Northern Overexposure
  • Home
  • Musical Interludes
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

Mass Hysteria in New York

2/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Fascinating story of girls in New York who have come down with Parkinson like diseases. Psychiatrists have diagnosed this as conversion disorder or mass hysteria. Listen to the Current on CBC and this article. Mass Hysteria in Upstate New York.

This says a lot about the power of the mind and reinforces the mind/body connection in medicine and psychology that is not always embraced in terms of therapeutics. While I don't think we should all become scientologists, this story has some important implications for how we approach treatment of all manner of diseases and the impact our attitudes and beliefs can have on our healing.

I expect that there will be concerns from feminists that will suggest that stories such as this reinforce old stereotypes of women as prone to histrionics (it is good to pause on the etymology of that term). However, the fact remains that women access health care more frequently than men and they are more likely to be prescribed anti-depressants which is a different although related issues.

Still, the take-away for me relates to the mind/body connection.


Mass Hysteria in New York.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    My Pensées

    The title of this blog is an allusion to the famous work of Blaise Pascal.  This blog represents the variety of my interests and thoughts on any given day and are  strung together, like Pascal's Pensees, in no particular order. I work in the field of mental health,  education, and human rights. I write and am a human rights advocate. I enjoy poetry, jazz, spirituality, politics and a potpourri of other interests that you will see reflected in this blog.

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.