Posted by brian on May 28, 2000, at 22:46:15
In reply to Re: Useless words, posted by Cam W. on May 28, 2000, at 22:01:18
> > Depression: Wimpy, misleading word. It gives the impression that someone with depression simply has the blues. What did Styron in "Darkness Visible" suggest instead? Was it "Mental Storm?"
> >
> > Anxiety: Same thing. Too tied up in everyday language.
> >
> > Crazy: Ridiculous word, used as frequently, randomly and unhealthily as table salt.
> >
> > Any others floating out there?
>
> Isn't language just an objective way to communicate subjective (abstract) "feelings"? As one more precisely tries to describe an emotion, it seems that fewer people understanding the definition. Is this expertise? Being so different in each of us (due to slightly different physiologies?) can feeling and emotion really be communicated precisely from one being to another; or do we have to stick with approximations (anxiety, depression, mania, etc.)? People may collectively feel through poetry, but the (objective) feeling elicited by poetry is still felt differently (subjectively) by the reader. - CamRight. And using associations between temporary emotional states and true mental illness neglects, for example, a qualitative difference between chronic depression and the Sunday blues.
What if all illnesses were based on the various subjective feelings of the afflicted. I would imagine that accurate diagnosis and treatment would be impossible.
poster:brian
thread:34979
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000526/msgs/35033.html