There are few writers on psychiatry, social and cultural matters who can improve on the commentary of Theodore Dalrymple (the nom de plume of Anthony Daniels, a Brit psychiatrist).
Dalrymple should be someone you always look to for wisdom from the far side on the elements of the culture you might find too gruesome o aberrant to comprehend. His commentary on the mundane is as good, since he understands the tragic/comic human condition very well, but his forte is the analysis of the terribly stupid.
And here he comments on the goofy things that happen when common sense and reasonable analysis gives way to science run amok.
http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_4_otbie-psychiatry.html
It’s time to bail when we’re looking to C3-PO for advice regarding modern society.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000355/?ref_=nv_sr_6
~_^
Don’t make that sort of joke, kenw, it’s not funny.
…or it could be that there was something about her that just made normal folks want to hit her.
I remember a co-worker many years ago. Came in with a black eye from abusive boyfriend. Everyone was all consoling and sympathetic. Another boyfriend, another black eye. Bad luck? You poor girl. When she came in with the third back eye from yet another boyfriend, I don’t think anyone said anything to her at all. We all knew by then that there was something certifiably wrong with this woman. Even the other women started to distance themselves from her.
Some people definitely seek out abuse (most likely subconsciously). It might be a form of martyrdom. Or to create a focal point for general unhappiness. Or justifying extremely low self-esteem. Or a validation of a persecution complex. Or a sense of familiarity stemming from a history of abuse. I think it could be any one of these or a combination thereof. And I’m sure you could add other disorders.
But the truth is that many ongoing abusive relationships are the unholy union of two dysfunction personalities that compliment each as a warped lock and key. To say that the mental disorder lies only on one side is playing politically correct psychology. That’s not blaming the victim per se, but if you don’t look at the entire problem, you’ll never come up with a correct solution.
That was absoutely choice. The cynicism is dripping and juicy. And positively spot on. From the long list of their symptoms everyone on the planet is certifiable. So send more grant money.
excellent. couldn’t agree more!
I can foresee a time when not having a psychiatric disorder is a psychiatric disorder.