Perenutet wrote:

Didier wrote:Are you sure this information is correct? I can see how hypertension could be regulated by the autonomic nervous system, but diabetes? Hmmm, I would research this myself, but I can't be bothered as I'm busy with school that doesn't involve advanced psychiatry :P

"Emotions are in two realms. They can be in the
physical realm, where we?re talking about molecules whose molecular
weight I can tell you, and whose sequences I can write as formulas.
And there?s another realm that we experience that?s not under the
purview of science. There are aspects of mind that have qualities that
seem to be outside of matter. Let me give you an example. People with
multiple personalities sometimes have extremely clear physical
symptoms that vary with each personality. One personality can be
allergic to cats while another is not. One personality can be diabetic
and another not."

-Cadence Pert, Ph.D

To be frank, I am not entirely sure if the information about the diabetic chances is true. I have heard such claims from online sources only, and although those sources and plentiful and appeared to be reliable, I of course have not witnessed such an event myself so thus cannot be certain.
I also cannot find solid, scientific evidence as to why this happens; my guess is that psychologists are still in the process of researching and experimenting on the phenomenon.

There exists a book called The Holographic Universe that appears to discuss this, as well as some quantum physics and how reality as we know it may be nothing but a projected illusion.
However, that's all another matter. I have not read the book myself.

(As a middle schooler with more time on her hands than she wastes, I tend to research topics that fascinate me. Insanity and mental disorders just so happens to be such a topic~)

Hmm. What the professor is talking about is the distinction between neurological and psychiatric diseases. The only difference being neurological disorders can be associated with a specific lesion in the brain -a physical point of damage as the source of symptoms- while psychiatric disorders are precisely not that.

Psychiatric disorders are thought to either be the cause of chemical deficiencies or excesses - such as narcolepsy and depression - or (even more mysteriously) a miswiring of the brain, such as pedophilia (...possibly), although miswiring is insanely difficult to test, and most disorders may just be due to chemoregulation we have yet to recognize the importance of.

Anyway, I'm beginning to appreciate the possibility of hypertension and diabetes being related to personality disorders. The brain 'senses' hypertension (aka high blood pressure) mainly through baroreceptors on key arteries. The brain-endocrine system responds to hypertension (by regulating Anti-diuretic hormone from the pituitary gland) as well as the autonomic nervous system. But the autonomic nervous system also innervates the pancreas, which is the endocrine gland for insulin.

Clearly, multiple personality disorders do not all fall into one category. So theoretically, a chemical deficiency or excess (or changes to chemical receptors or inhibitors or kinases etc etc etc...) in a given symptomatic individual could be affecting the neurons specific to the innervation of pathways that could result in the appearance of hypertension or diabetes, AND, coincidentally be inducing the symptoms of multiple personality disorder.

However, multiple personality disorder is a mental illness, not 'spirits' sharing a body. The amnesia, changed mood, and physiological complications are only symptoms of an episode.

:D Neuroscience is my major, and I have a subject on this stuff. It's really cool!

Wow, sounds cool. Is Neurology difficult?

I would say it's not any more difficult than most scientific fields... depends on the person I suppose.

Cool~
That is all very interesting. Thanks for the info and stuff ^-^.
Are there many mental illnesses that are both neurological and psychiatric, thus sharing both realms?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that psychopathy is a neurological illness; what would schizophrenia be, then?
Also, if psychiatric illnesses are non-physical, then how can they be treated- if at all?
How does psychiatric realm and neurological realm impact each other?
Is it possible to become literally emotionless while only altering the psychiatric, without affecting the neurological realm with a lobotomy or something?

Gah. I feel bad for bombarding you with all these questions.
You don't have to answer any of them.
Heh...

Perenutet wrote:Cool~
That is all very interesting. Thanks for the info and stuff ^-^.
Are there many mental illnesses that are both neurological and psychiatric, thus sharing both realms?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that psychopathy is a neurological illness; what would schizophrenia be, then?
Also, if psychiatric illnesses are non-physical, then how can they be treated- if at all?
How does psychiatric realm and neurological realm impact each other?
Is it possible to become literally emotionless while only altering the psychiatric, without affecting the neurological realm with a lobotomy or something?

Gah. I feel bad for bombarding you with all these questions.
You don't have to answer any of them.
Heh...

Don't feel bad! I like answering questions :) although keep in mind, I'm not exactly an expert with decades of work in the field :P

So neurological=physical, and psychiatric= precisely not that. But the actual distinction between the two is quite debatable. That's really just a classification issue though, and a diseases doesn't necessarily belongs to 'realms'.

Psychopathy and neurology are both psychiatric disorders, unless the disorder is specifically related to a brain lesion.

Ahhh, treating psychiatric illnesses are very tricky indeed! Good question. Often, treatments are designed to only respond to the symptoms of an illness, and don't address the root cause, because we have no idea what the root cause actually is. Genetic tests suggest that most mental illness have a strong heritable component, but genetics never accounts for 100% of the variance in diseases. Still, looking at the genetic component is a start.
And interestingly, some psychotherapies merely lead a patient (such as those with phobias) to challenge their point of view.

Hmmm, entirely emotionless with no degeneration in the brain? Possibly? Noradrenaline and serotonin are generally thought to be the neurotransmitters involved in depression. So, if by 'emotionless' you mean depressed to the extreme, those particular neurotransmitters would likely be implicated, and wouldn't require there to be any sort of physical abnormality.

Didier wrote:

Perenutet wrote:Cool~
That is all very interesting. Thanks for the info and stuff ^-^.
Are there many mental illnesses that are both neurological and psychiatric, thus sharing both realms?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that psychopathy is a neurological illness; what would schizophrenia be, then?
Also, if psychiatric illnesses are non-physical, then how can they be treated- if at all?
How does psychiatric realm and neurological realm impact each other?
Is it possible to become literally emotionless while only altering the psychiatric, without affecting the neurological realm with a lobotomy or something?

Gah. I feel bad for bombarding you with all these questions.
You don't have to answer any of them.
Heh...

Don't feel bad! I like answering questions :) although keep in mind, I'm not exactly an expert with decades of work in the field :P

So neurological=physical, and psychiatric= precisely not that. But the actual distinction between the two is quite debatable. That's really just a classification issue though, and a diseases doesn't necessarily belongs to 'realms'.

Psychopathy and neurology are both psychiatric disorders, unless the disorder is specifically related to a brain lesion.

Ahhh, treating psychiatric illnesses are very tricky indeed! Good question. Often, treatments are designed to only respond to the symptoms of an illness, and don't address the root cause, because we have no idea what the root cause actually is. Genetic tests suggest that most mental illness have a strong heritable component, but genetics never accounts for 100% of the variance in diseases. Still, looking at the genetic component is a start.
And interestingly, some psychotherapies merely lead a patient (such as those with phobias) to challenge their point of view.

Hmmm, entirely emotionless with no degeneration in the brain? Possibly? Noradrenaline and serotonin are generally thought to be the neurotransmitters involved in depression. So, if by 'emotionless' you mean depressed to the extreme, those particular neurotransmitters would likely be implicated, and wouldn't require there to be any sort of physical abnormality.

I'm rather late, but thank you for all this ^-^
I learned quite a bit~
Have a thank you cookie .