Ah. Another Hideously Misleading Statement From the Mainstream Media on the Subject of Mental Health
Check this out, my friends. It's from The New York Times. The writer is Sarah Kershaw:
Psychosis in the 21st century looks something like this: You think your every move is being filmed for a reality television show starring you, and that everyone in your life is an actor.Or you think you are under intense surveillance by an army of spies, whom you refer to as the “www people,” as in the World Wide Web, and they wiretap your furniture and appliances.
Or else you refuse to drink water because you fear that another cup drawn from your faucet will, once and for all, deplete the world’s water supply.
Those thoughts are from three case studies of what psychiatrists interested in the intersection of mental illness, culture and society are calling, respectively, Truman Show delusion, Internet delusion and climate change delusion; all of them a window, through madness, into the modern world.
Three studies. Hey, Sarah, are you ever psychotic? My guess is no. But I'll bet you like a nice provocative lede. It's like putting a photo of a babe in a bikini on your article. Why not just do that instead of making a blanket statement that'll be considered credible by millions?
Look Closely, Doctor: See the Camera?
Comments
Why is a discussion of "psychosis" in the Fashion and Style section of the NYTimes? I've had my fair share of delusions, but they were never based on movies (they were a bit more outlandish and "original"). But I guess the delusional mind grabs onto whatever makes sense in an odd way.
Posted by: Tony | August 28, 2008 12:03 PM
I was wondering why the statement is considered misleading? Can somebody shed some light on this?
Posted by: Melanie | August 28, 2008 01:34 PM
Somehow I doubt that the experiences Sarah Kershaw describes are representative of those had by most people called "psychotic". I know they're not representative of the experiences of everyone given that label. It seems especially loathesome when the more glamorous and privileged people try to profit by making entertainment out of the suffering of those who are less fortunate. When they do so, they seem to almost always ignore the effect of trauma and of unfairness and injustice that is built into the system - how the very things that benefit people like themselves sometimes add to the burdens of those who they are writing about or describing. They literally "shrink" all that is wrong into something that is contained entirely within the people who are having the hardest struggles, rather than admitting that it is connected to larger problems which everyone has a hand in.
Posted by: Kent | August 28, 2008 06:51 PM
I'm with you, Tony, although I can't say that the portals, shifting dimensions and visions of burials that I've seen, just in my bedroom (!) made much sense to me. But you've definitely got me to thinking about that aspect!
Melanie, there are millions of people who suffer from mild to severe forms of psychosis. As each person is unique, so is a sufferer's delusion/hallucination. To say that three case studies is representative of such a vast and varied population is, in fact, delusional.
Posted by: Dano MacNamarrah | August 28, 2008 09:17 PM
kershaw has written fluffy copy for years. not ready for prime time
Posted by: oh wow | August 29, 2008 12:58 AM
AHAHAHAH I was wondering what was up the bikini gal from your feed in my google reader. I knew all I had to do was read on to find out....
Posted by: Katharine | August 29, 2008 11:23 PM