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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 25 of 35. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:28:12
An American teacher at the college and I were talking about herbs, cultural arrogance and whatnot and he mentioned (speaking about the DSM) a psychiatric condition (for which he knew the Latin name) which referred to the behaviour of slaves repeatedly escaping from the custody of their owners.
I've forgotten the name of this interesting illness.
Anybody know of it?
Posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:32:35
In reply to Psychiatric illness, posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:28:12
The wonders of the internet.
Posted by rnny on March 11, 2010, at 16:39:10
In reply to Psychiatric illness, posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:28:12
It never ceases to amaze me how anything can be considered a mental illness. I am sure there is something if you prefer apples over oranges, you may be someone who is considered to have a fear of oranges, whether you do or not. Being taken hostage and trying to escape, I wonder if they consider that a mental illness. A 'normal' reaction to 'abnormal' circumstances is often viewed as mental illness by people when in fact the behavior is what one should expect and in fact if someone didn't act that way..THAT would be cause for concern. Interesting. I found a website once that listed several hundred fears. I was shocked. Not at the fears but that all these things have a name. I think I just made one up. "fear of oranges".
Posted by ed_uk2010 on March 11, 2010, at 16:59:32
In reply to Psychiatric illness, posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:28:12
And what, Sigi, is the treatment for this disorder?!
>a psychiatric condition (for which he knew the Latin name) which referred to the behaviour of slaves repeatedly escaping from the custody of their owners
Posted by Deneb on March 11, 2010, at 18:32:46
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness, posted by ed_uk2010 on March 11, 2010, at 16:59:32
According to the Wikipedia article, the cure was to whip them into submission!
Posted by floatingbridge on March 11, 2010, at 18:33:22
In reply to Psychiatric illness, posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:28:12
Sounds like an except from a bad parenting manual--what happens to permissive slaveholders.
Treatment seems to be your basic breaking of the spirit or psyche. Governments have been working on these techniques for centuries.
Also reminds me of a variant on history being written by the victors.
Oh well.
Posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 18:55:36
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness, posted by ed_uk2010 on March 11, 2010, at 16:59:32
>And what, Sigi, is the treatment for this disorder?!
No prizes if you have to ask.
But apparently a good whipping.
Posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 19:01:37
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » ed_uk2010, posted by Deneb on March 11, 2010, at 18:32:46
>the cure was to whip them into submission!
It was probably very effective.
At Port Arthur in Tasmania there are the remains of a pretty nasty penal system. It's a particularly beautiful place and the buildings are lovely sandstone, as military buildings often are. In one you can go into the punishment cells. They would put convicts in total quiet and darkness for 6 months or so with food added and human waste taken out without violating the therapeutic power of the quiet and dark. People would emerge from there changed men. This was seen as an ethical advance, which perhaps it was. We seem to have seen constant ethical progress for generations on end.
Posted by obsidian on March 11, 2010, at 22:04:10
In reply to Psychiatric illness, posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:28:12
someone just mentioned that the other day...it was a clear example of how culture and the times influence our view of what constitutes "mental illness"
it was such a ridiculous idea
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 3:10:24
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » sigismund, posted by obsidian on March 11, 2010, at 22:04:10
>it was such a ridiculous idea
But maybe not for you.
I was thinking you might profit from this illness, though not of course from the cure.(Did Robert Frost believe in slavery? Where did I pick that up from? Aristotle did.)
below our room there is a kindergarten or preschool or something. We hear the Vietnamese kids chanting things from time to time. When I was at school we'd line up in front of the flag and say with hand on heart
I am an Australian
I love my country
I salute the flag
I honour the Queen
I will obey the lawsWhat these kids do sounds like Huey, Louey and Dewie quacking
Old Macdonald had a farm
E I E I Oexcpet that they are probably repeating
Ho Chi Minhs Five Teachings
Love your country and love your fellow countrymen
Study hard and work hard
Be united and disciplined
Be tidy and clean
Be honest modest and courageous.I prefer Ho Chi Minh's to ours, but I'm stumped when it comes to 'Be united'.
Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that Asians do not think it appropriate to show anger?
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 5:18:59
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » obsidian, posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 3:10:24
Maybe united means what Dinah saw with the Vietnamese community in NO after the hurricane?
Like people doing things together rather than putting each other down?
There was a fire in one of the laneways we walk down and a couple of houses with everything in them were destroyed.
Three days later it's almost all rebuilt.
Perhaps they teach each other on the job?In Australia it would take a month to get a demolition order.
My wife was sick. In one hour we went to a doctor (sent to the top of the queue, admittedly), went up the road to get an ultrasound (almost delayed because of a power failure), went back to the doctor, got a prescription, went to the chemist, and got it all done in one hour and for $20 all up. In Australia that would take you one or maybe two weeks.
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 5:39:29
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness, posted by rnny on March 11, 2010, at 16:39:10
Unfortunately in Australia ADHD is not considered a mental illness the solution to which is amphetamine, except by practitioners without a sense of irony. Any doctor I see would laugh that out of the room. They might agree to bodgie it up if they thought it was for the greater good.
What about the DSM thing for depression? What is it? More than two weeks of depressed mood? It makes me think of that Pole who worked in the railways on the way to Treblinka and counted the transported Jews for the Polish resistance (1,200,000). He said the felt depressed and sex was out of the question. Viagra?
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 5:44:47
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on March 11, 2010, at 18:33:22
>Governments have been working on these techniques for centuries.
Yes.
They seem to feel it's a burden they shoulder for the public good.
Posted by floatingbridge on March 12, 2010, at 9:46:06
In reply to United, posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 5:18:59
What is this NO you mention after the hurricane? Which hurricane?
Posted by ed_uk2010 on March 12, 2010, at 17:25:00
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » rnny, posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 5:39:29
> Unfortunately in Australia ADHD is not considered a mental illness the solution to which is amphetamine, except by practitioners without a sense of irony. Any doctor I see would laugh that out of the room.
Sigi, what is the general attitude to ADHD in Australia? (If there is such as thing as a general attitude.)
PS. Should the fullstop go after the bracket or vice versa? I believe you are the best person to ask.
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 20:33:43
In reply to Re: United » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on March 12, 2010, at 9:46:06
>What is this NO you mention after the hurricane? Which hurricane?
Oh, I thought it would be clear to you.
New Orleans, and Hurricane Katrina (it was, wasn't it?)
Posted by floatingbridge on March 12, 2010, at 20:40:57
In reply to Re: United » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 20:33:43
Oh. We're fairly media free--well, there is this computer-thing I have.... I thought you referenced Katrina, but still don't now about the NO. I can find out, though.
Thanks!
> >What is this NO you mention after the hurricane? Which hurricane?
>
> Oh, I thought it would be clear to you.
>
> New Orleans, and Hurricane Katrina (it was, wasn't it?)
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 20:47:04
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness, posted by ed_uk2010 on March 12, 2010, at 17:25:00
My shrink said that he would be prepared to provide a diagnosis of ADHD *if* he felt it would be to the patient's benefit. I don't think he has any faith in the diagnosis as such.
I think it's much the same as with you, except I wonder if our attitude is a little more generous? Some British doctors of my acquaintance seem somewhat punitive. Then again, I live in one of those trendy sceptical areas.
I have heard of people learning the symptoms and getting the diagnosis, though I didn't have the stomach for that.
And I can't possibly go to a doctor and say some crap like 'I have comorbid ADHD and OCD, requiring something nice'.
There was a case up north where some kids shared their Ritalin and were incautious enough to take handfuls and had to be carted off to the local hospital foaming at the mouth.
In the streets here when we arrived in Tet there were lots of photocopied US$100 bills being burned in front of joss sticks and little shrines. The money is spiritually transported to the souls of the departed awaiting reincarnation, whether to buy their way up the ladder or to provided for their needs, I'm not sure. As above, so below, I guess.
Humans are very interesting.
We went to church last Sunday and found the cathedral full of young people, as it would not be at home. There was some kind of plainsong catechism lasting an hour before the Mass started. I found it very moving. Not so long ago, maybe from 1975 to 1990, it would have been an act of defiance of the regime, I think.
Posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 21:07:00
In reply to Re: United » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on March 12, 2010, at 20:40:57
>Oh. We're fairly media free-
I hadn't thought that possible being a political junkie, but on the way over we came across an Irishman who was a carpenter. Because of the downturn he traveled the world looking exclusively for birds (avians). He was interested in little else and knew so much about them. India, Vietnam, Australia, Siberia, anywhere...he camped out looking for and recognising birds. He hadn't read a newspaper or listened to the news in 6 months.
He had a theory about Australians. He said they came in 2 types....either as dry as possible (some national competition to be so) or as the drinking sporty sort.
Posted by floatingbridge on March 12, 2010, at 21:12:39
In reply to Re: United » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 21:07:00
Posted by ed_uk2010 on March 13, 2010, at 10:31:05
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » ed_uk2010, posted by sigismund on March 12, 2010, at 20:47:04
Perhaps something like the Miserere mei by Gregorio Allegri. Click on the video to watch.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn39RzlhSao&feature=related
> We went to church last Sunday and found the cathedral full of young people, as it would not be at home. There was some kind of plainsong catechism lasting an hour before the Mass started. I found it very moving. Not so long ago, maybe from 1975 to 1990, it would have been an act of defiance of the regime, I think.
Posted by Dinah on March 13, 2010, at 10:45:31
In reply to Re: United » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on March 12, 2010, at 20:40:57
Sigi and I were talking about this.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-30-4013234752_x.htm
United and community seem to be the operative words.
Posted by floatingbridge on March 13, 2010, at 12:04:27
In reply to Re: United » floatingbridge, posted by Dinah on March 13, 2010, at 10:45:31
Especially like the closing sentences.
Posted by Phillipa on March 14, 2010, at 0:09:21
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness, posted by sigismund on March 11, 2010, at 2:32:35
Sigi late here but what about the slave owners and their slave children procreation? I guess it's off topic but did they also beat the women? Phillipa
Posted by sigismund on March 14, 2010, at 8:17:03
In reply to Re: Psychiatric illness » sigismund, posted by Phillipa on March 14, 2010, at 0:09:21
Geez, PJ, I dunno.
You'd know more about that than me.
I do remember the assertion that some slaves were worse off when slavery ended.
Something similar may have happened in Australia when the decision was made to give Aboriginal people equal pay.
This led to their eviction from the properties on which they camped and their survival and demoralisation on welfare and too much drink.Every Sunday night in Dalat they close off the streets leading to the main squares on the top and kids come out with their toys, scooters and things I don't know the names of, and the older boys gather in circles and kick something like a shuttlecock around with fancy moves, and other kids practice breakdancing. And nobody is drunk. It was very beautiful. This happens in our town at New Years Eve, but it is quite different, because it is a commercial event and everybody is legless. Here it felt like a statement that people are more important than things, even if that is so rarely true.
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