Crazy Like U.S.--How America has globalized the mind and mental illness

[darksumomo]

Some of you know that one of my hobbies is studying how abnormal psychology is expressed on the Internet. A few of you even share that hobby with me. One of the things that has struck me is how stereotypical some abnormal behaviors are; different people act in similar ways and say very similar mistakes, even repeating mistakes and delusions made by

Comments

[etrangere]

wow, fascinating.

[darksumomo]

It is, isn't it? Imagine, while mental illness as a form of brain disfunction may not be infectious, its expression can be. In other words, a particular mental illness is a meme!

BTW, love your icon--very appropriate for this post.

[underlankers]

Actually, it fits in perfectly with the broader trend to imperialism. As the dominant cultures spread so does their thought-pattern. With the spread of any culture comes its linguistic, religious, and socioeconomic milieu, and mental illness is a big part of that. For with the spread of the benefit of each society comes also the spread of its curses.

[overlord_mordax]

Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting read; and I agree!

I'll have to pass it on to my psychologist friend.

[underlankers]

Wow.

So is this a good thing or a bad thing? O.o

[jizai]

I'd say good in that people with mental health problems will get appropriate treatment (10-15 years ago in Japan, Psychology was pretty much taboo or nonexistent) ... but the drawback is overmedicating or medicating people who don't need it at all.

[underlankers]

The problem comes when you consider that dislocation has been a long-standing byproduct of Modernity that is not talked about much beyond academic circles. Societies can only take so much disruption and modern times have brought much larger-scale chaos than has previously been seen. And the implications of this as well is that the global spread of madness on the Western model is far from a good thing.

[darksumomo]

I've been wondering how to introduce you two, as you're both 20-somethings from Louisiana. I see you've managed to do it yourselves.

[wombat_socho]

I wonder if it's less a matter of our culture spreading these things and more a question of Internet use selecting/being a marker for individuals prone to these problems.

[underlankers]

I dunno. At one point epilepsy was considered a disease granted by the gods, and in the case of the Graeco-Romans it is known that they considered it a blessing from Poseidon. Then the Medieval inheritors of that world saw it as the work of demons. Culture does determine the madness.....

[wombat_socho]

Yes, I remember seeing this referenced in the War World novels; one of the main characters suffers from "the falling sickness" and is considered a prophet because of the associated visions. Epilepsy and schizophrenia also get an extended treatment in The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes, which is a fascinating book.

[underlankers]

Indeed. It is worth noting that the Christians at least interpret it as demonic, given that Jesus is recorded as exorcising an epileptic.....

[ankh_f_n_khonsu]

On the one hand I agree with the overall thrust of their argument, but on the other I find it a little silly and narcisistic. I think maybe they're referencing the anglicization of acadamia in general, rather than psychiatry in isolation.

[underlankers]

Let's be honest-when bona fide Universities that arise from a very closely related (and even arguably the other half of Western civilization) culture (Madrassas) are damned as Evil, there ain't much hope.