Providentia

The Case Against Wilhelm Reich, Part 1

Wilhelm Reich always had a problem with authority figures as the lengthy FBI file on him demonstrates.  In 2000, the FBI released 789 pages of the extensive file that had been built up on Reich over the years. The file covers the period from 1940 to a year following his death in 1957 and makes for fascinating (albeit long) reading.

Driven out of Nazi Germany in 1933, he fled to Scandinavia and eventually immigrated to the United States in 1939. Reich settled in New York City and began teaching courses at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. Despite his early prominence as part of Sigmund Freud's Vienna Circle, it was Reich's prior involvement in European Communist movements that drew the FBI's attention. After concerns were raised by the State Department over Reich being linked with the Medical Advisory board of the American Communist Party, a formal investigation was launched. Details of his past that were highlighted in the reports prepared on him by the FBI include his membership in the German Communist Party and his later expulsion from the Norwegian Communist party for "not adhering closely enough to the party line". The fact that his ex-wife had also been involved in "Communistic activities" did not escape notice either.

Despite his work visa being in order, Reich was detained at Ellis Island in 1941 and his home was searched.  Colleagues and staff were questioned and some of his books on leftist political theory were confiscated. In addition to details surrounding his detention, the FBI files made note of Reich's announcement in 1939 of the discovery of "a new form of biological energy which he states comes from the body's organs and that his work has been solely involved in experimenting with this energy which he claims that he is able to control in such a way as to cure cancer". Interviews with fellow psychoanalysts determined that Reich's reputation was "not high professionally because he has gone off on a tangent to develop some new theories relating to sex psychosis and his work is looked down upon generally by the best psychoanalysts in the country". Following a hearing, Reich was released in early 1942 after providing assurance that, while his beliefs were liberal in nature, they were not "Communistic".

In addition to teaching and maintaining a private clinical practice, Reich also began publishing extensively in English. His involvement with the FBI seems to dovetail with a notable change in his writings during this same period. While he had been an ardent Communist before coming to the United States, he then broke ranks with the Communist party completely. He also became increasingly paranoid and denounced Communism as "Red Fascism". Reich often accused leftists of conspiring against him and trying to discredit his theories. His research into orgone energy also took a decidedly bizarre turn. He began a series of experiments showing how orgone energy could be accumulated and used to treat various illnesses. Reich even developed a "cloudbuster" machine designed to manipulate weather patterns by suppressing "negative" orgone energy in the atmosphere. While he contacted Albert Einstein at Princeton and attempted to interest him in the potential value of the orgone devices, the great physicist was not receptive.

By 1942, Reich had permanently relocated to an old farm near Rangeley, Maine which he named "Orgonon". It was there that he continued his research into orgone energy and began using it to treat an extensive range of illnesses including cancer and mental illness. He began manufacturing "orgone accumulators" and also worked with assistants on a motor powered by orgone energy. With dreams of creating an inexhaustible energy source, Reich solicited loans and contributions from interested parties and made ambitious plans to expand his activities further.

Continue to Part 2...

Mental Health and the Justice System

The fact that individuals with mental health problems are significantly overrepresented in the justice system is a significant concern for public policy and practice. Psychology research examining mental health and risk for criminal offending can be broadly categorized into 2 approaches that have remained either independent of one another or in apparent conflict: the first based in clinical literature and focused on associations with psychopathology, and the second focused on forensic rehabilitation (e.g., represented in the Risk-Need-Responsivity literature). Although the policy and practice goals associated with these literatures are not synonymous, they overlap in critical respects. The lack of dialogue between the 2 approaches impoverishes both and contributes to misunderstanding that undermines effective policymaking and practice. To facilitate interpretation of these 2 approaches, a new article in the journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law critically examines research into mental health issues in justice-involved adults and youth  in terms of differing goals, implicit assumptions, intended scope of the literature, and key terminology (especially definitions of “mental health” problems and of “risk”). These differences are clarified to identify areas of congruence as well as outstanding conflicts. Suggestions are presented for future research at the nexus of these 2 approaches, which would serve the goal of developing evidence-informed policy and practice to reduce recidivism and improve mental health functioning in individuals with mental health problems who are involved in the justice system.

For the abstract.

Life In The Sandwich Generation

Are you part of the sandwich generation (link is external)?

One of the burdens assumed by adult children is caring for their aging parents while dealing with their own children at the same time.  According to Pew Research Center, about one out of every eight Americans between the ages of 40 and 60 care directly for an aging parent while an additional seven to ten million Americans help their parents or other aging relatives even from a  long distance. At the same time, many of them also have children who also need emotional or financial help. And the number of children caught in this double-bind is expected to grow as more and more members of the baby boom generation become senior citizens themselves. This is what it means to be part of the sandwich generation.

To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.

The Reporter in the Madhouse (Part Three of Three)

Continued from Part Two

It was during his sanity hearing that the lawyer for "Felix Somers" argued that his client was perfectly sane and that there had been no reason to commit him to an asylum.  Though Doctor Baldric became visibly upset when the lawyer reported similar cases of false imprisonment who had been "victims of a persecution worse than the Inquisition,"  there was even worse to come.  Not only did the lawyer present numerous affidavits verifying that the client was sane, but he also described the horrors that he had been forced to undergo while in the asylum.    It was only then that he threw in the real revelation:  that the client was actually a journalist who had deliberately infiltrated the asylum as a test of the Lunacy laws and that none of the doctors involved, including Dr. Baldric himself, had any idea that he was really sane. 

Doctor Baldric's lawyer didn't speak at all.   What could he really say at that point?   The lawyer and his client simply left the courtroom while a group of lawyers and journalists surrounded Chambers to congratulate him on a magnificent performance.   When the judge restored order, and it took a while, he simply declared Chambers to be sane and released him.   After the court adjourned, news of what had happened spread throughout the courthouse.    

Though rival newspapers promptly announced what Chambers had done, it was still up to him to tell the complete story.   Going straight to the Tribune's editorial offices, he began writing up what he had experienced based on his memory and the notes he had managed to smuggle out of the asylum.    The expose was released in installments over the course of the next two weeks though the public response seemed muted at best.   Still, it says something about the impact of Chambers' revelations that, within thirty-six hours of the events in court, twelve out of the one hundred and eight-six patients in the asylum were released into the community as cured.  

Chambers would also write about how the doctors at the Bloomingdale Asylum responded after his expose came out.  Part of this expose including confidential information that had been leaked by a staff member describing the hospital's annual income.  This revelation apparently outraged the doctors and hospital board who then arranged for Chambers to be followed by a private detective for a few months afterward.   Chambers described one innocent encounter with a released patient he named "Staunton" who greeted him on the street to express his appreciation for the expose.   Shortly afterward, Staunton, who had been functioning perfectly well in the community after his release, was reportedly kidnapped and forcibly committed to an asylum in another part of the state.    What became of him afterward, Chambers was never able to determine.

Despite the hospital's attempts at punishing the ones responsible for the expose, the damage was already done.  A few days after the expose come out, then-Governor of New York, John T. Hoffman, appointed a Commission to investigate the allegations of abuse that Chambers had brought to light.    The Commission was charged with investigating Bloomingdale Asylum as well as several other private and public asylums in the New York area.    Julius Chambers appeared at the first meeting of the Commission to give a verbal report of what he had experienced in the asylum and his own recommendations for improving patient care.  The members of the Commission met at the asylum shortly afterward and verified all of the details that Chambers had provided.    Though the staff were on their best behaviour (they knew better than to hit the patients while the Commission members were watching), the Commission members saw for themselves what conditions at the hospital were really like.

Based on the Commission's findings, which were reported directly to the New York legislature, a new act was drafted to improve conditions in the asylums and to appoint a Commissioner of Lunacy who would oversee mental health care in every asylum in the state of New York.  As Chambers pointed out in his book however, there was only so much that new laws could accomplish.  Ultimately, it would be up to the medical profession to reform itself and develop better ways of dealing with mental illness and for dealing with  doctors who provided substandard care for patients. 

Along with his groundbreaking expose, Chambers included all of his experiences at Bloomingdale Asylum in a book, A Mad World and Its People, which was published in 1876.   His book provided full details of his undercover assignment and still remains one of the classic works in the history of investigative journalism.   Though he would continued to be an advocate for psychiatric reform, Julius Chambers worked as a journalist, editor, and travel writer up until his death in 1920.   

Did Chambers' expose and later crusading for reform creating lasting change for mental patients?   That likely depends on who you ask.   Certainly allegations of abuse continued at other asylums, even with the supposedly more stringent laws that Chambers helped bring about.   When journalist Nellie Bly carried out her own daring undercover assignment by posing as a mental patient at the Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum for female patients in 1887, she found many of the same abuses that Chambers had reported years earlier.     Her own book, Ten Days in a Madhouse, would also lead to a grand jury investigation and greater funding for mental health care.

Through their pioneering work as journalists, Julius Chambers and Nellie Bly continue to be powerful inspirations for the countless journalists who came after them.    Their exposes also demonstrated the important role that investigative journalists could play in ensuring that people unable to speak for themselves would get the treatment they deserve.   While skeptics may argue that many of the issues surrounding mental health care are still with us today, focusing public attention on abuses within the system is still the only real way that true reform can happen.

Motherhood and Caring in Children

The purpose of a study published in Developmental Psychology was to examine associations between mothers’ socialization practices in childhood and adolescence and offsprings’ (N = 32, 16 female) sympathy/concern in early adulthood. Mothers reported on their socialization practices and beliefs a total of 6 times using a Q-sort during their offsprings’ childhood (between 7–8 and 11–12 years of age) and adolescence (between 13–14 and 17–18 years of age). Adult offsprings’ sympathy/caring was assessed 3 times in early adulthood (at ages 19–20 to 23–24 years) and in their mid-20s to 30s (ages 25–26 to 31–32 years). In general, friends’ reports of participants’ sympathy/concern at ages 25–32 years related positively to mother-reported rational discipline (including inductions) and warmth and support during childhood and adolescence and negatively to mother-reported negative affect during adolescence. Self-reported sympathy/concern during early adulthood was positively related to maternal warmth and support during childhood and almost significantly negatively related to mother-reported negative affect during childhood and adolescence. Most of the relations held when the prior level of self-reported childhood empathy or adolescent sympathy was controlled.

For the abstract

Can You Get Addicted to Your Smartphone?

 

 

The rise of the smartphone has opened up a whole new world of possibilities to the average user.   Not only can we use them to stay in touch with anyone else in the world (and vice-versa), but they can also be used for just about anything else we can think  of doing with them.  Whether it be e-mail, Internet surfing, Twitter, Facebook, GPS applications, weather information, games, or taking a quick picture, these smartphones are amazingly handy . 

Communications researchers have also suggested that cellular communication has become an essential part of social connectedness, especially among young people.  Staying connected means creating a "psychological neighbourhood" consisting of all the people in our lives who can be reached with a single telephone call. Smartphones have also meant almost total liberation from the landlines used by previous generations.

But what happens when people who depend on their smartphones are cut off from these handy devices?  How do we handle losing the ability to communicate and interact with the outside world?   Research looking at the psychological effect of cell phone withdrawal has shown that heavy users become anxious if they are separated from their phones even for a short period of time. This emotional effect strongly suggests that people who use their smartphones heavily develop a psychological dependence that may actually be unhealthy if taken to extremes.

To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.

Weight Bias and the Belief in a Just World

A research study published in the journal Health Psychology explores the effects of belief in a just world on exercise and psychological well-being among individuals who have experienced weight bias.  In Study 1, 804 participants in an online study reported belief in a just world; exercise intentions, motivation, self-efficacy, and behavior; experiences with weight bias; and height/weight and self-perceived weight status. In Study 2, 237 participants with overweight and obesity were randomly assigned to read 1 of 2 passages (online) describing weight bias and discrimination as rare versus pervasive, and rated their perceptions of pervasiveness. Participants then read 1 of 3 randomly assigned vignettes that confirmed, challenged, or did not attempt to influence belief in a just world, and completed measures of exercise intentions and motivation, body dissatisfaction, weight bias internalization, and experiences with weight bias. Results showed that Study 1 revealed that weaker belief in a just world was associated with lower ratings on all exercise variables among participants who reported experiencing weight bias. In Study 2, regression analyses revealed an interaction between ratings of perceived pervasiveness of weight discrimination and the Challenge condition for all outcome measures. The Challenge condition led to lower ratings of exercise intentions and motivation, and higher reports of body dissatisfaction and weight bias internalization, when weight bias was perceived to be more pervasive. The authors concluded that threats to belief in a just world may lead to negative outcomes for health behaviors and psychological well-being among individuals who have experienced weight bias and perceive it to be pervasive.

For the abstract

Malaysian "Exorcist" Jailed for Molesting Girl

A Malaysian man has been sentenced to one year in jail for inapproprately touching a 17-year-old Singapore girl on whom he was allegedly conducting an exorcism.  52-year-old Mohamed Said Mohamed Sani, who describes himself as a technical officer who treats people with "spiritual disturbances", was convicted of "outraging the modesty" of his underaged victim.  He had reportedly been involved with the victim's family since first "treating" the victim's brother in 2011.   Insisting on seeing the siblings of his "patient",  Said  met with the victim some time later.   After asking the girl some questions, he learned that she was involved in a kuda kepang group and told her that she was possessed by evil spirits as a result.

Kuda kepang is a traditional Javanese dance practised widely in Java, Singapore, and Malaysia.  Some dance performances involve dancers becoming "possessed" and doing elaborate dancing while in a trance.   Despite the popularity of the dance, many religious leaders condemn it as evil and linked to Satanism.  Though the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore has spoken out against it, dance groups are common in different parts of southeast Asia. 

The victim, who cannot be named due to her age, was seen for the exorcism along with her mother at an uncle's apartment in a suburb of Singapore.   Not only was the mother ordered to sit facing a wall to keep from seeing what was happening, the victim was blindfolded as well.  According to the victim, Said began the ceremony by chanting  which made her feel as if spirts were entering her body.  She then became aware of him touching her breasts followed by his unbuttoning her jeans and slipping his hand into her panties. Though the victim attempted to alert her mother to what was happening, Said pushed her back into a sitting position and then completed the ceremony.

The girl's mother only became aware of what had occurred  after the ritual was completed and the victim described what Said had done to her.  When the mother failed to take action and even suggested that she continue with the treatment, the victim turned to an aunt for help.  It was the aunt who told her to file a police report. 

Though Mohammed Said denied committing the offense, the presiding judge stated that the victim's account clearly established what had happened.  In describing Said's own credibility as "wanting", the judge accepted the victim's account.   The judge also accepted her explanation for why she had allowed the ritual to continue instead of fleeing, namely that she was "in shock" and wanted to rid herself of the evil spirits that Said insisted were possessing her.  Questioning Said about his methods, including why he  insisted on blindfolding the victim, the judge noted that Said seemed prone to giving vague and illogical answers.  

Mohammed Said is appealing the verdict and is currently out on bail.

For more information.

 

Loneliness, Chronic Illness, and Growing Older

Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for. Dag Hammarskjold

The mental and physical burden of loneliness can be extreme, especially for older adults.   Usually defined as the perception of being isolated from signficant others, whether friends or family, people feel lonely because of the gap between the kind of social relationships they would like to have and the ones they see themselves as having.  Since nobody's life is ever truly perfect, we all feel lonely from time to time though the feeling is usually manageable and temporary.  

Still, there are numerous studies showing the link between loneliness and the development of health problems, as well having a shorter lifespan.  Along with depression and other psychological problems, chronic loneliness can also lead to sleep problems, hypertension, an impaired immune system, and the breakdown of the body's endocrine system.

The problems associated with loneliness often grow worse with time due to the natural health problems that come with age.  As a result, loneliness is frequently a chronic problem in older adults due to increasing health problems which can make it harder for them to stay socially active. Age-related medical issues can also lead to greater psychological distress, including depression, and this can lead to people feeling even lonelier. Medical problems such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, or cancer, can make many older adults feel more disabled and helpless.

To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.

The Reporter in the Madhouse (Part One of Three)

It began with a cryptic telegram received by a guest at a New Orleans hotel on July 10, 1872.   The guest, who was registered as "Felix Somers" opened the telegram which was written in a rather elaborate cipher he decoded on the spot.   The message in full read:  "Will you feign insanity; enter Doctor Baldric's mad-house as a patient, and write expose?  If you accept, come to New York.  Answer."   It was signed "W.F.G.S."   Despite the hidden message, the guest had no difficulty decoding the message and replying with a single word, "Yes".  And so he began making arrangements for what would be one of the most challenging assignments of his career.   

In reality, "Felix Somers" was 22-year-old Julius Chambers, one of the world's first investigative journalists, and the assignment was nothing less than to have himself committed to Bloomingdale Asylum, a private hospital for the mentally ill located in New York on the site where Columbia University now stands. 

As a private hospital, Bloomingdale Asylum was reserved for those patients who had families able to afford their care (the very poor went to the asylum located on Blackwell's Island instead).   Despite its reputation for humane care, there were still allegations of patient abuse which led to the Julius Chambers' rather unusual undercover assignment.   Ironically, the idea for the assignment had come from the asylum's head who had suggested that a reporter be sent in to see that the allegations were false.  Chambers' editor had decided to take the doctor at his word, but not in the way that he had intended. 

Not only would the reporter be committed, but it had to be done in a way that would make him seem like a regular patient in need of psychiatric care.   To make this happen, Chambers had to do things just right.  That involved careful research into different symptoms that mental patients might display and then recruiting friends and colleagues who would play their part as well.   After spending the next week "cramming" for what would be his best performance, he then traveled to New York to put his plan into action.  

Along with researching the role, Chambers also prepared himself physically as well.  As he would later write: 

"Up to this moment, if I have made myself clear, you have taken the best care of your bodily health.   You have lived the regular, laborious life of an enthusiast.  Now cast all regularity of life to the winds.  Stop your hearty dinners: substitute for the ale two large cups of black coffee or strong green tea.  If four cigars have been your daily allowance, now smoke fourteen - so that the sudden abandonment of tobacco three days later will, at the end of forty-eight hours' abstinence, smash your nervous system into fragments.  Any regular stimulant, taken in excess for a short time and then suddenly stopped, will produce the same result.  Never for a moment lose confidence in yourself, or in the power of your constitution to sustain all the shocks from which it is to suffer.  There is no danger from a temporary and systematic overstrain:  the human mind can endure severe trials under which the physical frame would be shattered forever."

On August 13, 1872, a doctor was called to an upscale hotel in New York City to see one of the hotel guests who had been acting strangely.   The guest, a young man named Felix Somers, looked exhausted at being up for eleven hours straight, sitting next to the open window in his room.   According to hotel staff,  Somers had spent the entire night demanding that the hotel porters bring boiling water up to his room (hot water apparently being his preferred drink).   By morning, he had made dozens of these strange requests.  

That same morning, Somers was visited by a friend  who came to  his room along with a hotel clerk.    At least, it appeared to be a friend, though Somers claimed not to know him.   That, along with the glazed look in his eyes and general unkempt appearance, led to a doctor being called in to make a medical examination.  When the doctor arrived, things got even stranger.   Though Somers claimed not to know his first visitor, he greeted the doctor (whom he had never met) as a long-lost friend.   "Sampson," he exclaimed, "How's Delilah and the baby?"   The doctor, who happened to be named Dromio Johnson, consulted with the friend, Dinfor, and learned that Somers had been recently ill.   He also learned that he had an uncle in town though he had apparently decided to stay in a hotel rather than go to the uncle's house.    Dr. Johnson recommended that Somers be placed in a nurse's care and that the uncle be called at once. 

The "uncle" (actually a confederate named Foster) arrived that afternoon and spent some time with the two other men until the doctor returned.   At this point, Chambers resumed his "mad" act by pretending to talk to himself and not taking notice of anyone else in the room.   When the doctor examined him and noticed that his pulse was racing, he concluded that his patient "presents all the visible symptoms of mental aberration."    After arranging for a nurse to tend him through the night, the doctor concluded that the patient be sent to an asylum if he failed to improve.  Along with the nurse, a burly man named McFinn, Chambers was transferred to a larger hotel room to wait until morning.

Chambers then spent the evening feigning madness (since the nurse needed to be fooled as well).   In his book, he describes his bizarre antics that night including ribald singing, covert exercise to boost his pulse, rambling to himself, and even leaping on and off his bed.     The noise was enough to rouse other guests and hotel staff who all came to his door to see what was wrong.   At one point, the poor nurse pleaded with the doctor to have another nurse sent in to help him since he was fearing for his own safety.   A medical student was sent for and Chambers was obliged to continue his mad act for him as well. 

By the next morning, Dr. Johnson and Chambers' two confederates met to discuss what had happened the previous evening.   Then came the biggest challenge since Doctor Johnson arranged for a medical expert on lunacy to examine the patient.  At that time, there were certain standard "tests" of insanity that were given to patients though the most extreme of them were usually reserved for prisoners suspected of feigning insanity to avoid execution.  Chambers had prepared himself to pass all of them, either on his own or with help from one of his confederates.  To his relief, the expert didn't carry out any tests but simply relied on the statements from people who had been dealing with "Felix Somers".    Based on this evidence, the expert agreed that Somers/Chambers should be sent to an asylum.

After a trip to a police courtroom to arrange for a judge to sign the commitment papers,  a sanity hearing was quickly held.  With testimony from the two physicians along with the that of Chambers' two confederates, the judge agreed to have Chambers transferred to Bloomingdale Asylum.  Again, there was little actual debate and the warrant the judged signed concluded that "Felix Somers is INSANE, and by reason of this Insanity, is so far disordered in his senses as to endanger his own person, or property of others, if permitted to go at large."   According to Chambers, "It was only a matter of ten minutes, two affadavits, and two legal blanks." 

With the signed warrant in hand, Chambers and his two confederates traveled by coach to Bloomingdale Asylum and the undercover assignment could finally begin. 

To be continued