Hallucinatory 'voices' shaped by local culture

[Telarus]

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/july/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614.html

Stanford anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann found that voice-hearing experiences of people with serious psychotic disorders are shaped by local culture – in the United States, the voices are harsh and threatening; in Africa and India, they are more benign and playful. This may have clinical implications for how to treat people with schizophrenia, she suggests.
...
"Our hunch is that the way people think about thinking changes the way they pay attention to the unusual experiences associated with sleep and awareness, and that as a result, people will have different spiritual experiences, as well as different patterns of psychiatric experience," she said, noting a plan to conduct a larger, systematic comparison of spiritual, psychiatric and thought process experiences in five countries.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's interesting stuff.

[Raz Tech]

Most of my voice hearing experiences are shaped by mescaline.

Interesting read though, thanks for that.

[The Johnny]

From what I've seen, voices depend upon biographical experience. But what is biographical experience after all? Family interactions, the oh-so-broad term "experiences", and yes, of course, local culture.

So, i dont know, its nice validation that the schizophrenic experience is something more than "bad biological/physiological functioning" dictating everything, other than that i dont see the value or use of this finding.

[MMIX]

Most of my voice hearing experiences are shaped by mescaline.

Interesting read though, thanks for that.

Mescaline / LOL. You wouldn't be the first 

This is a good overview for anyone who isn't interested enough to read the whole of Luhrmann's book.

http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/Suppl_4/S213.full.pdf

[MMIX]

From what I've seen, voices depend upon biographical experience. But what is biographical experience after all? Family interactions, the oh-so-broad term "experiences", and yes, of course, local culture.

So, i dont know, its nice validation that the schizophrenic experience is something more than "bad biological/physiological functioning" dictating everything, other than that i dont see the value or use of this finding.

You might find that article interesting too
http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/Suppl_4/S213.full.pdf

edit: fixed for wrong tone

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

From what I've seen, voices depend upon biographical experience. But what is biographical experience after all? Family interactions, the oh-so-broad term "experiences", and yes, of course, local culture.

So, i dont know, its nice validation that the schizophrenic experience is something more than "bad biological/physiological functioning" dictating everything, other than that i dont see the value or use of this finding.

It's not exactly news, but it is confirmation that cultural attitudes shape the experience of the mentally ill, and that in the US we have a particularly harsh/negative (I might even say punitive) attitude toward mental illness. We are, after all, only about a generation away from an era when we simply locked them up in warehouse-like sanitariums where they were drugged, experimented on, and if difficult to control, chained to the wall and hosed down.

In this case, who knows, anthropological confirmation of what psychologists already know may help build that body of knowledge up to the point where it has enough weight to effect a cultural shift in how we perceive mental illness.

[The Johnny]

From what I've seen, voices depend upon biographical experience. But what is biographical experience after all? Family interactions, the oh-so-broad term "experiences", and yes, of course, local culture.

So, i dont know, its nice validation that the schizophrenic experience is something more than "bad biological/physiological functioning" dictating everything, other than that i dont see the value or use of this finding.

It's not exactly news, but it is confirmation that cultural attitudes shape the experience of the mentally ill, and that in the US we have a particularly harsh/negative (I might even say punitive) attitude toward mental illness. We are, after all, only about a generation away from an era when we simply locked them up in warehouse-like sanitariums where they were drugged, experimented on, and if difficult to control, chained to the wall and hosed down.

In this case, who knows, anthropological confirmation of what psychologists already know may help build that body of knowledge up to the point where it has enough weight to effect a cultural shift in how we perceive mental illness.

Ok, maybe I'm too much of a negative Sally and it is important in a "popular science" manner; after all, we have a bunch of people still thinking its demonic possession or divine punishment, et al.

[minuspace]

From what I've seen, voices depend upon biographical experience. But what is biographical experience after all? Family interactions, the oh-so-broad term "experiences", and yes, of course, local culture.

So, i dont know, its nice validation that the schizophrenic experience is something more than "bad biological/physiological functioning" dictating everything, other than that i dont see the value or use of this finding.

It's not exactly news, but it is confirmation that cultural attitudes shape the experience of the mentally ill, and that in the US we have a particularly harsh/negative (I might even say punitive) attitude toward mental illness. We are, after all, only about a generation away from an era when we simply locked them up in warehouse-like sanitariums where they were drugged, experimented on, and if difficult to control, chained to the wall and hosed down.

In this case, who knows, anthropological confirmation of what psychologists already know may help build that body of knowledge up to the point where it has enough weight to effect a cultural shift in how we perceive mental illness.

Ok, maybe I'm too much of a negative Sally and it is important in a "popular science" manner; after all, we have a bunch of people still thinking its demonic possession or divine punishment, et al.

Perhaps those not "confessing" the negative voices are afraid that otherwise they might be treated as possessed, instead of simply ill.  The culture might dictate self-censorship on such matters because they have not yet been liberated by science, instead of contaminated.  Mainly,  It's difficult to tell how accurate our interpretations are when dealing with an illness that is so radically at odds with reality in the first place.  Given a patients inability to accurately monitor/interpret reality, I wonder also how much more they would be susceptible to suggestion, vs. control, w.r.t the nature of their condition during survey.  Total mindfuck.