I don't think I have ever written to a TV show with a comment, but part of this entry comes from an email I wrote to the PBS show NOVA after seeing this week's show on the well preserved bodies found in peat bogs. I love this kind of thing.
There will always be puzzles about them. Many other culture's had peculiar ritual killings as well as just plain old murder. But, it has always bothered me, that so many things assumed about ancient cultures, are supposed to do with the harvest, or religion, or pleasing angry gods or kings, or fertility, or warfare between neighboring rivals. Sometimes, can't it be something more simple? A mentally ill person would live in close contact with the members of the smaller communities of ancient times, and their behavior would have been very scary.
When possible theories about who these bog people were and why they were killed are postulated, one that is not mentioned is schizophrenia.
In our time, we have medication to help people with such conditions, but they still suffer, just not as horribly. Imagine the places they may have held in ancient societies. I can't even imagine the former, goode people of Salem, MA seeing it as something purely blameless and physiological.
It is truly awesome and frightening to witness the manifestations of schizophrenia. Some of the speech can seem prophetic, or rebuke the religious ideas of the community; foretell of attacks from "others"; hearing voices that could be interpreted as coming from good or bad spirits, etc.. They were probably revered in few cultures and persecuted in most.
When they were saying that the bog people were well fed, but their nails showed little evidence of manual work, high status was given as a possible reason; but think, also, an insane person would not be able to manage manual labor either. Perhaps they had family members that loved and cared for these difficult people, who might have been among the first in line to be sacrificed or culled from the community.
There is probably no way to tell yet, from DNA, or any other evidence, if it was a factor. But a burial, away from the other people, and in the bog, may have signified that the person might have been thought to possess an evil spirit, that did not belong among the living or the normal dead.
I would love to know more about the beliefs of ancient groups, trying to make sense of the transformation of a previously rational and intellegent person, when they became schizophrenic, and how they were treated.
I would love to know more about the beliefs of ancient groups, trying to make sense of the transformation of a previously rational and intellegent person, when they became schizophrenic, and how they were treated.
ReplyDeleteIt's my understanding that it's only in the west that the term "schizophrenia" has such a negative connotation. Among tribal cultures, those who could experience altered states of consciousness were often considered to be gifted in some manner -- even a blessing to their community. It remains a bit of a curiosity that even today, those diagnosed with schizophrenia in developing countries enjoy a higher recovery rate than those who develop schizophrenia in the west.
Meantime, here's one excellent resource you could start with: When the Dream Becomes Real which addresses a historical aspect of schizophrenia.
You may also enjoy the article that follows that one: An Interview With John Weir Perry. This article relates to contemporary approaches to schizophrenia.
If you wish to know more about modern-day schizophrenia, you are welcome to work your way through my blog.
Fancy --
ReplyDeleteI've just read through a bit more of your blog and realized that your eldest son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. That being the case, you should be aware that I've not had any form of medication nor formal therapy for my own psychotic break. By all apparent measures, I am well.
I've occasionally been branded as "anti-psychiatry" as a result of my experience, but I'm not really -- I'm merely "highly-selective" psychiatry, and will quote quite happily from a range of clinicians whom I found personally helpful.
Nonetheless, I've been told by at least one mother of a schizophrenic that she "hated people like me" by which she meant, "people who get well without medication or therapy" so I'm inclined to approach other mothers with a bit more caution.
I will agree that schizophrenia is a baffling and often tragic disorder with a wide range of causes. For the record, I'm not opposed to medication for numerous people have found it to be enormously helpful. Nonetheless, since my own experience was medication free, I've tended to seek out clinicians who can provide insights in that vein.
You'll probably feel more comfortable knowing the above before you read anything in my blog, if you choose to read it at all.
Thank you for your interest, and links. As you know schizophrenia is not "one size fits all". It is a spectrum.
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky that you are able to function since your psychotic break. I had an LSD induced break 36 years ago, prompting me to study almost all of what you have listed on your blog.
I found that the philosophies and teachings of other people while interesting, were not healing. But, if it helps someone else, that's great.
I think many bouts of psychosis may be transitory and happen only once in a person's life. Stress may trigger additional breaks.
But, at the other end of the psychotic spectrum, talking, reasoning, philosophy, love, yoga, kind caring people, etc.. are incomprehensible to the person and do nothing to end the psychosis. The person in the altered state can not reason or pray his way out, back to sanity.
I can tell from your ability to string words together in a sentence, that you are not experiencing a deep schizophrenic episode. My son can only do that when he is on his medication, and even then he teeters on a thin edge.
No one labeled him schizophrenic. He is schizophrenic. It happens.
My interest is in prehistoric schizophrenia, and would pre-date your sources. I think the answers are lost to time.
I think many bouts of psychosis may be transitory and happen only once in a person's life. Stress may trigger additional breaks.
ReplyDeleteYes, stress, trauma, and multiple losses over a short period of time played a significant role in my own psychotic break. It's my opinion that each event resulted in the stripping away of personal identity until finally, there just wasn't enough left to stand. That sense of identity, along with it's accompanying ego boundaries, collapsed.
Unless there is some common factor between my experience and your son's, there's not likely to be anything on my blog that will contain much of interest to you. Ultimately, the treatment that is most effective is not the one that someone says should or could work -- it's the one that does.
Meanwhile, I see your son has recently entered college once more. I can only presume he is getting well in his own way. I wish you and yours all the best.
PS: I checked out your son's artwork. I think it's quite stunning. I also noted in an earlier post you'd made that he'd begun working -- good for him. Nonetheless, given his artistic talents, perhaps the area he should be working in is the arts.
ReplyDeleteMeantime, here's a little something from the "Peaceful Respites" area of my blog. I thought you might enjoy it.
Seven Wonders
It was pretty, thanks.
ReplyDeleteRe: Son working:
It lasted only a couple of weeks each for the 2 jobs. Driving also lasted about that long.
Re: Back to college:
He's having a tough time adjusting to the change in surroundings, schedule, expectations, people, etc..
He has dropped his class load to fewer hours to help reduce his stress.
He does not have to go to school at all. It is no way a requirement for anyone. He just has such a hungry mind, and wants contact with peers. A lady, to keep him loved, would be a nice perk.
He can quit school if he wants, but I really think that he won't. In times of panic, he does not want to be there. He just wants to come home and write.
If he calls we drop everything and respond, bring him home. I even offered to sleep in the spare bed a couple of nights a week if he wants the company.
In his spare time he is illustrating a child's story I accidently wrote. There is no deadline, so he can fiddle with an illustration for as long as he wants. Or put it off indefinitely. There is no artist on this earth that could match them for orignality. I laugh/cry at their beauty. I hope to share the completed project someday.