O(c) Disorder

The constant operator is the perfect example of the thing that repeats itself over and over again. It sucks the life out of any natural life giving processes. Does it sound like OCD. It is kind of weird that I discovered this link between how OCD is actually an illness of the constant operator. For a detailed description of the constant operator and the transitional operator and the fundamental operator, either see Dr Gustafson's work or I will allude to it in further posts.

Here is how the equation works out so far:

OCD=Obsessive compulsive disorder= O(c)D= Disorder of the constant operator.

The fractal of basal ganglia

The Basal Ganglia can have two parallel circuits which run in conjunction with each other. Motor activity is dependant on the balance between these circuits. One is the venteromedial group of nuclei which have a large input from the limbic cortex. The other group is the dorsolaterlal group of nuclei which have their major input from the frontal lobe. The names of these two groups of nuclei are quite illustrative based on the framework one would want to differentiate them on. In an evolutionary framework, the venteromedial is earlier in development compared to the dorsolateral. Hence its functions are more “primitive” and “less sophisticated” than the dorsolateral counterpart. The dorsolateral pathways can manage inhibition of behaviors as well as activation of behaviors. The venteromedial pathways only manage disinhibiting behaviors. In terms of position also it resides “inwards” compared to the more “outwards” position of the dorsolateral structures. The venteromedial deals more with the inner feelings, hence the connections from the limbic system while the dorsolateral deals with the outer realm of things.
In Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the venteromedial system is over-activated and an increase in disinhibition can result. This is typified by the disinhibited patterns on behaviors which are termed as compulsions. They can range from counting, checking, hoarding or cleaning. It is a hypothesis that behavioral therapy strengthens the dorsolateral pathways, especially the part which is able to inhibit behaviors.

The dynamics of a person with OCD revolve around behaviors which are dysfunctional. Dysfunction means that the behaviors do not help an individual adapt to the external reality. All behaviors are being driven by the limbic system, or the internal cues. The example is of an autistic child who tries to answer everything in his or her framework. Evolutionary it serves a function of shutting of the “thinking mind” in dangerous situations and the result is an uncontrolled motor activity which is avoidant. The dysfunction comes when this behavior goes on without any danger present in the external environment. Think of a deer that runs regardless of whether it is facing a predator or green pastures.

The balance problem with these structures represents a fractal and this fractal at different level points to a similar dysfunction seen in psychiatric patients. The psychiatric patient engages in similar dysfunctional behaviors in its interaction with other people. There is a reason why Freud called it symptom compulsion. Dr Gustafson has called it the mismatch between the internal and the external world. Think of the system that has figured out how to make profits. Every thing which is not a loss is a profit and since profit is better, all activity will be utilized to get profit. Anything that is not profit is not an activity to be engaged in. The pack will continue to increase to the point of dysfunction.

In an alternative view the venteromedial system could represent the channeling of id. Not all of those behaviors are functional in nature and it requires the functioning of a counterbalance of superego (dorsolateral) system when to inhibit behaviors, control impulses or engage in increased activity in the service of adaptation.

Mature defenses like suppression, humor, sublimation, altruism and asceticism all involve the ability to suppress the internal urges to an extent. However a couple of them like humor, sublimation and altruism actually involve behavior which is adaptable based on the cues of the environment.

However when thinking about this a certain flexibility is required. Implementation of a prefect solution no matter how elegant will run in to failure (and the be the perfect example of the basal ganglia in OCD) the moment consciousness to the uniqueness of a situation is disregarded.

Caution in use of antidepressants

In thinking about this article, I saw an interesting link which I thought I would share with you.

Dr Gutafson has always posited that there is an internal and an external world which is controlled by various phenomenon. A balance between the two worlds being the key to protect the inner child from the “harsh world” (Self Delight in a Harsh World, Gustafson).

In the modern megalomanic world where the laws of increased pack drive us, human beings become mere part of a machinery. The machinery of culture, the machinery of capitalism, the machinery of religion. Every thing is a machine in our current state of existing collective consciousness (Jung collective consciousness).

With that being the state, in the external world exist representations of our inner feelings. Language is mated with the non verbal (Balint The Basic Fault). Expressions from inside are morphed in to what influences us from outside and vice versa. Hence the definition of happiness or depression is very easily influenced by current trends. The current trend being the machine state that we talked about us, similarly defines the definition of happiness and depression. A person who is not productive enough to survive the machine state of things tends to drop out and hence is depressed (Basic dynamics of Psychiatry, Gustafson).

It is true, that depression also comes in many shapes and sizes depending on innumerable factors. In certain cases the sense of negative introspection prevails and one wonders about thanatos. In other cases the role of depression as an adaptive trait is very protective, though maybe anguished.

The change in a system should only come after great deliberation as is often pointed out. There is a lot of energy conversion that goes in to changing the static to the dynamic. Changing depression which is static to something dynamic is desirable in many cases but can be fatal in some. A classic example of lethality is what so many manic people inflict on themselves and others.

Do drugs switch people's moods. There is a debate about that in the scientific world with arguments on both sides. Can an SSRI be given safely to every person. Experience with general population though, would indicate otherwise. There are places where an antidepressant is helpful, there are places in which it is not helpful. There are studies which indicate adverse effects in some people. Activation or switching being one of the side effects. Every case of switching is unique and tends to express itself uniquely. It is sometimes really difficult to catch these cases until and unless they become really severe and consequences are “more” disastorous. In children parents usually notice earlier and take them off the medications. In adults though, things can become complicated, if social support structures are not there.

So is an SSRI the best thing out there for depression? Yes, it might be, to be able to give the boon of “functioning as a cog in the machinery”. And sometimes that is the answer that a psychiatrist should give. But sometimes it is not and it is equally useful to use a host of other treatments, that mental health professionals should be trained in.

0.5 board certified

There is a story that goes about this man who wanted to learn horse riding. This man wanted to find the best teacher for teaching him how to ride and after asking about him, he found out that there was a master of riding far away who lived alone. He sought him out and asked the master to make him the best rider in the world. The master refused to teach him because of his old age. At the request of our curious young man, though, he agreed to ride a horse for him once. The man wanted to see what was so special about the master's style of riding. The master rode the horse to a sand dune and rode back to where the man was standing. The man was surprised and remarked that even he could ride a horse like that. There was nothing special in the way he rode. What made him a master? The master tiredly asked him to look at the hoof prints in the sand and took his leave from the man. The man son taking a closer look found out that instead of hoof prints in the sand, there were circles. The master had rode away and back in such a way that the two sets of hoof prints made a circle.

This story talks about what a master is and how a true master is not willing to take on a pupil, until and unless the pupil is sharp enough to recognize a master. When the student is ready the teacher shall appear! Through the eyes of the pupil can a novice master learn himself. Rumi took three or four different companions. After Shams they were younger and lacked the fire he had shared with Shams Tabrez. The novice master had recognized himself and had "graduated" or become board certified.

This story also puts to question the two different styles of teaching. Lewis Hyde would like to describe true training as a gift that is imparted from a teacher to a student. It incurs a debt that only re gifting will settle. Compared to that the process of board certification does feel very capitalistic exchange. Pay money show you are worth it to an institutional standard. It removes the personal level of training that and makes it in to a machine.

Truly lucky is a person that can find a master to guide his way. Rumi says something to the effect that a moment in the company of Friends is worth years of solitude.

Another point that the story highlights is the true quest of excellence in anything is a journey with no sign posts at the end which tell one that he or she is there. It is only after the gift is passed on can a person realize through the eyes of the student about his compass bearings in the uncertain wilderness of solitary expeditions for excellence.

Only a teacher can fail someone. No one else.

Hallucinations

There have been faces in the windows
Motioning when the light glances the glass
The wind has been whispering in the willows
And people appearing in wood cracks
They carve messages with my name after "dear"
They signal, hoping that I will hear
Hoping that I will see, but alas, I have been sane!
I obsess to keep my glass filled to the brim
And caught up in this never ending bane
of sipping and refilling; I have forgotten my verse
I have forgotten want, I have forgotten my thirst
All this was told to me last night by morse code
Which the rain beat up as it splat on the road
The force talks in its own tongue
But only the beggar with the empty bowl
May feel the glory of the harmonies sung

Chup

Creativity exists as much in the content of the world as in the non content of the world. No picture is complete without emphasis on the details of light as of the dark. Colors are as important as shadows. No symphony similarly is complete without the concept of beats. Beats is nothing but the intermingling of music or tone with non music or non tone. An aspiring artist seeks out with a begging bowl. He or she begs the universe of matter as much as of the non matter. In the pop culture influenced by matter we tend to forget the emptiness that is required in the creative process of the art.
It is not something that is consciously attained. Emptiness is a gift as much as the creative mold is a gift. It was a privilege that I heard the album of Zeb and Haniya. Chup I think typified their style. A song that talks about silence. The music is as comfortable with silence as it is with the content of the song. It is no slight wonder that the smile of the song is in its silence and guess work.

Silence happens to be the title of their album.

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Now playing: Zeb & Haniya - Chup (PakHeaven.Com)
via FoxyTunes

Red shoes

In English curriculum of high school there used to be a story called the Red shoes which when worn gave the little proud girl incessant motion. The motion itself was static and tiring for the proud girl and she soon finds herself unable to stop, getting exhausted and regretting her pride, that caused her to wear the accursed shoes in the first place.
All of us from time to time don the red shoes and then unable to stop are carried away. The shoes move on their own accord and soon one is exhausted yet unable to stop. The dancing itself takes a life of its own.
The key to taking the shoes off is what a lot of people talk about including Gustafson and all of his predecessors of psychological/philosophical investigators. I guess the unspoken assumption of all work is developing an insight. An insight can be termed as an integration of non verbal in to the domain of verbal. Something that can be manipulated with words and organized in logos.
(logos meaning the rational mind that assumes things on the basis of differentiating). This would be in contrast to non verbal where all exists in eros or in a state of creativity and organization according to all inclusiveness. (Lewis Hyde)
Taking off the red shoes according to eros is something that a lot of people try. The people who stumble through life with the faith in their own capabilities and knowing that they might have to dance a long while before they feel like taking off the shoes themselves without having to dissect their personalities. Unfortunately, some succeed and some get destroyed.
The red shoes are dangerous things!!!!

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Now playing: Zeb & Haniya - Chup (PakHeaven.Com)
via FoxyTunes