Mental illness is a bit of an unexplored frontier in medicine. While theorists and many mental health specialists are beginning to make sense of the underlying genetic and neurological mechanisms, society as a whole has yet to develop acceptance and a stigma-free approach to mentally ill individuals. Many indigenous cultures have a different approach to mental illness, seeing it as a gateway to a spiritual plane that “norms” cannot understand. This may jibe with many modern theories of evolutionary biology which show that various forms of mental illness show a positive evolutionary trait (such as brilliance or artistic tendencies) that cannot be currently expressed in gene form without dire drawbacks. An interesting read, though personally I am a bit wary of a book talking about natural alternatives to drug therapy for the mentally ill, as often the drug therapy coupled by behavioral modification (see Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is an excellent, well-proven, path to functionality if not full wellness.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 21:40:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015