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.
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.
RSS Feed
