3 ms·
Sure, and he makes the same point: > Trauma is as old as living creatures; war, disaster, bullying, and rape far predate homo sapiens . . . Our evolutionary hi
by losvedir 7y ago
Sure, and he makes the same point:
> Trauma is as old as living creatures; war, disaster, bullying, and rape far predate homo sapiens . . . Our evolutionary history should have prepared us incredibly well for all of this; the brain “getting stuck” in fear mode after a particularly bad trauma should be no more likely than the legs “getting stuck” in running mode after a particularly long chase.
I took his "self-evident" to be from his point of view as a practicing psychiatrist. Whatever our evolutionary history, lots of people present with it in modern times. For someone who treats such people, once you have the concept for it, it becomes very clear what the disorder is.
- patrec 7y agoHe does indeed make the very same point and his review suggest he thinks of the author as more or less a proudly scientifically illiterate witch doctor whose patients' behavior bears not resemblance to that of his own patients. This does however not prevent him from then recommending the book to one of his patient whom apparently is instantly cured by it. Somehow the intro and ending seem at variance with the rest of the piece and I'm not sure your -- plausible -- reading entirely resolves this. Lots of people presenting with a "disorder" is of course an imperfect indicator that the disorder has some objective basis in fact[1], but there is no real suggestion that Alexander thinks this is the case here. I'm not sure what to make of this piece. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_(medicine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_(medicine) > Local official records indicate genital retraction endemics in Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong, China, as early as the late 19th century.