3 ms·

But this is the first and only instance I have come across in which hallucinatory voices sought to reassure the patient of their genuine interest in her welfare

But this is the first and only instance I have come across in which hallucinatory voices sought to reassure the patient of their genuine interest in her welfare, offered her a specific diagnosis (there were no clinical signs that would have alerted anyone to the tumour), directed her to the type of hospital best equipped to deal with her problem, expressed pleasure that she had at last received the treatment they desired for her, bid her farewell, and thereafter disappeared. I love medical reports.

api 6y ago
It was a long time ago, but I recall reading once that in some cultures the voices and delusions of schizophrenics tend to be of a more positive nature. In our culture they tend to be almost entirely menacing, paranoid, accusatory, etc. Makes me think about set and setting with psychedelics. Maybe our schizophrenics have menacing delusions because our culture is full of hostility and negativity. There are counterexamples in our culture though. You find them in the new age, occult, and some religious communities. I think some channelers, alien contactees, prophets, etc. probably are schizophrenic but some of them relate positive experiences and messages. Maybe high functioning schizophrenia is just a very non-neurotypical edge case. I'm not downplaying the other aspects of this case though. In this case actual novel and objectively verifiable information seems to have been learned. It's a particularly compelling one because it happened under the loose observation of medical professionals, but if you talk to people you hear less extreme anecdotal experiences like this all the time. I've heard tons of parents tell me stories about spooky parental intuition, things like "knowing" that a child is in danger and going and saving the child just in time. I'm an open minded skeptic on this stuff. I tend toward the skeptical but don't completely dismiss it. Speaking of delusions, the idea that after methodically doing science for only ~200 years we know everything is a peculiar delusion of our culture. Always makes me think of this: https://xkcd.com/638/ https://xkcd.com/638/
- banads 6y ago
  >It was a long time ago, but I recall reading once that in some cultures the voices and delusions of schizophrenics tend to be of a more positive nature. In our culture they tend to be almost entirely menacing, paranoid, accusatory, etc. In many tribal cultures, what western psychiatry castigates as schizophrenia, they honor as shamanism.
- nwienert 6y ago
  Read Julian Jaynes’ book, here’s a nice recent review: https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/01/book-review-origin-of-consciousness-in-the-breakdown-of-the-bicameral-mind/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/01/book-review-origin-of-...
raducu 6y ago
The first couple of times I had Zolpidem at 10mg I had the sweetest audio hallucinations -- otherworldly positive familiar voices but with an added sweetness and thinness; the voices seemed to come from far, far away. I remember reading a reddit comment and my internal voice changed to what seemed to me like a very relaxed well studied black pimp. I've had audio hallucinations before when I was a teenager and had a high fever and I could hear bell-like noises from a wall and what I can only describe as female angels singing -- the hallucinations had a very positive mental impact and in the morning I felt much better physically. Anyway -- all these audio hallucinations have been very positive, I don't want to think how bad any negative voices can be. The human mind is such a fascinating thing.

api 6y ago

It was a long time ago, but I recall reading once that in some cultures the voices and delusions of schizophrenics tend to be of a more positive nature. In our culture they tend to be almost entirely menacing, paranoid, accusatory, etc. Makes me think about set and setting with psychedelics. Maybe our schizophrenics have menacing delusions because our culture is full of hostility and negativity. There are counterexamples in our culture though. You find them in the new age, occult, and some religious communities. I think some channelers, alien contactees, prophets, etc. probably are schizophrenic but some of them relate positive experiences and messages. Maybe high functioning schizophrenia is just a very non-neurotypical edge case. I'm not downplaying the other aspects of this case though. In this case actual novel and objectively verifiable information seems to have been learned. It's a particularly compelling one because it happened under the loose observation of medical professionals, but if you talk to people you hear less extreme anecdotal experiences like this all the time. I've heard tons of parents tell me stories about spooky parental intuition, things like "knowing" that a child is in danger and going and saving the child just in time. I'm an open minded skeptic on this stuff. I tend toward the skeptical but don't completely dismiss it. Speaking of delusions, the idea that after methodically doing science for only ~200 years we know everything is a peculiar delusion of our culture. Always makes me think of this: https://xkcd.com/638/ https://xkcd.com/638/

banads 6y ago
>It was a long time ago, but I recall reading once that in some cultures the voices and delusions of schizophrenics tend to be of a more positive nature. In our culture they tend to be almost entirely menacing, paranoid, accusatory, etc. In many tribal cultures, what western psychiatry castigates as schizophrenia, they honor as shamanism.
nwienert 6y ago
Read Julian Jaynes’ book, here’s a nice recent review: https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/01/book-review-origin-of-consciousness-in-the-breakdown-of-the-bicameral-mind/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/01/book-review-origin-of-...

raducu 6y ago

The first couple of times I had Zolpidem at 10mg I had the sweetest audio hallucinations -- otherworldly positive familiar voices but with an added sweetness and thinness; the voices seemed to come from far, far away. I remember reading a reddit comment and my internal voice changed to what seemed to me like a very relaxed well studied black pimp. I've had audio hallucinations before when I was a teenager and had a high fever and I could hear bell-like noises from a wall and what I can only describe as female angels singing -- the hallucinations had a very positive mental impact and in the morning I felt much better physically. Anyway -- all these audio hallucinations have been very positive, I don't want to think how bad any negative voices can be. The human mind is such a fascinating thing.