Psycho?

[EmpNapoleon]

Does anyone here consider themselves free from all modern psychological disorders?

Here is a list of them: http://www.mental-health-matters.com/disorders/list_alpha.php

To me, anxiety is far from a disorder.  If overcome, it was there to stimulate.

"Depersonalization Disorder is when a person looks at themselves from the outside, and observes their own physical actions or mental processes as if they were an observer instead of themselves."  This is the origin of philosophy and even the idea of "action." 

Dissociative Identity Disorder makes me think of the advice Andre Gide gives in his Fruits of the Earth: don't act like yourself; don't recognize yourself from one moment to the next.  Again, this can make one stronger.

Is a (theoretically) perfect modern person one who does not show symptoms of any disorder on this list?  That might be an animal. 

[Kullervo]

Aww, I thought this was about the movie.

[MishaK]

Does anyone here consider themselves free from all modern psychological disorders?

He who so considers him/herself is just unaware.

[Kiddiarni]

Nowadays (at least in Iceland), children are not dumb, they're dyslexic.  There's also not the possibility of children being naughty, that is, generally misbehaving, they have ADHD and are given Ritalin.

I don't really think that people can use psychological to justify everything, and just as you pointed out, I wouldn't categorize anxiety as a disorder, more of a temporary (sometimes) uncomfortable feeling, that acts like a stimulant.

[EmpNapoleon]

I would think that at least one person at the GMG would say that they don't qualify for any "psychological disorders."

Psychology loves its research more than anything.  At heart, everyone is a psychologist (everyone tries to understanding the logos of the psyche), and I think sometimes that a little girl's observation of me could be more insightful than a psychologist's concept.

Researchers made psychology scientific at the expense of philosophy and aesthetics.  It's not fun.  And the therapist doesn't know whether to be a coach, a priest, and example, a doctor, a friend, an enemy, a family member, a hopeful motivator, etc. 

They need to start thinking about what being psychologically ordered is.  There are no ethics there.  But true honesty (naked without concepts) is frightful to some of the sick.

OMensch, your right in saying that everyone here carries one of these thousand burdens.  Kiddiarni, your also right in saying that these burdens aren't justified just because they're categorized as such by psychologists and researchers.

We have so many silly things to overcome that we'll die before half of them are ameliorated.  Hopefully I just speak for myself.

[karlhenning]

Does anyone here consider themselves free from all modern psychological disorders?

He who so considers him/herself is just unaware.

Does that mean, there is no such condition as [freedom from all modern psychological disorders]?

[Boris_G]

Aww, I thought this was about the movie.

Me too. 

[karlhenning]

Nurse Ratchet wants a word with you, Boris.

[Boris_G]

Nurse Ratchet wants a word with you, Boris.

Wrong movie, but a good one! 

[EmpNapoleon]

The earth's bipolar,
What a disorder.

[MishaK]

Does that mean, there is no such condition as [freedom from all modern psychological disorders]?

It's a question of degree. Absolute freedom doesn't exist in any human realm.

[Scriptavolant]

I suffer from a mild schizoid personality disorder.

[Choo Choo]

I think it depends whether you define psychological "health" as:

(a) an ideal of perfection, against we all are measured as deficient to a greater or less extent; or

(b) a dividing line (broadly) separating the normal from the abnormal (these being relative terms and very vaguely defined.)

Actually I think there are only a couple of GMG members who, judged by their postings here, unequivocally fail by *both* these definitions.

[EmpNapoleon]

I've been trying Depersonalization Disorder all day.  As I write this, I'm seeing it as an observer would see it.  Where am I! (lol)

The definition is unbelievable:

"Depersonalization Disorder is when a person looks at themselves from the outside, and observes their own physical actions or mental processes as if they were an observer instead of themselves." 

Isn't that also the definition of psychology?  And the philosophers are "outside" observers to the internal processes also.  I see no disorder in depersonalizing.

[MishaK]

I've been trying Depersonalization Disorder all day.  As I write this, I'm seeing it as an observer would see it.  Where am I! (lol)

The definition is unbelievable:


Isn't that also the definition of psychology?  And the philosophers are "outside" observers to the internal processes also.  I see no disorder in depersonalizing.

You're missing something here. The definition doesn't mean objective self-reflection, but the weird and deeply disconcerting feeling that your body doesn't belong to you. Some drugs (e.g. ketamine) can give you a similar out-of-body experience. BTW, you deleted the far more important part of the definition:

Depersonalization Disorder

Description

Depersonalization Disorder is where a person "looks at themselves from the outside", and observes their own physical actions or mental processes as if they were an observer instead of themselves. This often brings a sense of unreality, and an alteration in the perception of the environment around them, as well as the person fearing they are not in full control of themselves. Depersonalization can occur during a number of different times, and not be a disorder. In order to qualify as a disorder, it must be recurrent to the point that it interferes with daily functioning in at least one major area of life.

[M forever]

I also read that some violent criminals such as some serial killers are like that. They act without emotional involvement but find it "interesting" to "observe" what they are doing. That is a form of involvement, too, obviously, but not emotional in the conventional sense of the word because they don't feel any emotional connection to their victims and they act very calmly and methodically, like somebody taking a radio apart to see what's inside.

[EmpNapoleon]

...the weird and deeply disconcerting feeling that your body doesn't belong to you.

So feeling the absence of body is the matter at hand?  Is that what is meant by the body which doesn't belong to the depersonalized person.  Maybe this is a representation of death.  Then the "affected" person stops partaking in "at least one major area of life."  And it is the job of the therapist to give him or her a sense of hope or some drugs.

...they act very calmly and methodically, like somebody taking a radio apart to see what's inside.

So they're resolute.  The criminal can only suffer from the action after it has taken place.  The action, like all actions, requires execution.  But the body is always there, even when responsibility is hidden in strange ways.

I don't understand that there's a limit of "depersonalization," and if crossed, it steals from other spheres of life.  But I guess there are people with Depersonalization Disorder that stops them from listening to music or having sex.  Every action requires a certain degree of depersonalization, even sustaining depersonlization disorder.  The therapist needs to help the affected de-person become a person, that object he or she knows so well.

[BachQ]

I've found that listening to JS Bach's music helps me with my Disassociative Fugue Disorder ........

[Heather Harrison]

I've always considered myself to be somewhat mad, and I likely have at least mild forms of a few of these disorders.  I haven't gone through the whole list, but "schizoid" fits me remarkably well.

   1.  few, if any, activities, provide pleasure;  Not really the case; I find pleasure in plenty of things
   2. emotional coldness, detachment or flattened affectivity;  Partially true; I don't usually outwardly express emotions, although I do feel them intensely.
   3. limited capacity to express either warm, tender feelings or anger towards others;  See above.
   4. apparent indifference to either praise or criticism;  Partially true.
   5. little interest in having sexual experiences with another person (taking into account age);  True
   6. almost invariable preference for solitary activities;  True
   7. excessive preoccupation with fantasy and introspection;  True, at least for introspection
   8. lack of close friends or confiding relationships (or having only one) and of desire for such relationships;  Partially true
   9. marked insensitivity to prevailing social norms and conventions.  Partially true

I have heard that some professionals don't really consider this to be a true personality disorder, however.  The symptoms above probably just describe an introverted loner, and aren't really pathological unless they are especially extreme.  (But in my case, some of them are rather extreme, so perhaps I qualify as having a disorder.)

I wonder if there is something in the list that would fit an obsessive collector/hoarder of many different types of stuff (including CDs).  If not, there should be.

Heather

[EmpNapoleon]

The symptoms above probably just describe an introverted loner, and aren't really pathological unless they are especially extreme.  (But in my case, some of them are rather extreme, so perhaps I qualify as having a disorder.)

In the definition, "extreme" means "it must be recurrent to the point that it interferes with daily functioning in at least one major area of life."  But the major areas are not listed.  Maybe psychologists think they're obvious to anyone with common sense. Anyways, something becomes a disorder when it "interferes" with ordinary things.  That's why I think I'm half-retarded instead of "disfunctional" or "disordered," or better that I lack discipline.  But I don't know of any great people who don't fall into a category of psychological disorders (not that I will ever become great, or that I have a psychological disorder).  Even that old god Apollo, the perfect individual who always hits the mark, is a prey to madness in some myths.