Comments on: Life During Wartime: Can Mental Illness Be a Rational Response?

By: John

John — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 02:02:33 +0000

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

– Catch 22 (1961) by Joseph Heller.

By: David Dobbs

David Dobbs — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:34:11 +0000

Very nicely done.

By: quotes out of context | clusterflock

quotes out of context | clusterflock — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:53:39 +0000

[...] he was heavily involved in organized crime. After all, if you feel threatened with good reason, almost by definition, this isn’t a mental illness. “Then you signed your name in somebody else’s [...]

By: LLM

LLM — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:08:15 +0000

As a person who has been mentally ill for about 60 years and has been diagnosed with “incurable PTSD” I’ll say that in many cases what seems like behavior “outside the norm” is, by definition, a judgement dependent on environment: that is..what’s the “norm?”

What we call PTSD can be seen as a survival strategy and selected-for mechanism that allows an individual to avoid dangerous situations, predators, plants and environments. Imprinted early, this avoidance is a lifelong adaptation of the individual.

Unfortunately, in humans, certain types of ongoing early abuse or other traumatic environments cause permanent changes in the brain that no amount of therapy or drugs can change. Luckily for humans, adult onset PTSD is subject to change. Should it be changed? That decision belongs to the individual.

By: The Crux of PTSD under threat of terrorism « Mind Hacks

The Crux of PTSD under threat of terrorism « Mind Hacks — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:45:16 +0000

[...] got a piece over at Discover Magazine’s new group blog, The Crux, which looks at whether post-traumatic [...]

By: Tim Beauchamp

Tim Beauchamp — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:52:21 +0000

Interesting. Then, by extension, could this treatment be provided prophylacticly in advance of trauma as a way of inoculating someone for PTSD? That type of treatment could reduce the future problems of service personal and civilian populations in war zones.