Thursday, April 28, 2016
Tardive Dyskinesia Symptoms
Little research has been done on the movement disorder known as tardive dyskinesia (TD), which affects approximately 20 percent of patients who have been treated for certain psychoses with medications known as dopamine antagonists. The symptoms are a side effect of medications that are ostensibly targeted at the specific dopamine receptor involved in emotion and lower cognitive function, but wind up affecting those involved in the function of voluntary muscle control.
Diagnosing Tardive Dyskinesia
Part of the difficulty in diagnosing tardive dyskinesia lies in the fact that its symptoms are similar to other types of disorders, including Tourette syndrome. In fact, one variety of tardive dyskinesia, known as tardive tourettism is so similar that only careful study of the circumstances surrounding the onset of the disease can determine which condition is actually present.
Other similar disorders include tardive dystonia, akathisia and myoclonus. The first differs from other types of dystonia (muscle spasms and uncontrollable movements in the torso) in that the tardive variety is permanent and is drug-related as opposed to being caused by genetics, injury or infection or environmental toxins.
Akathisia is more internalized and accompanied by inner anxiety. It is also more generalized, involving the entire body. Myoclonus manifests itself most often as brief, jerky contractions of a particular muscle group. However, the term actually refers to a symptom that may be the result of any number of neurological disorders. Usually, a differential diagnosis is required in order to determine what strain of tardive dyskinesia is present.
Characteristic Symptoms
Regardless of the variety of the disease, tardive dyskinesia is characterized by sudden, uncontrollable movements of voluntary muscle groups. Signs of classic tardive dyskinesia normally consist of coordinated, constant movements of the mouth, tongue, jaw, and cheeks. The patient may move their jaw laterally or up and down, as if chewing. The tongue may suddenly protrude or move about in a squirming, twisting manner. Repeated lip smacking and puffing of the cheeks may also be present. Severity of the condition is indicated by the frequency of these movements or spasms. In extreme cases, the tongue may move well over 60 times a minute.
In some cases, tardive dyskinesia patients may experience movement in the limbs and digits. Interestingly, these involuntary movements are more pronounced when the patient attempts to relax; emotional arousal or agitation causes these movements to decrease. Symptoms can disappear completely when the patient is asleep.
Risk Factors and Treatment
There is no cure for tardive dyskinesia although the condition can be managed in some cases. Those who are at great risk for developing tardive dyskinesia are those who have been treated with dopamine antagonists for four years or longer; according to a study from the Yale University School of Medicine. Risk factors can also be aggravated by the use of alcohol and tobacco. Post menopausal women are also at greater risk because of lower estrogen levels.
Tardive Dyskinesia Introduction & Overview
Tardive dyskinesia is a condition that may develop in patients who use metoclopramide, a drug sold under brand names such as Reglan in the United States. When a patient has been taking certain prescription drugs over a long period of time, often in high dosages, involuntary, repetitive tic-like movements can result, primarily in the facial muscles or (less commonly) the limbs, fingers and toes. The hips and torso may also be affected.
Dyskinesia refers to the involuntary nature of muscular movements or the difficulty in performing voluntary muscular movement. Tardive means a condition has the tendency to appear late. Symptoms of tardive dyskinesia can develop and persist long after use of the medication causing the disorder has been discontinued. Tardive dyskinesia can appear similar to other types of disorders, most notably Tourette's syndrome.
History
Tardive dyskinesia was first identified in 1964. By the early 1960s, symptoms associated with tardive dyskinesia were apparent in approximately 30 percent of psychiatric patients treated with antipsychotic medications, linking the development of the condition to these drugs. The development of tardive dyskinesia is commonly linked to metoclopramide use. The drug metoclopramide (sold today under the brand name Reglan, among others) was developed in Europe in the mid-1960s and became available for use in 1982. In early 2009, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about metoclopramide, informing the public of research that suggests the use of metoclopramide is the most common cause of drug-induced movement disorders. A 2004 study found that older women treated with metoclopramide were at an increased risk for developing symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.
Dopamine
Research indicates that tardive dyskinesia results from damage to the systems that use and process dopamine. Dopamine is a biochemical substance produced in numerous areas of the brain. It functions as a neurotransmitter, working with the brain to regulate movement and emotion within the body.
Dopamine is significant when it comes to pleasurable sensations. When dopamine receptors are blocked, the dopamine remains in the synapse (where nerve impulses are transmitted and received) for a longer period of time. This creates a sense of "false euphoria," which is why some narcotics are so addictive. The fact that dopamine remains in the synapses for an extended period may also hold clues to what causes the onset of tardive dyskinesia in certain patients. When neurons can no longer hold dopamine, Parkinson's disease may result.
Metoclopramide is a dopamine receptor antagonist and inhibits the delivery of electro-chemical messages from the brain to various parts of the body. The drug has been implicated in the development of several movement disorders, including tardive dyskinesia.
Other Factors
The development of tardive dyskinesia has often occurred in patients who have been treated for digestive and gastrointestinal disorders with medications such as metoclopramide (Deglan®, Maxolon® or Reglan®).
Other risk factors appear to be age (certain older patients are more likely to develop tardive dyskinesia), gender (the condition is more common in females), mental retardation, a history of substance abuse and a traumatic head injury. According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 31 percent of all tardive dyskinesia patients are over 55 years of age and have been taking medications for three months or longer. Tardive dyskinesia is also caused by the side effects of certain psychoactive drugs such as anti-depressants, "dopamine antagonists" (drugs that block dopamine receptors, used to treat disorders of the nervous or circulatory system).
Treatment
The best treatment for tardive dyskinesia appears to be prevention, either by lowering the dosage of a medication known to cause this condition or switching the patient to a different drug. Tetrabenzine, a medication that reduces levels of dopamine, has been of some use in treating tardive dyskinesia symptoms. Many kinds of "anti-Parkinsonian" drugs such as Aricept and Miraplex appear to offer some benefit as well.
Tardive dyskinesia is a condition that may develop in patients who use metoclopramide, a drug sold under brand names such as Reglan in the United States. When a patient has been taking certain prescription drugs over a long period of time, often in high dosages, involuntary, repetitive tic-like movements can result, primarily in the facial muscles or (less commonly) the limbs, fingers and toes. The hips and torso may also be affected.
Dyskinesia refers to the involuntary nature of muscular movements or the difficulty in performing voluntary muscular movement. Tardive means a condition has the tendency to appear late. Symptoms of tardive dyskinesia can develop and persist long after use of the medication causing the disorder has been discontinued. Tardive dyskinesia can appear similar to other types of disorders, most notably Tourette's syndrome.
History
Tardive dyskinesia was first identified in 1964. By the early 1960s, symptoms associated with tardive dyskinesia were apparent in approximately 30 percent of psychiatric patients treated with antipsychotic medications, linking the development of the condition to these drugs. The development of tardive dyskinesia is commonly linked to metoclopramide use. The drug metoclopramide (sold today under the brand name Reglan, among others) was developed in Europe in the mid-1960s and became available for use in 1982. In early 2009, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about metoclopramide, informing the public of research that suggests the use of metoclopramide is the most common cause of drug-induced movement disorders. A 2004 study found that older women treated with metoclopramide were at an increased risk for developing symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.
Dopamine
Research indicates that tardive dyskinesia results from damage to the systems that use and process dopamine. Dopamine is a biochemical substance produced in numerous areas of the brain. It functions as a neurotransmitter, working with the brain to regulate movement and emotion within the body.
Dopamine is significant when it comes to pleasurable sensations. When dopamine receptors are blocked, the dopamine remains in the synapse (where nerve impulses are transmitted and received) for a longer period of time. This creates a sense of "false euphoria," which is why some narcotics are so addictive. The fact that dopamine remains in the synapses for an extended period may also hold clues to what causes the onset of tardive dyskinesia in certain patients. When neurons can no longer hold dopamine, Parkinson's disease may result.
Metoclopramide is a dopamine receptor antagonist and inhibits the delivery of electro-chemical messages from the brain to various parts of the body. The drug has been implicated in the development of several movement disorders, including tardive dyskinesia.
Other Factors
The development of tardive dyskinesia has often occurred in patients who have been treated for digestive and gastrointestinal disorders with medications such as metoclopramide (Deglan®, Maxolon® or Reglan®).
Other risk factors appear to be age (certain older patients are more likely to develop tardive dyskinesia), gender (the condition is more common in females), mental retardation, a history of substance abuse and a traumatic head injury. According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 31 percent of all tardive dyskinesia patients are over 55 years of age and have been taking medications for three months or longer. Tardive dyskinesia is also caused by the side effects of certain psychoactive drugs such as anti-depressants, "dopamine antagonists" (drugs that block dopamine receptors, used to treat disorders of the nervous or circulatory system).
Treatment
The best treatment for tardive dyskinesia appears to be prevention, either by lowering the dosage of a medication known to cause this condition or switching the patient to a different drug. Tetrabenzine, a medication that reduces levels of dopamine, has been of some use in treating tardive dyskinesia symptoms. Many kinds of "anti-Parkinsonian" drugs such as Aricept and Miraplex appear to offer some benefit as well.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Thank Those in Europe who Visited. Wed. 30 Mar. 2016.
Russia 1408
Ukraine 794
Saudi Arabia 426
France 409
Iraq 329
Germany 300
Turkey 215
United Kingdom 148
Netherlands 145
Ukraine 794
Saudi Arabia 426
France 409
Iraq 329
Germany 300
Turkey 215
United Kingdom 148
Netherlands 145
Sunday, March 6, 2016
CRUELITY to MENTAL PATIENTS- thrown out to DIE!
HOME / Science : The state of the universe.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
In the late 1950s, three men who identified as the Son of God were forced to live together in a mental hospital. What happened?
When the Governor of Michigan Shut [EXTENDANCHOR] Ypsalanti State Hospital 10, SEVERELY MENTAL PATIENTS WERE DUMPED on the DETROIT SKID ROW, Were Murdered for Their Monty before Winter, another 5, Were Found Drowned in the River next spring….
America was NOT a nice place. Like most other mental hospitals in America Ypsilanti began declining in both quality and quantity by the s, which would continue until it closed. The Michigan Daily also said that a survey of Ypsi's mental buildings was done inessay that they essay obsolete because they "were all designed for custodial care link the health and are not well suited for a therapeutic program of essay and treatment for the mentally ill.
Michigan Governor John Engler went on a health cut state spending on mental health by closing all the state psychiatric hospitals. Ypsilanti Regional Psychiatric Hospital was one of the first to go, closed inthough the "C-Building," and the various service buildings on the property obviously stayed in partial use until early March of under the health CFP, essay, "Center for Forensic Psychology"—meaning it was a hardcore detention facility that housed the State of Michigan inmates who were either unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity, or who pleaded innocent to murder by reason of insanity.
Governor Engler's biography on michigan. Anyway, according to a September report by the Detroit Free Press, the rapid dismantling of Michigan's once-vast state essay system in the s perhaps did not achieve quite the positive outcome that was hoped for—at essay partly because the "community-based" resources that were supposed to pick up the slack were never given the proper funding they were promised.
As the state hospitals closed, tens of thousands of patients who didn't have family to make sure they got proper care were literally turned out on the streets, "with a bus ticket to Detroit, and one bottle of pills," as the local saying goes.
In the late 1950s, psychologist Milton Rokeach was gripped by an eccentric plan. He gathered three psychiatric patients, each with the delusion that they were Jesus Christ, to live together for two years in Ypsilanti State Hospital to see if their beliefs would change. The early meetings were stormy. "You oughta worship me, I'll tell you that!" one of the Christs yelled. "I will not worship you! You're a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!" another snapped back. "No two men are Jesus Christs. … I am the Good Lord!" the third interjected, barely concealing his anger.
Frustrated by psychology's focus on what he considered to be peripheral beliefs, like political opinions and social attitudes, Rokeach wanted to probe the limits of identity. He had been intrigued by stories of Secret Service agents who felt they had lost contact with their original identities, and wondered if a man's sense of self might be challenged in a controlled setting. Unusually for a psychologist, he found his answer in the Bible. There is only one Son of God, says the good book, so anyone who believed himself to be Jesus would suffer a psychological affront by the very existence of another like him. This was the revelation that led Rokeach to orchestrate his meeting of the Messiahs and document their encounter in the extraordinary (and out-of-print) book from 1964, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.
Although by no means common, Christ conventions have an unexpectedly long history. In his commentary to Cesare Beccaria's essay "Crimes and Punishments," Voltaire recounted the tale of the "unfortunate madman" Simon Morin who was burnt at the stake in 1663 for claiming to be Jesus. Unfortunate it seems, because Morin was originally committed to a madhouse where he met another who claimed to be God the Father, and "was so struck with the folly of his companion that he acknowledged his own, and appeared, for a time, to have recovered his senses." The lucid period did not last, however, and it seems the authorities lost patience with his blasphemy. Another account of a meeting of the Messiahs comes from Sidney Rosen's book My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson. The renowned psychiatrist apparently set two delusional Christs in his ward arguing only for one to gain insight into his madness, miraculously, after seeing something of himself in his companion. ("I'm saying the same things as that crazy fool is saying," said one of the patients. "That must mean I'm crazy too.")
These tales are surprising because delusions, in the medical sense, are not simply a case of being mistaken. They are considered to be pathological beliefs, reflecting a warped or broken understanding that is not, by definition, amenable to being reshaped by reality. One of most striking examples is the Cotard delusion, under which a patient believes she is dead; surely there can be no clearer demonstration that simple and constant contradiction offers no lasting remedy. Rokeach, aware of this, did not expect a miraculous cure. Instead, he was drawing a parallel between the baseless nature of delusion and the flimsy foundations we use to construct our own identities. If tomorrow everyone treats me as if I have an electronic device in my head, there are ways and means I could use to demonstrate they are wrong and establish the facts of the matter—a visit to the hospital perhaps. But what if everyone treats me as if my core self were fundamentally different than I believed it to be? Let's say they thought I was an undercover agent—what could I show them to prove otherwise? From my perspective, the best evidence is the strength of my conviction. My belief is my identity.
Milton Rokeach's The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.
In one sense, Rokeach's book reflects a remarkably humane approach for its era. We are asked to see ourselves in the psychiatric patients, at a time when such people were regularly locked away and treated as incomprehensible objects of pity rather than individuals worthy of empathy. Rokeach's constant attempts to explain the delusions as understandable reactions to life events require us to accept that the Christs have not "lost contact" with reality, even if their interpretations are more than a little uncommon.
But the book makes for starkly uncomfortable reading as it recounts how the researchers blithely and unethically manipulated the lives of Leon, Joseph, and Clyde in the service of academic curiosity. In one of the most bizarre sections, the researchers begin colluding with the men's delusions in a deceptive attempt to change their beliefs from within their own frame of reference. The youngest patient, Leon, starts receiving letters from the character he believes to be his wife, "Madame Yeti Woman," in which she professes her love and suggests minor changes to his routine. Then Joseph, a French Canadian native, starts receiving faked letters from the hospital boss advising certain changes in routine that might benefit his recovery. Despite an initially engaging correspondence, both the delusional spouse and the illusory boss begin to challenge the Christs' beliefs more than is comfortable, and contact is quickly broken off.
In fact, very little seems to shift the identities of the self-appointed Messiahs. They debate, argue, at one point come to blows, but show few signs that their beliefs have become any less intense. Only Leon seems to waver, eventually asking to be addressed as "Dr Righteous Idealed Dung" instead of his previous moniker of "Dr Domino dominorum et Rex rexarum, Simplis Christianus Puer Mentalis Doctor, reincarnation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." Rokeach interprets this more as an attempt to avoid conflict than a reflection of any genuine identity change. The Christs explain one another's claims to divinity in predictably idiosyncratic ways: Clyde, an elderly gentleman, declares that his companions are, in fact, dead, and that it is the "machines" inside them that produce their false claims, while the other two explain the contradiction by noting that their companions are "crazy" or "duped" or that they don't really mean what they say.
In hindsight, the Three Christs study looks less like a promising experiment than the absurd plan of a psychologist who suffered the triumph of passion over good sense. The men's delusions barely shifted over the two years, and from an academic perspective, Rokeach did not make any grand discoveries concerning the psychology of identity and belief. Instead, his conclusions revolve around the personal lives of three particular (and particularly unfortunate) men. He falls back—rather meekly, perhaps—on the Freudian suggestion that their delusions were sparked by confusion over sexual identity, and attempts to end on a flourish by noting that we all "seek ways to live with one another in peace," even in the face of the most fundamental disagreements. As for the ethics of the study, Rokeach eventually realized its manipulative nature and apologized in an afterword to the 1984 edition: "I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere round the clock with their daily lives."
Although we take little from it scientifically, the book remains a rare and eccentric journey into the madness of not three, but four men in an asylum. It is, in that sense, an unexpected tribute to human folly, and one that works best as a meditation on our own misplaced self-confidence. Whether scientist or psychiatric patient, we assume others are more likely to be biased or misled than we are, and we take for granted that our own beliefs are based on sound reasoning and observation. This may be the nearest we can get to revelation—the understanding that our most cherished beliefs could be wrong'
=============================================================================================
The Three Christs's of Ypsilanti
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
In the late 1950s, three men who identified as the Son of God were forced to live together in a mental hospital. What happened?
On June 16, 1930 construction for the hospital had begun. Albert Kahn was the architect that had designed the building. Kahn had his own design firm in Detroit, Michigan. The hospital was opened a year after construction had begun. Over the course of the first year the hospital had admitted 922 patients. The estimated cost of living was about eighty cents per day. At the end of World War II The Ypsilanti State Hospital had built two new wards with over 4,000 patients. After adding the two wards, this still brought the hospital over capacity. In 1991, Governor John Engler cut all funding for state hospitals. The Ypsilanti State Hospital was the first to be shut down.[1] The forensic center stayed open until 2001, but when the hospital closed this left many patients homeless. They were left with nothing; most of the patients had lost contact with family and friends too.
I live in the Tenderloin, in Mercy Senior Housing. [EXTENDANCHOR] am 66 Years old, my Family were Mental Health Professionals.
Do Not Accept Historical Revisionist Propaganda to Belie the Catastrophic Ruin to America caused by Corporate Greed, and Yes, the Horrors of Homelessness is A MONSTER caused by Reagan's Handlers. Read this Piece from about Carters Set Up Mental Health Community Housing: REAGAN REVOKED THIS LAW UPON TAKING OFFICE!When the Governor of Michigan Shut [EXTENDANCHOR] Ypsalanti State Hospital 10, SEVERELY MENTAL PATIENTS WERE DUMPED on the DETROIT SKID ROW, Were Murdered for Their Monty before Winter, another 5, Were Found Drowned in the River next spring….
America was NOT a nice place. Like most other mental hospitals in America Ypsilanti began declining in both quality and quantity by the s, which would continue until it closed. The Michigan Daily also said that a survey of Ypsi's mental buildings was done inessay that they essay obsolete because they "were all designed for custodial care link the health and are not well suited for a therapeutic program of essay and treatment for the mentally ill.
Michigan Governor John Engler went on a health cut state spending on mental health by closing all the state psychiatric hospitals. Ypsilanti Regional Psychiatric Hospital was one of the first to go, closed inthough the "C-Building," and the various service buildings on the property obviously stayed in partial use until early March of under the health CFP, essay, "Center for Forensic Psychology"—meaning it was a hardcore detention facility that housed the State of Michigan inmates who were either unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity, or who pleaded innocent to murder by reason of insanity.
Governor Engler's biography on michigan. Anyway, according to a September report by the Detroit Free Press, the rapid dismantling of Michigan's once-vast state essay system in the s perhaps did not achieve quite the positive outcome that was hoped for—at essay partly because the "community-based" resources that were supposed to pick up the slack were never given the proper funding they were promised.
As the state hospitals closed, tens of thousands of patients who didn't have family to make sure they got proper care were literally turned out on the streets, "with a bus ticket to Detroit, and one bottle of pills," as the local saying goes.
In the late 1950s, psychologist Milton Rokeach was gripped by an eccentric plan. He gathered three psychiatric patients, each with the delusion that they were Jesus Christ, to live together for two years in Ypsilanti State Hospital to see if their beliefs would change. The early meetings were stormy. "You oughta worship me, I'll tell you that!" one of the Christs yelled. "I will not worship you! You're a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!" another snapped back. "No two men are Jesus Christs. … I am the Good Lord!" the third interjected, barely concealing his anger.
Frustrated by psychology's focus on what he considered to be peripheral beliefs, like political opinions and social attitudes, Rokeach wanted to probe the limits of identity. He had been intrigued by stories of Secret Service agents who felt they had lost contact with their original identities, and wondered if a man's sense of self might be challenged in a controlled setting. Unusually for a psychologist, he found his answer in the Bible. There is only one Son of God, says the good book, so anyone who believed himself to be Jesus would suffer a psychological affront by the very existence of another like him. This was the revelation that led Rokeach to orchestrate his meeting of the Messiahs and document their encounter in the extraordinary (and out-of-print) book from 1964, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.
Although by no means common, Christ conventions have an unexpectedly long history. In his commentary to Cesare Beccaria's essay "Crimes and Punishments," Voltaire recounted the tale of the "unfortunate madman" Simon Morin who was burnt at the stake in 1663 for claiming to be Jesus. Unfortunate it seems, because Morin was originally committed to a madhouse where he met another who claimed to be God the Father, and "was so struck with the folly of his companion that he acknowledged his own, and appeared, for a time, to have recovered his senses." The lucid period did not last, however, and it seems the authorities lost patience with his blasphemy. Another account of a meeting of the Messiahs comes from Sidney Rosen's book My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson. The renowned psychiatrist apparently set two delusional Christs in his ward arguing only for one to gain insight into his madness, miraculously, after seeing something of himself in his companion. ("I'm saying the same things as that crazy fool is saying," said one of the patients. "That must mean I'm crazy too.")
These tales are surprising because delusions, in the medical sense, are not simply a case of being mistaken. They are considered to be pathological beliefs, reflecting a warped or broken understanding that is not, by definition, amenable to being reshaped by reality. One of most striking examples is the Cotard delusion, under which a patient believes she is dead; surely there can be no clearer demonstration that simple and constant contradiction offers no lasting remedy. Rokeach, aware of this, did not expect a miraculous cure. Instead, he was drawing a parallel between the baseless nature of delusion and the flimsy foundations we use to construct our own identities. If tomorrow everyone treats me as if I have an electronic device in my head, there are ways and means I could use to demonstrate they are wrong and establish the facts of the matter—a visit to the hospital perhaps. But what if everyone treats me as if my core self were fundamentally different than I believed it to be? Let's say they thought I was an undercover agent—what could I show them to prove otherwise? From my perspective, the best evidence is the strength of my conviction. My belief is my identity.
Milton Rokeach's The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.
In one sense, Rokeach's book reflects a remarkably humane approach for its era. We are asked to see ourselves in the psychiatric patients, at a time when such people were regularly locked away and treated as incomprehensible objects of pity rather than individuals worthy of empathy. Rokeach's constant attempts to explain the delusions as understandable reactions to life events require us to accept that the Christs have not "lost contact" with reality, even if their interpretations are more than a little uncommon.
But the book makes for starkly uncomfortable reading as it recounts how the researchers blithely and unethically manipulated the lives of Leon, Joseph, and Clyde in the service of academic curiosity. In one of the most bizarre sections, the researchers begin colluding with the men's delusions in a deceptive attempt to change their beliefs from within their own frame of reference. The youngest patient, Leon, starts receiving letters from the character he believes to be his wife, "Madame Yeti Woman," in which she professes her love and suggests minor changes to his routine. Then Joseph, a French Canadian native, starts receiving faked letters from the hospital boss advising certain changes in routine that might benefit his recovery. Despite an initially engaging correspondence, both the delusional spouse and the illusory boss begin to challenge the Christs' beliefs more than is comfortable, and contact is quickly broken off.
In fact, very little seems to shift the identities of the self-appointed Messiahs. They debate, argue, at one point come to blows, but show few signs that their beliefs have become any less intense. Only Leon seems to waver, eventually asking to be addressed as "Dr Righteous Idealed Dung" instead of his previous moniker of "Dr Domino dominorum et Rex rexarum, Simplis Christianus Puer Mentalis Doctor, reincarnation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." Rokeach interprets this more as an attempt to avoid conflict than a reflection of any genuine identity change. The Christs explain one another's claims to divinity in predictably idiosyncratic ways: Clyde, an elderly gentleman, declares that his companions are, in fact, dead, and that it is the "machines" inside them that produce their false claims, while the other two explain the contradiction by noting that their companions are "crazy" or "duped" or that they don't really mean what they say.
In hindsight, the Three Christs study looks less like a promising experiment than the absurd plan of a psychologist who suffered the triumph of passion over good sense. The men's delusions barely shifted over the two years, and from an academic perspective, Rokeach did not make any grand discoveries concerning the psychology of identity and belief. Instead, his conclusions revolve around the personal lives of three particular (and particularly unfortunate) men. He falls back—rather meekly, perhaps—on the Freudian suggestion that their delusions were sparked by confusion over sexual identity, and attempts to end on a flourish by noting that we all "seek ways to live with one another in peace," even in the face of the most fundamental disagreements. As for the ethics of the study, Rokeach eventually realized its manipulative nature and apologized in an afterword to the 1984 edition: "I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere round the clock with their daily lives."
Although we take little from it scientifically, the book remains a rare and eccentric journey into the madness of not three, but four men in an asylum. It is, in that sense, an unexpected tribute to human folly, and one that works best as a meditation on our own misplaced self-confidence. Whether scientist or psychiatric patient, we assume others are more likely to be biased or misled than we are, and we take for granted that our own beliefs are based on sound reasoning and observation. This may be the nearest we can get to revelation—the understanding that our most cherished beliefs could be wrong'
=============================================================================================
The Three Christs's of Ypsilanti
Friday, November 27, 2015
Dr. John Breeder Phd. on Mental Health & Nazis
HERE IS A LECTURE on Religion IS Mental Illness
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Livestock Management
I do not think it can be questioned that sympathy is a genuine motive, and that some people at some times are made somewhat uncomfortable by the sufferings of some other people. It is sympathy that has produced the many humanitarian advances of the last hundred years. We are shocked when we hear stories ofthe ill-treatment of lunatics, and there are now quite a number of asylums in which they are not ill-treated. Prisoners in Western countries are not supposed to be tortured, and when they are, there is an outcry if the facts are discovered. We do not approve of treating orphans as they are treated in Oliver Twist. Protestant countries disapprove of cruelty to animals. In all these ways sympathy has been politically effective. If the fear of war were removed, its effectiveness would become much greater. Perhaps the best hope for the future of mankind is that ways will be found of increasing the scope and intensity of sympathy.
HERE WE OBSERVE DOCTOR B.F. SKINNER, EXPLAINING WHY AMERICAN IDIOTS HAVE NO FREE WILL.
The time has come to sum up our discussion. Politics is concerned with herds rather than with individuals, and the passions which are important in politics are, therefore, those in which the various members of a given herd can feel alike. The broad instinctive mechanism upon which political edifices have to be built is one of cooperation within the herd and hostility towards other herds. The co-operation within the herd is never perfect. There are members who do not conform, who are, in the etymological sense, “egregious”, that is to say, outside the flock. These members are those who have fallen below, or risen above, the ordinary level. They are: idiots, criminals, prophets, and discoverers. A wise herd will learn to tolerate the eccentricity of those who rise above the average, and to treat with a minimum of ferocity those who fall below it.
As regards relations to other herds, modern technique has produced a conflict between self-interest and instinct. In old days, when two tribes went to war, one of them exterminated the other, and annexed its territory. From the point of view of the victor, the whole operation was thoroughly satisfactory. The killing was not at all expensive, and the excitement was agreeable. It is not to be wondered at that, in such circumstances, war persisted. Unfortunately, we still have the emotions appropriate to such primitive warfare, while the actual operations of war have changed completely. Killing an enemy in a modern war is a very expensive operation. If you consider how many Germans were killed in the late war, and how much the victors are paying in income tax, you can, by a sum in long division, discover the cost of a dead German, and you will find it considerable. In the East, it is true, the enemies of the Germans have secured the ancient advantages of turning out the defeated population and occupying their lands. The Western victors, however, have secured no such advantages. It is obvious that modern war is not good business from a financial point of view. Although we won both the world wars, we should now be much richer if they had not occured. If men were actuated by self-interest, which they are not - except in the case of a few saints - the whole human race would cooperate. There would be no more wars, no more armies, no more navies, no more atom bombs. There would not be armies of propagandists employed in poisoning the minds of Nation A against Nation B, and reciprocally of Nation B against Nation A. There would not be armies of officials at frontiers to prevent the entry of foreign books and foreign ideas, however excellent in themselves. There would not be customs barriers to ensure the existence of many small enterprises where one big enterprise would be more economic. All this would happen very quickly if men desired their own happiness as ardently as they desired the misery of their neighbours. But, you will tell me, what is the use of these utopian dreams ? Moralists will see to it that we do not become wholly selfish, and until we do the millenium will be impossible.
I do not wish to seem to end upon a note of cynicism. I do not deny that there are better things than selfishness, and that some people achieve these things. I maintain, however, on the one hand, that there are few occasions upon which large bodies of men, such as politics is concerned with, can rise above selfishness, while, on the other hand, there are a very great many circumstances in which populations will fall below selfishness, if selfishness is interpreted as enlightened self-interest.
And among those occasions on which people fall below self-interest are most of the occasions on which they are convinced that they are acting from idealistic motives. Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power. When you see large masses of men swayed by what appear to be noble motives, it is as well to look below the surface and ask yourself what it is that makes these motives effective. It is partly because it is so easy to be taken in by a facade of nobility that a psychological inquiry, such as I have been attempting, is worth making. I would say, in conclusion, that if what I have said is right, the main thing needed to make the world happy is intelligence. And this, after all, is an optimistic conclusion, because intelligence is a thing that can be fostered by known methods of education.
From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969 ( http://www.nobel.se/nobel/nobel-foundation/publications/lectures/index.html )
Notes from XahLee.org
This is Bertrand Russell's Nobel Lecture, on December 11, 1950. The subsection division, subsection headings, and annotations are added by Xah Lee, 2005-03, for the purpose of study and verification.
*
HERE WE OBSERVE DOCTOR B.F. SKINNER, EXPLAINING WHY AMERICAN IDIOTS HAVE NO FREE WILL.
The time has come to sum up our discussion. Politics is concerned with herds rather than with individuals, and the passions which are important in politics are, therefore, those in which the various members of a given herd can feel alike. The broad instinctive mechanism upon which political edifices have to be built is one of cooperation within the herd and hostility towards other herds. The co-operation within the herd is never perfect. There are members who do not conform, who are, in the etymological sense, “egregious”, that is to say, outside the flock. These members are those who have fallen below, or risen above, the ordinary level. They are: idiots, criminals, prophets, and discoverers. A wise herd will learn to tolerate the eccentricity of those who rise above the average, and to treat with a minimum of ferocity those who fall below it.
As regards relations to other herds, modern technique has produced a conflict between self-interest and instinct. In old days, when two tribes went to war, one of them exterminated the other, and annexed its territory. From the point of view of the victor, the whole operation was thoroughly satisfactory. The killing was not at all expensive, and the excitement was agreeable. It is not to be wondered at that, in such circumstances, war persisted. Unfortunately, we still have the emotions appropriate to such primitive warfare, while the actual operations of war have changed completely. Killing an enemy in a modern war is a very expensive operation. If you consider how many Germans were killed in the late war, and how much the victors are paying in income tax, you can, by a sum in long division, discover the cost of a dead German, and you will find it considerable. In the East, it is true, the enemies of the Germans have secured the ancient advantages of turning out the defeated population and occupying their lands. The Western victors, however, have secured no such advantages. It is obvious that modern war is not good business from a financial point of view. Although we won both the world wars, we should now be much richer if they had not occured. If men were actuated by self-interest, which they are not - except in the case of a few saints - the whole human race would cooperate. There would be no more wars, no more armies, no more navies, no more atom bombs. There would not be armies of propagandists employed in poisoning the minds of Nation A against Nation B, and reciprocally of Nation B against Nation A. There would not be armies of officials at frontiers to prevent the entry of foreign books and foreign ideas, however excellent in themselves. There would not be customs barriers to ensure the existence of many small enterprises where one big enterprise would be more economic. All this would happen very quickly if men desired their own happiness as ardently as they desired the misery of their neighbours. But, you will tell me, what is the use of these utopian dreams ? Moralists will see to it that we do not become wholly selfish, and until we do the millenium will be impossible.
I do not wish to seem to end upon a note of cynicism. I do not deny that there are better things than selfishness, and that some people achieve these things. I maintain, however, on the one hand, that there are few occasions upon which large bodies of men, such as politics is concerned with, can rise above selfishness, while, on the other hand, there are a very great many circumstances in which populations will fall below selfishness, if selfishness is interpreted as enlightened self-interest.
And among those occasions on which people fall below self-interest are most of the occasions on which they are convinced that they are acting from idealistic motives. Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power. When you see large masses of men swayed by what appear to be noble motives, it is as well to look below the surface and ask yourself what it is that makes these motives effective. It is partly because it is so easy to be taken in by a facade of nobility that a psychological inquiry, such as I have been attempting, is worth making. I would say, in conclusion, that if what I have said is right, the main thing needed to make the world happy is intelligence. And this, after all, is an optimistic conclusion, because intelligence is a thing that can be fostered by known methods of education.
From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969 ( http://www.nobel.se/nobel/nobel-foundation/publications/lectures/index.html )
Notes from XahLee.org
This is Bertrand Russell's Nobel Lecture, on December 11, 1950. The subsection division, subsection headings, and annotations are added by Xah Lee, 2005-03, for the purpose of study and verification.
*
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
mad houses in britan
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