Psychiatry, psychology, mental, mind matters

I'm taking a bit of a risk in starting this thread (ie. it might well bomb) but it's something I have wanted to do for ages.

It's clear from many forum discussions, and my own experience, that people on here have an interest - often a personal and/or professional one - in matters of the mind (be it mental health, addiction, depression, eating issues etc.) and furthermore, an interest in the complex relationships between exercise (arguably especially cycling and running), brain chemistry, physiology and mental health. I'm not exactly sure where spirituality, religious belief and ethics comes in to this exactly but there are obvious crossovers there.

So, in essence, since there isn't one already, I thought this thread could be a positive, informative place for people to share interesting articles, podcasts, essays, quotations, research findings and ideas they've come across.

I don't see this as a therapy thread per se, a place to offload the inner workings of one's mind, or cry for help (overtly at least) - this is a bike forum on the Internet after all. :)

I'll start by recommending In The Psychiatrist's Chair in which Psychiatrist Dr Anthony Clare "conducts in depth interviews with prominent people from different walks of life".

Before everyone yawns that it's just some tedious/smug/trite/pop-culture Radio 4 programme (which I half expected, to be honest) it really moved and inspired me.

I wanted something to listen to as I went for a walk (because I can't cycle at the moment) and ended up being so gripped by what I heard that I listened to three episodes back-to-back.

What struck me most was that all the interviewees, in different ways, expressed an insatiable ambition for their lives to matter, to really mean something, and to endure by way of legacy, usually in spite of and/or as a result of considerable mental anguish or pain in their lives.

Also, how every human being is in some way connected with, dependent on, and affected by others (emotionally, socially, spiritually, unknowingly etc.) as well as being on a spectrum of insecurity (as is often displayed on this forum and other social media - I often wonder why the hell I post so many photos of cats/food creations/whatever on Instagram - what is that need to share all about?). Do have a listen if you can.

Oh and this quote sprung to mind as I walked through Ruskin Park today:
"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small parcel." — John Ruskin

tf;dr - like this thread or loathe it, please don't shoot me down for starting it :)

This is a well interesting book:
Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain eBook: David Eagleman: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

and this:
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: Amazon.co.uk: Oliver Sacks: Books

so's this:
Consciousness Explained (Penguin Science): Amazon.co.uk: Daniel C. Dennett: Books

although perhaps more philosophy of mind than psychology.

Great thread btw.

Nice thread idea, should be in M&M, though. :)

^ Thank you for spotting my deliberate mistake, Oliver. ;)

and this:
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: Amazon.co.uk: Oliver Sacks: Books

Haven't read that for years. His self-experimentalism is fascinating and his writing accessible, even to the untrained like me :) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9661347/Oliver-Sacks-most-mind-bending-experiment.html

NB the locus classicus of psychology is roughly here:

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedo.html

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html

Sadly, these are rather inaccessible without ancient Greek or extensive commentaries, as adequate translation of Plato is basically impossible.

^ Have you written anything about these, Oliver?

Here you go

1 Attachment

• themanwhomistook.pdf

^ Have you written anything about these, Oliver?

Only study essays. It's rather hard to do them justice, as there are industries on all of them. There are lots of good starting-points in the literature, but of course the study of Plato is rather involved if you want to do it properly. I'm well out of practice.

What I probably should have asked:

^ Have you ever written anything that refers or relates to Plato's wide-ranging, much analysed philosophical dialogues and/or letters, Oliver?

Since Plato used discourse/rhetoric to explore his and Socrates' philosophies, and had a hipster beard, I wonder what he would make of lfgss?*

Also, can you explain how philosophical/scientific knowledge relates to psychology?

*Rhetorical question ;)

In the workaday work, complainers will not go far. When someone asks how you are doing, you had better be wise enough to reply, “I can’t complain.” If you do complain, even justifiably, people will stop asking how you are doing. complaining will not help you succeed and influence people. You can complain to your physician or psychiatrist because they are paid to hear you complain. But you cannot complain to your boss or your friends, if you have any. you will soon be dismissed from your job and dropped from the social register. Then you will be left alone with your complains and no one to listen to them. Perhaps then the message will sink into your head: If you do not feel good enough for long enough, you should act as if you do and even think as if you do. That is the way to get yourself to feel good enough for long enough and stop you from complaining for good, as any self-improvement book can affirm. But should you improve, someone must assume the blame. And that someone will be you. This is monumentally so if you are a pessimist or a depressive. Should you conclude that life is objectionable or that nothing matters–do not waste our time with your nonsense. We are on our way to the future, and the philosophically disheartening or the emotionally impaired are not going to hinder our progress. If you cannot say something positive, or at least equivocal, keep it to yourself. Pessimists and depressives need not apply for a position in the enterprise of life. You have two choices: Start thinking the way God and your society want you to think or be forsaken by all. The decision is yours, since your are a free agent who can choose to rejoin our fabricated world or stubbornly insist on…what? That we should mollycoddle non-positive thinkers like you or rethink how the whole world transacts its business? That we should start over from scratch? Or that we should go extinct? Try to be realistic. We did the best we could with the tools we had. After all, we are only human, as we like to say. Our world may not be in accord with nature’s way, but it did develop organically according to our consciousness, which delivered us to a lofty prominence over the Creation. The whole thing just took on a life of its own, and nothing is going to stop it anytime soon. There can be no starting over and no going back. No major readjustments are up for a vote. And no melancholic head-case is going to bad-mouth our catastrophe. The universe was created by the Creator, damn it. We live in a country we love and that loves us back. We have families and friends and jobs that make it all worthwhile. We are somebodies, not a bunch of nobodies without names or numbers or retirement plans. None of this is going to be overhauled by a though criminal who contends that the world is not doubleplusgood and never will be. Our lives may not be unflawed — that would deny us a better future to work toward — but if this charade is good enough for us, then it should be good enough for you. So if you cannot get your mind right, try walking away. you will find no place to go and no one who will have you. You will find only the same old trap the world over. Lighten up or leave us alone. you will never get us to give up our hopes. you will never get us to wake up from our dreams. We are not contradictory beings whose continuance only worsens our plight as mutants who embody the contorted logic of a paradox. Such opinion will not be accredited by institutions of authority or by the middling run of humans. To lay it on the line, whatever, whatever thoughts may enter your chemically imbalanced brain are invalid, inauthentic, or whatever dismissive term we care to hang on you, who are only “one of those people.” So start pretending that you feel good enough for long enough, stop your complaining, and get back in line. If you are not as strong as Samson — that no-good suicide and slaughterer of Philistines — then get loaded to the gills and return to the trap. Keep your medicine cabinet and your liquor cabinet well stocked, just like the rest of us. Come on and join the party. No pessimists or depressives invited. Do you think we are all morons? We know all about those complaints of yours. The only difference is that we have sense enough and feel good enough for long enough not to speak of them. keep your powder dry and your brains blocked. Our shibboleth “Up the Conspiracy and down with Consciousness.”

-- Thomas Ligotti

Always forgetting about this, got burned multiple times when I do few beers too many.

“I have seen the dark universe yawning
Where the black planets roll without aim,
Where they roll in their horror unheeded,
Without knowledge, or lustre, or name.”

-- H.P. Lovecraft

"For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."

— Charles Bukowski

Goedel/Escher/Bach is an incredibly dense read (not easy...) where the writer connects music/maths/zen/computing to come up with a theory on why entities can self-reflect.

Do recommend if you have lots of time, got stuck halfway in due to lack of time, but it's highly original touching upon many ideas/scientific fields.

How Do You Calm The Monsters? - YouTube

What I probably should have asked:

[QUOTE=Miss Mouse;4321262]^ Have you ever written anything that refers or relates to Plato's wide-ranging, much analysed philosophical dialogues and/or letters, Oliver?
[/quote]

Yes.

Since Plato used discourse/rhetoric to explore his and Socrates' philosophies

More specifically, he used dialogue and was rather opposed to rhetoric.

Also, can you explain how philosophical/scientific knowledge relates to psychology?
Psychology is a discipline of philosophy, although the label 'philosophy' across the various disciplines usually comprised under it is rather unhelpful. As with all other sciences, psychology is founded on, and/or related to, theology, metaphysics, ontology, ethics, aesthetics, and epistemology, as well as assisted by logic.

That obviously doesn't explain it and a proper explanation would take much longer. It also rather depends on which colour of philosophy you prefer. Some will say magnolia and some will say off-white.

http://raouldify.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/2011_1203-the-flinch.pdf

Yes.

More specifically, he used dialogue and was rather opposed to rhetoric.

^ True, but his work has been used to teach rhetoric, rightly or wrongly.

"Thinking Fast & Slow" by Daniel Kahneman explores how we use a standard model of the world to provide quick responses to most situations, which avoids the need to think - and the trouble this can cause. It then illustrates some of the prejudices and flawed logic behind this and our deeper thought processes.

I believe it explains why we laugh at jokes; typically a situation that suddenly breaks from the standard model and causes a flip into thinking mode. But that could be open to debate.

Although the ideas are powerful, it's possibly the most tedious book I have ever read - it's like walking through treacle IMHO.

^ Ha - thanks for the honest appraisal!

Goedel/Escher/Bach is an incredibly dense read (not easy...) where the writer connects music/maths/zen/computing to come up with a theory on why entities can self-reflect.

Do recommend if you have lots of time, got stuck halfway in due to lack of time, but it's highly original touching upon many ideas/scientific fields.

yep this is also wicked

"Thinking Fast & Slow" by Daniel Kahneman explores how we use a standard model of the world to provide quick responses to most situations, which avoids the need to think - and the trouble this can cause. It then illustrates some of the prejudices and flawed logic behind this and our deeper thought processes.

I believe it explains why we laugh at jokes; typically a situation that suddenly breaks from the standard model and causes a flip into thinking mode. But that could be open to debate.

Although the ideas are powerful, it's possibly the most tedious book I have ever read - it's like walking through treacle IMHO.

There's some accessible articles written on this...thinking costs energy/can be unpleasant so as a species we rely on heuristics.

Which can lead to mental health issues (inaccurate thinking can cause issues...) and social issues (people closing their minds to actual evidence leading to harmful policies).

Amazon has a bucket load of books on popular psychology...maybe there's a more accessible one? :)

Don't know if anyone watched that Channel 4 doco on Lance Armstrong last night (and God forbid this become another Armstrong is a c*nt thread) but in terms of his psychology, there is something fascinating about his ruthless, egocentric, obsessive, sociopathic, borderline insane/sick nature. I wonder if students have started writing theses on his psychology yet...?