Jesse, Mark,
On 18 Jul 2010, at 17:20, Jesse Mazer wrote:
Well, it's impossible to know what's going on with you based on a few email messages but it definitely sounds like it could be a manic state to me--this sort of grandiosity and boundless confidence in one's own abilities and powers is common in mania. I definitely recommend checking out that Oliver Sacks article about mania I linked to above as you might recognize aspects of yourself in some of the descriptions (often self-descriptions from people in a manic state themselves). And having interacted with a friend in a manic state I would definitely say they can seem "fairly normal" if they choose to talk about subjects other than the grandiose and cosmic.
I concur. My friend did have mania (not schizophrenia). We can't conclude anything with Mark, but it looks, to me too, very much like symptoms of mania. At some points anything in the news was interpreted by my friend as "coincidence" confirming his grandiose delirium. The most striking similarity here is the certainty feeling, the absence of doubt. As the rationalization of all defects of the theory, eventually ending by "you can't understand but you will see". My friend also tried to involve notarious people from academy and media, writing letters, e- mail, and being absolutely sure they "knew", or would "understand". Through medication he came back to normal, but he killed himself. He was about defending his PhD thesis. I guess it did not bear the delusion.
There is a need for serious psychological support in case of medication. According to some, it may be better to let manic people to live their fantasy, which sometimes can fade away, instead of using medication which can lead to a too much sudden shocking awakening.
Mark, we may be wrong, but none of what you said makes very much sense for us. Some things you said may make sense, but seems to me humanly communicable only through math, fiction, art, poetry, ... and stands always very far away from any literal certainty.
Bruno http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~marchal/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-l...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
