All In The Mind II: The Psychbloggers Carnival
Good group of posts here. I’m going to host the next two but from number 5 onward, I’m opening it up. If you’re interested, let me know. Preference will be given to those with lower readership. The 1st carnival pulled in somewhere between 500 and 1000 hits due to linkage from the heavy hitters. It’s a pretty good way for some of the lesser knowns out there to be seen by others. Also, the TTLB community should be up and running by the next edition.
Now on to the submissions…
ShrinkWrapped presents Unintended Consequences, “Accidents”, and Unconscious Processes:
When a patient consciously intends a particular outcome and a different, unhappy outcome occurs from their action, it is always vital to investigate whether or not the unintended consequence was an accident or was unconsciously determined.
Assistant Village Idiot brings us an egregious example of over-thinking the nature and complexity of a patient’s psychological problems despite a minimum of contact and testing in Psych Testing Hall of Shame. After reading it, I don’t even know what to say. It’s my firm belief that most psych problems are rooted in relatively simple experiences, whether past or present. Not everyone has a psych problem worthy of a Jungian treatise. Sometimes–most of the time–they’re just over-extended.
Roy over at Shrink Rap asserts that Freud set back psychiatry by over a century. He contends (rightfully) that Freud singlehandedly pushed us away from the brain-centered perspective it had in the early 1900’s to ’so how does that make you feel?‘.
Personally, I think the current neurochemistry-centered models are entirely too simplistic, and if anything more harmful than Freud in that they ignore the beautifully complex and plastic nature of the brain.
Which happens to be a great segue into mentioningmy own submission for the carnival. I talk about the similarities between the mind and muscles, and how adopting a mind training and injury treatment approach could eventually mean less mental illness as years go by. A sprained elbow is rarely indicative of an underlying pathology or disorder. It’s much more likely to be the result of poor training, overuse, or improper technique. Same applies to a person’s psyche, in my opinion.
Joe Kissell over at Interesting Thing of the Day describes one of the more peculiar phenomena of the mind. Synesthesia is when a stimulus in one sensory modality is perceived in another. Hearing the color blue, or seeing cold. Interesting stuff.
From Dare To Dream comes yet another example of the press jumping on research findings before they’ve been properly vetted by the academic community…not to mention unwarranted assertions by study authors. This instance involves a possible link between childhood trauma/sexual abuse and schizophrenia.
Piebolar bares her soul to us once again, giving us a view into the mind at the other end of the therapeutic relationship as she describes the changes that have come over her since beginning neurontin. I wish her the best of luck in her journey, as I’m sure all who read her entry do.
Cerebration asks if blogging may be unhealthy. It all depends on how you approach it, I think. A blog could be cathartic, allowing you to literally see what’s going on in your own head. Or it could merely be a reinforcer, serving to intensify unhealthy though patterns. *shrug* This is why I’ll be in school and training for another 8 years and why no one should listen to my advice as anything more than a layperson’s. Cerebration also points out a couple articles that might be useful to those in need of a psychiatrist.
Peter Kua of RadicalHop.com brings us The #1 Way to Eliminate FEAR: Chant This Mantra Daily!.
Generative Transformation presents The 3-fold Path of Wisdom. It’s a discussion of the path to wisdom and how all the worldly constructs we surround ourselves with can hamper our spirituality.
How To Produce An Acute Schizophrenic Break, posted at Spiritual Recovery, discusses some of the ways in which schizophrenic breaks are similar to various religious practices, as well as to simple loss in the ‘real’ world. I had to poke around for a bit due to the buddhist allusion and saw some pretty interesting stuff. It’s a blog about a schizophrenic and her recovery.
It’s a blog about a schizophrenic and her recovery.
If I may be so bold…
My own schizophrenic break occurred a few years ago. Because I did not know that what I was going through was considered to be a schizophrenic break in this culture, I did not go to the hospital. Because I did not go to the hospital, I did not receive any neuroleptic medication. Instead, what I did was to go into the experience — what might be called “fully engaging the imagery“. In doing so, a pattern emerged that lead me through those six weeks of “psychosis”.
Meantime, I have been working for three years; my relationships are all stable; I have not had any formal therapy or any kind of psychiatric medication (neuroleptics, anti-depressants, or mood stabilizers). I have become well without doctors, hospitals, or medication.
In this culture, schizophrenia is presented as an incurable disorder. Those so diagnosed are essentially given a message on a platter along with their daily dose of antipsychotics: “You will never recover.” Had it not been for my own experience, I might have actually believed the psychiatrists I later encountered who tried to convince me (and others) that there is no hope. I feel there is much hope. That’s what my Spiritual Recovery blog is truly all about.
Comment by spiritual_emergency — June 15, 2006 @ 7:23 pm
You aren’t by any chance a big fan of Thomas Szasz are you?
If you look around a bit, you’ll notice that like you, I don’t tend to see problems of the mind being ‘incurable’ or even necessarily diseases to begin with. But schizophrenia is one of those things that is so far outside the range of ‘normal’ that a lot of people simply can’t fathom how it can’t be a structural disease.
Comment by Administrator — June 15, 2006 @ 10:45 pm
Please note the work that suggests an impressive role for Niacin in the treatment of schizophrenia, as researched by Dr. Abram Hoffer. Of course, this is not a high cost patented drug, so there is less financial gain in the method.
Also, the World Health Organization concludes that living in a developed country is a ‘’strong predictor” that a patient never will fully recover from Schizophrenia. This was noted in a review of the movie “A Beautiful Mind” as published in USA Today.
Link here
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020304/3909657s.htm
Comment by Sickmind Fraud — June 16, 2006 @ 8:26 am
You aren’t by any chance a big fan of Thomas Szasz are you?
Much of my reading over the past few years has resolved around the work of the Jungians for I’ve consistently found they provided the most insights for me in terms of understanding the meaning and purpose of my own schizophrenic break. I am aware of Thomas Szasz and he’s on my reading list, but I’ve yet to actively study his work. As a result, I don’t yet know if I agree entirely that “mental illness” is nothing but a myth of our own making, although I do agree that much of it is.
I’ve spent the past few years talking to a lot of “crazy” people. Most of their experiences could be understood as overwhelming human experiences, even the most “far out” experiences were understandable when they were placed within context. It’s enormously helpful to have insight into the experience itself; what the uninitiated might interpret as frightening or grandiose, the initiated may recognize as a necessary and meaningful stage in a larger (and temporary) process. Often too, their behavior had a great deal to do with my behavior. I can alter your behavior as well, simply in how I approach you. For example, if I relate to you from a perspective that “I am well / You are sick,” or “I am sane / You are insane” or “I have worth / You are worthless” I’m going to influence how you relate to me.
In this respect, I suspect I share much in common with individuals like Thomas Szasz, Loren Mosher, and R.D. Laing who challenged us to think about how and what we think about the experience labelled schizophrenia. It’s not just biochemistry, nutrition, stress, crisis, spiritual / personal growth, environment, or culture — it’s all of it. Yet, the relevancy of each factor varies according to the affected individual and this, in turn, provides insights into their best treatment options. This means that some people will be able to get well using nutritional therapies, some (perhaps many) will get well with “talk therapy [*], some may require medication, and what should probably only be a very small minority may never fully recover. We will lose our grasp on the big picture if we focus solely on one aspect of it. After all, the most effective treatment is the one that works and allows the individual the ability to live life as much as possible on their own terms.
[* Drs. John Weir Perry and Jaakko Seikkula had/have recovery rates for their schizophrenic clients in the range of 80% and above. Perry was a Jungian trained psychiatrist and Seikkula a psychologist who relies upon a method he calls "Open Dialogue Therapy". Clearly, they are doing something right and we should be willing to learn from them, as well as draw lessons from other cultures such as India where the recovery rate is as high as 90%.]
Comment by spiritual_emergency — June 17, 2006 @ 9:26 am
huh, I’m an indian going into psych and I didn’t even know that about the recovery rate. Given how plastic the brain is and how much it can change itself over time, I have a problem with anyone saying virtually any psychiatric illness is permanent. If stroke patients can learn how to talk again after losing their entire speech area, then surely we can make the much less drastic steps needed to overcome a lot of psychological problems…
Thanks for your posts and your comments. I’ve really enjoyed my poke around your blog. And please submit something for next time.
Comment by Administrator — June 17, 2006 @ 2:14 pm
All In the Mind Blog Carnival is Up!
Go here!…
Trackback by Dare To Dream ... — June 19, 2006 @ 9:46 am
[...] Synesthesia appeared in All in the Mind II: The Psychbloggers Carnival. [...]
Pingback by I Am Joe’s Blog » Blog Archive » A Plethora of Carnivals — June 22, 2006 @ 4:11 pm
Thanks for your posts and your comments. I’ve really enjoyed my poke around your blog. And please submit something for next time.
Perhaps I’ll try to put something together about Kali. I’m very fond of that one.
Comment by spiritual_emergency — June 22, 2006 @ 9:54 pm
Blog Carnival index: All In The Mind II: The Psychbloggers Carnival
ALL IN THE MIND is now up at OK So I’m Not Really A Cowboy!
Trackback by Blog Carnival — June 26, 2006 @ 1:49 am
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