Posts

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 “Why is Michael so aggressive and argumentative?” “That’s his personality.” In statements like this the term “personality” is presented as if it explained the behavior in question, when in fact it is merely descriptive. The responder to the question, “Why is Mary so quiet and reserved?” might just as well have said: “Because she is so quiet and reserved.” The so-called explanation adds nothing in terms of understanding how Mary got to be quiet and reserved. As I have discussed elsewhere – the acid test for an explanation is to ask: ...

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 one remodeling project on the go – literally all my adult life. So when I got home from work, I changed “uniforms.” Off with the suit and tie, on with the paint-splattered jeans, plaid shirt, scruffy sweater, and tool belt. And here again, I was very comfortable. ...

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). B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person's behavior. ...

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." It was written by an adviser at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It said "scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil." ...

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.

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, it might be helpful to examine the concept a little and draw comparisons between the two perspectives. ...

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 interesting. Dr. Herb Mathewson has a post - Want to Go Dutch…or French…or German? - on learning about other countries’ healthcare systems. There are several posts about social media and medicine - too many to mention, but obviously a source of information for those interested in learning more about this subject - most appropriate for those of us who are of an older, pre-computer age. Some posts are very serious (My Review of Lifetime’s Movie: Five), while others, such as ZDoggMD’s Doctors Today, are of a lighter nature. Stop by and have a look. ...

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. 1. Every cell of the body is recognizable under a microscope as male or female. 2. Anatomically: The male develops testicles; the female develops ovaries. These differences are discernible in the embryo within a few weeks of fertilization. ...

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.

Post edited and updated January 2, 2013, to reflect clarifications as a result of interactions with the many people who have left comments. I thank them for their input. ******************** 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 psychiatric community that homosexuality might be conceptualized as anything other than a mental illness that needed to be treated. And, of course, homosexuality was listed as a mental illness in DSM-II. (The DSM – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – is the APA's standard classification of their so-called mental disorders, and is used by many mental health workers in the USA and other countries.) Then in 1970 gay activists protested against the APA convention in San Francisco. These scenes were repeated in 1971, and as people came out of the “closet” and felt empowered politically and socially, the APA directorate became increasingly uncomfortable with their stance. In 1973 the APA’s nomenclature task force recommended that homosexuality be declared normal. The trustees were not prepared to go that far, but they did vote to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses by a vote of 13 to 0, with 2 abstentions. This decision was confirmed by a vote of the APA membership, and homosexuality was no longer listed in the seventh edition of DSM-II, which was issued in 1974. ...