AU Blogspot

            Thanks to Russell Lichter for pemission to use this Photo.

Even today, tuberculosis remains a fearsome disease with an uncertain outcome. How much more frightening must it have seemed in 1892 after an epidemic of tuberculosis struck the Rhode Island town of Exeter? Despite the fact that the deaths were limited to a single family, the possibility of it spreading seemed very real to the people of the region. Following the deaths of Mary Eliza Brown and her daughter, Mary Olive in 1883, the two surviving children seemed to be spared for a time. When Mercy Lena Brown suddenly died in January, 1892 and her brother Edwin began to sicken as well, the patriarch of the family, George T. Brown, became desperate for any solution to save his only surviving child. True treatment for tuberculosis would not be available for decades and all that he had to rely upon were the folk remedies that his neighbours suggested. 

History does not record who first proposed exhuming the deceased members of the family and burning the heart of the relative that seemed most likely to be responsible for the deaths. The word “vampire” was never actually used in this case but the rural residents of the area had a longstanding tradition of burning the heart of those deemed to have died an “unnatural” death to cure unexplained illness. Since Mercy Brown was only recently deceased and her body was still well-preserved by the cold weather, she was judged to be the guilty party by virtue of the liquid blood that was still in her heart. Although the medical examiner in attendance, Dr. Harold Metcalf, insisted that there was nothing remarkable about Mercy’s condition, her heart was removed and burned on a nearby rock. The ashes were then saved and placed in water for her brother Edwin to drink (his reaction to this “remedy” is not recorded). Sadly, Edwin still died some time later although the epidemic ended with him. Local tradition still holds that Mercy’s exhumation and the disposal of her heart still “took care of the problem” and laid her spirit to rest.

Folklore surrounding vampires varies from region to region but there are still some common elements to be found in many cultures. While legends of undead creatures that feed on the living seem fantastic by modern standards, hysteria surrounding supposed vampire attacks can still occur today. (more…)

                             Image courtesy of storyspinn. 

Recently I was contacted by an associate producer from the Dr. Phil show. Are they seeing if I’d be a good guest? It certainly appears like that’s a possibility. So, in addition to getting some very desperately needed help from Dr. Phil and his team, I may one day soon be able to give my bastion of loyal readers a quasi-insider’s view of the show and its’ process. All I can say is, pray for me, and, for now, enjoy this correspondence, edited, of course, for privacy reasons: (more…)

                          Thanks to Karen Geiger for permission to use this Photo.

I really enjoyed Seth Woolf’s response to Deb’s solid commentary on his previous post. Since we don’t yet have our comments section clearly displayed on this blog, I’ve posted this conversation as an original post for everyone to see and engage. What are your thoughts?

From Deb: 

Dear Sir — I believe you have missed the point of what Dr. Phil has been trying to achieve. As young people, typically all of us do not realize the consequences of actions. I can indicate to you that as a owner of a company, these kind of posting would stop me from hiring an individual, no so much as their right to participate in such activity, but in that the judgment of said individual is not who I want representing my company. In short…it is that simple and professionally said individuals are limiting their options later in life, as they age and realize that childhood was not meant for public display. 

From Seth: 

It is perhaps true that I have “missed the point of what Dr. Phil has been trying to achieve” but, if so, it is because I find his aims pointless. I simply feel the cause and effect of this situation has been confused. If employers look down on such technological behavior and confessionalism, I think it says more about their own bourgeoise biases, and less about the quality of the candidates. More importantly, I would also like to counter your claim that “As young people, typically all of us do not realize the consequences of our actions.” This is a sweeping statement about young people, one which I do not follow. For one, I don’t see “young people” as a definable, homogeneous group. I’m 22, am I a young person? What about a twelve year old in Auswitz? What about an eighty year old with the mental capacities of a person one tenth his or her age? Is it for individuals to decide, society, or who? Similarly, I don’t see how a person, regardless of age, could realize all the consequences of his or her actions. Everyone, again regardless of age, must simply act with what information they have at a given moment. (more…)

              Thanks to Todd Ehlers for permission to use this Photo.

It is likely that many diverse factors have contributed to the current obesity epidemic. Fast food, less activity, trans fats, viruses, big portions, and so on have all been blamed for our increasing waistlines. The more we understand the phenomenon, the better equipped we are to deal with it.

Adina Lemeshow and her colleagues have added a new consideration–social status [1]. Teen girls were asked to rate themselves on a ten point social standing scale, with 10 representing people with the most respect and highest standing and a 1 representing people “no one wants to hang around with.” Girls who rated themselves less than 5 were 69 percent more likely to experience a two unit or more increase in BMI over the following two years, even after other factors such as socioeconomic status, TV viewing habits, mother’s BMI, and depression were controlled. (more…)

 
                 Thanks to Erwan for permission to use this Photo.

After William Enman escaped from the New Jersey psychiatric hospital where he had been serving his sentence, he sent a letter to the governor and hospital CEO protesting that he had earned the right to sign himself out. The 64-year old patient has been serving a sentence for a brutal double-murder hat he had committed in 1974. Although diagnosed as schizophrenic, he has consistently denied the diagnosis and refused to comply with psychiatric treatment. Enman’s September 9, 2007 escape from Ancora Psychiatric Hospital sparked a nation-wide manhunt although he was recaptured without incident 48 hours later. After his rearrest, he stated that he had escaped the hospital to “clear my mind” and that he needed to “get away” from his drug problem. In his letter, he stated that he had “maxed out” the time that he had spent in hospital and was entitled to leave.

In the decades since he was first imprisoned for the brutal bludgeoning deaths of a man and his young son, Enman has committed numerous infractions including having contraband weapons being found in his cell and placing his hands around the throat of his then-wife in 2003. (more…)

               Thanks to Angel Schatz for permission to use this Photo.

Answer the following questions, and don’t look at the next until you answer the previous: 

Does depression in kids raise their risk of violence? 

If a kid is violent, is it more or less likely they are depressed? 

If someone is depressed and violent, is it likely they are a kid? 

Can you define any of the nouns in the preceding questions? 

In a study called Perceived Dangerousness of Children With Mental Health Problems and Support for Coerced Treatment the perceptions of 1100 members of the public were evaluated, finding: 

“Children… with major depression were perceived (by 81% of the sample) as somewhat likely or very likely to be dangerous to themselves or others, compared with children with asthma (15%) or those with “daily troubles” (13%).”
and, later: 

“…compared with the child with “daily troubles,” the vignette child with depression was more than twice as likely to be assessed as dangerous toward others and ten times as likely to be assessed as dangerous toward himself or herself.”

Now, you lose no money assuming the public at large merely guess at probabilities.  So what they think may be right, wrong, both– who knows.  But whatever they think, it’s probably important to quote them correctly:

“The issue that was highlighted by this study that was really concerning to us was that Americans have linked depression in youth and violence, particularly violence towards others,” said Dr. Pescosolido [”distinguished professor of sociology, Indiana University.”] [emphasis mine, but, face it, really theirs.]

Well, no, that’s not what the public thinks, at least according to your study.  They think that depression leads to violence against themselves, and maybe towards others.  Only 9% thought violence towards others was very likely.  The majority thought violence towards others was not likely.  Right? (more…)

              Thanks to Jon Nicholls for permission to use this Photo.

After receiving approval from the Catholic Church, a new centre is scheduled to be opened in the Polish town of Poczernin near the German border to provide exorcisms for those believing themselves to be possessed. Andrzej Trojanowski, an academic chaplain who has been working in the nearby town of Szczeczin for the past five years, will be directing the centre. Father Trojanowski is reported to have dealt with twenty cases a week in his former position. While there are currently fifty exorcists operating in Poland, the centre will be the first of its kind in that country. The new centre is also expected to draw potential clients from Germany due to the lack of exorcists in that country. Reports indicate that the centre will be built as a retreat house with a chapel, guest rooms and clinical facilities for the psychiatrist who has been working with Father Trojanowski.

After a long decline throughout most of the twentieth century, demand for exorcisms began to make a comeback in the 1960s (partially spurred by movies such as The Exorcist). (more…)

 
               Thanks to Chris Gladis for permission to use this Photo.

Psychology studies that rely on deceiving participants have shown we often have little clue what’s going on in our own minds. But what about in everyday situations where trickery isn’t involved?

Here are four everyday situations - shopping, reading, watching TV and judging other people - and four experiments that show how little we know in each situation about what’s really going on in our minds (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977).

Shopping

For this study researchers set themselves up in a mall pretending to carry out a consumer survey on nightgowns and nylon stockings. Passersby were asked to evaluate what they were told were four different nightgowns and four different pairs of stockings. In fact, all four items were identical.

Quite by accident they discovered a positional effect for the identical goods: people seemed to prefer the item that was on the far right. In fact this effect was really obvious for the stockings. The right-most pair, although identical to the left-most was preferred by a factor of four to one.

When asked why they had chosen a particular item, no one mentioned its position. Even when experimenters suggested to people that the position might have an effect, most participants looked at best very confused and at worst utterly dismissive.

Result: these people didn’t have a clue why they preferred one identical pair of stockings over another.

Reading

In this study participants read a passage from the novel ‘Rabbit, Run’ by John Updike. The extract from the book involves an emotionally charged scene in which an alcoholic mother, while washing her baby in the bath, accidentally drowns and kills her.

Click here to read the rest of this entry… 

 
             Thanks to Mary Streepy for permission to use this Photo.

While spirit mediums and trance channellers come and go, there has never been anyone else quite like Catherine Elise Muller (more commonly known as Helene Smith). Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1861, Catherine`s father was a Hungarian merchant with a talent for learning languages and her mother was prone to seeing “visions“. From an early age, Catherine had a vivid imagination and extremely intense daydreams. She would tell her parents of her visions of brightly coloured landscapes, bizarre images, and bright lights and openly speculated about being a changeling. It was in 1891 that she was first introduced to Spiritualism and quickly showed a remarkable talent for automatic writing. She also showed a knack for mediumship and communicated with different spirits (including the ghost of Victor Hugo). Table-tipping, spirit writing, clairvoyance, Catherine did it all. Her spirit guide, Count Cagliostro (more commonly known as “Leopold“) acted through her body and she claimed not to remember anything that occurred while she was in one of her trances . Surprisingly, Catherine never charged for her séances and supported herself as a shop-worker despite her growing fame throughout Geneva.

(more…)

 
              Thanks to Jordan Garn for permission to use this Photo.

I have never liked the term “learning disability,” preferring instead to use the term “learning difference.” Is this just more PC-speak? It seems to me that the identification of somebody as “learning disabled” is rather arbitrary. We don’t refer to people as “athletically disabled” or “musically disabled,” and send them to remedial classes. A literate culture cares a lot about verbal and mathematical skills, but in other realities, these talents might not count for much. Should we ever be so stupid as to bomb ourselves, my guess is that the Hell’s Angel is more likely to survive the new world order than the accountant.

We know that many serious conditions have compensatory aspects that keep them in the population, such as the protection from malaria that is the flip side of sickle cell anemia, or the creativity that seems to correlate with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Obviously, not all conditions have such benefits, but it is interesting to consider the ones that do.

Having spent a lot of time with my two favorite people with dyslexia, Mr. F and Karen, I was always dazzled by what they did well. Yes, writing was a struggle, especially for Karen, whose love of public relations plopped her in some exceedingly challenging reporting classes in the journalism departments of her universities. No spell check on lab work? Catastrophe! But these struggles were always offset by some amazing creativity. Karen just had her first-year research project accepted for presentation at the prestigious International Public Relations Conference …do I sound like a proud Mom or what? (more…)