Stay F---! | 28 September
Carrie McLaren
stay.free at verizon.net
Mon Sep 27 20:25:00 EDT 2004
Hey folks,
Some new old stuff is now on the website. From issue #21, the psychology issue:
BORDERLINE HYSTERIA: THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESS
An interview with Edward Shorter
In _Paralysis to Fatigue: A History of Psychosomatic Illness in the
Modern Era_, Edward Shorter sets out to illustrate a few simple
ideas. Most of the medical symptoms your typical American suffers
from are psychosomatic--in other words, they can't be traced to any
organic cause but are rather the result of some mind-body
interaction. The symptoms may be real, but the cause is
psychological, stemming from depression, anxiety, or stress.
While exploring the history of psychosomatic illness, Shorter looks
at how the symptoms have changed over time and at the forces behind
those changes. His thesis is that psychosomatic symptoms change with
the culture--meaning that they evolve to match the prevailing medical
diagnoses of the day. In the early 1800s, for example, doctors talked
about "spinal irritation," believing that when a certain point along
the spine was pressed or hurt, it created peripheral pains and other
motor (muscular) system problems. Conse-quently, doctors increasingly
began seeing patients whose problems conveniently fitted the
diagnosis. These patients--usually women--complained of temporary
blindness, paralysis, and other ills. Some couldn't walk, others
couldn't move their arms, many remained paralyzed for months in bed.
Doctors would come across patients so catatonic that it was
impossible to tell whether they were alive. Unable to detect pulses
or respiration, doctors found that the only sure sign of death was
when the body emitted a "cadaverous smell."
Continued at:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/21/edward_shorter.html
SICK IN THE HEAD
Stay Free! asked our readers and contributors to tell us about their
psychosomatic complaints.
Here's what they said.
"Several years ago my longtime boyfriend and I got engaged. The ring
was a sterling silver band engraved with the words vous et nul autre
(French for "you and no other"). It was a long engagement, and I wore
the ring for at least two years, never removing it. After wearing the
ring for so long without incident, all of a sudden it began to
irritate my finger. I developed a painful, itchy rash and had to stop
wearing the ring. It turned out that my fiance was cheating on me at
the time--my subconscious was trying to tell me so!" --Victoria Sweat
"Over the past year or so I have been hearing voices that aren't
there, usually as I'm waking up. I can hear them trail off as I look
around to see who's there. The strangest occurrence was at a friend's
barbecue. I heard someone scream, "Hey!" in my right ear, but
everyone was just sitting around eating and drinking beer. When I
asked if anyone had just yelled "Hey!" they cautiously replied that
they hadn't. I'm not overly worried, since the voices only seem to
want to get my attention at this point. Also, it could have been
someone yelling on the street that no one else noticed. But it's odd
that this only started happening when I moved into my new apartment,
which used to be a public school. Am I haunted by a dead, disgruntled
vice principal? I don't know. However, I promise to get help when the
voices start bossing me around." --Chris Karwowski
Continued at:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/21/psychosomatic_illness.html
CALLING ALL ARTISTS!
Stay F---! is looking for a few more works to include in the Illegal
Art Exhibit when it opens in Portland, Oregon, in March 2005. If you
or someone you know has created exceptional works that appropriate
copyrighted or trademarked material without permission, please get in
touch. We're especially interested in hearing about artists who have
run into legal trouble or other roadblocks due to intellectual
property law. Send URLs with examples of your work to
stay.free at verizon.net; or send video (VHS, DVD) to Stay Free! 390
Butler Street, Brooklyn NY 11217. (For your own good as well as mine,
please do NOT send anything that needs to be returned.) Works in all
media will be included in the show. For more information on Illegal
Art Exhibit, visit http://www.illegal-art.org or contact Carrie
McLaren (stay.free at verizon.net). Deadline: December 1.
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