Message no. 1

From:	Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject:	[OT] crazy stuff [was:Re: Types of players ]
Date:	Wed, 2 Feb 2000 17:00:40 +1100

-----Original Message-----
From: Sebastian Wiers <m0ng005e@*****.com>
To: shadowrn@*********.com <shadowrn@*********.com>
Date: Sunday, July 02, 2000 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: Types of players


>
>
>:> Escapist behavior, taken to extreme, can be linked to psychosis, and
>:>mis-informed psychologists often consider "fantasy prone" the same as
>:>"psychoses prone". In fact, its just a type of intelligence, and
saying
>it
>:>causes insanity is like saying being good at math causes autism.
>:>
>:I think a lot of people _are_ using RPG's as escapism, I know I am. But
>:then, it is the same as watching a lot of TV, reading fiction, computer
>:games or a whole range of hobbies.
>
>My point was that escapist behavior that involves the imgaination is no
more
>likely to cuase psycosis than brain deadending escapsism- say, like golf.
>For some reason, it got a reputation as "the crasy stuff", which
>psychologists who went to school less than recently might not realise is
>bogus.
>
The problem with psychology/psychiatry is that it is very much a part of pop
culture, and has been since Kentucky Freud Chicken (Mother F***ing Good). A
new idea or syndrome can mean having your name in the journals or even
having a book published. This then means stacks of lucre from customers who
will only see the best. All that you really have to do is find an existing
condition and twist it until it fits your theory, never mind how damaging
this can be to schizophrenics who are diagnosed with MPD and have fake
personalities thrust upon them, or someone with self esteem issues is
diagnosed with Body Dismorphic Disorder and pumped full of drugs. Between
psychiatry and chiropracty, we really haven't progressed past bloodletting
and trepanning.