shake off a mild poisoning. However, there might be unforeseen psychological effects due to child neglect that will have to be worked out with your parents.
Even so, this is a case of accidental childhood poisoning and possible child neglect, for the reason why my family was visiting family friends was due to my father being invited to socialize over a couple bottles of beer.
Within Japanese culture, drink is important to loosen the tongue so that the drinker can relax and unwind while forming social bonds with friends. Unfortunately, most people who drink sometimes do not exercise moderation in their drinking by not setting a limit to how much they drink. At the time, my father was a social drinker and waited until he is sober before the return home.
Quite possibly, I was unsupervised by my parents and wandered off to encounter the childhood poisoning incident.
Whenever my family visited this family friend, I liked exploring their property which had a creek flowing through it, which used to have fish in it. Today, a part of the property was converted into Kiyo Park in Surrey, BC. The creek still flows through the property that became the park.
So I am thankful that I remember this experience today because childhood stupidity led to this near-poisoning.
Instead I take responsibility for that wrong action of mistaking fuel oil for water because it makes it easier to take my parents off the hook and then take myself off the hook. The incident is so old that my mind has buried it deep, having resolved it decades ago.
This incident stays in the pot of my traumatic life experiences because it is so old only I remember it. My father has passed away so he is absolved of his part in the incident, and my mother is 85 and does not need to be reminded.
References:
Overview of petroleum product poisoning: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/toxicology/petroleum_product_poisoning/overview_of_petroleum_product_poisoning.html
Cancer due to petroleum product: http://www.ag.ny.gov/environmental/oil-spill/what-are-health-effects-exposure-petroleum-products
Stress and its effects: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050
Japanese drinking culture: http://www.savoryjapan.com/learn/culture/drinking.etiquette.html
20140330
The Cult of the Individual: Man-god or Merely Human? (satire)
Selfish as in self-cherishing, the devotee to the cult of individualism would deny she is in a cult. For the ego, when it is in control of your life, will tell you lies to endure its hold over you.
At its root, selfishness is like death: when the world revolves around you, the easier it is to wander through life, impatient with the concerned religionist, flouting your atheism as if it made you better than a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Satanist, a Hindu, or even a Buddhist.
However, the move from religion to psychology and philosophy of Buddhism ensures our life.
Whether we like it or not, a spiritual friend will come for us, either to set us strait or to help us come to understand that the self that wants attention on its merit is solely the root of suffering and sorrow. As such, narcissism is sure to lead the unwary to self-made hell.
It makes this old fool wonder why people would think they are free when they practice no religion. How free are they really when the self tells them: "Oh, it's another religionist! Let's mock him?"
How utterly vain, and foolish are the selfish!
Were they even a bit wise, they'd work in the soup kitchens and help pass out food and clothes to the homeless — I've yet to hear of that, when atheists care about their fellow man enough to dole out food and clothing for those in need.
I do not know if this is because atheists are modest or if they truly care about the rest of humanity. Hopefully, it is the former because the latter sometimes seems to be so far away when the atheists mock religionists of every faith, be it a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Satanist, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or any other organized religion.
For this cult of the individual is surely not a good thing in this post-modern world. Its practitioners often preach entitlement and enable children to carry on the same selfish ideals of their parents. If you dare to confront them with the Truth, then they distort it into a parody of all that is true.
In response I quote Pontius Pilate, "What is Truth?"
Originally posted: February 12, 2013 6:37 AM
At its root, selfishness is like death: when the world revolves around you, the easier it is to wander through life, impatient with the concerned religionist, flouting your atheism as if it made you better than a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Satanist, a Hindu, or even a Buddhist.
However, the move from religion to psychology and philosophy of Buddhism ensures our life.
Whether we like it or not, a spiritual friend will come for us, either to set us strait or to help us come to understand that the self that wants attention on its merit is solely the root of suffering and sorrow. As such, narcissism is sure to lead the unwary to self-made hell.
It makes this old fool wonder why people would think they are free when they practice no religion. How free are they really when the self tells them: "Oh, it's another religionist! Let's mock him?"
How utterly vain, and foolish are the selfish!
Were they even a bit wise, they'd work in the soup kitchens and help pass out food and clothes to the homeless — I've yet to hear of that, when atheists care about their fellow man enough to dole out food and clothing for those in need.
I do not know if this is because atheists are modest or if they truly care about the rest of humanity. Hopefully, it is the former because the latter sometimes seems to be so far away when the atheists mock religionists of every faith, be it a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Satanist, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or any other organized religion.
For this cult of the individual is surely not a good thing in this post-modern world. Its practitioners often preach entitlement and enable children to carry on the same selfish ideals of their parents. If you dare to confront them with the Truth, then they distort it into a parody of all that is true.
In response I quote Pontius Pilate, "What is Truth?"
Originally posted: February 12, 2013 6:37 AM
20140128
R.D. Laing and Psychosis (satire)
Laing's view on psychosis:
"Laing argued that the strange behavior and seemingly confused speech of people undergoing a psychotic episode were ultimately understandable as an attempt to communicate worries and concerns, often in situations where this was not possible or not permitted. Laing stressed the role of society, and particularly the family, in the development of madness. He argued that individuals can often be put in impossible situations, where they are unable to conform to the conflicting expectations of their peers, leading to a 'lose-lose situation' and immense mental distress for the individuals concerned. Madness was therefore an expression of this distress, and should be valued as a cathartic and transformative experience."
Fear arises and evolves into anxiety regarding a threat against the psychotic. Often psychosis begins with fears, leading to anxiety which then leads to insomnia that morphs into hypomania. When insomnia leads to mania, that often occurs due to inadequate rest, both of the body and of the mind.
Indeed, it is anxiety and possible repressed anger that precipitates insomnia which might escalate into hypomania and evolve further into psychosis. However, this is not always the case since the experienced mental health consumer learns the importance of sleep hygiene.
My counter argument to Laing is that psychosis is a resolution of the classic double-bind in a manner that is sometimes incomprehensible to society, due to conflicting desires and expectations on each of us.
In most cases, psychosis is non-violent and harmless.
Rather, it is the ignorance and fear of all involved parties including the mental health consumers and her concerned family members, friends and lovers which contributes to any co-morbidity of violence, be it harm to others or self-harm.
When psychotics do habituate towards violence due to what is dismissed as abnormal fear, that violence has been learned either from within the family environment originally or due to social interactions with the public and privately with care workers. Once learned, violence may become a co-morbid behavior associated with the psychiatric disorder of which psychosis is a symptom.
Thus it is imperative that an anxiolytic agent or physical action occurs to relive the anxiety so that any remaining fear motivates the mental health consumer in a positive and non-violent manner. This may consist of a tranquilizer or a non-violent action that relieves the anxiety.
Then the "best cure" for the psychotic is self-talk that counteracts negative self-talk, i.e. positive affirmations which calm her down, and thus removing the fear and the anxiety that it sometimes causes.
If a concerned family member or friend truly wishes to help a psychotic, then it is best to either believe in her even when her confused state of mind gives reason to fear for her grasp on reality, and to graciously remove oneself from the situation when one feels threatened.
In order to have rapport with the psychotic it is best to calmly facilitate positive non-violent confrontation, even to the point of supporting their belief in their limited world-view as delusion, with the intent of gaining compliance.
Direct confrontation with the psychotic is not often recommended since the subsequent anxiety due to negative adaptation during the resolution of the double-bind will only lead to reinforcement of the very delusion the care-giver is trying to "cure." Indeed, it is not helpful to cure the delusion of the mental health consumer while maintaining her psychosis.
Indeed, the wise care-giver should never patronize or belittle the psychotic lest it threaten their limited worldview. Instead, it is best to wait out the psychosis after treating it with a sedative when calm, non-threatening discussion with the mental health consumer fail to resolve the crisis.
Time is a better medication for most acute displays of psychosis which have little or no violent aspects.
In the case of serious (chronic) psychosis, it may be necessary to commit the psychotic to a psychiatric ward and for the use of the appropriate medication (usually atypical anti-psychotics such as seroquel or Abilify.
However, sedation resulting from anti-psychotic use may result in weight gain and its associated effect on the cardiovascular system.
Consequently, a weight-maintenance program may be useful as directed by a medical professional.
When the mental health consumer has stabilized mentally, it is necessary to provide mental health education including the use of coping strategies which relieve anxiety due to stress. Mental health professionals who omit such education by psychologists and psychotherapists merely set the stage for possible future relapse.
Indeed, psychiatric professionals and their support staff are still required to provide the minimum of self-care training of patients in their care. While sedatives might reduce symptoms of the mental health consumer, medication itself is not therapy.
In my opinion, on-line self therapy usually consists of a careful research and practice of coping strategies to reduce the impact that stress has upon the consumer.
Regarding the discussion of medication by my fellow mental health consumers, only the experienced consumer supplies correct information regarding psychotropic drugs. When a consumer's reaction to a drug appears to be clouded by their feelings about it, I usually consider it anecdotal and a possible emotional reaction rather than a physiological one.
Due to the density of emotional reaction to a particular medication, it is impossible to determine the physiological response to the drug. Therefore I tend not to value anecdotes on how the drug makes the consumer feel. Rather, it becomes more interesting to sift through the consumer anecdotes to find the rare anecdote that displays the physiological response.
I suppose this is why I would rather read the abstract about a medical trial than read discussion of medications on a mental health consumers forum. My impression of such candid on-line discussions is that most psychotropic drugs make people with a mental illness feel like crap because their mental health is compromised by seeing the glass half-empty.
Since they expect medication to dull their senses and otherwise impair their positive appreciation of life, it is no wonder that their impression of medication paints a negative picture of psychotropic medication.
Even so, I am touched by the emotional responses to medication because most mental health consumers would rather be treated as human beings. That is why the medications make them feel like crap: not one medication offers psychotherapy.
In the case of the psychotic mental health consumer, their mental health crisis requires treatment lest their psychoses threaten their safety or the safety of other people, both patients and care-givers.
I merely question the over-prescription of medication and especially the idea that a mental illness requires the long-term use of medications.
Thus it makes better sense to accept the psychotic's delusion as real until the psychotic explains her reason for creating it to not deal with the world realistically. Until then, it makes no sense to sedate the psychotic since most psychoses are harmless and resolve themselves on their own over time.
While I am not suggesting that Seroquel and Abilify are useless, I am adamant that the rights of mental health consumers be protected by informed consent when not psychotic, while obligations by mental health professionals be honored by providing psychotics with fast-acting sedatives which are not habit-forming.
Even if such a drug protocol meant the use of sedatives such as mirtazapine, then the doctor should not reject them because they are reserved for depression. Instead, the drugs used should be based on the criteria of least harm to the consumer.
As for therapy, the risk of burnout from stress has put off most psychology students from deciding to become psychotherapists. I am sure that a part of the reasoning behind this aversion to become a psychotherapist might have to do with the fear of people with mental illness and associate stigma associated with mental illness. It is rare that a psychology graduate is able to empathize with a psychiatric patient because he is apparently more mentally healthy than the patient.
However, on the average, there is actually no difference between a psychology graduate and the patient, except in degree of mental health. A dedicated psychotherapist is in service of the client seeking therapy. Any professional relationship between the client and the therapist is threatened by any overt superiority by either of them.
Thus there is need to emphasize that throughout the post-secondary education of a psychotherapist, the therapist is not the master of the client. Rather, the professional relationship between them implies equality. Without such humility, neither the patient not the therapist will benefit greatly from their relationship.
With regard to R.D. Laing and psychosis, it is important to emphasize that professional service by therapists and psychiatrists to all their patients requires that their clients understand the importance of the professional relationship that underlies therapy. This in no way is a personal relationship.
While the client may think she is under no obligation to behave professionally with her therapist or psychiatrist, it might be useful to consider this: would she think it is appropriate to expect her butcher to be at her beck and call?
Thus, it is important for mental health consumers to understand that the client is obliged to treat the therapist or psychiatrist with the respect she reserved for her favorite teacher in school, be it public or post-secondary.
I myself am thankful to my psychotherapist who provided me with welcome advice when he told me that I would never report to the Emergency ward of the local hospital if I was undergoing a psychosis. I take this to be advice that my mental health is determined by appropriate sleep hygiene and its positive effect of reducing insomnia.
To conclude this blog post I present a quote from psychiatrist Adolf Meyer to temper our reliance on medication to treat mental illness:
"Those who imagine that all psychiatry and psychopathology and therapy have to resolve themselves into a smattering of claims and hypotheses of psychoanalysis and that they stand or fall with one's feelings about psychoanalysis, are equally misguided".
Originally posted: May 5, 2005 6:03 PM PDT
References:
Adolf Meyer, psychiatrist - legacy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Meyer_%28psychiatrist%29#Legacy
"Laing argued that the strange behavior and seemingly confused speech of people undergoing a psychotic episode were ultimately understandable as an attempt to communicate worries and concerns, often in situations where this was not possible or not permitted. Laing stressed the role of society, and particularly the family, in the development of madness. He argued that individuals can often be put in impossible situations, where they are unable to conform to the conflicting expectations of their peers, leading to a 'lose-lose situation' and immense mental distress for the individuals concerned. Madness was therefore an expression of this distress, and should be valued as a cathartic and transformative experience."
Fear arises and evolves into anxiety regarding a threat against the psychotic. Often psychosis begins with fears, leading to anxiety which then leads to insomnia that morphs into hypomania. When insomnia leads to mania, that often occurs due to inadequate rest, both of the body and of the mind.
Indeed, it is anxiety and possible repressed anger that precipitates insomnia which might escalate into hypomania and evolve further into psychosis. However, this is not always the case since the experienced mental health consumer learns the importance of sleep hygiene.
My counter argument to Laing is that psychosis is a resolution of the classic double-bind in a manner that is sometimes incomprehensible to society, due to conflicting desires and expectations on each of us.
In most cases, psychosis is non-violent and harmless.
Rather, it is the ignorance and fear of all involved parties including the mental health consumers and her concerned family members, friends and lovers which contributes to any co-morbidity of violence, be it harm to others or self-harm.
When psychotics do habituate towards violence due to what is dismissed as abnormal fear, that violence has been learned either from within the family environment originally or due to social interactions with the public and privately with care workers. Once learned, violence may become a co-morbid behavior associated with the psychiatric disorder of which psychosis is a symptom.
Thus it is imperative that an anxiolytic agent or physical action occurs to relive the anxiety so that any remaining fear motivates the mental health consumer in a positive and non-violent manner. This may consist of a tranquilizer or a non-violent action that relieves the anxiety.
Then the "best cure" for the psychotic is self-talk that counteracts negative self-talk, i.e. positive affirmations which calm her down, and thus removing the fear and the anxiety that it sometimes causes.
If a concerned family member or friend truly wishes to help a psychotic, then it is best to either believe in her even when her confused state of mind gives reason to fear for her grasp on reality, and to graciously remove oneself from the situation when one feels threatened.
In order to have rapport with the psychotic it is best to calmly facilitate positive non-violent confrontation, even to the point of supporting their belief in their limited world-view as delusion, with the intent of gaining compliance.
Direct confrontation with the psychotic is not often recommended since the subsequent anxiety due to negative adaptation during the resolution of the double-bind will only lead to reinforcement of the very delusion the care-giver is trying to "cure." Indeed, it is not helpful to cure the delusion of the mental health consumer while maintaining her psychosis.
Indeed, the wise care-giver should never patronize or belittle the psychotic lest it threaten their limited worldview. Instead, it is best to wait out the psychosis after treating it with a sedative when calm, non-threatening discussion with the mental health consumer fail to resolve the crisis.
Time is a better medication for most acute displays of psychosis which have little or no violent aspects.
In the case of serious (chronic) psychosis, it may be necessary to commit the psychotic to a psychiatric ward and for the use of the appropriate medication (usually atypical anti-psychotics such as seroquel or Abilify.
However, sedation resulting from anti-psychotic use may result in weight gain and its associated effect on the cardiovascular system.
Consequently, a weight-maintenance program may be useful as directed by a medical professional.
When the mental health consumer has stabilized mentally, it is necessary to provide mental health education including the use of coping strategies which relieve anxiety due to stress. Mental health professionals who omit such education by psychologists and psychotherapists merely set the stage for possible future relapse.
Indeed, psychiatric professionals and their support staff are still required to provide the minimum of self-care training of patients in their care. While sedatives might reduce symptoms of the mental health consumer, medication itself is not therapy.
In my opinion, on-line self therapy usually consists of a careful research and practice of coping strategies to reduce the impact that stress has upon the consumer.
Regarding the discussion of medication by my fellow mental health consumers, only the experienced consumer supplies correct information regarding psychotropic drugs. When a consumer's reaction to a drug appears to be clouded by their feelings about it, I usually consider it anecdotal and a possible emotional reaction rather than a physiological one.
Due to the density of emotional reaction to a particular medication, it is impossible to determine the physiological response to the drug. Therefore I tend not to value anecdotes on how the drug makes the consumer feel. Rather, it becomes more interesting to sift through the consumer anecdotes to find the rare anecdote that displays the physiological response.
I suppose this is why I would rather read the abstract about a medical trial than read discussion of medications on a mental health consumers forum. My impression of such candid on-line discussions is that most psychotropic drugs make people with a mental illness feel like crap because their mental health is compromised by seeing the glass half-empty.
Since they expect medication to dull their senses and otherwise impair their positive appreciation of life, it is no wonder that their impression of medication paints a negative picture of psychotropic medication.
Even so, I am touched by the emotional responses to medication because most mental health consumers would rather be treated as human beings. That is why the medications make them feel like crap: not one medication offers psychotherapy.
In the case of the psychotic mental health consumer, their mental health crisis requires treatment lest their psychoses threaten their safety or the safety of other people, both patients and care-givers.
I merely question the over-prescription of medication and especially the idea that a mental illness requires the long-term use of medications.
Thus it makes better sense to accept the psychotic's delusion as real until the psychotic explains her reason for creating it to not deal with the world realistically. Until then, it makes no sense to sedate the psychotic since most psychoses are harmless and resolve themselves on their own over time.
While I am not suggesting that Seroquel and Abilify are useless, I am adamant that the rights of mental health consumers be protected by informed consent when not psychotic, while obligations by mental health professionals be honored by providing psychotics with fast-acting sedatives which are not habit-forming.
Even if such a drug protocol meant the use of sedatives such as mirtazapine, then the doctor should not reject them because they are reserved for depression. Instead, the drugs used should be based on the criteria of least harm to the consumer.
As for therapy, the risk of burnout from stress has put off most psychology students from deciding to become psychotherapists. I am sure that a part of the reasoning behind this aversion to become a psychotherapist might have to do with the fear of people with mental illness and associate stigma associated with mental illness. It is rare that a psychology graduate is able to empathize with a psychiatric patient because he is apparently more mentally healthy than the patient.
However, on the average, there is actually no difference between a psychology graduate and the patient, except in degree of mental health. A dedicated psychotherapist is in service of the client seeking therapy. Any professional relationship between the client and the therapist is threatened by any overt superiority by either of them.
Thus there is need to emphasize that throughout the post-secondary education of a psychotherapist, the therapist is not the master of the client. Rather, the professional relationship between them implies equality. Without such humility, neither the patient not the therapist will benefit greatly from their relationship.
With regard to R.D. Laing and psychosis, it is important to emphasize that professional service by therapists and psychiatrists to all their patients requires that their clients understand the importance of the professional relationship that underlies therapy. This in no way is a personal relationship.
While the client may think she is under no obligation to behave professionally with her therapist or psychiatrist, it might be useful to consider this: would she think it is appropriate to expect her butcher to be at her beck and call?
Thus, it is important for mental health consumers to understand that the client is obliged to treat the therapist or psychiatrist with the respect she reserved for her favorite teacher in school, be it public or post-secondary.
I myself am thankful to my psychotherapist who provided me with welcome advice when he told me that I would never report to the Emergency ward of the local hospital if I was undergoing a psychosis. I take this to be advice that my mental health is determined by appropriate sleep hygiene and its positive effect of reducing insomnia.
To conclude this blog post I present a quote from psychiatrist Adolf Meyer to temper our reliance on medication to treat mental illness:
"Those who imagine that all psychiatry and psychopathology and therapy have to resolve themselves into a smattering of claims and hypotheses of psychoanalysis and that they stand or fall with one's feelings about psychoanalysis, are equally misguided".
Originally posted: May 5, 2005 6:03 PM PDT
References:
Adolf Meyer, psychiatrist - legacy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Meyer_%28psychiatrist%29#Legacy
20130623
Neuroses Means Eccentricities
Neuroses are normative. Anyone who declares otherwise ignores the fact that neuroses have been excluded from DSM-IV since they usually don't prevent a person from having a life most of the time.
Severe neuroses are a different topic, and therapy should start earlier during the acute phase i.e. when stress originally brings on anxiety, rather than later when a phobia has developed.
Anxiety is the acute phase, and phobias are a part of the chronic form of neuroses. While there are other forms of neuroses, it's these two ones that form one of many parts of various mental disorders.
Of course, I may be mistaken, but neuroses are mostly harmless when nipped in the bud.
YMMV
Severe neuroses are a different topic, and therapy should start earlier during the acute phase i.e. when stress originally brings on anxiety, rather than later when a phobia has developed.
Anxiety is the acute phase, and phobias are a part of the chronic form of neuroses. While there are other forms of neuroses, it's these two ones that form one of many parts of various mental disorders.
Of course, I may be mistaken, but neuroses are mostly harmless when nipped in the bud.
YMMV
20130112
Overmedication in Psychwards: Its Cure
A hospital psychward demands order.
That's why they're medicated.
Most psychiatric professionals are not in the business of administering therapy in such a setting because working in such a setting only makes them chump change.
Besides most of them know that psychoanalysis usually does not "cure" a patient but merely ensures that he'll be back for more of the same.
Medicating patients in a psychward is more efficient use of resources, and often more humane than the mental hospitals of the past.
Sadly though, the reason why most patients are in a psychward is because nobody actually listens to them and takes care of their needs at home.
Sometimes, a psychward actually has caring professionals to give the minimum of care.
That is because it is difficult to inculcate a caring and compassionate attitude in the profession.
You either have it or you burn out.
For the whole purpose of medication is to avoid burn out, because even a caring professional will be overwhelmed by the horror stories some of the mentally ill have to tell.
If it weren't for the fact that most parents haven't gotten their shit together and take out their unresolved issues on their children, the world would have less rates of mental illness than they currently!
20 percent of people == 1.3 billion worldwide who have a mental illness, which in itself is evidence of child abuse and neglect in their immediate families.
When we learn how to effectively address the risks which lead to abuse and neglect, that'll be when the rates go down.
However, it is the stress of a fast-paced society that breeds mental illness due to ineffective coping skills.
That may be because public education is a fast-paced stream of academics lacking even the basics of teaching kids how to handle stress.
However, I'll bet you teaching them the basics of meditation can and will help to reduce transforming benign schizotypies into mental illness.
And I'll be you too that in nations where the people are obligated to spend five years of Buddhist training (become monks and nuns) before being allowed to become householders probably have lower rates of mental illness than secular nations that manufacture consumers who are first and foremost obligated to become productive members of a fast-paced society, often without giving them a wide range of coping skills to deal with stress.
That's why they're medicated.
Most psychiatric professionals are not in the business of administering therapy in such a setting because working in such a setting only makes them chump change.
Besides most of them know that psychoanalysis usually does not "cure" a patient but merely ensures that he'll be back for more of the same.
Medicating patients in a psychward is more efficient use of resources, and often more humane than the mental hospitals of the past.
Sadly though, the reason why most patients are in a psychward is because nobody actually listens to them and takes care of their needs at home.
Sometimes, a psychward actually has caring professionals to give the minimum of care.
That is because it is difficult to inculcate a caring and compassionate attitude in the profession.
You either have it or you burn out.
For the whole purpose of medication is to avoid burn out, because even a caring professional will be overwhelmed by the horror stories some of the mentally ill have to tell.
If it weren't for the fact that most parents haven't gotten their shit together and take out their unresolved issues on their children, the world would have less rates of mental illness than they currently!
20 percent of people == 1.3 billion worldwide who have a mental illness, which in itself is evidence of child abuse and neglect in their immediate families.
When we learn how to effectively address the risks which lead to abuse and neglect, that'll be when the rates go down.
However, it is the stress of a fast-paced society that breeds mental illness due to ineffective coping skills.
That may be because public education is a fast-paced stream of academics lacking even the basics of teaching kids how to handle stress.
However, I'll bet you teaching them the basics of meditation can and will help to reduce transforming benign schizotypies into mental illness.
And I'll be you too that in nations where the people are obligated to spend five years of Buddhist training (become monks and nuns) before being allowed to become householders probably have lower rates of mental illness than secular nations that manufacture consumers who are first and foremost obligated to become productive members of a fast-paced society, often without giving them a wide range of coping skills to deal with stress.
20121114
Human Barbie Doll Teaching Job Exposed
Valeria Lukyonova, the Russian girl who is a Barbie Doll, is back in the news. According to the Daily Mail, she got a modelling contract with V Magazine.
As well, she is a teacher at the School of Out-of-Body Experience (OOBE) in the Ukraine.
Using Google I found the school run by Michael Raduga, a person who would evoke "tin-foil hat" insults from skeptics.
Think New Age. :p
One of the UFO people is skeptical of him too because he declared that OOBE is a mental state he calls "The Phase", and mistook that to mean their abductions are "all in their head".
However, their cognitive dissonance may have occurred because he debunked UFO abductions in Russia. UFO people take it personally since their abductions are more real than their daily lives. o_0
As far as I can tell, the OOBE people accept Raduga's explanation of OOBE up to a point. However, they hold onto preconceptions about OOBE which deny that it's "all in the brain."
All I will do to sum this all up is to debunk the assertion that there is only one reality, which we know as real life (RL).
As well, there is also an inner reality (the mind). Indeed, the mind is the sixth sense according to Buddhist thought.
Therefore, the UFO abductions are real to the people who experience them, and it would be impolite to call them "delusions" because of their strong denial and unwillingness to accept a psychological explanation for the phenomenon.
Furthermore, it is equally impolite to deny that the Phase described by Raduga works. If it works for 1 person in 5000, then it works.
After all, scientists have discovered that microtubules in human cells remain "alive" after death, and are purported to be the closest thing to the soul.
However, this too is a theory, and so is Raduga's Phase.
Valeria Lukyonova is however real.
20121007
Debunking Astrology
First of all, astrology is a pseudoscience. Secondly, astronomy is a science.
Astrology consists of belief systems used to explain the metaphorical influence of ten planets, 12 astrological signs, the moon and the sun on human relationships, using generalizations about people based on their date of birth.
It was invented out of ignorance about astronomy, because at that time, the science was being rediscovered in Europe.
Yet astrology has nothing to do with astronomy at all.
For astrology cannot account for the differences in personality of people born on the same day. Thus it lacks consistency.
Much of the similarities between people born in the same month are based on our ability to filter out the differences and focus on similar traits in behaviour due to cognitive bias.
Thus, astrology is an inadequate attempt to explain human relationships in a simple form.
All astronomy has shown us that the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars have no influence whatsoever on the behaviour of humanity.
If you wish to learn more about astronomy, human behaviour and relationships, then learn about astronomy, psychology and sociology.
Astrology consists of belief systems used to explain the metaphorical influence of ten planets, 12 astrological signs, the moon and the sun on human relationships, using generalizations about people based on their date of birth.
It was invented out of ignorance about astronomy, because at that time, the science was being rediscovered in Europe.
Yet astrology has nothing to do with astronomy at all.
For astrology cannot account for the differences in personality of people born on the same day. Thus it lacks consistency.
Much of the similarities between people born in the same month are based on our ability to filter out the differences and focus on similar traits in behaviour due to cognitive bias.
Thus, astrology is an inadequate attempt to explain human relationships in a simple form.
All astronomy has shown us that the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars have no influence whatsoever on the behaviour of humanity.
If you wish to learn more about astronomy, human behaviour and relationships, then learn about astronomy, psychology and sociology.
20110830
Seligman on a God Who is Not Supernatural
"Like many Westerners, the idea of a transcendent purpose (or of a God who grounds such purpose) has always seemed untenable for me. Positive Psychology points to the way toward a secular approach to noble purpose and transcendent meaning — and even more astonishingly, toward a God who is not supernatural." - p. 14, M. Seligman, Authentic Happiness
A God who is not supernatural is nature in its splendour within Einstein's cosmic religion with trees as temples and forests as churches that Gorbachev respected.
Perhaps Seligman has heard of Gorbachev's quote.
Furthermore, it seems like he has heard of Matthew Fox.
So I am curious about Seligman because his "God who is not supernatural" echoes in the words of Gorbachev and Einstein.
Indeed it has a subtle ecumenical feel to it which is broad-minded and embraces all forms of human expression, including art and science. :)
Reference:
Matthew Fox on belief, chaos and fundamentalism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CfPqO30hHE
Gorbachev quote: I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. Look at the sun. If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. -- "Nature Is My God" - interview with Fred Matser in Resurgence No. 184 (September-October 1997)
A God who is not supernatural is nature in its splendour within Einstein's cosmic religion with trees as temples and forests as churches that Gorbachev respected.
Perhaps Seligman has heard of Gorbachev's quote.
Furthermore, it seems like he has heard of Matthew Fox.
So I am curious about Seligman because his "God who is not supernatural" echoes in the words of Gorbachev and Einstein.
Indeed it has a subtle ecumenical feel to it which is broad-minded and embraces all forms of human expression, including art and science. :)
Reference:
Matthew Fox on belief, chaos and fundamentalism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CfPqO30hHE
Gorbachev quote: I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. Look at the sun. If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. -- "Nature Is My God" - interview with Fred Matser in Resurgence No. 184 (September-October 1997)
20110228
The Samurai Creed Amplified
by Anonymous, 1300s CE, Japan
These are guidelines, and thus are metaphor for mindful living.
- I have no parents; I make the heaven and earth my mother and father.
- 'I' refers to the ego as the seat of individuality.
- 'No parents' implies that the healthy ego is unborn.
- 'Heaven and earth' refers to the deep spiritual meaning of man as the conduit between heaven and earth. This requires daily practice.
- 'My mother and father' implies viewing heaven and earth as dear as one's parents.
- 'I' refers to the ego as the seat of individuality.
- I have no home; I make awareness my dwelling.
- 'I' as the ego is not a fixed entity. It is dynamic and in constant motion.
- 'No home' implies that the ego does not actually dwell in the body like a soul or an imaginary thing. Rather, the ego is a distinct characteristic of a sentient being, be it human.
- Then this 'I', not being fixed in place, is free to move with the flow of the mind.
- 'Awareness' refers to the sole purpose of the ego to become healthy and free.
- 'My dwelling' implies that awareness is the one abode in which the ego is eager to seek shelter in.
- 'I' as the ego is not a fixed entity. It is dynamic and in constant motion.
- I have no life and death; I make the tides of breathing my life and death.
- 'I' is awareness that respects all that which is.
- 'Life and death' refers to the notion that breathing meditation helps us to focus on life and death.
- 'I' is the ebb and flow of breath itself.
- 'The tides of breathing' refer to breathing itself, which comes and goes like the tide.
- 'My life and death' also implies the ego is alive when one is awake, and appears to die when one is asleep. In a deeper sense, life refers to "awareness" and the spiritual life. In contrast, death refers to the worldly life.
- 'I' is awareness that respects all that which is.
- I have no divine power; I make honesty my divine power.
- 'Divine power' implies a spiritual gift.
- 'Honesty' is that spiritual gift.
- 'Divine power' implies a spiritual gift.
- I have no means; I make understanding my means.
- 'Means' refers to resources available to the mind.
- 'Understanding' is the means by which the mind makes awareness its sole purpose.
- 'Means' refers to resources available to the mind.
- I have no magic secrets; I make character my magic secret.
- 'Magic secrets' refers not to mysticism. For no one knows their own true character until they come to accept other people's character as they become aware of their own.
- I have no body; I make endurance my body.
- 'No body' implies that material comfort is not enough.
- 'Endurance' refers to the willingness accept such comfort and endure its needs mindfully.
- 'No body' implies that material comfort is not enough.
- I have no eyes; I make the flash of lightning my eyes.
- 'Eyes' refer to spiritual insight through meditation.
- 'Flash of lightning' implies sudden awareness achieved through careful meditation on a koan.
- 'Eyes' refer to spiritual insight through meditation.
- I have no ears; I make sensibility my ears.
- 'Ears' refers to hearing with the heart.
- 'Sensibility' implies that by such deep hearing, the mindful person develops common sense.
- 'Ears' refers to hearing with the heart.
- I have no limbs; I make promptness my limbs.
- 'Limbs' implies nimbleness of mind.
- 'Promptness' refers to the quick wit of which a mind is capable.
- 'Limbs' implies nimbleness of mind.
- I have no strategy; I make “unshadowed by thought” my strategy.
- 'Strategy' refers to a course of action based on a plan to achieve a specific goal.
- "Unshadowed by thought" implies that whoever takes such a course avoid second-guessing the outcome, lest it spoil the plan.
- 'Strategy' refers to a course of action based on a plan to achieve a specific goal.
- I have no designs; I make “seizing opportunity by the forelock” my design.
- 'Designs' implies seeking a specific outcome.
- “Seizing opportunity by the forelock” give you the means to achieve that outcome
- 'Designs' implies seeking a specific outcome.
- I have no miracles; I make right action my miracle.
- 'Miracles' refers to a positive outcome.
- 'Right action' achieves such an outcome with benefit to all who witness such a miracle.
- 'Miracles' refers to a positive outcome.
- I have no principles; I make adaptability to all circumstances my principles.
- 'Principles' implies having a strong moral code.
- 'Adaptability to all circumstances' implies willingness to adapt to changing circumstances with grace and charm.
- 'Principles' implies having a strong moral code.
- I have no tactics; I make emptiness and fullness my tactics.
- 'Tactics' is self explanatory.
- 'Emptiness and fullness' suggests the tactics have to do with awareness through meditation. Emptiness implies the stillness of bliss; fullness, the insight achieved.
- 'Tactics' is self explanatory.
- I have no talents; I make ready wit my talent.
- This is straighforward.
- I have no friends; I make my mind my friend.
- With friends around, how can make my mind my friend? Only in taking time out to meditate can I truly know my mind.
- I have no enemy; I make carelessness my enemy.
- This too is straighforward. Careful watch your mind and see!
- I have no armor; I make benevolence and righteousness my armor.
- I have no castle; I make immovable mind my castle.
- I have no sword; I make absence of self my sword.
These are guidelines, and thus are metaphor for mindful living.
20101222
Magical thinking and religion
One magical thinking myth about religion concerns the belief that praying a little harder will make a situation better. What more prayer does is relieve anxiety and other feelings when one is stressed. Yet prayer does not save a person from harm; that may be attributed to one's quick thinking.
Such magical thinking could be applied to recovery as well. When we think that going to meetings will stop us from alcohol or other drug use, that is a form of positive magical thinking. Its negative aspects may arise when we believe that if only a person remains clean and sober, then she will have wonderful friends to share with. This myth of recovery as a solution to life's problems is a form of magical thinking.
For recovery is a continuing process where you learn to stay clean and sober whilst facing the challenges of change and handling a crisis.
It is not religion that is the mental impairment; rather, it is the mind that practices magical thinking which is impaired. Yet spirituality is a continuing process of discovering the deeper understanding of God as I know him.
This deeper understanding of Him leads me to find solace in the Bible, in Buddhism, and in the works of other authors such as Rumi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other writers.
To solely rely on the Bible or other religious texts is a conservative approach to religion. Yet I see no harm in religion so long as it does not endorse the use of violence or condone it.
Sometimes magical thinking even blinds doctors, lawyers and politicians.
Political ideologies include cronyism and other forms of political corruption.
A doctor who owns a successful chain of medical clinics also subscribes to the ideology that healthcare can be corporately managed to bring it to the masses.
Yet when it leads to long wait times to get that care, then such ideology may sometimes conflict with the doctor's obligation to do no harm.
As for lawyers, the ideology of taking advantage of the law for gain without consideration of the rights of justice is equally reprehensible. Yet sometimes such white collar crime goes on because any damage to the reputation of that lawyer leads to less business for him. This ideology involves placing gain and game above justice and respect for the law.
A scientist may believe in the Big Bang theory, despite the fact that it is a theory. Indeed, much of quantum mechanics is based on theory. The only people convinced that it has been proven might still be blinded by personal biases. As well, although I have a bias that endorses situational ethics, that bias influences me to view the Milgram experiment and the related Stanford prison experiment as validating my own ideology that each and every situation presents itself with ethical challenges.
Thus magical thinking is a condition of the human mind which involve an ideology, be it religious, political or scientific. It can be used to delude a person about how life really works. However, magical thinking also can be used creatively to see the whole picture about life.
Religion may be an opium of the people. When practiced mindfully it could open one's eyes to reality as it is.
As well, whether or not God exists is a either-or fallacy. Faith in him and belief that Christ died for my sins is a personal form of magical thinking which does comfort me.
This is because for me, its deep spiritual meaning cannot be described. I also get the same experience when reading Rumi and from the Buddhist sutras. This cannot be solely magical thinking at work. Indeed, I'm pretty sure that it is a form of self-hypnosis and may be related to the placebo effect as well.
20101116
My Story as Hikikomori / ひきこもり物語 (humor)
Like many people in denial about their mental health, I have been deluded both by social consensus — and especially by my ego — that I was born sane and lived a sane life until school age.
It wasn't until the unhealthy reaction by my father and my father's mother — and especially my mother — that I realized how sensitive I was to the stress caused by embarrassment and shame.
To call Asian culture anything but a culture of shame is to deny all the rare occurrences of maladaptive behaviors which has made us unique on a global skill and in many cases a productive culture, each according to one's respective ancestral nation and home village.
In all honesty, we only pretend that we share common traits with peoples of European ancestry.
We like to believe it, both to fit in in Western society and to promote the ego-delusion of racial superiority, despite the fact that, unlike people of European descent, as we age, we cannot tolerate cowsmilk or even some of the alternates to it such as goats milk due to an age-related lactose intolerance.
This lactose tolerance may also be indirectly related to the Asian intolerance to alcohol at any amount, though in some Asians who practice social drinking, their tolerance to this metabolic poison is comparable to their non-Asian friend.
Even so, the culture of shame tends to lead the deluded individual to believe he is alone in the world and to thus live a life of relative social isolation.
The term used in new thought circles in Japan is "hikikomori". What it means is different from what I'd like it to mean. So the curious could Google for the official meaning while I state what it means to me: "the psychological state of mind where one is too ashamed to leave the home lest the world embarrass her, or worse, she embarrasses herself."
That this is a ego-delusion is obvious, though the term "ego" refers not only to what Freud describes in his psychiatric description of the three parts of the mind but mainly the whole mind.
What is not obvious is that psychiatric intervention is rarely necessary. Instead, what is necessary is to develop coping strategies through education from an early age. The recommended cure is to get exercise in the outdoors.
I have no real rationale for not doing so, other than the maladaptive behavior (through defence mechanisms such as rationalization and justification). This reinforces the desire to be what is called a "homebody", where the body stays at home while the mind wanders the whole world within itself.
Perhaps my willingness to become confirmed as a Christian may also be a strategy with risks of ego-delusion. Yet here, social rejection has been noticed because of my social status.
However, only the psychiatric professional would be consulting the DSM-IV without following up with sometimes expensive and potentially dangerous tests, one of which consists of extracting cerebral spinal fluid and closely examining it for endogenous retrovirus 'ERV sequences in "junk" DNA. Human ERV has been speculated by a handful of scientists to be a causal agent in bipolar disorder, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia.
日本語訳:
子供たちの精神的健康についての否定に多くの人々と同様に、私は社会的なコンセンサスの両方を惑わされている - 私のエゴ特にで - 私は正気を生まれ、高校時代まではまともな生活を送っていた。
それは私の父と父の母で不健全な反応を待たなければなりませんでした - 特に私の母 - 私は恥ずかしさと恥に起因するストレスにされたかを区別を実現します。
アジアの文化の何かを呼び出すには恥の文化は世界的なスキルに、多くの場合、生産文化私たちはユニークなものが不適応行動、自分のそれぞれの先祖の国と故郷の村によると、それぞれのすべてのまれな出現を拒否することです。
正直なところ、我々は我々はヨーロッパ系の人々と共通の特徴をしなければならないことをふりをする。
我々は両方と西洋社会に合うように人種的優越の自我妄想を促進するために、ヨーロッパ系の人々とは異なり、加齢とともに、私たちはいくつかのcowsmilkあるいはを容認することができないという事実にもかかわらず、それを信じて好きに交互にそれは、このようなヤギが加齢に伴う乳糖不耐症のために牛乳として。
この乳糖耐性も練習の社会的飲酒が、この代謝毒への耐性が自分以外のアジアの友人に匹敵するいくつかのアジア人もの、間接的に任意の量でアルコール、アジア不耐症に関連する可能性があります。
たとえそうだとしても、恥の文化は、彼が世界で一人であるため、相対的な社会的孤立の生活を信じて裏切られた個人をリードする傾向がある。
日本では新しい思考界で使用される用語は、"ひきこもり"です。それは何を意味私はそれが意味するものとしたいのですが違っている。好奇心は、私はそれは私に何を意味するか状態の間を意味する公式のGoogleでしただから："ものも、彼女を困らせるか、悪いことに、彼女は困る世界しないように家を出ようとして恥じている心の心理状態"
つまり、この用語は"自我"はフロイトが主に思い入れはなく、心の3つの部分の彼の精神の説明で説明ものだけではなく、意味が自我妄想は明らかです。
どのような明白されていないことを精神医学的介入はほとんど必要です。代わりに、何が必要です幼い頃から教育を通じた対処戦略を開発することである。推奨される治療法は、屋外での運動を取得することです。
私はそうしないと本当の理由は、（合理化、正当化などの防衛メカニズムを介して）不適応行動以外ている。これは心が自分自身の中に全世界を放浪しながら体は自宅でご利用いただけます"オタク族"と呼ばれるものになりたいを強化しています。
クリスチャンはまた、自我妄想のリスクとの戦略かもしれないのでおそらく私の意思が確認さになる。しかし、ここでは、社会的排除は、私の社会的地位のために注目されている。
*** ただし、精神科専門そのうちの1つは、脳脊髄液を抽出密接に"ジャンク"DNAに内在性レトロウイルス'概要シーケンスのためにそれを調べることで構成されても、潜在的に危険な高価なテストとフォローアップなしDSM - IVのコンサルティングになります。人間の概要は、双極性障害、多発性硬化症や統合失調症の原因物質であると科学者の一握りの推測されている。
ローマ字音訳:
Kodomo-tachi no seishin-teki kenkō nitsuite no hitei ni ōku no hitobito to dōyō ni, watashi wa shakai-tekina konsensasu no ryōhō o madowasa rete iru - watashi no ego tokuni de - watashi wa shōki o umare, kōkō jidai made wa matomona seikatsu o okutte ita.
Sore wa watashi no chichi to chichi no haha de fukenzen'na han'nō o matanakereba narimasendeshita - tokuni watashi no haha - watashi wa hazukashi-sa to haji ni kiin suru sutoresu ni sa reta ka o kubetsu o jitsugen shimasu.
Ajia no bunka no nani ka o yobidasu ni wa haji no bunka wa sekai-tekina sukiru ni, ōku no baai, seisan bunka watashi-tachi wa yunīkuna mono ga fu tekiō kōdō, jibun no sorezore no senzo no kuni to kokyō no mura ni yoru to, sorezore no subete no marena shutsugen o kyohi suru kotodesu.
Shōjikina tokoro, wareware wa wareware wa yōroppa-kei no hitobito to kyōtsū no tokuchō o shinakereba naranai koto o furi o suru.
Wareware wa ryōhō to seiyō shakai ni au yō ni jinshu-teki yūetsu no jiga mōsō o sokushin suru tame ni, yōroppa-kei no hitobito to wa kotonari, ka yowai totomoni, watashi-tachi wa ikutsu ka no cowsmilk aruiwa o yōnin suru koto ga dekinai toyuu jijitsu ni mo kakawarazu, sore o shinjite suki ni kōgo ni sore wa, kono yōna yagi ga Ka yowai ni tomonau nyūtō fu intolerance no tame ni gyūnyū toshite.
Kono nyūtō taisei mo renshū no shakai-teki inshu ga, kono taisha doku e no taisei ga jibun igai no ajia no yūjin ni hitteki suru ikutsu ka no ajia-jin mo no, kansetsu-teki ni nin'i no ryō de arukōru, ajia fu intolerance ni kanren suru kanō-sei ga arimasu.
Tatoe-sōda toshite mo, haji no bunka wa, kare ga sekai de ichi-nindearu tame, sōtai-tekina shakai-teki koritsu no seikatsu o shinjite uragira reta kojin o rīdo suru keikō ga aru.
Nippon de wa atarashii shikō-kai de shiyō sa reru yōgo wa," hikikomori"desu.
Sore wa nani o imi watashi wa sore ga imi suru mono to shitai nodesuga chigatte iru. Kōki-shin wa, watashi wa sore wa watashi ni nani o imi suru ka jōtai no ma o imi suru kōshiki no Googledeshita dakara:"-Mono mo, kanojo o komara seru ka, warui koto ni, kanojo wa komaru sekai shinai yō ni ie o deyou toshite hajite iru kokoro no shinri jōtai".
Tsumari, kono yōgo wa" jiga" wa furoito ga omo ni omoiire wa naku,-shin no betsu no bubun no kare no seishin no setsumei de setsumei-mono dakede wa naku, imi ga jiga mōsō wa akirakadesu.
Dono yōna meihaku sa rete inai koto o seishin igaku-teki kainyū wa hotondo hitsuyōdesu.
Kawari ni, nani ga hitsuyōdesu osanai koro kara kyōiku o tsūjita taisho senryaku o kaihatsu suru kotodearu.
Suishō sa reru chiryō-hō wa, okugai de no undō o shutoku suru kotodesu. Watashi wa sō shinaito hontō no riyū wa,(gōri-ka, seitō-ka nado no bōei mekanizumu o kaishite) fu tekiō kōdō igaite iru.
Kore wa kokoro ga jibun jishin no naka ni zen sekai o hōrō shinagara karada wa jitaku de go riyō itadakemasu" otaku-zoku" to yoba reru mono ni naritai o kyōka shite imasu.
Kurisuchan wa mata, jiga mōsō no risuku to no senryaku kamo shirenainode osoraku watashi no ishi ga kakunin-sa ni naru.
Shikashi, koko de wa, shakai-teki haijo wa, watashi no shakai-teki chii no tame ni chūmoku sa rete iru.
Tadashi, seishin-ka senmon sono uchi no 1tsu wa, nō sekizui-eki o chūshutsu missetsu ni" janku" DNA ni naizai-sei retorouirusu' gaiyō shīkensu no tame ni sore o shiraberu koto de kōsei sa rete mo, senzai-teki ni kiken'na kōkana tesuto to forōappu nashi DSM - IV no konsarutingu ni narimasu. Ningen no gaiyō wa, sōkyoku-sei shōgai, tahatsu-sei kōka-shō ya tōgō shitchō-shō no gen'in busshitsudearu to kagaku-sha no ichi-nigiri no suisoku sa rete iru.
All translations are courtesy of Google Translate
It wasn't until the unhealthy reaction by my father and my father's mother — and especially my mother — that I realized how sensitive I was to the stress caused by embarrassment and shame.
To call Asian culture anything but a culture of shame is to deny all the rare occurrences of maladaptive behaviors which has made us unique on a global skill and in many cases a productive culture, each according to one's respective ancestral nation and home village.
In all honesty, we only pretend that we share common traits with peoples of European ancestry.
We like to believe it, both to fit in in Western society and to promote the ego-delusion of racial superiority, despite the fact that, unlike people of European descent, as we age, we cannot tolerate cowsmilk or even some of the alternates to it such as goats milk due to an age-related lactose intolerance.
This lactose tolerance may also be indirectly related to the Asian intolerance to alcohol at any amount, though in some Asians who practice social drinking, their tolerance to this metabolic poison is comparable to their non-Asian friend.
Even so, the culture of shame tends to lead the deluded individual to believe he is alone in the world and to thus live a life of relative social isolation.
The term used in new thought circles in Japan is "hikikomori". What it means is different from what I'd like it to mean. So the curious could Google for the official meaning while I state what it means to me: "the psychological state of mind where one is too ashamed to leave the home lest the world embarrass her, or worse, she embarrasses herself."
That this is a ego-delusion is obvious, though the term "ego" refers not only to what Freud describes in his psychiatric description of the three parts of the mind but mainly the whole mind.
What is not obvious is that psychiatric intervention is rarely necessary. Instead, what is necessary is to develop coping strategies through education from an early age. The recommended cure is to get exercise in the outdoors.
I have no real rationale for not doing so, other than the maladaptive behavior (through defence mechanisms such as rationalization and justification). This reinforces the desire to be what is called a "homebody", where the body stays at home while the mind wanders the whole world within itself.
Perhaps my willingness to become confirmed as a Christian may also be a strategy with risks of ego-delusion. Yet here, social rejection has been noticed because of my social status.
However, only the psychiatric professional would be consulting the DSM-IV without following up with sometimes expensive and potentially dangerous tests, one of which consists of extracting cerebral spinal fluid and closely examining it for endogenous retrovirus 'ERV sequences in "junk" DNA. Human ERV has been speculated by a handful of scientists to be a causal agent in bipolar disorder, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia.
日本語訳:
子供たちの精神的健康についての否定に多くの人々と同様に、私は社会的なコンセンサスの両方を惑わされている - 私のエゴ特にで - 私は正気を生まれ、高校時代まではまともな生活を送っていた。
それは私の父と父の母で不健全な反応を待たなければなりませんでした - 特に私の母 - 私は恥ずかしさと恥に起因するストレスにされたかを区別を実現します。
アジアの文化の何かを呼び出すには恥の文化は世界的なスキルに、多くの場合、生産文化私たちはユニークなものが不適応行動、自分のそれぞれの先祖の国と故郷の村によると、それぞれのすべてのまれな出現を拒否することです。
正直なところ、我々は我々はヨーロッパ系の人々と共通の特徴をしなければならないことをふりをする。
我々は両方と西洋社会に合うように人種的優越の自我妄想を促進するために、ヨーロッパ系の人々とは異なり、加齢とともに、私たちはいくつかのcowsmilkあるいはを容認することができないという事実にもかかわらず、それを信じて好きに交互にそれは、このようなヤギが加齢に伴う乳糖不耐症のために牛乳として。
この乳糖耐性も練習の社会的飲酒が、この代謝毒への耐性が自分以外のアジアの友人に匹敵するいくつかのアジア人もの、間接的に任意の量でアルコール、アジア不耐症に関連する可能性があります。
たとえそうだとしても、恥の文化は、彼が世界で一人であるため、相対的な社会的孤立の生活を信じて裏切られた個人をリードする傾向がある。
日本では新しい思考界で使用される用語は、"ひきこもり"です。それは何を意味私はそれが意味するものとしたいのですが違っている。好奇心は、私はそれは私に何を意味するか状態の間を意味する公式のGoogleでしただから："ものも、彼女を困らせるか、悪いことに、彼女は困る世界しないように家を出ようとして恥じている心の心理状態"
つまり、この用語は"自我"はフロイトが主に思い入れはなく、心の3つの部分の彼の精神の説明で説明ものだけではなく、意味が自我妄想は明らかです。
どのような明白されていないことを精神医学的介入はほとんど必要です。代わりに、何が必要です幼い頃から教育を通じた対処戦略を開発することである。推奨される治療法は、屋外での運動を取得することです。
私はそうしないと本当の理由は、（合理化、正当化などの防衛メカニズムを介して）不適応行動以外ている。これは心が自分自身の中に全世界を放浪しながら体は自宅でご利用いただけます"オタク族"と呼ばれるものになりたいを強化しています。
クリスチャンはまた、自我妄想のリスクとの戦略かもしれないのでおそらく私の意思が確認さになる。しかし、ここでは、社会的排除は、私の社会的地位のために注目されている。
*** ただし、精神科専門そのうちの1つは、脳脊髄液を抽出密接に"ジャンク"DNAに内在性レトロウイルス'概要シーケンスのためにそれを調べることで構成されても、潜在的に危険な高価なテストとフォローアップなしDSM - IVのコンサルティングになります。人間の概要は、双極性障害、多発性硬化症や統合失調症の原因物質であると科学者の一握りの推測されている。
ローマ字音訳:
Kodomo-tachi no seishin-teki kenkō nitsuite no hitei ni ōku no hitobito to dōyō ni, watashi wa shakai-tekina konsensasu no ryōhō o madowasa rete iru - watashi no ego tokuni de - watashi wa shōki o umare, kōkō jidai made wa matomona seikatsu o okutte ita.
Sore wa watashi no chichi to chichi no haha de fukenzen'na han'nō o matanakereba narimasendeshita - tokuni watashi no haha - watashi wa hazukashi-sa to haji ni kiin suru sutoresu ni sa reta ka o kubetsu o jitsugen shimasu.
Ajia no bunka no nani ka o yobidasu ni wa haji no bunka wa sekai-tekina sukiru ni, ōku no baai, seisan bunka watashi-tachi wa yunīkuna mono ga fu tekiō kōdō, jibun no sorezore no senzo no kuni to kokyō no mura ni yoru to, sorezore no subete no marena shutsugen o kyohi suru kotodesu.
Shōjikina tokoro, wareware wa wareware wa yōroppa-kei no hitobito to kyōtsū no tokuchō o shinakereba naranai koto o furi o suru.
Wareware wa ryōhō to seiyō shakai ni au yō ni jinshu-teki yūetsu no jiga mōsō o sokushin suru tame ni, yōroppa-kei no hitobito to wa kotonari, ka yowai totomoni, watashi-tachi wa ikutsu ka no cowsmilk aruiwa o yōnin suru koto ga dekinai toyuu jijitsu ni mo kakawarazu, sore o shinjite suki ni kōgo ni sore wa, kono yōna yagi ga Ka yowai ni tomonau nyūtō fu intolerance no tame ni gyūnyū toshite.
Kono nyūtō taisei mo renshū no shakai-teki inshu ga, kono taisha doku e no taisei ga jibun igai no ajia no yūjin ni hitteki suru ikutsu ka no ajia-jin mo no, kansetsu-teki ni nin'i no ryō de arukōru, ajia fu intolerance ni kanren suru kanō-sei ga arimasu.
Tatoe-sōda toshite mo, haji no bunka wa, kare ga sekai de ichi-nindearu tame, sōtai-tekina shakai-teki koritsu no seikatsu o shinjite uragira reta kojin o rīdo suru keikō ga aru.
Nippon de wa atarashii shikō-kai de shiyō sa reru yōgo wa," hikikomori"desu.
Sore wa nani o imi watashi wa sore ga imi suru mono to shitai nodesuga chigatte iru. Kōki-shin wa, watashi wa sore wa watashi ni nani o imi suru ka jōtai no ma o imi suru kōshiki no Googledeshita dakara:"-Mono mo, kanojo o komara seru ka, warui koto ni, kanojo wa komaru sekai shinai yō ni ie o deyou toshite hajite iru kokoro no shinri jōtai".
Tsumari, kono yōgo wa" jiga" wa furoito ga omo ni omoiire wa naku,-shin no betsu no bubun no kare no seishin no setsumei de setsumei-mono dakede wa naku, imi ga jiga mōsō wa akirakadesu.
Dono yōna meihaku sa rete inai koto o seishin igaku-teki kainyū wa hotondo hitsuyōdesu.
Kawari ni, nani ga hitsuyōdesu osanai koro kara kyōiku o tsūjita taisho senryaku o kaihatsu suru kotodearu.
Suishō sa reru chiryō-hō wa, okugai de no undō o shutoku suru kotodesu. Watashi wa sō shinaito hontō no riyū wa,(gōri-ka, seitō-ka nado no bōei mekanizumu o kaishite) fu tekiō kōdō igaite iru.
Kore wa kokoro ga jibun jishin no naka ni zen sekai o hōrō shinagara karada wa jitaku de go riyō itadakemasu" otaku-zoku" to yoba reru mono ni naritai o kyōka shite imasu.
Kurisuchan wa mata, jiga mōsō no risuku to no senryaku kamo shirenainode osoraku watashi no ishi ga kakunin-sa ni naru.
Shikashi, koko de wa, shakai-teki haijo wa, watashi no shakai-teki chii no tame ni chūmoku sa rete iru.
Tadashi, seishin-ka senmon sono uchi no 1tsu wa, nō sekizui-eki o chūshutsu missetsu ni" janku" DNA ni naizai-sei retorouirusu' gaiyō shīkensu no tame ni sore o shiraberu koto de kōsei sa rete mo, senzai-teki ni kiken'na kōkana tesuto to forōappu nashi DSM - IV no konsarutingu ni narimasu. Ningen no gaiyō wa, sōkyoku-sei shōgai, tahatsu-sei kōka-shō ya tōgō shitchō-shō no gen'in busshitsudearu to kagaku-sha no ichi-nigiri no suisoku sa rete iru.
All translations are courtesy of Google Translate
20101007
Possible Solutions to Cognitive Distortions
Usually when a person is negative about what another person has said or written, it says more about his unconscious negativity in his life.
In some rare cases, it may be indication of any number of cognitive distortions.
If so, here's what I managed to come up with as possible solutions to key cognitive distortions.
1) Things do not fit black and white categories. This is the fallacy of all or nothing thinking. Things might be both grey and colourful. The proof of this is the metaphor of a digital photograph, which is saturated with colours and tinged with shades of grey. Likewise, being human, I am not perfect and live within the limits of my imperfection. The solution here is found in pausing to reflect on the greyness of living in post-modern times.
2) A single negative event does not fit into any sort of pattern of defeat. This is a fallacy of over-generalization. For each event has both positive and negative qualities. Therefore, I need to focus on accepting the event as happening as it is.
3) The fallacy of the mental filter is that it distorts reality into being just the focus of one negative detail which is dwelt on until all of reality is darkened. What positive details I may have noticed are forgotten, but not for long. I may think of the positive details as they come into focus. Thus, reality is not dark nor is it just that one negative detail.
The truth is, reality is composed of neutral events and things to which each of us ascribes positive or negative qualities based on criteria according to a multitude of factors including our experiences, education, vocation, and so on.
4) Positive experiences are more important to my well-being than negative experiences. The fallacy of disqualifying the positive is that it rejects those positive experiences based on the flimsy criteria that "it does not count" or some other baseless claim. Everyday experience consistently demonstrates that positive experiences occur more often than negative ones, because that is the way the human mind works. It is how the universe works.
5) The fallacy of jumping to conclusions consists of the negative interpretation of events despite there being no definite facts which convincingly support the conclusion. One variety of jumping to conclusions is mind reading, where I may conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don't bother to check this out. The solution to this is to either check it out or to pro-actively drop all thought of the matter using meditation. The other variety of this fallacy is the fortune teller error, where I may anticipate that things will turn out badly, and feel that my prediction is an already-established fact. The solution to the fortune teller error is to not anticipate any kind of outcome at all, but to go with the flow i.e. life will bring to me great rewards when I go out into the world.
6) The fallacy of magnification (catastrophizing i.e. making a catastrophe of a thing) or minimization is the exaggeration of the importance of things (my mistakes or someone else's achievements) or "the binocular trick", the inappropriate shrinking of things (events, details) until they appear tiny (my own desirable qualities or the other person's imperfections). The solution to exaggeration of importance requires a lot more work i.e. everything is of equal importance, neither greater or lesser. My own desirable qualities is as important as the next person's. Other people's imperfections are usually of no consequence. Indeed, the fallacy of magnification requires meditation consisting of careful reflection on the matter in order to cut through the delusion of magnification, catastrophizing and minimization.
7) The fallacy of emotional reasoning is that I may assume my negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things are i.e. "I feel it, therefore it must be true." The solution here is to see that the way things are are equally devoid of my emotions, positive or negative. If I feel that the way things are as "bad", then that is not true. If I feel that the way things are "good", then that is not true either. My feelings do not make the way things are true or false. The fallacy of emotional reasoning is the fallacy of the false dilemma.
8) The fallacy of should statements consists of the use of "should" and "shouldn't", as if one had to be whipped and punished before being expected to do anything. "Must" and "ought" are also offenders. The emotional consequence is guilt. When I direct should statements towards others, I feel anger, frustration, and resentment. The solution to this fallacy is to mindfully let go of guilt, and have no expectations of self and others.
9) The fallacy of labelling and mislabelling is the extreme form of over-generalization. Rather than describing my error, I attach a negative label to myself. Rather than admitting I didn't visit my mother , I call myself a "bad son". When someone else's behaviour rubs me the wrong way, I attach a negative label to him: "He's weird". Mislabelling involves describing an event with language that is highly coloured and emotionally loaded. These labels may have context in the real world, but only within the dysfunctional context.
Such over-generalizations are inappropriate judgement calls which are not helpful in any situation since they tend to create more stress and suffering for each of us.
Thus the solution to labelling and mislabelling is to let go of any tendency to label and mislabel behaviour and people. In order to do so, I will cultivate, maintain and perpetuate a nonjudgmental attitude towards life.
In some rare cases, it may be indication of any number of cognitive distortions.
If so, here's what I managed to come up with as possible solutions to key cognitive distortions.
1) Things do not fit black and white categories. This is the fallacy of all or nothing thinking. Things might be both grey and colourful. The proof of this is the metaphor of a digital photograph, which is saturated with colours and tinged with shades of grey. Likewise, being human, I am not perfect and live within the limits of my imperfection. The solution here is found in pausing to reflect on the greyness of living in post-modern times.
2) A single negative event does not fit into any sort of pattern of defeat. This is a fallacy of over-generalization. For each event has both positive and negative qualities. Therefore, I need to focus on accepting the event as happening as it is.
3) The fallacy of the mental filter is that it distorts reality into being just the focus of one negative detail which is dwelt on until all of reality is darkened. What positive details I may have noticed are forgotten, but not for long. I may think of the positive details as they come into focus. Thus, reality is not dark nor is it just that one negative detail.
The truth is, reality is composed of neutral events and things to which each of us ascribes positive or negative qualities based on criteria according to a multitude of factors including our experiences, education, vocation, and so on.
4) Positive experiences are more important to my well-being than negative experiences. The fallacy of disqualifying the positive is that it rejects those positive experiences based on the flimsy criteria that "it does not count" or some other baseless claim. Everyday experience consistently demonstrates that positive experiences occur more often than negative ones, because that is the way the human mind works. It is how the universe works.
5) The fallacy of jumping to conclusions consists of the negative interpretation of events despite there being no definite facts which convincingly support the conclusion. One variety of jumping to conclusions is mind reading, where I may conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don't bother to check this out. The solution to this is to either check it out or to pro-actively drop all thought of the matter using meditation. The other variety of this fallacy is the fortune teller error, where I may anticipate that things will turn out badly, and feel that my prediction is an already-established fact. The solution to the fortune teller error is to not anticipate any kind of outcome at all, but to go with the flow i.e. life will bring to me great rewards when I go out into the world.
6) The fallacy of magnification (catastrophizing i.e. making a catastrophe of a thing) or minimization is the exaggeration of the importance of things (my mistakes or someone else's achievements) or "the binocular trick", the inappropriate shrinking of things (events, details) until they appear tiny (my own desirable qualities or the other person's imperfections). The solution to exaggeration of importance requires a lot more work i.e. everything is of equal importance, neither greater or lesser. My own desirable qualities is as important as the next person's. Other people's imperfections are usually of no consequence. Indeed, the fallacy of magnification requires meditation consisting of careful reflection on the matter in order to cut through the delusion of magnification, catastrophizing and minimization.
7) The fallacy of emotional reasoning is that I may assume my negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things are i.e. "I feel it, therefore it must be true." The solution here is to see that the way things are are equally devoid of my emotions, positive or negative. If I feel that the way things are as "bad", then that is not true. If I feel that the way things are "good", then that is not true either. My feelings do not make the way things are true or false. The fallacy of emotional reasoning is the fallacy of the false dilemma.
8) The fallacy of should statements consists of the use of "should" and "shouldn't", as if one had to be whipped and punished before being expected to do anything. "Must" and "ought" are also offenders. The emotional consequence is guilt. When I direct should statements towards others, I feel anger, frustration, and resentment. The solution to this fallacy is to mindfully let go of guilt, and have no expectations of self and others.
9) The fallacy of labelling and mislabelling is the extreme form of over-generalization. Rather than describing my error, I attach a negative label to myself. Rather than admitting I didn't visit my mother , I call myself a "bad son". When someone else's behaviour rubs me the wrong way, I attach a negative label to him: "He's weird". Mislabelling involves describing an event with language that is highly coloured and emotionally loaded. These labels may have context in the real world, but only within the dysfunctional context.
Such over-generalizations are inappropriate judgement calls which are not helpful in any situation since they tend to create more stress and suffering for each of us.
Thus the solution to labelling and mislabelling is to let go of any tendency to label and mislabel behaviour and people. In order to do so, I will cultivate, maintain and perpetuate a nonjudgmental attitude towards life.
20100802
Disinformation: Conspiracy Theory and the Media
Originally used to describe "any claim of civil, criminal or political conspiracy", today the term conspiracy theory is used to belittle any hypotheses, conjectures or speculations about a historical or current event which involve "a secret plot by conspirators of superhuman power and cunning."
IMHO, because there is little support of conclusive evidence for conspiracy theory, a well-informed skeptic would rely on thorough reports involving institutional analysis than on the speculations provided by conspiracy theories.
However, to prevent dispute by using the term to dismiss false belief, it is wise not to address any conspiracy theory in public. My reasoning for this is that such labeling leads to needless argument and confrontation.
With many conspiracy theories abounding in mass media, most likely conspiracism may have distorted the cultural lens of American society to the point where democracy has been replaced by conspiracy. Indeed, belief in conspiracy theories appears to have filled the spiritual void in the lives of people who believe in such theories.
Due to the speculative nature of conspiracy theories, it serves no purpose to discuss them.
Thus it serves me better to observe and study the psychological conditions of denial, paranoia, schizophrenia and mean world syndrome which provide fertile ground for such speculation.
References:
• Conspiracy theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory
• Example of conspiracy theory in water fluoridation controversy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_controversy#Conspiracy_theories
• Examples in Media of Conspiracy Theory
∘ In Like Flint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2SFgIBoRFw
∘ Doctor Strangelove: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Rnn8MGat8
∘ Conspiracy Theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_Theory_%28film%29
20100626
Depression Inspires Me to Become Whole
In child development, the child first enters the paranoid-schizoid position. Alone yet dependent on his mother or caregiver to which he's bonded, he learns good from bad, and what is appropriate.
Later, as he matures, he enters the depressive position, and may regress to the first position at times of stress, but overall, remains depressive.
Ergo there is no escape from depression. One just has to become whole to resist temptation to give up on oneself and commit suicide.
In order not to become a quitter, one has to undergo a holism of the personality. In order not to be a quitter, one nurtures both aspects of the inner psyche.
If a man, both the masculine and feminine elements of the personality are nurtured. In this way a man does not have to chase the inner feminine by marrying women to satisfy the deep inner need to be whole.
Instead, by nurturing both aspects of the personality, one becomes whole and may choose to seek a healthy relationship without the need to seek the opposite sex to feel whole.
IMHO depression is normal. What is abnormal is giving up on oneself because of a lack of wholeness.
It may be simplistic to believe that suicide might be due to a personality which appears not to be whole, but IMHO it beats the routine of booking into Emergency if it gets to that point.
If you feel non-attachment to depression, that's a start. However, it's a fallacy to conclude that non-self is the same as nihilism.
For deep sadness arising from depression is an opportunity to become more than just being yourself. It provides inspiration to become whole and complete.
In that journey, one never gives in to despair because one nurtures both the inner feminine and inner masculine parts of his or her personality, thus becoming whole and complete.
To better illustrate what this entails, the concept of yin and yang may be necessary: both one's inner feminine and inner masculine qualities need to be nurtured to become whole and complete as a person. A study of taoism may be necessary to introduce oneself to the idea. However, if one is more attuned to a Western outlook on life, then there are plenty of self-help texts incorporating such holism in a manner amenable to one's particular tastes.
All it takes is the courage to change the things one can, especially the tendency to overemphasize one's gender to the detriment of being whole and complete.
Later, as he matures, he enters the depressive position, and may regress to the first position at times of stress, but overall, remains depressive.
Ergo there is no escape from depression. One just has to become whole to resist temptation to give up on oneself and commit suicide.
In order not to become a quitter, one has to undergo a holism of the personality. In order not to be a quitter, one nurtures both aspects of the inner psyche.
If a man, both the masculine and feminine elements of the personality are nurtured. In this way a man does not have to chase the inner feminine by marrying women to satisfy the deep inner need to be whole.
Instead, by nurturing both aspects of the personality, one becomes whole and may choose to seek a healthy relationship without the need to seek the opposite sex to feel whole.
IMHO depression is normal. What is abnormal is giving up on oneself because of a lack of wholeness.
It may be simplistic to believe that suicide might be due to a personality which appears not to be whole, but IMHO it beats the routine of booking into Emergency if it gets to that point.
If you feel non-attachment to depression, that's a start. However, it's a fallacy to conclude that non-self is the same as nihilism.
For deep sadness arising from depression is an opportunity to become more than just being yourself. It provides inspiration to become whole and complete.
In that journey, one never gives in to despair because one nurtures both the inner feminine and inner masculine parts of his or her personality, thus becoming whole and complete.
To better illustrate what this entails, the concept of yin and yang may be necessary: both one's inner feminine and inner masculine qualities need to be nurtured to become whole and complete as a person. A study of taoism may be necessary to introduce oneself to the idea. However, if one is more attuned to a Western outlook on life, then there are plenty of self-help texts incorporating such holism in a manner amenable to one's particular tastes.
All it takes is the courage to change the things one can, especially the tendency to overemphasize one's gender to the detriment of being whole and complete.
20100601
The Greyness of Living: Thoughts on Psychological Development With Respect to Borderline Personality Disorder
Psychological development has an emotional context to it. For emotional maturity implies psychological maturity, yet highly developed psychological maturity requires a developed sense of humor to reflect one's emotional maturity appropriately.
In theory, children evolve morally from the black-and-white thinking of what psychiatrist Melanie Klein calls "paranoid-schizoid" to the grey world of the depressive phase. However, "paranoid-schizoid" denotes a psychologically immature phase of psychological development in early childhood.
In contrast, "depressive" suggests a mature phase of psychological development.
Splitting - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_(psychology)
"In a moral sense grey is ... used positively to balance an all-black or all-white view (for example, shades of grey represent magnitudes of good and bad)." &emdash; Grey in popular culture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey#In_popular_culture
Commentary: The use of medication to treat clinical depression suggests that within context of society, clinical depression is not conducive with productivity in society. Medication thus is used to help stabilize what society views as a medical condition that prevents a person from exercising his responsibilities and obligations to society.
Within context of the ethical definition of grey, as covered by this note, splitting does not imply one is out of control. This is because it is primarily a defence mechanism, and has its uses as a behavioural tool, despite its crudity.
Splitting's crudity is that people are seen as either all good or all bad. Within context of psychological development, then, the word "crudity" suggests that psychological immaturity to be crude in function.
Furthermore, it is suggested that seeing the self either as all good or all bad, depending on how one views others, is a crude way of viewing the world.
What I need to do to manage borderline personality disorder (BPD) is to "integrate the good and bad images of both self and others". This is the affirmation to manage BPD.
In order to integrate the good and bad images of both self and others, it's useful to pair statements rationalizing good and bad.
In order to achieve that aim, I will quote the third stage of psychological development and comment on it: "The self and the other possess both good and bad qualities." - This statement is a synthesis of the following opposing statements: "The self possesses both good and bad qualities", and "the other possesses both good and bad qualities."
"Having hateful thoughts about another person doesn't mean that the self is all hateful and doesn't mean that the other person is all hateful either."
"Having loving thoughts about another person doesn't mean that the self is all loving and doesn't mean that the other person is all loving either."
However, me thinking all loving thoughts neither makes me a good person or a bad person. Rather, it makes me a person who is being positive.
Within the context of this article, the act of being positive has both good and bad qualities to it. I am not being positive to be good; I am being positive because it affirms self management of BPD.
This brings me to the use of grey as the positive response to black-and-white thinking (splitting).
As an affirmation to help manage BPD symptoms, i.e. lessen stress, the following statement is useful: "Shades of grey represent magnitudes of good and bad."
Even though writing out my thoughts about BPD and its management may be seen as rationalization, it helps me to see BPD as an part of my character which only arises when under stress.
To best appreciate what I have written in this article, one would have to look at the spectrum of defence mechanisms.
Splitting is a pathological defence mechanism, which means it is on the first level of defence mechanisms.
Defence mechanisms are categorized into four levels:
While I may use defence mechanisms of the first three levels, it remains in my best interest to use altruism, anticipation, humour, identification, sublimation and thought suppression to help manage stress.
In theory, children evolve morally from the black-and-white thinking of what psychiatrist Melanie Klein calls "paranoid-schizoid" to the grey world of the depressive phase. However, "paranoid-schizoid" denotes a psychologically immature phase of psychological development in early childhood.
In contrast, "depressive" suggests a mature phase of psychological development.
- When young, self and the object, good and bad, were experienced as the same. No concept of "I and thou" existed, only "me, my and mine".
- Good and bad are not the same. Good is acceptable, while bad is unacceptable. Depending on their actions, the other as a person is seen as either all good or all bad. Thinking about another person as bad implies that the self is bad as well. Therefore, it's best to consider the caregiver to be a good person, so that the self is also seen as good.
- The self and the other possess both good and bad qualities. Having hateful thoughts about another person doesn't mean that the self is all hateful and doesn't mean that the other person is all hateful either.
Splitting - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_(psychology)
"In a moral sense grey is ... used positively to balance an all-black or all-white view (for example, shades of grey represent magnitudes of good and bad)." &emdash; Grey in popular culture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey#In_popular_culture
Commentary: The use of medication to treat clinical depression suggests that within context of society, clinical depression is not conducive with productivity in society. Medication thus is used to help stabilize what society views as a medical condition that prevents a person from exercising his responsibilities and obligations to society.
Within context of the ethical definition of grey, as covered by this note, splitting does not imply one is out of control. This is because it is primarily a defence mechanism, and has its uses as a behavioural tool, despite its crudity.
Splitting's crudity is that people are seen as either all good or all bad. Within context of psychological development, then, the word "crudity" suggests that psychological immaturity to be crude in function.
Furthermore, it is suggested that seeing the self either as all good or all bad, depending on how one views others, is a crude way of viewing the world.
What I need to do to manage borderline personality disorder (BPD) is to "integrate the good and bad images of both self and others". This is the affirmation to manage BPD.
In order to integrate the good and bad images of both self and others, it's useful to pair statements rationalizing good and bad.
In order to achieve that aim, I will quote the third stage of psychological development and comment on it: "The self and the other possess both good and bad qualities." - This statement is a synthesis of the following opposing statements: "The self possesses both good and bad qualities", and "the other possesses both good and bad qualities."
"Having hateful thoughts about another person doesn't mean that the self is all hateful and doesn't mean that the other person is all hateful either."
"Having loving thoughts about another person doesn't mean that the self is all loving and doesn't mean that the other person is all loving either."
However, me thinking all loving thoughts neither makes me a good person or a bad person. Rather, it makes me a person who is being positive.
Within the context of this article, the act of being positive has both good and bad qualities to it. I am not being positive to be good; I am being positive because it affirms self management of BPD.
This brings me to the use of grey as the positive response to black-and-white thinking (splitting).
As an affirmation to help manage BPD symptoms, i.e. lessen stress, the following statement is useful: "Shades of grey represent magnitudes of good and bad."
Even though writing out my thoughts about BPD and its management may be seen as rationalization, it helps me to see BPD as an part of my character which only arises when under stress.
To best appreciate what I have written in this article, one would have to look at the spectrum of defence mechanisms.
Splitting is a pathological defence mechanism, which means it is on the first level of defence mechanisms.
Defence mechanisms are categorized into four levels:
- Level 1 - Pathological
- Delusional projection
- Denial
- Distortion
- Splitting
- Level 2 - Immature
- Acting out
- Fantasy
- Idealization
- Passive aggression
- Projection
- Projective identification
- Somatization
- Level 3 - Neurotic
- Displacement
- Dissociation
- Exaggeration
- Hypochondriasis
- Isolation
- Intellectualization
- Rationalization
- Reaction formation
- Regression
- Repression
- Undoing
- Level 4 - Mature
- Altruism
- Anticipation
- Humour
- Identification
- Introjection
- Sublimation
- Thought suppression
While I may use defence mechanisms of the first three levels, it remains in my best interest to use altruism, anticipation, humour, identification, sublimation and thought suppression to help manage stress.
20100528
Rationalizing Society's Aversion to Religion
IMHO the real reason mundane people find religion and people devoted to their faiths to be suspect is straight-forward:
Mundane people, being of the mainstream, are consumers first. Being dedicated to consumption and production in a free capitalist culture, they work as occupation, depending on their personality and skill-set.
However, public education has inculcated them with a shallow respect for religion. This facade of respect for religion has left them subconsciously fearful of spirituality out of manufactured ignorance. Indeed, public education provides their intellect with academic learning.
However, it does not nurture their spirit with a deeper respect for religion due to universal human rights to worship as each individual choses (or not).
Being spiritually shallow, mundane people tend to develop neuroses rooted in a sense of emptiness, which may lead to depression in late childhood.
Because they did not gain nurturing of their sense of spirituality - and a deeper respect of it - during their youth, most people will develop neuroses arising from unresolved childhood issues regarding the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions of child development of their psyches.
Consequently, their vague feeling of emptiness is actually due to lack of spiritual nurturance, which the public education system no longer inculcates in children.
This is why adolescence is more of a hell than two generations ago. It is specifically because of their ignorance that they are spiritual beings incarnated as human beings which causes behavioral and mental negativities (neuroses, psychoses and the related phobias and personality disorders).
Why then does a person who is religious still suffer from neuroses and psychoses? Because they have yet to realize that suffering is where one does one's spiritual work, and applies one's defense mechanisms appropriately as mind tools so as to use the mud of human suffering to fertilize their heart-mind.
Thus, it is the responsibility of each individual to realize that their reason for living (raison d'etre) is to realized that each living being is first a spiritual being incarnated as animal, plant or human; and that each of us are obliged to be of service to others, and as a result of this service, to help others to see this basic truth of life.
Animals realize this through instinct, so they do not require instruction and inculcations like humans do, due to the latter's higher brain development. Yet, humans have inherited an animal nature, which is symbolized by the libido.
Knowing this, the spiritually awakened person realizes that this knowledge will set her free, provided that she balances her libido with rational thought.
Reason is used as a mind tool to control libido's psychic manifestation as "the ego" i.e. the delusion that the self is permanent and reincarnates, which is known as the product of reification of self - the soul.
In conclusion, mundane people, being the majority, are averse to religion but not to spirituality, yet consider their spiritual beliefs to be private and practice in their own way, be it through worship of science, consumerism or even, a particular faith (ranging from animism to Zoroasterism).
20100526
Normalizing Depression and Paranoid-Schizoid Behavior: Notes on Melanie Klein's Theory of Childhood Development
This note is about a "psychobabble" term which is used in everyday language on the street i.e. mainstream use. This term is "paranoid-schizoid".
"Psychobabble" is slang used to describe jargon used by the medical profession to describe behavior and mental conditions, according to a committee-approved manual called DSM-IV.
Within context of this note, first mainstream use of "paranoid-schizoid" will be briefly discussed. It will then be followed by introduction of the term in M. Klein's theory of child development.
Paranoid-Schizoid in Everyday Language
"Paranoid-schizoid" is rarely used in everyday language in its positive sense. Instead it is used to label other people for their eccentricities.
Usually, the term is used when people run out of emotionally charged words such as "crazy" and "weird" to separate people into "good" and "bad" categories, according to social norms.
While most people may be able to define "paranoid" accurately, as paranoia and suspicion out of proportion to a given situation, the term "schizoid" is equated to "crazy" and/or "weird", and falsely associated with schizophrenia.
It is not the purpose of this note to define schizophrenia. However, the term "paranoid-schizoid" is used as a description of a particular form of schizophrenia. Within context of this form of schizophrenia, paranoia and a tendency to be alone appear to be two common traits.
Overall, the term "paranoid-schizoid" is used to describe abnormal behavior with the context of mental health.
Paranoid-Schizoid in Child Development
M Klein uses two terms in her description of early childhood development, "paranoid-schizoid" and "depressive" within context of the term "position", which is defined as "a set of psychic functions that correspond to a given phase of development, always appearing during the first year of life, but which are present at all times thereafter and can be reactivated at any time."
Within context of Klein's description, the word "development" is a generalized term consisting of infantile psychic life i.e. development of the mind of a child during the first year of life.
During the first year of life, a child first begins and completes the paranoid-schizoid position of development. If her environment and up-bringing meet her requirements, then she passes through the depressive position.
Within context of the state of mind of children, the paranoid-schizoid position develops from birth to 4-6 months of age. Between 4-6 months of age, the child develops the depressive position. However, it is normal to move between the two positions though most children's minds will operate in the paranoid-schizoid position.
Klein developed the Object Relations Theory to hypothesize how children view objects in relationship to themselves, mainly as part objects in early childhood.
Within context of childhood development, paranoid refers to the central paranoid anxiety which is defined as "the fear of invasive malevolence". Schizoid refers to the central defense mechanism, splitting, "the vigilant separation of the good object from the bad object."
In healthy childhood development, the child splits its external world, its objects and itself into two categories: good and bad". By doing so, he incorporates attitudes or ideas learned about these two categories into his personality unconsciously, and identifies with the good.
Good consists of love, loving and gratification; bad consists of hate, persecution and frustration.
In this way, splitting is used by the child to protect the good from being destroyed by the bad.
With growing maturity, the child will experience her mother as pleasant and beneficial.
Through maturation, the paranoid-schizoid position is replaced by the depressive position in the child's mind as he becomes more able to tolerate frustration and hold onto the good object for increasing periods.
Thus enabled to accept his bad impulses without fear that these impulses will destroy it, a more reasonable view of the self and object as possessing both good and bad attributes, leads to the greater integration and maturity of the depressive position.
"Depressive and paranoid-schizoid modes of experience continue to intermingle throughout the first few years of childhood."
Commentary on the Term Paranoid-Schizoid Within The Medical Context
With respect to children, these two positions of child development are not psychiatric conditions. Both "paranoid-schizoid" and "depressive" refer to states of mind in normal childhood development. Thus, they are not medical conditions in need of fixing.
Even when paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions may be used by the child in later years in reaction to stress both within the family (i.e. sibling rivalry, misbehavior, etc) and outside the family, they are mind tools being used by the child to defend her psyche.
Rather than using medication to treat fears and anxieties, it would be more beneficial for parents to model adaptive coping strategies for the child to give her more ways of dealing with anxiety and fear.
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid-schizoid_position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_relations_theory#Paranoid-schizoid_position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_relations_theory#Depressive_position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Relations_Theory Analysis of Kelly Jacobson's The Origin of Mouthstones: http://excavatingalfred.blogspot.com/2009/12/object-relations-every-person-has.html
"Psychobabble" is slang used to describe jargon used by the medical profession to describe behavior and mental conditions, according to a committee-approved manual called DSM-IV.
Within context of this note, first mainstream use of "paranoid-schizoid" will be briefly discussed. It will then be followed by introduction of the term in M. Klein's theory of child development.
Paranoid-Schizoid in Everyday Language
"Paranoid-schizoid" is rarely used in everyday language in its positive sense. Instead it is used to label other people for their eccentricities.
Usually, the term is used when people run out of emotionally charged words such as "crazy" and "weird" to separate people into "good" and "bad" categories, according to social norms.
While most people may be able to define "paranoid" accurately, as paranoia and suspicion out of proportion to a given situation, the term "schizoid" is equated to "crazy" and/or "weird", and falsely associated with schizophrenia.
It is not the purpose of this note to define schizophrenia. However, the term "paranoid-schizoid" is used as a description of a particular form of schizophrenia. Within context of this form of schizophrenia, paranoia and a tendency to be alone appear to be two common traits.
Overall, the term "paranoid-schizoid" is used to describe abnormal behavior with the context of mental health.
Paranoid-Schizoid in Child Development
M Klein uses two terms in her description of early childhood development, "paranoid-schizoid" and "depressive" within context of the term "position", which is defined as "a set of psychic functions that correspond to a given phase of development, always appearing during the first year of life, but which are present at all times thereafter and can be reactivated at any time."
Within context of Klein's description, the word "development" is a generalized term consisting of infantile psychic life i.e. development of the mind of a child during the first year of life.
During the first year of life, a child first begins and completes the paranoid-schizoid position of development. If her environment and up-bringing meet her requirements, then she passes through the depressive position.
Within context of the state of mind of children, the paranoid-schizoid position develops from birth to 4-6 months of age. Between 4-6 months of age, the child develops the depressive position. However, it is normal to move between the two positions though most children's minds will operate in the paranoid-schizoid position.
Klein developed the Object Relations Theory to hypothesize how children view objects in relationship to themselves, mainly as part objects in early childhood.
Within context of childhood development, paranoid refers to the central paranoid anxiety which is defined as "the fear of invasive malevolence". Schizoid refers to the central defense mechanism, splitting, "the vigilant separation of the good object from the bad object."
In healthy childhood development, the child splits its external world, its objects and itself into two categories: good and bad". By doing so, he incorporates attitudes or ideas learned about these two categories into his personality unconsciously, and identifies with the good.
Good consists of love, loving and gratification; bad consists of hate, persecution and frustration.
In this way, splitting is used by the child to protect the good from being destroyed by the bad.
With growing maturity, the child will experience her mother as pleasant and beneficial.
Through maturation, the paranoid-schizoid position is replaced by the depressive position in the child's mind as he becomes more able to tolerate frustration and hold onto the good object for increasing periods.
Thus enabled to accept his bad impulses without fear that these impulses will destroy it, a more reasonable view of the self and object as possessing both good and bad attributes, leads to the greater integration and maturity of the depressive position.
"Depressive and paranoid-schizoid modes of experience continue to intermingle throughout the first few years of childhood."
Commentary on the Term Paranoid-Schizoid Within The Medical Context
With respect to children, these two positions of child development are not psychiatric conditions. Both "paranoid-schizoid" and "depressive" refer to states of mind in normal childhood development. Thus, they are not medical conditions in need of fixing.
Even when paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions may be used by the child in later years in reaction to stress both within the family (i.e. sibling rivalry, misbehavior, etc) and outside the family, they are mind tools being used by the child to defend her psyche.
Rather than using medication to treat fears and anxieties, it would be more beneficial for parents to model adaptive coping strategies for the child to give her more ways of dealing with anxiety and fear.
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid-schizoid_position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_relations_theory#Paranoid-schizoid_position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_relations_theory#Depressive_position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Relations_Theory Analysis of Kelly Jacobson's The Origin of Mouthstones: http://excavatingalfred.blogspot.com/2009/12/object-relations-every-person-has.html
20100426
Buddha-Nature and the Pure Land
It would be spiritual delusion to pretend that a soul goes to the Pure Land.
Rather, in one sense, the spiritual essence, Buddha-nature, returns to the Absolute.
Actually, no returning occurs at all. For the physical body merely dies. Self-as-ego dies with the body. Yet the bodhisattva reborn in the Pure Land represents the karmic destiny of Buddha-nature which is erroneously mistaken for a soul.
For Buddha-nature is no-self.
Think of it this way: all my recitations of Nembutsu are like offerings to the bodhisattva representing my sincere desire to be reborn in the Pure Land. The more I recite and study the Pure Land sutras and commentaries, the greater is this bodhisattva's existence in the Pure Land.
If I were not to recite the Nembutsu, I would still be reborn near the Pure Land as a result of my desire to be reborn there.
20070213
Psychotherapy is not for the weak or "crazy"
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that going to therapy is a sign of weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Learning what the real reasons for repeating destructive patterns, acknowledging fears that you might have kept “safely” hidden from yourself in your unconscious, where they could control and limit you, is not easy. Ultimately, understanding that you can create much of your life takes guts not cowardice.
Another common misconception about psychotherapy is that it is for “crazy” people. This is just not true. Anybody can get stuck using coping mechanisms that might have been very effective at some point in their pasts, but are no longer adaptive or effective. Since a person is on “auto-pilot” she or he doesn’t even realize that these limiting patterns are being repeated.
Getting one’s unconscious out of the driver’s seat is the key to putting a stop to crashing into the same brick walls over and over again. These hidden patterns may make it difficult to have rewarding intimate relationships, sustain physical health, cope with rejection (not that that is ever fun), have a satisfying career or even be able to identify one’s true feelings. These patterns often are not obvious and they limit a person’s ability to live a creative authentic life.
Since even the celebrities have consulted therapists, the labels of "weak" and "crazy" are merely projections of fear about our myths about madness. They are the tools of the "psychosiphobic", people finding themselves to be sane yet still fearful of mental health consumers.
It is in one's best interest to consult a therapist to transform one's life, rather than to remain locked in the "madhouse" of dysfunctional existence.
And you shall know it by how much dust is under your bed, and by how often you bathe.
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