Topic: Mental Illness - myth or science?
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Thu 12/26/13 07:14 AM
I agree that it is often misdiagnosed or over diagnosed and sometimes the diagnoses are used for nefarious purposes...either to discredit someone or help someone escape responsibility when they should be held accountable.

everyone thinks they are a psychiatrist...as soon as someone does something we don;t understand others will make judgements about their mental fitness (again, especially if they do not conform, or there is a motive to discredit them).

children are diagnosed too frequently and medicated to control them. I have had parents complain about violence in young people who are fine when with me and I'd be more than happy to have them in my home. Have had some of them as guests, actually without even a hint of inappropriate, argumentative, or violent behavior.

so the environment is also a factor as well as nutrition in behavior...to a degree....but a true mental illness is something that is pretty obvious (at least to a professional) and not the same thing as not understanding the differences in others, or the need to learn to communicate and/or control ones emotions (in the context of no threat to self or others).

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Thu 12/26/13 11:46 AM

I agree that it is often misdiagnosed or over diagnosed and sometimes the diagnoses are used for nefarious purposes...either to discredit someone or help someone escape responsibility when they should be held accountable.

everyone thinks they are a psychiatrist...as soon as someone does something we don;t understand others will make judgements about their mental fitness (again, especially if they do not conform, or there is a motive to discredit them).

children are diagnosed too frequently and medicated to control them. I have had parents complain about violence in young people who are fine when with me and I'd be more than happy to have them in my home. Have had some of them as guests, actually without even a hint of inappropriate, argumentative, or violent behavior.

so the environment is also a factor as well as nutrition in behavior...to a degree....but a true mental illness is something that is pretty obvious (at least to a professional) and not the same thing as not understanding the differences in others, or the need to learn to communicate and/or control ones emotions (in the context of no threat to self or others).


^^^Agree whole heartedly !
drinker

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Fri 12/27/13 07:08 PM
Like I said way earlier..I believe the mind is all so powerful. If you believe that something..anything will cure you, then it will.

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Fri 12/27/13 07:43 PM


I met a man who told me that he HAD pancreatic cancer..he told me that his own doctor told him there was nothing they could do for him. This man said today he is cancer free because of the alternative medicine.


Because of altmed? How could he possibly know? He had cancer. He did some altmed thing. Now that cancer is gone.

For all we know, his cancer would be gone anyway. We don't know whether his treatment had anything to do with it.

In order to determine whether treatments like that are actually helping, we need to study large groups of people. When we do, we often find that altmed practices are simply not helping.


Now, is very rare that anyone will survive that kind of cancer, let alone someone who was full of it.


Sure. And those that died after doing the altmed treatment didn't live to tell you that the did the treatment and survived.

I met another woman who was there, she told me that her husband was diagnosed with melanoma and went in for therapy during the early stages and beat it. Melanoma is agressive and rarely do people survive after a year.


Again, correlation is not causation. Did she say what kind of therapy she did?

Personally...and just my opinion.. after what I saw my family memeber go through...never in hell would I ever trust our medical system if I ever developed cancer or any other disease.


This may surprise you, but I wouldn't either! I emphatically and absolutely do not trust 'the medical system'. I never let anyone start any kind of therapy or treatment on me (or a loved one, if I can influence them) without thoroughly researching the situation and the options myself. I seek out the advice and perspectives of other parties.

I think its sad for people like you and I, that we don't have a primary physician that we trust.



Its BIG business to keep us sick and this is not paranoia.


Yes, alternative medicine IS big business. Alternative medicine practitioners do not want us to get better, they want us to stay sick and keep paying for their useless oxygen therapy, etc.





I won't disagree that the cancer may have disapeared on its own..he even said that himself. There has been many cases where peoples cancer just disapeared. Who knows what they did, maybe they watched alot of comedy, maybe they ignored it, maybe they refused to believe they had it..but miracles happen :smile:

PacificStar48's photo
Fri 12/27/13 11:51 PM

INSERTING REMARKS IN CAPITALS TO DEFERENTIATE MY COMMENTS FROM QOTES nOT SHOUTING



As far as knowing the cause of any disease.... I think medical science is lacking too.

Do they REALLY know what causes cancer? If they did, they could cure it or at the very least, prevent it completely.

CANCER SEEMS LIKE A POOR COMPARISON BECAUSE CANCER IS NOT RELATED TO FUNCTIONAL THINKING & BEHAVIOR BUT YES AS IN MANY ILLNESSES WE ARE PART WAY TO IDENTIFICATION, TREATMENT, CURE, AND PREVENTION AS WE ARE WITH MANY MORE MENTAL ILLNESSES, THANKS TO THE "DIANOSITC DIRECTORY" THE OP HAS SUCH HEARTBURN WITH BECAUSE A LABLE ALLOWS US TO ATTEMPT, DIRECT, AND REIMBURSE TREATMENT. bY GETTING 'LABLES WE CAN CLUSTER PATIENTS, CHART PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL AND ENVIROMENTAL FACTORS AND GET MUCH CLOSER TO THE SOLUTION.

The natural condition of spirit is wellness.

DEPENDING HOW YOU DEFINE WELLNESS I TEND TO DISAGREE WITH THE CONCEPT THAT THE NATURAL CONDITION OF THE SPIRIT IS WELLNESS. I THINK THE SPIRIT IS SUBJECT TO MANY INTERVENTIONS FROM WITH IN AND WITHOUT; INCLUDEING DEVINE INTERVENTION.

Any disease then, is probably caused by the mind, not the spirit. And by the mind I don't mean the brain.

So assuming that an individual 'mind' is malfunctioning, what would cause it to do so? I think its electrical, and that there are positive and negative problems that cause things to get unbalanced and out of sync with spirit.

I BELIEVE MIND AND SPIRIT ARE TWO SEPERATE THINGS.

CAN THE MIND BE OUT OF SYNC BECAUSE OF AN ELECTRICAL IMBALANCE BECAUSE THERE IS A CHEMICAL IMBALANCE ? I THINK SO BUT I ALSO THINK CHEMICAL IMBALANCES CAN AND ARE CREATED BY SUPPRESSING A PERSON MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. EVRONMENTAL, GENETIC, TRAUMA TO NAME ONLY A FEW. MANY WE MAY NOT EVEN BE AWARE OF.

SIDELIGHT WHILE THERE IS ALWAYS A RISK OF MISINTERPRETAION OF DATA I DO BELIEVE WE COULD MAKE ENORMOUSE STRIDES IN TREATMENT IF THERE WERE NATIONAL OR EVEN INTERNATIONAL DATABASES ABOUT VARIOUS DISEASES. I WAS VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF THE GENOME PROJECT FOR THE SAME REASON BECAUSE BY SELECTIVELY CHOSEING OUR GENETIC PARTNERS FOR CONCEPTION WE COULD PERHAPS REDUCE OR IRRADICATE CERTAIN DEVASTATEING ILLNESSES.

Do you think that thoughts can effect your health? I think it has been proven that they do. Therefore you must then locate the originator of thought.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE. ORIGINATEING WHERE THOUGHTS COME FROM?

There again you are opening the question of spirit, mind or brain. Yes indeed this is the question.

Do we have souls? Is illness a spiritual matter at its core? Some people think so.

THIS SOUNDS A LITTLE FAR REACHING AND RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY THAT ILLNESS IS A CURSE OF SATAN AND THAT HEALTH IS SOMEHOW A GIFT FROM GOD. OR THAT DISEASE IS A CHOICE JUST NOT TO BELIEVE ENOUGH.

[/qOUTE/)
Lacking or limited? Yes, we are limited in our knowledge even those who have the most of the knowledge are still limited.

I know the conspiracy theorists claim all kinds of things like we know a cure to all diseases but do not allow the medical staff to use them, etc... Bullarky.

WELL AT LEAST WE HOPE SO. TO SAY THAT SOME DISEASES INCLUDEING MENTAL ILLNESS ARE NOT FUNDED AND SOMETIMES UNDERFUNDED BECAUSE THEY MIGHT NOT BE "PROFITABLE" OR BASED ON RACE, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS ALSO BULLARKY BUT THAT HAPPENS.

Our limitations are frustrating especially when we are watching people struggle and possibly die. But to dismiss their struggle and take away what names or legimitizing they are given in this limited environment is more harmful. It makes them unworthy of consideration.

SADLY THE BIGOTRY THAT MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE ARE NOT WORTHY OF TREATMENT OR TREATABLE IS A MAJOR STUMBLEING BLOCK TO TREATMENT.

The natural condition of mind, body and spirit is wellness. So to believe one would sabatoge the others is ridiculous.

SO ANYONE THAT DOESN'T HAVE THE RATHER NARROW DEFINITON OF WELLNESS IS NOT NATURAL? SORRY I DON'T BY THAT BEING A MINORITY MAKES YOU UN-NATURAL OR UNIVERSALLY UN-WELL. THE DEAF COMMUNITY HAS A LONG STANDING ARGUEMENT THAT DEAFNESS IN AND OF ITSELF IS NOT ABNORMAL BECAUSE THE DEAF CAN AND DO LEARN, COMMUNICATE, AND FUNCTION IN SOCIETY WITHOUT HEARING. WOULD WE ALL BE SUDDENLY BE CONSIDERED SOME HOW MENTALLY ILL IF WE WERE TO ENCOUNTER A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO WERE INCAPABLE OF SAY JEALOUSY OR ANGER OR FORGETFULNESS?



No, its not ridiculous. We sabotage our bodies all the time. We know that smoking is bad for us. We over eat and we eat the wrong things.

TRUE THESE ARE A SOME LEVEL ADDICTIONS OR AT LEAST IGNORANCE AND SOCIAL CONDITIONING. A CHILD WILL NOT SMOKE UNLESS THE BEHAVIOR IS MODELED FOR THEM.

We think negative thoughts. We engage in negative emotions. We worry. We stress ourselves out with worry. Stress is a major cause of many illnesses.

THIS IS A MAJOR LEAP IN ASSUPTION THAT THINKING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS,FEELING FEAR, WORRYING IS VOLUNTARY. I DO NOT AGREE. FEAR IS INSTINCTIVE RESPONSE TO STIMULUS. MUCH IF OF IT IS A SOCIAL CONDITIONED RESPONSE BUT NOT ALL. FATIGUE, HUNGER, DEHYDRATION, LACK OF SUNLIGHT CAN GREATE NEGATIVE MENTAL PROCESSES.

I don't just 'believe' that mind can sabotage the body and ignore the spirit, I know it does.

I DON'T KNOW IF WE IGNORE THE SPIRIT OR ARE NOT TAUGHT TO RECOGNIZE IT. MANY ARE TAUGHT TO SUPPRESS IT. OR SEPERATE/SEGREAGRATE IT FROM THE THINKING PROCESS.




People who smoke know what they do to themselves, people who over eat or eat the wrong things know what they do to themselves. Just because someone is not afraid of these bad things doesn't make them self sabotaging.

Your entitled to your opinion of course.



That they 'know' what they do to themselves does not stop them from doing it, nor does it negate that they are sabotaging their bodies and their health and life. They still do it.

But do they really know they are shortening their lives and causing illness and disease? They may be in denial about that. It makes no difference if they know or if they do not know. The fact is they do it.

I WOULD SUGGEST THAT QUALITY VERSUS ABSOLUTE LONGEVITY IS NOT SELF SABOTAGEING. IF WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO SHORTEN OUR LIVES MOST OF US WOULD NOT PROCREATE, HOLD JOBS, OR FOLLOW MANY SOCIAL NORMS BECAUSE WHEN YOU START STRESSING BODY/MIND/SPIRIT DOING THESE THINGS COULD BE ARGUED TO BE SHORTIENING THEIR OWN LIVES BY NOT MAKING THERI SURVIVAL THE CENTER OF THEIR UNIVERSE.

They blame stress on situations, and on everything else outside of themselves, and stress is a major contributing factor to disease. What exactly is stress? It is fear, worry and resistance to what is.

THERE IS A LOT MORE TO STRESS THAN JUST THIS. AND NOT ALL STRESS IS NEGATIVE. SOME STRESS ACTUALLY BUILDS STRENGTH.

It is negative thinking which perpetuates negative unwanted situations that perpetuate the stress in their lives.

THIS IS ANOTHER GIGANTIC LEAP OF LOGIC. AND THE CLASSIC CASE OF BLAME THE VICTIM RATHER THAN THE PERPRETATOR. THINK YOU HAVE THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE HERE. NEGATIVE SITUATIONS ARE WHAT CREATE NEGATIVE THINKING; ANXIETY, FEAR, JEALOUSY, ANGER, GUILT, SADNESS AND SO FORTH. JUST THINKING GOOD THOUGHTS WON'T MAKE THE WORLD A HAPPY PERFECT PLACE. WE CAN NOT JUST WISH NOT TO BE HUNGRY WE HAVE TO EAT. WE CAN NOT FEEL ABANDONED UNLESS WE ARE.

Yes we sabotage ourselves. This is quite clear and obvious in so many ways I can't believe anyone would refute it.

NOT EVERYONE SABOTAGES THEMSELF OFTEN IT IS INFLICTED BY DOMINANT OTHERS THAT WANT TO EXPLOIT OTHERS OR AVOID RESPONSIBILITY.





HanaHasna's photo
Sat 12/28/13 12:09 AM
I read a lot of articles about 'Mental illness, Personality Disorder' ......they have lots of nice vocabulary, they created many good words to call it......they think, analyse the symptom, they study years about it.
They make it very complicate, ......etc

In my country.....and in my opinion + experiences , happiness is all about 'balance'
if any one lost their balance and cause others unhappiness, suffering, hurting or damaged others....
They should be called 'bad person'

The best way to heal our wounds is to 'forgive them' the best way to protect yourself is 'never forget it'

It's so simple !!!!!!
Don' t try to understand why they are like this or like that and giving them may good names of their condition, symptom.
It would be better to analyse our self and awareness living with 'mindfulness'

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Sat 12/28/13 11:07 AM
My son in law told me his Dentist told him that prozac was invented before they had an actual disorder to use it on. I don't know if this is true but worth checking out anyways. If true, then what does that tell ya?

I don't watch cable much but last night I was watching some programs on crime mysteries. Every other comercial was selling drugs...OMG the side affects alone will kill you and soooo many of them..How in the H^^^ do they get these lil poison pills passed to market?

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Sat 12/28/13 12:11 PM
Edited by cuddlebunny00 on Sat 12/28/13 12:37 PM

What a stigma those two words can inflict – “mental illness”.

It is interesting to note that “mental illness” constitutes a condition where in a person can be incarcerated, drugged and/or tortured (e.g. electro-convulsive therapy and psychosurgery) against their will, with no legal recourse whatsoever.

Unlike our legal system wherein every person has the right to legal defense, a person diagnosed with a mental illness has no right to “medical defense”.

The most disturbing aspect of this is that the proponents of “mental health” claim that it is a “medical condition”. But unlike true medical conditions where a person has the right to accept or refuse medical treatment, the “mentally ill” have no such right. “Treatments” can be physically forced on them.

It is also interesting to note that 60 years ago, there were less than a dozen recognized “mental illnesses”. But DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) lists over 300. And NIMH (National Institue for Mental Health) says “An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.” Where did they all come from??? According to Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, Dr. Thomas Szasz, they were simply invented, unlike true medical conditions which are discovered.

Now considering that virtually 100% of all so-called “mental illness” is based on nothing more than subjective evaluations of behaviour (ref: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), with no objective physical diagnostic procedures based on physiology, (because they don’t exist), and the fact that a person so diagnosed can be incarcerated against their will, we really do have what amounts to a loophole in “due process”.

If people don't follow the norm, are a bit off or march to the beat of their own drum..whats the first thing thats going to happen? People will freak out because they don't think the same or do things the same as the rest of us followers and lemmings.

Society will somehow, some way try to convert these people back to "THEIR" {the elitists,governments and those telling us how we should live and think} way of thinking and doing things in order to keep the status quo. How dare anybody fall off the beaten track.

At some point in their life or even before birth..these people labled with a mental illness chose to opt out of this reality we all live in for reasons of thier own.


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Sat 12/28/13 01:45 PM
Holy crap..I just realized this thread was started almost 5 yrs ago. I wonder if the OP is still even here?

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Sat 12/28/13 02:30 PM

Like I said way earlier..I believe the mind is all so powerful. If you believe that something..anything will cure you, then it will.


How do you know whether this belief is true?



I've found that man ppl who believe this treat it like a tautology, and fall prey to the 'no true scotsman' fallacy. If belief fails to cure you, then you just didn't really believe. In this way they never have to face truth.


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Sat 12/28/13 02:34 PM

My son in law told me his Dentist told him that prozac was invented before they had an actual disorder to use it on. I don't know if this is true but worth checking out anyways. If true, then what does that tell ya?

I don't watch cable much but last night I was watching some programs on crime mysteries. Every other comercial was selling drugs...OMG the side affects alone will kill you and soooo many of them..How in the H^^^ do they get these lil poison pills passed to market?


I share your discomfort with the aggressive marketing of drug makers.

Its scary to me these are being marketed directly to non-physicians - people whose desires and decisions are influenced by images of attractive, smiling people playing golf, or skipping through fields of flowers.

If you are in the hands of a good physician, then one hopes you won't be using any of these drugs unless the benefits outweigh the risks.






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Sat 12/28/13 02:53 PM
Edited by massagetrade on Sat 12/28/13 02:56 PM

My son in law told me his Dentist told him that prozac was invented before they had an actual disorder to use it on. I don't know if this is true but worth checking out anyways. If true, then what does that tell ya?



So a dentist tells a patient who tells a relative who posts it on a website? Before even talking about it, why don't we figure out whether its true?

"Prozac is used to treat major depressive disorder, bulimia nervosa (an eating disorder) obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)."

from http://www.drugs.com/prozac.html

Depression was recognized as a treatable condition going back to the 17th century (it was called melancholy, and they did NOT have a nuanced understanding of it). So of course some form of it is mentioned in the very first DSM, (as 'depressive reaction'). That was in 1952.

When was prozac invented?

From wikipedia "Fluoxetine was first documented in 1974 by scientists from Eli Lilly and Company.[6] It was presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 1977, with Eli Lilly receiving final approval to market the drug in December 1987. Fluoxetine went off-patent in August 2001.[7]"



Edit: I'm not discounting that this story of invention-preceding-application completely (I just don't yet see any evidence to back it up). Its actually very, very common for people to figure out a broader domain of application of a invention over time - especially in chemistry.

Conrad_73's photo
Sat 12/28/13 02:56 PM



I met a man who told me that he HAD pancreatic cancer..he told me that his own doctor told him there was nothing they could do for him. This man said today he is cancer free because of the alternative medicine.


Because of altmed? How could he possibly know? He had cancer. He did some altmed thing. Now that cancer is gone.

For all we know, his cancer would be gone anyway. We don't know whether his treatment had anything to do with it.

In order to determine whether treatments like that are actually helping, we need to study large groups of people. When we do, we often find that altmed practices are simply not helping.


Now, is very rare that anyone will survive that kind of cancer, let alone someone who was full of it.


Sure. And those that died after doing the altmed treatment didn't live to tell you that the did the treatment and survived.

I met another woman who was there, she told me that her husband was diagnosed with melanoma and went in for therapy during the early stages and beat it. Melanoma is agressive and rarely do people survive after a year.


Again, correlation is not causation. Did she say what kind of therapy she did?

Personally...and just my opinion.. after what I saw my family memeber go through...never in hell would I ever trust our medical system if I ever developed cancer or any other disease.


This may surprise you, but I wouldn't either! I emphatically and absolutely do not trust 'the medical system'. I never let anyone start any kind of therapy or treatment on me (or a loved one, if I can influence them) without thoroughly researching the situation and the options myself. I seek out the advice and perspectives of other parties.

I think its sad for people like you and I, that we don't have a primary physician that we trust.



Its BIG business to keep us sick and this is not paranoia.


Yes, alternative medicine IS big business. Alternative medicine practitioners do not want us to get better, they want us to stay sick and keep paying for their useless oxygen therapy, etc.





I won't disagree that the cancer may have disapeared on its own..he even said that himself. There has been many cases where peoples cancer just disapeared. Who knows what they did, maybe they watched alot of comedy, maybe they ignored it, maybe they refused to believe they had it..but miracles happen :smile:

and maybe,their Immune System kicked back in and killed the Cancer!

no photo
Sat 12/28/13 04:27 PM
Edited by cuddlebunny00 on Sat 12/28/13 04:31 PM


Like I said way earlier..I believe the mind is all so powerful. If you believe that something..anything will cure you, then it will.


How do you know whether this belief is true?



I've found that man ppl who believe this treat it like a tautology, and fall prey to the 'no true scotsman' fallacy. If belief fails to cure you, then you just didn't really believe. In this way they never have to face truth.



Why? Do you like to keep starting something?

Read my words "Like I said earlier I BELIEVE" I am not asking you to believe anything..J***s!!

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Sat 12/28/13 06:18 PM



Like I said way earlier..I believe the mind is all so powerful. If you believe that something..anything will cure you, then it will.


How do you know whether this belief is true?



I've found that man ppl who believe this treat it like a tautology, and fall prey to the 'no true scotsman' fallacy. If belief fails to cure you, then you just didn't really believe. In this way they never have to face truth.



Why? Do you like to keep starting something?

Read my words "Like I said earlier I BELIEVE" I am not asking you to believe anything..J***s!!



This is a forum for discussion, for the exchange of ideas. Both 'science' and 'philosophy' imply questioning, investigation. So this is also, sometimes, a forum for investigation and learning.

Saying that "I believe..." something doesn't mean I've completely given up on investigating it. Have you given up? Have you settled into a dogmatic worldview, unassailable by reason or evidence?

By responding in this way to my question 'how do you know if its true' - are you saying that you completely don't care at all whether this belief is true or not?

I care about people. I care about the truth. The belief you espouse is a dangerous belief. This belief has killed people. Not very many in the west, in recent years, but it still happens.




no photo
Sat 12/28/13 06:20 PM
Conrad wrote:


and maybe,their Immune System kicked back in and killed the Cancer!


Yes!

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Sun 12/29/13 06:37 PM




Like I said way earlier..I believe the mind is all so powerful. If you believe that something..anything will cure you, then it will.


How do you know whether this belief is true?



I've found that man ppl who believe this treat it like a tautology, and fall prey to the 'no true scotsman' fallacy. If belief fails to cure you, then you just didn't really believe. In this way they never have to face truth.



Why? Do you like to keep starting something?

Read my words "Like I said earlier I BELIEVE" I am not asking you to believe anything..J***s!!



This is a forum for discussion, for the exchange of ideas. Both 'science' and 'philosophy' imply questioning, investigation. So this is also, sometimes, a forum for investigation and learning.

Saying that "I believe..." something doesn't mean I've completely given up on investigating it. Have you given up? Have you settled into a dogmatic worldview, unassailable by reason or evidence?

By responding in this way to my question 'how do you know if its true' - are you saying that you completely don't care at all whether this belief is true or not?

I care about people. I care about the truth. The belief you espouse is a dangerous belief. This belief has killed people. Not very many in the west, in recent years, but it still happens.





I personally do believe this but you have to have a strong mind and belief that you can cure yourself. Yes its dangerous if someone tells another to "just believe" and poof! you will be cured.

We are born into this world being told what we can and cannot believe. So from childhood we have a belief system instilled in us from our parents and society.

I believe it because I have done it
You can argue that one too but I believed it would go away and it did.

I'm sorry to say but thats exactly what I am not doing "settling into a dogmatic worldview"


no photo
Sun 12/29/13 07:13 PM




Like I said way earlier..I believe the mind is all so powerful. If you believe that something..anything will cure you, then it will.


How do you know whether this belief is true?



I've found that man ppl who believe this treat it like a tautology, and fall prey to the 'no true scotsman' fallacy. If belief fails to cure you, then you just didn't really believe. In this way they never have to face truth.



Why? Do you like to keep starting something?

Read my words "Like I said earlier I BELIEVE" I am not asking you to believe anything..J***s!!



This is a forum for discussion, for the exchange of ideas. Both 'science' and 'philosophy' imply questioning, investigation. So this is also, sometimes, a forum for investigation and learning.

Saying that "I believe..." something doesn't mean I've completely given up on investigating it. Have you given up? Have you settled into a dogmatic worldview, unassailable by reason or evidence?

By responding in this way to my question 'how do you know if its true' - are you saying that you completely don't care at all whether this belief is true or not?

I care about people. I care about the truth. The belief you espouse is a dangerous belief. This belief has killed people. Not very many in the west, in recent years, but it still happens.





You don't know what I know, know what I have seen or know what I have experienced because you dont know me.

I may not have the same fancy vocabulary as you but I believe what I believe and you won't convince me otherwise.

My posts Sir.. were of my own opinions, not to convince anyone of anything. I merely said check it out if you wish on some posts. The latter was my own belief. I'm not here to debate. You go ahead and debate but I won't.

no photo
Mon 12/30/13 05:00 PM


We are born into this world being told what we can and cannot believe. So from childhood we have a belief system instilled in us from our parents and society.


So what do we do with that? How do we go about deciding which beliefs we embrace, and which we reject?



I believe it because I have done it
You can argue that one too but I believed it would go away and it did.


I believe that you believed it would go away.
And I believe that it did.

I also believe that correlation alone doesn't imply causation.

I'm sorry to say but thats exactly what I am not doing "settling into a dogmatic worldview"



I see that you have chosen to reject some dogmatic worldviews, but that doesn't mean that you haven't embraced others. Do you want to reject all unreasonable dogmatic worldviews? Or just some?

... I believe what I believe and you won't convince me otherwise.


That's not the typical position of an open minded person.



Redykeulous's photo
Tue 12/31/13 08:57 PM
Edited by Redykeulous on Tue 12/31/13 09:00 PM
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.
drinker

Massagetrade I have one thing to say to you - you never change and that's good because the way you look at things can often lead others to reconsider, well at least it worked for me. But you’re not getting through to cuddlebunny. Could it be the you have not made a concession to her point of view?

Cuddlebunny you made a very good point; our beliefs can, in fact, have a great effect on our health. We have known this for a long time. We can control our heart rate, blood pressure (flow), and we know that the placebo effect is real and we know that by using our mind we can control the mechanisms (psychological, central nervous system & hormones) that can control our pain and fear. There has even been a link established between our state of mind and our T-cells.

It hasn't been too long since the United States adopted an integrated approach to understanding health and illness through a more holistic view, referred to as the biopsychosocial model of medicine.

Advancements in technology have provided some insight into how the body and mind interact, and greater acceptance of the role of cultural medicine and social adaptations have led to some interesting studies and our knowledge continues to advance.

Unfortunately, there are simply some things we can't do for ourselves. The problem is knowing when we (as individuals) have to seek help from outside sources and what sources they should be. And it'��s even more difficult when parents must make decisions for children.

So it’s really important that we insist that our medical professionals are capable of offering every kind of alternative for our decision-making process.

Currently those professionals, like our political decision makers, are held hostage to a cycle of greed. The pharmaceutical companies and other major corporate players in the medical field lord over our doctors and they often push only for one way - the chemical way.

So we have to find our own information and it is MOST important that we have some understanding of biology, psychology, and the scientific method which includes correlation and causation (which massagetrade has brought up).

If you, or a loved is in urgent need of medical treatment, there may only be one opportunity, and you'll want to have some strong basis of choosing what course of action to follow. It’s not likely that you will choose to do nothing but pray or meditate, not when time is of the essence and you only have one shot at it. It's one thing to say you 'believe' in your ability to heal yourself, and another to try and find that you're failing.

This is a great forum to learn in, because there is so much diversity here and many of us here, have done and continue to do research to better our understanding. It’s about self-development and growth and not about simply saying someone is WRONG. And I don't recall massagetrade ever doing that. But he is honest, and forthright and like all of us, he's not always right.

So cuddlebunny, consider it a challenge to show him and others that your information is stronger than theirs. If nothing else, it forces us all to stay legitimate and keep looking things up for ourselves.

edited for punctuation errors