
By: DAVID RICE
To: ED MILLS
Re: Terrifying Girl Scouts!

[cuts--- drice]

EM> This raises another question: If one were suffering
EM> from chronic, big-time schizophrenia - the kind
EM> that's supposed to be caused by a physically
EM> malfunctioning brain - but they were a fundamentally
EM> skeptical, rational, non-superstitious person with
EM> zero regard for UFO's, psychic spoon-bending,
EM> religion, etc., what would that person be like?
EM> Are there any known cases of such a combination?

I think there's a fundamental misconception here, though
my ignorance of schizophrenia is VAST--- I know NOTHING of
the subject--- so I am likely WRONG in my following
OPINIONS.

There are many forms of schizophrenia, and each form can
be expressed in a huge number of ways. One major problem
with the phenomena is that by its clinical definition,
most people, being theists, are schizophrenic:

   withdrawal from reality

   illogical patterns of thinking

   delusions

   hallucinations

   emotional, behavioral, and / or intellectual
   disturbances

This is common to Fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, and
other hyper-theists, so in this sense they can be called
schizoaffective. While the disease and religion share so
many character traits, there are ways to demarcate the two.
Add to the religious qualities above, the following ones,
and one gets schizophrenia:

   greater degree of intensity expressed or felt by the
   individual in the above list

   greater degree of depression experienced

   greater degree of antagonism felt, generated by the
   powers and forces one feels one is opressing one

The person who reciently joined this echo, named Bryson or
something, described his "battle" with "angels." This is a
CLASSIC example of schizophrenia. Dopamine might help such
an individual.

(One problem is, does the medical profession have the right
to medicate someone to the point where that person's belief
in gods, angels, heaven, hell, etc., is eradicated or
decreased? I think they do not.)

Religion is schizophreniformic, not schizophrenic as such.

So when you asked about skeptical, rational thinkers who
are schizoaffective, by definition that is not possible.

But I could be wrong.


... The nuclear family has been decaying for decades. -- Matt Giwer
* Shy.David@EdenBBS.com
 * Origin: "She blinded me with science!" (1:124/9005)

