Panic Attack Support and Self-help Forum "You are not alone!"
This forum is for people who have panic disorder or social fobia. Forum's language is English. Please remember that although your feelings and symptoms are very frightening, they are not dangerous or harmful. Understand that what you are experiencing is just an exaggeration of your normal bodily reactions to stress. Do not fight your feelings or try to wish them away. The more you are willing to face them, the less intense they will become.
Do not add to your panic by thinking about what "might" happen. If you find yourself asking "What if?" tell yourself "So what!"
Stay in the present. Notice what is really happening to you as opposed to what you think might happen.
When you find yourself thinking about the fear, change your "what if" thinking. Notice that when you stop adding frightening thoughts to your fear, it begins to fade. When the fear comes, expect and accept it. Wait and give it time to pass without running away from it. Be proud of yourself for your progress thus far, and think about how good you will feel when you succeed this time. With love - Berna Tamer
meds for sale
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MEDS FOR SALE!!!!
RELIABLE,GOOD PRICES,DELIVER TIME ABOUT 10 DAYS FOR EUROPE AND ABOUT 14 DAYS FOR OTHERS.
I HAVE STUFF,WAY TO DELIVER IT.MY INTENTION IS A BUSINESS ON LONG TERM.
MEDS FOR SALE!!!!
RELIABLE,GOOD PRICES,DELIVER TIME ABOUT 10 DAYS FOR EUROPE AND ABOUT 14 DAYS FOR OTHERS.
I HAVE STUFF,WAY TO DELIVER IT.MY INTENTION IS A BUSINESS ON LONG TERM.
Kalbim sanki biran hızlı atış yapıyor ve hopluyor.daha önce panikatak tedavisi gördüm.BU aralar çoğaldı bu hoplamalar.Sakinşeltirici alınca geçiyor.Dr. bir şeyin yok dedi.Bu durumu yaşayan var mı
Posted on Feb 14, 2008, 12:10 PM from IP address 85.108.30.158
arkadaşlar 5 yıldan beri bu hastalıkla uğraşmaktayım..
kalbimde bir durma hissi nefes alamama beyin ağrıları kasların gerilmesi
bu sorunlardan 1 yıllığına kurtulmuştum ama ilaçları iyileştim diye bıraktım ve üniversite bitirip tekrar panikleri yaşadığım eve gelince daha feci bir şekilde yaşamaya başladım.. doktor başka ilaçlar verdi
bu hastalıktan ilaç dışında kurtulma imkanı sağlayan bir yöntem varsa
lütfen e-malime yazsın şimdiden tşk..
paniksiz günler dileğiyle....
Posted on Sep 6, 2006, 8:14 PM from IP address 81.215.168.92
I experience panic attacks only when I smoke meth. My chest starts feeling tight, I sometimes hyperventilate, of course due to the meth and panic attack my heart pounds at a very fast rate, i get dizzy, i make myself burp as if that's gonna help, my throat sometimes closes up, making it hard to breathe and swallow. the feelings are sometimes the same n sometimes different but no matter the feeling, in the end i feel like im having a heart attack. I have been to the E.R my share of times and they assure me its a panic attack due to the drugs. They ran all test and tell me my heart n blood are healthy. It usually takes me n my boyfriend two to three days to smoke a gram and a half of ice. We get about 4-8 hrs of sleep. Once in a great while i might stay up all night. We eat normally and aside from drug use we take good care of ourselves and eachother. But i recently read that meth can lead to a stroke and now after knowing the symptoms of a stroke my panic attacks have turned into the feelings of a stroke. Can my multiple panic attacks turn into a stroke? I know the mind is extremely strong. But whats scary is, how will I know when im having the real thing? I am not ready to stop the meth for my oown reasons but can somebody please help me? I am 25 y/o am I at risk of a stroke because of my attacks?
Posted on Aug 19, 2006, 11:23 AM from IP address 68.127.122.229
I'm not sure what i'm doing here, maybe someone can help?
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Hello,
I'm not exactly sure what to do here, So I guess i'll just start by saying my names Heather, I'm 16 years old and I suffer from severe panic attacks, I have OCD and alot of phobias. It took until I was around 7 for people other than my parents to realise I needed help, I got reffered to a Phsycoligist but it did'nt help. I stopped going to school, People thought I was lie-ing ect.. then I got reffered to a phsyciatrist and she was no use at all, Infact I remember she hit me once and called me a bitch. After many years and much suffering I got put in a small secondry school and I liked it for a while until more and more people came and I got picked on, It turned out to be a girls behavioural school. I stopped going. After a while I got a new phsyciatrist who was amasing he helped me loads I got a new physcoligist who was also magnificant and all this happened when I moved house two years ago, The end of last year I finally got a home tutor who was really wondefull and I caught up on some work unfortunaly since i'm 16 she left and just recently everythings went down hill. I take panic attacks through-out the whole day I worry about dying I worry about everything constantly my OCD has got alot worse and I went to the doctors today to see if I could get medication to calm me down and he said no. I have to see a more sympathetic doctor on Friday and I only hope shes more helpful, I feel so low and frightened, My internet has just been put back on today and I can't pick the courage to even talk to my friends.. the ones that ive got. So I decided to look for support groups. Maybe someone could help? I dont know how.. but just maybe. I'm also sorry for the long story and if I have wasted anybodys time, If you did read it then thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Heather. xXx
Any help is appriciated.
P.s Sorry for my spelling.
Posted on Aug 24, 2005, 7:42 PM from IP address 81.153.147.193
Heather,
there is help. you arent alone. you are not loosing it and your are not mentally ill. Get this program: ATTACKING ANXITY by lisinda basett.
I had theworst anxity and panic ther e was I was house bound and depressed over my situation. one night while having a time where i just couldnt sleep i saw her infmercial and it was as if they were talking about me. long story short, i got the program and used it and yo im telling you it cured me. totally. its great and i think you should get it. you cango on line and do a search for her name or go to the mid west center for stress and anxity and you can order it there or look for it on TV. im tellling you it did this and it worked . good luck babe.
rk
Posted on Mar 29, 2006, 6:31 AM from IP address 72.68.180.193
hi! i am vicky ffrom india,i have social fobia from many years,i am in a very panic stage,i dint know what to do,i can not my little jobs due to this.whjat is the solotion pl help me.
Posted on Feb 13, 2005, 6:58 AM from IP address 220.224.32.165
First I must say that Panic attacks will noty kill u. it will not hurt you it will not make you go crazy nor any of the other fears which you THINK you have. Thats right Its you that make your self panic. Just by the way you are thinking. You think a fearful thought that make you feel panic. now thoa make you feel scared and more adreolin shoots into your system and the circle continues. What to do: start breathing from thestomack imediately but slow. bring each breath up to the chest and count as you let it out slowly. this will shut off the emergency signal in your brain. the counting and concentration on your breathing will also take your mind off of the entire thing and you will feel relax and calm. while doing this you should have positive self talk in your mind. remember that this is where it all started from ... you were talking negatively to your self so you scare your self and then it bloomed into panic. you canreverse this with positive self talk. example: ok so i feel a little nervous. Its cool I know it wont hurt me I will just breath and count my breath and I will be fine its no biug deal. We some times feel how we think. Pray: It gives a sence of peace and tranquality. 23rd Psalm is good. If you are a muslim Read Quran.Read what ever scripture you have. remember GOD IS GOOD. what to eat: dont drink colas , cafeen dont smoke no MSG foods. all stimulates your sences and can give a panic attack. Eat foods rich in vitamin B's or take multivitamins. B6, b12, b1 calcium and magnezium. at night to sleep well drink warm milk with a small amount of honey. the warm milk and the calcium relaxes the brain and drift you to sleep.
I truly recoment the ATTACKING ANCXITY program you all see on TV by LUCINDA BASSETT. Get it and I promis you it will work. I had anxity for years. panic attacks. I felt like i was going crazy . couldnt be in crowds, couldnt travle. ect. thought i had a hart problem ect...' Idid research , prayed to GOD and he led me to that program andwith in 6 weeks I was a new person no fear no nothing. back to being me. so dont let anyone tell you there is no cure there is.
Posted on Mar 29, 2006, 6:19 AM from IP address 72.68.180.193
Hi I'm not sure if I"m in the right place or not but today I had what I think was an anxiety attack. I ended up calling an ambulance because I honestly thought I was going to die - my heart rate jumped right up to 142, I had a true shortness of breath and felt dizzy. I was also nauseated.
I've never experienced anything like this before - it came out of nowehere, I was just watching TV. Does it sound like an anxiety related attack? Is it possible to have one-off attacks? Am I likely to have another? I should add I have been quite emotional over the past month, as I have some other 'minor' problems going on. But this really shook me.
Thanks in advance :)
Posted on Dec 10, 2004, 7:17 AM from IP address 211.28.227.19
for some reason after i eat dinner, i feel loss. like that's it. thrill is gone. dinner is down, your done with excitment. and then i get upset, and start to panic. anyone else?
Posted on Jan 31, 2004, 10:58 AM from IP address 67.25.40.38
I don't get panic attacks after dinner, but right around 10-11 pm when I am getting ready for bed. Totally relaxing, doing regular things and whammo! let's have a nice panic attack before trying to sleep. I sometimes get them at 4am as well. I think it has to do with relaxing and perhaps end of day stress. I'm not too sure. Wish I could be more helpful.
Posted on Sep 7, 2005, 5:20 PM from IP address 64.180.41.158
I dont know how this happens but sometimes when im alone or just surfing the web i get these ideas in my head that my heart is going to stop and what its going to feel like.
This sends me into full-blown panic attack mode and i start sweating, worrying and getting palpitations
I really have no way to STOP thinking about this, and it usually lasts from 10-30 mins. Should i see my Doctor for help? or is there a way i can help myself by excercise? reduce alcohol consumption?
I appreciate any help suggested, thanks
Posted on Jan 8, 2004, 7:46 AM from IP address 172.190.155.171
I saw your post and thought you may find EFT useful.
I would never post an actual address on a forum as it isn't fair but if you want to know more you can reply and it will be forwarded to my email address.
Ian
Posted on Jan 10, 2004, 5:05 PM from IP address 80.45.164.139
alcohol will only make your symptoms progress in the long run. exercise can cause a bit of anxiety only if you overdue it. start with a light exercise routine and gradually work your way up. you should feel a great deal of confidence rather than anxiety/panic. it helps your energy or qi flow freely thus creating a more positive outlook on life in general. the disorder is all based on thought process. a healthier body help manifest a healthier mind thus creating a healthier lifestyle. best thing, study a martial art discipline. preferably an internal style. ex= tai chi chuan, aikido, shaolin martial styles. hopes this helps.
Posted on Jul 14, 2005, 1:28 AM from IP address 68.7.55.239
the disorder is not life threatening. it can be if your suicidal. i doubt you are. dont worry, your not gonna have a heart attack or go crazy. its just what the panic symptoms make you feel like is going to happen. but i assure you it will not. like i say before study a good martial art. execise.
god bless!
Posted on Jul 14, 2005, 1:36 AM from IP address 68.7.55.239
Anxiety can be quite scary and in some cases
medication is a good solution, but
I find the ease with which doctors write prescriptions rather
disturbing. Anxiety is a very common
mental health issue, and one that can be worked through. Sometimes it's
best to figure things out
for yourself. I personally used a program at SelfTherapy.org which I
though was terrific - it
literally ended my anxiety and panic attacks within days. Perhaps your
solution lies elsewhere.
But I urge you to not be too quick to pop pills that will numb your
desire to find a real
solution. I wish you the best!
Posted on Jan 30, 2006, 10:54 AM from IP address 86.126.48.68
I have had panic attacks for the past 10 years. They happen several times a day almost everyday. I have had cath-lab, echo-cardiogram, two seperate holtor monitors, a tilt-table test, countless blood work-up's and about 25 ekg's. All were negative except sinus tachycardia which precipitates the panic attack thus causing a viscious circle.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Posted on Dec 14, 2003, 12:08 PM from IP address 67.35.36.181
Your experience sounds exactly like what I'm going through! I have a history of sinus tachycardia, generally well controlled with beta-blockers, but I seem to now have developed a panic disorder from it. Even the slightest raise in my heart rate now sends me into another frightening panic attack. Of course, I've had nearly every test out there and several ER visits and the docs find nothing wrong. They can't even figure out what causes the tachycardia! It's a vicious circle...raised heart rate, panic attack, anxiety from it causing a raised heart rate, another panic attack...and so on. Hang in there...I know there's treatment for this.
Posted on Apr 14, 2004, 8:35 PM from IP address 69.140.85.39
I recommend cognitive behavior therapy from a psychologist. It teaches you that all emotions come from our thoughts, i.e. panic comes from thoughts. You will be helped to change your thinking.
Posted on Dec 2, 2004, 3:46 AM from IP address 65.11.26.76
yes i have panic and anxity everyday i have been to so many dr. and have had test done everyone has came back neg.i am on meds for 4 years now it just dosent seem that it is works i just worry about it more and make them worse i really need someone out there that i can talk to that has the same **** that i have... anyone plz e-mail me so we can talk about this..... thanks gina
Posted on Mar 11, 2006, 11:04 PM from IP address 68.90.41.109
Other people suffering from panic attacks in my area???
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I live in cal, santa cruz area and suffer badly from panic attacks, wondering if any other people my age suffer the same problems, I'm only 18 and currently finishing my senior year in highschool then hopefully college.
Posted on Mar 10, 2003, 6:48 AM from IP address 63.249.98.121
don't worry, in this era is allmost usual to have these problems,at any age, sometimes without know it. i think that is great to understand that you have a problem! that is the first step. also, it's great that you have the currage to search help. that's the second good step!
Don't discourage! evrething is possible at your age!
Posted on Aug 16, 2003, 7:24 PM from IP address 81.196.149.176
I have been periodically experiencing numbness and tingling in my face, chest, hands and legs and twitching in my eyelids. At night I get something like fits and my whole body shakes. The numbness and twitching were particularly intense yesterday while I was exercising and lasted about 10 minutes. I have been very stressed for the past 2 years - I dont know if these episodes are panic attacks or a neurological disorder. Please help me.
Posted on Nov 15, 2002, 4:20 PM from IP address 61.1.209.82
As per the tingling.. I often have this in my arms, ahoulders and sometimes even neck. My doctor has told me that the tingling, in my case, is related to a pinched nerve I have in my back. I mistook it for panick symptoms, as a long time sufferer myself, and even once thought I was having a stroke. But the jolting sensations you're getting warrent a trip to an M.D., I think. Especially if you have tingling in your face. I hope this helps. Feel free to e-mail me about your progress.
Elise.
Posted on Dec 3, 2002, 7:58 AM from IP address 24.102.122.180
As a hypnotherapist and personal performance coach I think that these problems can be overcome fairly quickly. If you would like me to write more just email me or respond and I will do so.
Ian
Posted on Jan 10, 2004, 5:07 PM from IP address 80.45.164.139
I am 39 years old. I had 5 major love relationships in my whole life. They all were the youngest siblings of their family. The first woman I loved, C., was 9 years younger than her sister and 11 years younger than her brother. The second woman I loved, U., was younger than her two siblings. The third woman I loved, A., had no sibling. The fourth woman I loved, O., was 11 years younger than her brother and sister who were twins. The last woman I loved was 11 years younger than her sister, 9 years younger than her brother and a year younger than her other brother. All of them were mostly traumatic relationships which triggered my major depressions.
Why do I always love the youngest sibling?
I have no sibling. I have never married.
I have narcissistic personality disorder with schizoid, paranoid and passive-aggressive tendencies.
One more point: My mother is younger than her siblings, too.
Any comment will be very much appreciated.
Thanks.
Posted on May 14, 2002, 9:07 PM from IP address 213.243.30.5
1. Identify the behaviour or response to be changed.
This is usually, 'I want to do something, but something stops me.', or 'I don't want to do something, but I seem to end up doing it just the same.' When working with another, it isn't necessary to know what the behaviour actually is, they can keep it secret, if they like.
Acknowledge the good that the behaviour, or at the least the intention behind the behaviour has done for you in the past. Make clear you aren't going to get rid of it.
2. Establish communication with the part which is responsible for the behaviour
Go inside and ask the part if it is willing to communicate with you in consciousness? Notice the feelings inside of you. This is an unconscious response, so ask yourself: Can you reproduce that signal consciously?
If you can this it isn't it! Because if the response were conscious then it would be easy to turn it off. You could just decide not to do it. For example, when you hear that another has got the job you really longed for, and you want to be decent and congratulate them, but when you do so you feel that sense of discomfort. Can you turn that off? Can you help feeling that way even though you don't want to feel that way? That is the unconscious signal. Establish a communication system. Ask the part to increase the signal for 'Yes' and decrease it for 'No'. Get it to do this several times so you get a 'Yes' and a 'No' signal that are quite clear.
3. Separate the positive intention from the behaviour.
Thank the part for co-operating.
Ask, 'Will the part which is responsible for the behaviour let me know what it is trying to do?' You will get a clear intention which may be a surprise to your conscious mind. Think whether you want the part to do that.
If you get a 'No' signal, you can just assume a positive intention and continue. Or you could ask under what circumstances it would let you know.
Ask the part, 'If you were given ways to accomplish this intention, at least as well, if not better than the present, would you be willing to try them out?' If you get a 'No', your signals are scrambled - no part would turn down an offer like this!
4. Ask your creative part to generate new ways that will accomplish the same purpose.
Ask your creative part to generate as many solutions as it can - you do not need to know what these are consciously. Ask the part being negotiated with to select at least three of these for it to try. Ask it to give you a signal each time it has selected one. Take as long as you need on this part of the process.
Thank your creative part when you have finished.
5. Ask the part if it will agree to use the new choices over the next few weeks, rather than the old behaviour.
This is future rehearsing the new behaviour. There is no reason why the part should not agree to do this. If you get a 'No', then tell it it can still use the old behaviour - only use the new behaviour first. If you still get a 'No', then reframe the objecting part (By going back to step 1).
6. Ecological Check
Go inside and ask, 'Does any part of me object to the new choices?' If there are objections then check them out by asking the part to intensify the signal. If there are objections then you can reframe the part or ask it to get together with the creative part to find more solutions.
Ensure that there are no objecting parts, otherwise they may try to sabotage.
Summary
Identify a problem
Identify the part, and get different signals for 'Yes' and 'No'.
Get the part's positive intention, and ask it 'If you were given ways of achieving this intention just as well or even better than now, would you be willing to try them out for a week or so?'
Ask your creative part to generate many possible solutions (it does not have to find only good ones!) while the part in question gives a 'Yes' signal when there is a solution it thinks it might use. Get at least three.
Ask the part if it will try these in the next few weeks.
Check that there aren't any objecting parts.
Main Site Page: 1st Free the Mind Feeling Good in the Future Now! The Soap Opera Technique Six Step Reframing Be Calm and Relaxed Rules of Successful Living
Posted on Apr 25, 2002, 9:02 PM from IP address 213.243.30.5
Paranoia -- The Word
Paranoia is a term used by mental health specialists to describe suspiciousness (or mistrust) that is either highly exaggerated or not warranted at all. The word is often used in everyday conversation, often in anger, often incorrectly. Simple suspiciousness is not paranoia--not if it is based on past experience or expectations learned from the experience of others.
Paranoia can be mild and the affected person may function fairly well in society, or it can be so severe that the individual is incapacitated. Because many psychiatric disorders are accompanied by some paranoid features, diagnosis is sometimes difficult. Paranoias can be classified into three main categories--paranoid personality disorder, delusional (paranoid) disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia.
Paranoid Personality Disorder
Derek worked in a large office as a computer programmer. When another programmer received a promotion, Derek felt that the supervisor "had it in for him" and would never recognize his worth. He was sure that his co-workers were subtly downgrading him. Often he watched as others took coffee breaks together and imagined they spent this time talking about him. If he saw a group of people laughing, he knew they were laughing at him. He spent so much time brooding about the mistreatment he received that his work suffered and his supervisor told him he must improve or receive a poor performance rating. This action reinforced all Derek's suspicions, and he looked for and found a position in another large company. After a few weeks on his new job, he began to feel that others in the office didn't like him, excluded him from all conversations, made fun of him behind his back, and eroded his position. Derek has changed jobs six times in the last seven years. Derek has paranoid personality disorder.
Some people regularly become suspicious without cause -- so much so that their paranoid thoughts disrupt their work and family life. Such people are said to have a paranoid personality. They are:
Suspicious
An unmistakable sign of paranoia is continual mistrust. People with paranoid personality disorder are constantly on their guard because they see the world as a threatening place. They tend to confirm their expectations by latching on to any speck of evidence that supports their suspicions and ignore or misinterpret any evidence to the contrary. They are ever watchful and may look around for signs of a threat.
Anyone in a new situation -- beginning a job or starting a relationship, for example -- is cautious and somewhat guarded until he or she learns that the fears are groundless. People suffering from paranoia cannot abandon their fears. They continue to expect trickery and to doubt the loyalty of others. In a personal relationship or marriage, this suspiciousness may take the form of pathological, unrealistic jealousy.
Hypersensitive
Because persons with paranoid personality disorder are hyperalert, they notice any slight and may take offense where none is intended. As a result, they tend to be defensive and antagonistic. When they are at fault, they cannot accept blame, not even mild criticism. Yet they are highly critical of others. Other people may say that these individuals make "mountains out of molehills."
Cold and Aloof
In addition to being argumentative and uncompromising, the people with paranoid personality disorder are often emotionally cut off from other people. They appear cold and, in fact, often avoid becoming intimate with others. They pride themselves on their rationality and objectivity. People with a paranoid outlook on life rarely come to the attention of clinicians -- it is not in their nature to seek help. Many presumably function competently in society. They may seek out social niches in which a moralistic and punitive style is acceptable, or at least tolerated to a certain degree.
Delusional (Paranoid) Disorder
Psychiatrists make a distinction between the milder paranoid personality disorder described above and the more debilitating delusional (paranoid) disorder. The hallmark of this disorder is the presence of a persistent, nonbizarre delusion without symptoms of any other mental disorder.
Delusions are firmly held beliefs that are untrue, not shared by others in the culture, and not easily modifiable. Five delusional themes are frequently seen in delusional disorder. In some individuals, more than one of them is present.
Ruth is a clerk typist who is efficient and helpful. Her employers and co-workers value her contribution to the office. But Ruth spends her evenings writing letters to State and Federal officials. She feels that God has opened her mind and given her the cure for cancer. She wants some leading treatment center to use her cure on all its patients so that the world can see she is right. Many of her letters go unanswered, or she receives noncommittal replies that only make her feel that no one understands that she can save all cancer patients if only given the chance. When one of her letters is answered by an employee of the official to whom she wrote, she is sure that the official is being deliberately kept unaware of her knowledge and power. Sometimes she despairs that the world will ever know how wonderful she is, but she doesn't give up. She just keeps writing. Ruth suffers from one of the delusional disorders, grandiose delusion.
The most common delusion in delusional disorder is that of persecution. While persons with paranoid personality might suspect their colleagues of joking at their expense, persons with delusional disorder may suspect others of participating in elaborate master plots to persecute them. They believe that they are being poisoned, drugged, spied upon, or are the targets of conspiracies to ruin their reputations or even to kill them. They sometimes engage in litigation in an attempt to redress imagined injustices.
Another theme seen frequently is that of delusional jealousy. Any sign -- even a meaningless spot on clothing, or a short delay in arriving home -- is summoned up as evidence that a spouse is being unfaithful.
Erotic delusions are based on the belief that one is romantically loved by another, usually someone of higher status or a well-known public figure. Individuals with erotic delusions often harass famous persons through numerous letters, telephone calls, visits, and stealthy surveillance.
Persons with grandiose delusions often feel that they have been endowed with special powers and that, if allowed to exercise these powers, they could cure diseases, banish poverty, ensure world peace,or perform other extraordinary feats.
Individuals with somatic delusions are convinced that there is something very wrong with their bodies -- that they emit foul odors, have bugs crawling in or on their bodies, or are misshapen and ugly. Because of these delusions, they tend to avoid the society of other people and spend much time consulting physicians for their imagined condition.
Whether or not persons with delusional disorder are dangerous to others has not been systematically investigated, but clinical experience suggests that such persons are rarely homicidal. Delusional patients are commonly angry people, and thus they are perceived as threatening. In the rare instances when individuals with delusional disorder do become violent, their victims are usually people who unwittingly fit into their delusional scheme. The person in most danger from an individual with delusional disorder is a spouse or lover.
Steven had not liked high school very much and was glad to graduate and get a job. But when he realized he needed more education to reach his goals, he applied for admission into a nearby college. He rented a house with several other young men and did well in his studies. Near the end of his second year, Steven stopped eating with the others and ate only food directly out of a can so he could be sure it wasn't poisoned. When he crossed the campus, he tried to avoid girls as he felt they shot poisoned webs at him that encompassed his body like a giant spider web. When he began to feel that his housemates had put poisoned gas in his room, he dropped out of school and returned home. He cleaned up his room at home and put a lock on the door so his parents could not enter it and contaminate it. He bought a small electric hot plate and prepared all his own food. If his mother urged him to eat a meal with the family, he accused her of wanting to poison him. His parents finally were able to convince him to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed "schizophrenia, subtype paranoia." With medication, individual and group therapy, Steven has improved enough to work in an office under the supervision of an understanding and supportive employer.
Paranoid thinking and behavior are hallmarks of the form of schizophrenia called "paranoid schizophrenia." Individuals with paranoid schizophrenia commonly have extremely bizarre delusions or hallucinations, almost always on a specific theme. Sometimes they hear voices that others cannot hear or believe that their thoughts are being controlled or broadcast aloud. Also, their performance at home and on the job deteriorates, often with a much diminished degree of emotional expressiveness.
In contrast, people with relatively milder paranoid disorders may have such symptoms as delusions of persecution or delusional jealousy, but not the prominent hallucinations or impossible, bizarre delusions of paranoid schizophrenia. Those with milder paranoid disorders are customarily able to work, and their emotional expression and behavior are appropriate to their delusional belief. Apart from their delusions, their thinking remains clear and orderly. On the other hand, those with paranoid schizophrenia are often intellectually disorganized and confused.
Causes of Paranoia
Genetic Contribution
Little research has been done on the role of heredity in causing paranoia. Scientists have found that the families of paranoid patients do not have higher than normal rates of either schizophrenia or depression. However, there is some evidence that paranoid symptoms in schizophrenia may be genetically influenced. Some studies have shown that when one twin of a pair of identical twins with schizophrenia has paranoid symptoms, the other twin usually does also. And, recent research has suggested that paranoid disorders are significantly more common in relatives of persons with schizophrenia than in the general population. Whether paranoid disorder -- or a predisposition to it -- is inherited is not yet known.
Biochemistry
The discovery that psychosis (a state in which the individual is out of touch with reality) is treatable with antipsychotic drugs has led scientists to look for the origins of severe mental disorders in abnormal brain chemistry. The search has become very complex, as more and more of the chemical substances that carry messages from one nerve cell to another -- the neurotransmitters -- have been discovered. So far, no clear-cut answers have been found. As with the genetic studies, biochemical studies have not examined paranoia except as a subtype of schizophrenia. There is, however, limited evidence that paranoid schizophrenia is biochemically distinct from nonparanoid forms of the disorder.
Abuse of drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, PCP, LSD, or other stimulants or "psychedelic" compounds may lead to symptoms of paranoid thinking or behavior. Patients with major mental disorders like paranoid schizophrenia may have their symptoms become worse under the influence of these drugs. Scientists are studying the biochemical actions of such drugs to determine how they produce their behavioral effects. This may help us to learn more about the neurochemistry of paranoid disorders, which is poorly understood at this time.
Stress
Some scientists believe paranoia may be a reaction to high levels of life stress. Lending support to this opinion is the evidence that paranoia is more prevalent among immigrants, prisoners of war, and others undergoing severe stress. Sometimes, when thrust into a new and highly stressful situation, people suffer an acute form -- called "acute paranoia" -- in which delusions develop over a short period of time and last only a few months.
Some studies indicate that paranoia has become more prevalent in the twentieth century. The connection between stress and paranoia does not, of course, rule out other contributing factors. A genetic defect, a brain abnormality, an information-processing disability -- or all three -- could predispose a person to paranoia; stress may merely act as a trigger.
Treatment of Paranoia
Paranoid people's mistrustfulness makes treatment of the condition difficult. Rarely will they talk casually in an interview. They are suspicious of the kind of open-ended questions many therapists rely on to learn about the patient's history (for example, "Tell me about your relationships with your co-workers."). They may try to avoid hospitalization and drugs, fearing a loss of control or other real or imagined dangers.
Drug Treatment
Treatment with appropriate antipsychotic drugs may help the paranoid patient overcome some symptoms. Although the patient's functioning may be improved, the paranoid symptoms often remain intact. Some studies indicate that symptoms improve following drug treatment, but the same results sometimes occur among patients who receive a placebo, a "sugar pill" without active ingredients. This finding suggests that in some cases the paranoia diminishes for psychological reasons rather than because of the drug's action. Paranoid patients receiving medication must be closely monitored. Their fearfulness and persecutory delusions often lead them to refuse or sabotage treatment -- for example, by holding the drug in their cheek until they are alone and then spitting it out.
Psychotherapy
Reports on individual cases suggest that the regular opportunity to express suspicions and self-doubts afforded by psychotherapy can help the paranoid patient function in the community. Although paranoid ideas do seem to persist, they may be less disruptive. Other types of psychotherapy that have reportedly led to improved social functioning without appreciably diminishing paranoid delusions are art therapy, family therapy, and group therapy.
Outlook for Paranoid Patients
In spite of the treatment difficulties, patients with a paranoid disorder may function quite well. Even though their paranoid views are apparently unshakable, various treatments appear effective in improving social functioning, so that they do not often require lengthy hospitalization. The symptoms are less bizarre than those associated with paranoid schizophrenia. Also, the paranoid disorders seem to cause less disorganization of the personality and disruptions in social and family life. Unlike schizophrenia, which can become progressively worse, paranoid disorder seems to reach a certain level of severity and stay there.
Posted on Apr 6, 2002, 5:55 PM from IP address 213.243.30.4
Everybody favours love and friendship but that's different for me. Love and friendship relationships have always caused me to have the deepest emotional pain. I realize that I should not love anybody and should not be close friend with anybody otherwise I suffer severely. I dont say that I love loneliness much. Nevertheless, I think, contrary to general opinion, loneliness is not a bad situation for some people. There are some people who love loneliness. They are usually diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. I am not a fanatic of loneliness but loneliness is not very boring for me. It is not a disturbing idea for me to live like Robinson Crusoe did for the rest of my life. However, I am not alone. There are many people around me but I dont love any of them and I am not close friends with any of them. I refuse close relationships anymore. My major principle of living is instead of having a few love or close friendship relationships, prefering many distant relationships. I am the only close friend of mine. I love only myself. I trust only myself.
I refuse all of the possible value judgements (traditional, religious, modern, personal, etc) What I have learned from what I have experienced is that close friendships, love relationships and value judgements have always been the triggers of my major depressions.
Do you think I have some cognitive distortions?
yevgeny
Posted on Apr 6, 2002, 2:21 PM from IP address 213.243.30.4
My psychiatrist Dr.Alp brings a suit of law against me because of my aggressive messages to him. I went to this psychiatrist for the treatment of my aggression. He has not been able to treat my aggression but his technique has aggravated my aggression and I have been more aggressive than ever for a few months. My aggressive messages are written internet messages and phone messages recorded by telesecretary. No face to face aggression.
His technique to treat my aggression:
alp: what does aggression provide you? What do you lose when you suppress your aggression?
paranoid: I lose my self-respect.
alp: what happens when you have self respect?
paranoid: I gain my self confidence.
alp: what does self confidence provide you?
paranoid: I can be a successful person with my self confidence.
alp: what happens when you are successful?
paranoid: They admire me.
alp: what happens when they admire you?
paranoid: they love me.
alp: what happens when you are loved?
paranoid: I get happy.
alp: what does happiness provide you?
paranoid: I can be creative and productive.
alp: What does creativity and productivity provide you?
paranoid: intellectual activities with maximum satisfaction.
alp: then?
paranoid: many friends who love me.
alp: what happens when you have many friends loving you.
paranoid: I get very happy.
alp: you see that the quality of happiness has increased. what happens when you have high quality happiness?
paranoid: falling love with a woman.
alp: then?
paranoid: family and home.
alp: so?
paranoid: unlimited happiness.
After this therapy which lasted for five minutes I realized that aggression is the source of unlimited happiness.
VIVA AGGRESSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
negative response is the best response.
Posted on Apr 6, 2002, 10:15 AM from IP address 213.243.30.4
Ney is a woodwind instrument of Classical Turkish Music. It is the major instrument of Sufi Music. Sufism is a mystic movement of Islam in Anatolia. Neyzen means "ney player" in Persian Language. Ney is made of cane and it is something like a primitive reed flute.
Neyzen Tevfik was the most popular ney player of Turkish Musical History. He was a homeless man and he had a private room in the biggest psychiatric hospital of Turkey. The professional musicians did not like the playing style of Neyzen Tevfik but all of the ordinary people who listened to his improvisations cried.
One of my friends gave me a CD of Neyzen Tevfik. I am continuously crying while listening to Neyzen Tevfik's improvisations which were recorded 60 or 70 years ago. I am sure that I am a better ney player than he was but I dont understand why I cry while listening to his improvisations. I am a terrorist and a paranoid and a sadist and a psychopathic and a conscienceless and an angry person and I never cry.
I am crying while writing this message.
Posted on Apr 6, 2002, 10:08 AM from IP address 213.243.30.4
The number of homeless people in the USA at a particular night is about 600,000. Nevertheless, homeless people sometimes find some temporary home or can find a job to rent a home. It is possible that a person who has a home can lose his/her home and become homeless in the USA because of lack of social securities. I would definitely be homeless if I lived in the USA. They estimate that nearly 7,000,000 people had been homeless at least for one night in the USA between the years 1985 and 1990. Nearly one third of the homeless people have severe mental illness. (Reference: an article about homelessness at www.schizophrenia.com)
Americans did this research. Americans are true fakers so I believe that the population of homeless people in the USA is more than 30,000,000. I have many friends who live in the USA or who have visited the USA. They say that they can meet a homeless person at every step while walking in the streets of the USA.
Unemployment rate of mentally ill people is very high in the USA.
There was no mentally ill person who was homeless in the Soviet Union because there were no homeless people in the Soviet Union.
There was no mentally ill person who was unemployed in the Soviet Union because the unemployment rate was zero in the Soviet Union.
There was no mentally ill person who was untreated in the Soviet Union because medical treatment was free for everybody who lived in the Soviet Union.
Psychoanalysis was completely refused by the Soviet Regime so Soviet psychiatrists did not cause their patients to become worse by applying psychoanalysis.
Soviet medical doctors were the only medical doctors who were faithful to the Hippocratic oath because they treat their patients not for gaining money.
I do not believe the lies of Americans about Soviet Union. However, I believe the living witnesses of Soviet Union. I have talked with many Moldavians, Georgians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians , Letonians, Lithuanians, etc. who lived in Soviet Union before Gorbachev’s period. They all strongly miss the Soviet Regime before Gorbachev’s period because they were all very happy in the Soviet Regime.
Therefore, I am a true Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist.
Posted on Apr 2, 2002, 6:39 AM from IP address 213.243.30.3
WEDNESDAY, March 27 (HealthScoutNews) -- Add math anxiety to the growing list of phobias haunting modern society. And for grade-schoolers who've got it, it might exact a high price later in their academic careers.
In a study of teaching methods at 65 sixth-grade classrooms throughout the Midwest, researchers found that a teacher's emphasis on getting the right answers only increased the number of students who did not ask questions, purposely didn't study and were loathe to explore new areas of math.
In contrast, the researchers, from the University of Notre Dame, found that teachers who used supportive instruction methods helped to produce students eager to tackle new and more challenging concepts.
"Those classrooms where kids reported the lowest avoidance behaviors were also the classrooms in which teachers offered the most encouragement for learning," says Julianne Turner, a psychology professor at Notre Dame, and lead author of the study, which appears in the latest Journal of Educational Psychology.
Also interesting to Turner was the value of what she terms "motivational discourse," which calls for verbally encouraging the children as they progress.
In her study, the researchers surveyed approximately 1,200 students. The researchers also were able to sit in 10 classrooms and tape all the conversations, which showed exactly how teachers interacted with their students.
What the researchers found was that teachers who were enthusiastic about the subject matter, saying things like, "This is the part I really love," or "Wow, that's interesting," were more successful in their teaching, Turner says.
"The teachers who had more of that motivational discourse were the ones who had, by and large, the more positive outcomes," she says.
That contrasts with teachers who were less enthusiastic.
"They weren't negative, but they came across as very neutral. They did not encourage the children, didn't say positive things, didn't demonstrate that math was worthwhile or interesting," Turner says.
Children in those classes reported a higher number of "avoidance behaviors": not asking questions; not trying on purpose, called"self-handicapping;" and not wanting to explore new concepts.
"There is a fair amount of research about enthusiasm in teaching," says Nathaniel Gage, professor emeritus of education and psychology at Stanford University. "And generally, enthusiasm is positively related to student achievement."
Turner's work suggests that "negative learning behaviors" picked up early in a child's schooling could hamper his later life.
"This is only a supposition, but if kids remove themselves from opportunities to learn, if they brush off bad grades, this is self-defeating in terms of learning, and could influence them as they get older," she says. "Kids with big learning issues tend to drop out of school."
Teaching methods aren't the only cause of math anxiety, Turner says. Another factor: The way the subject is taught.
While there's a movement to teach math more conceptually, the traditional approach that emphasizes rules and a right-and-wrong way to study the subject is still common. And that old approach isn't necessarily the best, Turner says.
"A typical kind of discourse in math is, 'What is the answer?' The emphasis is the right answer, while, for example, in an English class, there is more room for interpretation and recognition of multiple, plausible answers," she says.
"You are judged in front of everyone in your class, and the older children get, the more they begin to worry that they're going to be compared to others," she adds.
If they consistently get the wrong answers, they begin to feel inferior and lose confidence, Turner says.
"There is not enough separation between being good in school and being a good person," she says. "And kids who don't do well in school begin to believe that they're not good people."
What to Do: To read Turner's study, visit the Journal of Educational Psychology. To learn more about math anxiety, check out Math.com.
SOURCES: Julianne C. Turner, Ph.D., professor of psychology, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind.; Nathaniel Gage, Ph.D., professor emeritus of education and psychology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.; Journal of Educational Psychology ~KIDS~~PSYC~~CDEV~
Posted on Mar 29, 2002, 1:14 PM from IP address 213.243.30.3
John F Nash's father, also called John Forbes Nash so we shall refer to him as John Nash Senior, was a native of Texas. John Nash Senior was born in 1892 and had an unhappy childhood from which he escaped when he studied electrical engineering at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical. After military service in France during World War I, John Nash Senior lectured on electrical engineering for a year at the University of Texas before joining the Appalacian Power Company in Bluefield, West Virginia. John F Nash's mother, Margaret Virginia Martin, was known as Virginia. She had a university education, studying languages at the Martha Washington College and then at West Virginia University. She was a school teacher for ten years before meeting John Nash Senior, and the two were married on 6 September 1924.
Johnny Nash, as he was called by his family, was born in Bluefield Sanatorium and baptised into the Episcopal Church. He was [2]:-
... a singular little boy, solitary and introverted ...
but he was brought up in a loving family surrounded by close relations who showed him much affection. After a couple of years Johnny had a sister when Martha was born. He seems to have shown a lot of interest in books when he was young but little interest in playing with other children. His mother responded by enthusiastically encouraging Johnny's education, both by seeing that he got good schooling and also by teaching him herself.
Johnny's teachers at school certainly did not recognise his genius, and it would appear that he gave them little reason to realise that he had extraordinary talents. They were more conscious of his lack of social skills and, because of this, labelled him as backward. Although it is easy to be wise after the event, it now would appear that he was extremely bored at school. By the time he was about twelve years old he was showing great interest in carrying out scientific experiments in his room at home. It is fairly clear that he learnt more at home than he did at school.
Martha seems to have been a remarkably normal child while Johnny seemed different from other children. She wrote later in life (see [2]):-
Johnny was always different. [My parents] knew he was different. And they knew he was bright. He always wanted to do thinks his way. Mother insisted I do things for him, that I include him in my friendships. ... but I wasn't too keen on showing off my somewhat odd brother.
Nash first showed an interest in mathematics when he was about 14 years old. Quite how he came to read E T Bell's Men of mathematics is unclear but certainly this book inspired him. He tried, and succeeded, in proving for himself results due to Fermat which Bell stated in his book. The excitement that Nash found here was in contrast to the mathematics that he studied at school which failed to interest him.
He entered Bluefield College in 1941 and there he took mathematics courses as well as science courses, in particular studying chemistry which was a favourite topic. He began to show abilities in mathematics, particularly in problem solving, but still with hardly any friends and behaving in a somewhat eccentric manner, this only added to his fellow pupils view of him as peculiar. He did not considered a career in mathematics at this time, however, which is not surprising since it was an unusual profession. Rather he assumed that he would study electrical engineering and follow his father but he continued to conduct his own chemistry experiments and was involved in making explosives which led to the death of one of his fellow pupils.
Nash won a scholarship in the George Westinghouse Competition and was accepted by the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) which he entered in June 1945 with the intention of taking a degree in chemical engineering. Soon, however, his growing interest in mathematics had him take courses on tensor calculus and relativity. There he came in contact with John Synge who had recently been appointed as Head of the Mathematics Department and taught the relativity course. Synge and the other mathematics professors quickly recognised Nash's remarkable mathematical talents and persuaded him to become a mathematics specialist. They realised that he had the talent to become a professional mathematician and strongly encouraged him.
Nash quickly aspired to great things in mathematics. He took the William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition twice but, although he did well, he did not make the top five. It was a failure in Nash's eyes and one which he took badly. The Putnam Mathematics Competition was not the only thing going badly for Nash. Although his mathematics professors heaped praise on him, his fellow students found him a very strange person. Physically he was strong and this saved him from being bullied, but his fellow students took delight in making fun of Nash who they saw as an awkward immature person displaying childish tantrums. One of his fellow students wrote:-
We tormented poor John. We were very unkind. We were obnoxious. We sensed he had a mental problem.
Nash received a BA and an MA in mathematics in 1948. By this time he had been accepted into the mathematics programme at Harvard, Princeton, Chicago and Michigan. Now he felt that Harvard was the leading university and so he wanted to go there, but on the other hand their offer to him was less generous than that of Princeton. Nash felt that Princeton were keen that he went there while he felt that his lack of success in the Putnam Mathematics Competition meant that Harvard were less enthusiastic. He took a while to make his decision, while he was encouraged by Synge and his other professors to accept Princeton. When Lefschetz offered him the most prestigious Fellowship that Princeton had, Nash made his decision to study there.
In September 1948 Nash entered Princeton where he showed an interest in a broad range of pure mathematics: topology, algebraic geometry, game theory and logic were among his interests but he seems to have avoided attending lectures. Usually those who decide not to learn through lectures turn to books but this appears not to be so for Nash who decided not to learn mathematics "second-hand" but rather to develop topics himself. In many ways this approach was successful for it did contribute to him developing into one of the most original of mathematicians who would attack a problem in a totally novel way.
In 1949, while studying for his doctorate, he wrote a paper which 45 years later was to win a Nobel prize for economics. During this period Nash established the mathematical principles of game theory. P Ordeshook wrote:-
The concept of a Nash equilibrium n-tuple is perhaps the most important idea in noncooperative game theory. ... Whether we are analysing candidates' election strategies, the causes of war, agenda manipulation in legislatures, or the actions of interest groups, predictions about events reduce to a search for and description of equilibria. Put simply, equilibrium strategies are the things that we predict about people.
Milnor, who was a fellow student, describes Nash during his years at Princeton in [6]:-
He was always full of mathematical ideas, not only on game theory, but in geometry and topology as well. However, my most vivid memory of this time is of the many games which were played in the common room. I was introduced to Go and Kriegspiel, and also to an ingenious topological game which we called Nash in honor of the inventor.
In fact the game "Nash" was almost identical to Hex which had been invented independently by Piet Hein in Denmark.
In 1950 Nash received his doctorate from Princeton with a thesis entitled Non-cooperative Games. In the summer of that year he worked for the RAND Corporation where his work on game theory made him a leading expert on the Cold War conflict which dominated RAND's work. He worked there from time to time over the next few years as the Corporation tried to apply game theory to military and diplomatic strategy. Back at Princeton in the autumn of 1950 he began to work seriously on pure mathematical problems. It might seem that someone who had just introduced ideas which would, one day, be considered worthy of a Nobel Prize would have no problems finding an academic post. However, Nash's work was not seen at the time to be of outstanding importance and he saw that he needed to make his mark in other ways. We should also note that it was not really a move towards pure mathematics for he had always considered himself a pure mathematician. He had already obtained results on manifolds and algebraic varieties before writing his thesis on game theory. His famous theorem, that any compact real manifold is diffeomorphic to a component of a real-algebraic variety, was thought of by Nash as a possible result to fall back on if his work on game theory was not considered suitable for a doctoral thesis.
In 1952 Nash published Real algebraic manifolds in the Annals of Mathematics. The most important result in this paper is that two real algebraic manifolds are equivalent if and only if they are analytically homeomorphic. Although publication of this paper on manifolds established him as a leading mathematician, not everyone at Princeton was prepared to see him join the Faculty there. This was nothing to do with his mathematical ability which everyone accepted as outstanding, but rather some mathematicians such as Artin felt that they could not have Nash as a colleague due to his aggressive personality.
From 1952 Nash taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but his teaching was unusual (and unpopular with students) and his examining methods were highly unorthodox. His research on the theory of real algebraic varieties, Riemannian geometry, parabolic and elliptic equations was, however, extremely deep and significant in the development of all these topics. His paper C1 isometric imbeddings was published in 1954 and Chern, in a review, noted that it:-
... contains some surprising results on the C1-isometric imbedding into an Euclidean space of a Riemannian manifold with a positive definite C0-metric.
Nash continued to develop this work in the paper The imbedding problem for Riemannian manifolds published in 1956. This paper contains his famous deep implicit function theorem. After this Nash worked on ideas that would appear in his paper Continuity of solutions of parabolic and elliptic equations which was published in the American Journal of Mathematics in 1958. Nash, however, was very disappointed when he discovered that E De Giorgi has proved similar results by completely different methods.
The outstanding results which Nash had obtained in the course of a few years put him into contention for a 1958 Fields' Medal but with his work on parabolic and elliptic equations was still unpublished when the Committee made their decisions he did not make it. One imagines that the Committee would have expected him to be a leading contender, perhaps even a virtual certainty, for a 1962 Fields' Medal but mental illness destroyed his career long before those decisions were made.
During his time at MIT Nash began to have personal problems with his life which were in addition to the social difficulties he had always suffered. He met Eleanor Stier and they had a son, John David Stier, who was born on 19 June 1953. Nash did not want to marry Eleanor although she tried hard to persuade him. In the summer of 1954, while working for RAND, Nash was arrested in a police operation to trap homosexuals. He was dismissed from RAND.
One of Nash's students at MIT, Alicia Larde, became friendly with him and by the summer of 1955 they were seeing each other regularly. In 1956 Nash's parents found out about his continuing affair with Eleanor and about his son John David Stier. The shock may have contributed to the death of Nash's father soon after but even if it did not Nash may have blamed himself. In February of 1957 Nash married Alicia; by the autumn of 1958 she was pregnant but, a couple of months later near the end of 1958, Nash's mental state became very disturbed.
Norbert Wiener was one of the first to recognize that Nash's extreme eccentricities and personality problems were actually symptoms of a medical disorder. A long sad episode followed which included periods of hospital treatment, temporary recovery, then further treatment. Alicia eventually divorced Nash, although she continued to try to help him, and after a period of extreme mental torture he appeared to become lost to the world, removed from ordinary society, although he spent much of his time in the Mathematics Department at Princeton. The book [2] is highly recommended for its moving account of Nash's mental sufferings.
Slowly over many years Nash recovered. He delivered a paper at the tenth World Congress of Psychiatry in 1996 describing his illness; it is reported in [3]. He was described in 1958 as the:-
... most promising young mathematician in the world ...
but he soon began to feel that:-
... the staff at my university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and later all of Boston were behaving strangely towards me. ... I started to see crypto-communists everywhere ... I started to think I was a man of great religious importance, and to hear voices all the time. I began to hear something like telephone calls in my head, from people opposed to my ideas. ...The delirium was like a dream from which I seemed never to awake.
Despite spending periods in hospital because of his mental condition, his mathematical work continued to have success after success. He said:-
I would not dare to say that there is a direct relation between mathematics and madness, but there is no doubt that great mathematicians suffer from maniacal characteristics, delirium and symptoms of schizophrenia.
In the 1990s Nash made a recovery from the schizophrenia from which he had suffered since 1959. His ability to produce mathematics of the highest quality did not totally leave him. He said:-
I would not treat myself as recovered if I could not produce good things in my work.
Nash was awarded (jointly with Harsanyi and Selten) the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Science for his work on game theory. In 1999 he was awarded the Leroy P Steele Prize by the American Mathematical Society:-
... for a seminal contribution to research.
Posted on Mar 27, 2002, 9:30 AM from IP address 212.252.3.136
I am expert on medications. But I am expert on alternative therapies, too. I apply an effective alternative therapy to myself. I play some musical instruments of Turkish Classical Music which are ney ( reed flute ) , tanbur ( long necked lute ) and ud ( short necked lute). My voice is excellent. In 1993 my psychoanalyst told me that musical instruments replaced my sexual life. Therefore musical instruments are my lovers. They have never been jealous of each other. For many times I left them for years. But we had the same true love in the first meeting after so many years.
In my opinion Classical Western Music does not have the tremendous therapeutic effect of Classical Turkish music. Classical Western Music uses tampered musical scale in which an octave is divided into 12 equal intervals. But Turkish Musical scales are much different. They are much richer than the western one.
The properties of the instruments of the Turkish Classical Music is an other subject. Their sounds have marvellous effects on brain receptors. The most effective sound is the sound of ney. ( reed flute ) The sound of ney can cause a person to cry, to be happy, to meditate, to sleep, to love, to relax, to believe in God, to hallucinate, etc. The sound of ney is much more effective than psychiatric medications and street drugs.
Posted on Mar 24, 2002, 9:46 PM from IP address 213.243.30.3
How do you rate your therapist after you've been to them for several sessions? What if you're not completely satisfied with the therapist? Do you know if it's because you're not comfortable with the process and don't know what to expect or if this is the wrong therapist for you? You could use the following questionnaire to help evaluate.
Rate each statement according to the following scale:
4= This statement is always true;
3= It is true most of the time;
2= It is true some of the time;
1= It is seldom true;
0= It is never true.
1._____ I feel comfortable with the therapist.
2. _____ The therapist seems comfortable with me.
3. _____ The therapist is casual and informal rather than stiff and formal.
4. _____ The therapist does not treat me as if I am sick, defective, and falling apart.
5. _____ The therapist is flexible and open to new ideas rather than pursuing one point of view.
6. _____ The therapist has a good sense of humor and a pleasant disposition.
7. _____ The therapist is very willing to tell me how they feel about me.
8. _____ The therapist admits limitations, not pretending to know things they don't.
9. _____ The therapist is willing to acknowledge being wrong and apologizes for errors or for being inconsiderate, instead of justifying the behavior.
10. ____ The therapist answers direct questions instead of asking me what I think.
11. ____ The therapist reveals things about themself spontaneously or in response to my inquiries, but not by bragging or talking incessantly.
12. ____ The therapist encourages a feeling that I am as good as they are.
13. ____ The therapist acts as my consultant, rather than the manager of my life.
14. ____ The therapist encourages differences of opinion rather than telling me that I am resisting if I disagree with them.
15. ____ The therapist is interested in seeing people who share my life or seems willing to. This includes family, friends, lovers, work associates or other significant people in my life.
16. ____ The things the therapist says make sense to me.
17. ____ In general, my contacts with the therapist lead to my feeling more hopeful and having higher self-esteem.
___________ TOTAL
Interpreting your score: You would probably not feel comfortable working with a therapist who rated below 50 points. Certainly, you shouldn't even consider working with some whose score fell below 40 points. Don't think you have to stay with a particular therapist simply because you have started or have been with the same person for months. It is your time, money and well-being that are at stake. If you try several therapists with different styles and personalities and none seems satisfactory, perhaps it is better to work with the one who has the highest score rather than using an absolute figure.
Even after visiting a specific therapist for several sessions, you can still change therapists if you are not making progress or if the therapist is not going in the direction you desire. Remember, the therapist always works for you! You are the boss and must call the shots.
Posted on Mar 24, 2002, 9:40 PM from IP address 213.243.30.3
The Yates Odyssey
Andrea Yates wanted lots of kids and a solid family life but lost it all one murderous morning. As her trial begins, the defense will try to prove she is insane. But that begs the question: could the tragedy have been averted? BY TIMOTHY ROCHE
AP
Andrea Yates
Sunday, Jan. 20, 2002
The first time Russell Yates ever saw Andrea Kennedy, she was in the water. It was 1989, and he had spied her sunbathing in a bikini by the pool of the Houston apartment complex they shared. She hopped in for a swim, and he looked on in wonderment as she steadied herself with her toes against the pool wall and stretched out to float serenely on her back, her long brown hair making a slow swirl in the blue water and her arms outstretched like a cross. She seemed so at peace he thought she might fall asleep on that bed of water. He would later find out that she was a champion swimmer and had once swum around an island in Mexico. She loved to sail. She loved the water. As Rusty Yates now describes the woman he would marry in 1993, "she was a person who was more graceful in the water than out of it."
It is late into the night of the second day of 2002, and Rusty Yates is sitting in a Mobile, Ala., hotel room, traveling on his first vacation alone and trying to piece together thoughts of his marriage. The nasa computer engineer averts his memory from the image of water for a moment. But he cannot really avoid it. v On June 20, 2001, when the police reached his modest brick home on Beachcomber Lane in suburban Houston, they found Andrea drenched with bathwater, her flowery blouse and brown leather sandals soaking wet. She had turned on the bathroom faucet to fill the porcelain tub and moved aside the shaggy mat to give herself traction for kneeling on the floor. It took a bit of work for her to chase down the last of the children; toward the end, she had a scuffle in the family room, sliding around on wet tile below a poster that proclaimed the epithets of Christ: savior, shepherd, bishop of souls. She dripped watery footprints from the tub to her bedroom, where she straightened the blankets around the kids in their pajamas once she was done with them.
She called 911 and then her husband. "It's time. I finally did it," she said before telling him to come home and hanging up. He called back to ask what happened.
"It's the kids," she said.
He asked which of five.
"All of them."
Jury selection is now under way in one of the most sensational murder cases in years. Andrea Kennedy Yates, 37, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of capital murder, the drowning of her four sons and baby daughter. At issue in the trial is her mental state: her motives and her will. Her attorneys will argue that the killings were brought on by psychotic delusions, exacerbated by repeated episodes of postpartum depression. Prosecutors dispute the extent of her psychosis and plan to seek the death penalty if she is convicted, contending she knew right from wrong and that the massacre of five children was an intentional attempt to escape a life she could no longer live--and a husband she had grown to resent. While Andrea is the one on trial, the case will also bring scrutiny of her husband, her doctors, her mother and siblings. What did they know of her condition? And could they have prevented the tragedy?
Andrea Yates' odyssey is the focus of a Time investigation that included 40 hours of conversations with Rusty Yates as well as interviews with his wife's family and friends. Time also reviewed hours of home videos and thousands of medical records, police files, autopsy reports and court documents. What emerges is a picture far different from that in the framed family photographs hanging in the hallway of the couple's home. It is a portrait of a fateful, tragic intersection of characters. Among them:
A woman who had a vision of violence from the time just after her first child was born but who kept her demons secret to preser