The Trauma Theory of Mental Illness: Was Freud Right? DawnGurl: Let me quote from Scientific American magazine: Many people continue to assume that serious problems such as hallucinations and delusional beliefs are quintessentially biological in origin, but we now have considerable evidence that traumatic childhood experiences (poverty, abuse, etc.) are associated with later psychotic experiences. There is an almost knee-jerk assumption that suicide, for instance, is a consequence of an underlying illness, explicable only in biological terms. But this contrasts with the observation that the recent economic recession has had a direct impact on suicide rates, a rather dramatic (and sad) example of how social factors impact on our mental health. This is exactly what Dr Freud postulated over 100 years ago. Is it true? Are we over medicating mental illness when we should be looking at exciting causes instead? Lets hear your views. DawnGurl: I always thought that many aspects of his psychology were right on target. His obviously sexist stance nothwithstanding, he was brilliant. He was a product of Victorian Europe like everyone else was, hence his sexist views are understandable...imho.  leechmaster21: No one's perfect or infallible. I have a theory of fluctuating intelligence throughout the day. Depending on factors such as sleep, nutrition etc. So smart people can say/do stupid things. Although most likely at much lower frequencies. (Post deleted by deezsounds )  Blackshoes: I agree with a number of things within the video ,I will say this ",Many of medication do work and help a great number of patients ..  robertbatchelor: In my case Frued was wrong. My life has been a mix up the day I was born. I never knew the good life. I cannot say what is normal other than looking at people different to me. The trauma idea I see as possible like evolution may well be possible. I cannot see help . Going to a Doctor is weird as they say forget about the past as if LIFE contains the problem. DAMN I am the problem not life. robertbatchelor: Mental health DEPRESSION can be based on being GAY. but few agree but look at the suicides then ask yourself. Being born with some issue is DEPRESSING .. This is a problem shrinks cannot answer . We may need to educate the mental health people get GALILEO in lol. robertbatchelor: Trued was only on a theory that some thing happened in your childhood. When you were born a little mixed up.  wabisabiwayolife: I disagree with Freud's theories. What's really the root of the problem is this. If a person is assaulted, whether in youth or teenage years, like everything else in life, gossip flies around the world. A person is then labeled and targeted and often re-assaulted later on in life, which we know, assault causes PTSD. A huge factor of PTSD is insomnia. I don't care whom you are, victim of a violent crime, or otherwise, if you go four to five days only having 1-4 hours of sleep a night for four days or more, guess what? You're going to experience symptoms of psychosis. In mho, medication is not the answer. Yet, how do you stop people from spreading gossip? Just because a person was abused, in youth or in later years, does not make them mentally ill, it means they were the victim. People can heal, get over it, move on, what re-triggers them is other people nosing about, spreading rumors and re-victimizing them. Point blank. People need to learn to leave others alone and stay out of their personal lives. robertbatchelor: Child abuse often does not ruin their life at all. My life is a problem because I was born like I am. Get with it. Freud was a TWIT . wabisabiwayolife: The real problem, is that on sites such as this, and other chat rooms, it's an open range of the lovely 'troll'. Who these people are, or how they apparently dig up information on you, is absolutely retarded. I have screenshots of hundreds of Private messages I'm sent every time I log into a chat site, and the conversation 8 times out of 10 goes to some perceived information that was apparently obtained from elsewhere. The amount of online harassment in these sites is RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!! I have been called everything but a white woman, threatened to be murdered, have had some idiot total my car going 110 km an hour, and have been spit on, and harassed in real life, based on crap trolls have seemingly collected about me. I'm working on gaining enough physical proof to prove, that this whole method of social chat, is not only down right dangerous, but complete garbage. robertbatchelor: Mental health is of the MIND. Do not try to change what is not of the MIND. Like deciding tp be GAY ?  Zanjan: There's such a wide range of mental illness, it's not possible to stick it into a little pocket and say voila! It's all covered. Any assault to the senses can cause PTSD. Any damage to the body/brain can cause all sorts of collateral physical ailments too, like fibromyalgia. Some people are more prone to damage than others because not everyone is born with a strong intestinal constitution - there's a genetic/biological/familial vulnerably in many folks. If you look into the background of many sociopaths, you'll find they were the children of alcoholics. Parents drank while they were still in the womb and they grew up in a prolonged relationship storm that was so severe, it has its own names. This is why sexual assault can nearly destroy one person yet another can quickly move on saying, at least I'm alive. Another illness is SAD, which deals strictly with the amount of natural light entering the eyes - these people need a lot of extra exposure to light in winter. There are many spiritual diseases, all taking on different forms; when advanced, you can't tell the difference between that and biological mental illness. They're usually subtle, getting worse over time until they reach the point of no return and it doesn't take much to flip over the edge. Shame and hopelessness from broadcast failure can sometimes just be about money/status. Broken hearts often end in suicide or losing the will to live. I'm not a Freud fan........Carl Jung was way better with a wholistic approach. Probably the most interesting reading on this is the series of books on the Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell - great insights into the human spirit and its vulnerability to psychosis. (Edited by Zanjan)  duncan124: Its the Christmas of the psychopaths in the high streets. Which came first the ' Austerity ', the poor decorations or the psychopaths?? Lack of money and trauma always go together, so self-awareness amongst the psychopaths this year is bringing a reaction! robertbatchelor: It is only in the MIND. That is not as simple as it may appear in words. It is not a HABIT to overcome. I wish it was that simple. | Science Chat Room Similar Conversations |
