Phil

Multiple Personality Disorder, Continued

December 14, 2011

The concept of personality is very firmly established in mental health circles and in academic psychology.  It is also widely used in common speech, and is frequently offered as having explanatory value, when in fact it has none. Consider the following conversation: “Why is Mary so quiet and reserved?”  “Oh, that’s just her personality.” Or [...]

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More on Multiple Personality Disorder

December 13, 2011

I’m now in retirement, but during my professional career I usually (almost always) wore a suit and tie when I went to work.  I enjoyed my work, and I was very comfortable in that role. But I’m also a committed remodeler.  Apart from the time when I was acutely ill, I’ve always had at least [...]

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Multiple Personality Disorder – Another Bogus Illness

November 20, 2011

MPD became an official APA “diagnosis” with the publication of DSM-III in 1980.  It has since been renamed as dissociative identity disorder.  The criteria are: A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). [...]

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More on Homosexuality

November 4, 2011

I came across this on Yahoo! News. BOSTON (AP) — Gay rights groups say they’re pleased the oldest Roman Catholic newspaper in the United States has retracted an opinion column suggesting the devil may be responsible for gay attraction. The column in the Boston archdiocese’s The Pilot newspaper was titled “Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction.” [...]

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Grand Rounds at Health Business Blog

November 2, 2011

This week’s Grand Rounds is hosted by David Williams at Health Business Blog.   As usual, there is plenty of good reading.  Pranab’s post Trick or Treat: Do Doctors Encourage Poor Patient Behaviors, at the blog Scepticemia is well-written, interesting, and says as much about behavior as it does about medicine.

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Behaviorism and Sin

October 28, 2011

I am writing this post in response to Jeanne’s last comment concerning the concept of sin.  This takes us a little outside the normal orbit of this blog, and also outside my field.  But since behaviorism is a way of looking at human activity, and sin is an alternative way of looking at the same phenomenon, [...]

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Grand Rounds at Laika’s MedLibLog

October 28, 2011

Jacqueline (aka Laika) has this week’s Grand Rounds up at Laika’s MedLibLog. One might wonder if many posts could be found that fit the theme:  Data, Information, and Communication.   There are approximately fifty posts in this Rounds, so many that you will want to go back several times, so as not to miss anything [...]

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Homosexuality

October 19, 2011

In a recent comment on my last post Jeanne raised some important questions concerning homosexuality.  These are issues where considerations of political correctness and religious dogma have stifled genuine discussion and dialogue.  I will try to address these questions openly and straightforwardly. The sex or gender of a person expresses itself in five general ways. [...]

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Grand Rounds at Healthcare Economist

October 11, 2011

It’s time for this week’s Grand Rounds, which can be found at Healthcare Economist.  Jason has put together an interesting set of posts, everything from a book review to a post about the iPhone.  Stop by for some enjoyable reading.

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Homosexuality: The Mental Illness That Went Away

October 8, 2011

According to the American Psychiatric Association, until 1974 homosexuality was a mental illness.  Freud had alluded to homosexuality numerous times in his writings, and had concluded that paranoia and homosexuality were inseparable.  Other psychiatrists wrote copiously on the subject, and homosexuality was “treated” on a wide basis.  There was little or no suggestion within the [...]

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