obsessive passion vs. harmonious passion in the atlantic
“Those with harmonious passion really love something, but ultimately can leave it, since it’s a "significant but not overwhelming part of their identity.” Harmonious passion doesn’t interfere with other aspects of life, like relationships or education. In contrast, obsessive passion resides in individuals who derive their self-esteem and identity primarily from their performance during the activity itself. Internalizing the activity exacts many costs. A lousy day on the basketball court threatens to undermine an obsessively passionate player’s entire identity.“
psychosis, insight, self-image and reality in the new yorker
“In 1886, the hospital’s superintendent described psychosis as "a waking dream, which, if not broken in upon, works mischief to the brain,” and wrote that the goal of treatment was to “interfere with this world of self – scatter its creations and fancies and people it with objects and thoughts foreign to its own.””
“In her book "Refusing Care,” [Elyn] Saks calls the method “self-paternalism,” and argues that there are few other scenarios in which psychiatrists should forcibly impose treatment that intrudes on the privacy of people’s own minds. A widely cited justification for compulsory treatment is the “thank-you theory,” which assumes that patients will retroactively agree that intervention was in thier best interests. But only about half of patients who have been involuntarily hospitalized subsequently say that they needed treatment. “We should not be in the business of choosing selves,” Saks writes. It’s impossible to determine whether a mental illness has altered someone’s preferences, or whether that person has simply changed.“
using veterinary science to understand mental illness in the nyt
“This is a critical nuance for understanding addiction. With access to external drugs, the animal isn’t required to “work” first — to forage, flee, socialize or protect. Instead, he goes straight to reward. The chemicals provide a false signal to the animal’s brain that his fitness has improved, although it has not actually changed at all.”
“Basically, poets who eventually commit suicide use I-words more than non-suicidal poets.”
our ability to shift perspective reflected in our use of pronouns is correlated with our mental health in Scientific American
