On 29 Dec 2010 at 14:22, Allen Esterson wrote:
> There´s an extraordinary article that was published in the 28 December
> issue of the New York Times:
> "A Doctor in Iraq, Watching a Faith Healer at Work"
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/health/28cases.html?_r=2
Interesting article. But I think Allen may be coming down a bit too
hard on Dr. Afkhami. Allen says:
> Nowhere in the article is there a glimmer of a suggestion that the
> young woman´s symptoms may just possibly relate to her being
> reluctantly forced into a marriage with a relative. Instead Dr Afkhami
> applauds the techniques used to quieten her fears:
Afkhami does say:
-------------------
"my Iraqi colleague leaned over and whispered a diagnosis in my ear:
"conversion disorder."
That disorder is well known to mental health professionals: once
termed hysteria, it is usually touched off or worsened by a well-
defined stressor like an engagement "
------------------
I would call that, although not a laser beam directed at the issue,
at least a glimmer of a suggestion that the condition was brought
about by a stressful engagement.
The problem for Afkhami and for Mullah Eskandar is that they are
trapped by their different cultural worldviews. Afkhami sees
everything through the filter of psychoanalysis, which is notorious
for ignoring an obvious environmental cause of a problem, and going
for the alleged "deep-seated", buried one. An example would be
ignoring a medical cause of crippling dystonia, and going instead for
a fanciful interpretation of the hidden meaning of such symptoms
(true case).
Mullah Eskandar (and possibly Afkhami also) would have difficulty in
recognizing that a marriage match sanctioned by the families could be
a source of distress to the prospective bride. Did she not agree to
be married? Much easier to blame a jinn, which, as Afkahami noted,
"shifted responsibility from her to a supernatural being".
The question is: Are there similar examples in Western medicine?
Suppose a married woman sees a doctor because of panic attacks
relating to fear of intercourse ("frigidity"). She could avoid the
attacks by not having sex. But in Western culture, this is not an
option which a medical doctor or a clinical psychologist is likely to
offer. So they look for a physical cause or deep-seated psychological
one based on early childhood experiences. The latter is the
equivalent of the jinn theory.
Stephen
--------------------------------------------
Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Emeritus
Bishop's University
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca
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