Posted by Dr. Bob on September 12, 2001, at 16:59:40
In reply to Redirected: Psychiatry and Neurology, posted by Dr. Bob on September 12, 2001, at 16:58:20
[Posted by MB on September 12, 2001, at 1:24:48]
> < snip >
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> > There is something especially frightening about mental illness to most people (including those of us who suffer from it I think).
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> < snip >
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> I think it's partially instinctual. A friend's dog was epileptic. He had a seizure and the other dog ripped it's throat open, nearly killing it. The vet said it was totally normal, that in the animal kingdom (well, at least in dogs) the mentally "abnormal" are immediately gotten rid of...probably something to do with natural selection and keeping the unfavorable traits out of the gene pool. I'd like to think that we've evolved to the point, as a species, that compassion and empathy would overide an outmoded trait like agression toward the ill, but, sadly, it hasn't.
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:11262
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010909/msgs/11263.html