Contemporary psychiatry concerns itself with finding medical solutions to the wide range of complex problems in mentally ill patients. As far as treatment of the patient's problem goes, the health professionals choose to diagnose disorders under general categories. For example, auditory hallucinations are usually considered to be a symptom of schizophrenia. The severity of the disorder is determined by the impact the hallucination is having on the subject, however, and in cases where they are led to confused thoughts and acts based on it, they are considered to be suffering from psychosis. Such diagnoses are in the interests of convenience, as the doctors want to find a quick and acceptable cure for all involved.In reality the prescribed pharmaceuticals may or may not help the patient. They are simply the latest medication in a long series of products tested by drug manufacturers for their psychoactive effects on humans. In fact, the experimentation varies for each product and is continuing long after the chemical is in circulation and being administered. There's not as much study done of the cause of the auditory hallucinations as there is in the development of new psychiatric medication, but it is sufficient if their effects are kept controlled.
There are many examples in history of people communing with unseen entities, and having no medical explanation for it they were led to think they were listening to the voices made available to them by a greater power. This caused them to act accordingly, forming lives and beliefs around it. Some people are convinced you can actively pursue psychic communication as a form of telepathy, divining information from what you imagine you hear.
Can you just turn it down a bit?
The last paragraph could describe anyone of us. We all talk to unseen entities. We call this ourselves, the ego, consciousness, the "I", etc., which is based on a series of assumptions. There is absolutely no proof that any of this exists. I can't prove existence nor can I prove non-existence. "I" prefer to think "I" don't exist. I find great solace in paradoxes.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I do think some people have some psychic ability to communicate with others though. There have been studies on twins and it's even belived that mother's and their children hold a special bond that allows them to communicate. As for me I know the voices in my head are all mine and not something devine.
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