It’s summer and with kids out of school, the possibilities are endless for where to go on vacation. The Olympics in England or a trip to some other foreign country for the first time would seem very exciting to most. Others suggest that you can get a “mental illness”
while travelling to certain cities so precautions must be taken. Such suggestions are false and easily disputed.
First let’s check out dromomania which is a term that claims a person has an uncontrollable urge to travel or wander. It claims that a person would go off from their usual life and disappear to some far away place for an extended period of time leaving their old life behind. There are only a few documented cases, most of which occurred
in France in the late nineteenth century. So why is this term not yet obsolete?
Dromomania has been broadened to fit present-day psychiatry. Now, if you you feel an out of the blue need to change locations, a psychiatrist could say it’s a symptom of another “mental disorder.” It has also been redefined more generally to encompass people that
strongly feel they must travel and experience new places all the time, perhaps
not taking into account their responsibilities at home.
What they fail to define is how this kind of thing constitutes a “mental illness.” It is one of the lies of mental health. Even way back in the nineteenth century there were just a few isolated cases of unusual behavior yet it was classified as a psychiatric abnormality.
Whether you look at then or now, both time periods lack scientific medical
tests to prove any existence of dromomania at all. All that the facts show is
behavior beyond what is considered normal with no information regarding what
could have prompted such actions, of which there could be many.
In addition to the urge to travel, another one of the lies of mental health is actually getting a “mental illness” while visiting a foreign city. If you go to Paris and you experience symptoms such as hallucinations, dizziness, anxiety or hostility, you may have Paris
Syndrome. Jerusalem Syndrome supposedly induces delusions and constant
attention on religious ideas. Florence Syndrome seems to provoke rapid
heartbeat, fainting and hallucinations when exposed to a lot of art in one
place.
All three of these “syndromes” have a common denominator and it has nothing to do with “mental illness.” Imagine flying many hours to your destination and trying to see all the sights in a short time while still suffering from jet-lag. On top of it you are located in
a place that is totally different from your homeland and maybe you don’t even
speak the language. It is called culture shock. The overwhelm of being tired
and seeing too much art, doing too many religious tours or even trying to
communicate in the native tongue would leave anyone exhausted, overwhelmed and
maybe somewhat irrational.
What’s worth mentioning is that these “syndromes” seem to disappear upon leaving the location. Leaving behind too much stimuli and going back to the comfort of one’s own home is literally just that. Visiting a foreign city requires an adjustment for sure, but it is
not a “mental disorder” and is just one of the lies of mental health.
Arctic Hysteria is another supposed “syndrome” that affects those societies living within the Arctic Circle.Hysteria, depression and needing too much attention are some of the symptoms. Too much consumption of vitamin A has been suggested as a cause, or perhaps
logically cabin fever would explain everything. The point is this one hasn’t
been investigated fully by any scientific means yet there is a psychiatric name
for it. It’s just another one of the lies of mental health.
Finally, there are two cities that are named as “syndromes” not resulting from being a tourist, but resulting from being in a hostage situation. Stockholm Syndrome is where hostages have positive or sympathetic feelings for their captors. Certainly the extreme
stress in this type of situation would most likely cause a hostage to lack
sound logical judgment.
In any case, all hostage situations are not the same so one can’t lump the mental health of all sympathetic hostages together and call it some “disorder.” What specifically occurred with each individual would need to be known to understand each hostage’s state of mind.
Domestic abuse and fraternal hazingapparently also come under the heading of Stockholm Syndrome as well. Does that mean domestic abuse now translates into a husband holding his wife hostage with beatings and verbal abuse therefore it’s a “mental illness?” Are we supposed to believe that a fraternity pledge is put through the ringer by his future
brothers and that’s a “mental illness?” Where is the science to back up these
claims?
On the flip side, when one has sympathy for the hostages and they are let go, it is called Lima Syndrome, named for the city in which this took place. Perhaps these guys came to their senses or there is some other unknown logical reason as to why they let the
hostages go. It doesn’t mean it’s a “mental illness” or must we have no faith
in human nature?
Without any specific medical tests to verify and locate some abnormality in the body or mind, there are no “syndromes,” “disorders” or “mental illnesses” to diagnose. There are only symptoms that are grouped together to create “disorders.” With no true science
involved, “disorders” are not discovered, but voted upon. It’s all baseless
opinion in a vain attempt to make psychiatry look like legitimate medical
science when it’s not. Do your homework so when a mental health lie is aimed at
you, you can make an informed decision based on the truth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromomania
http://cltampa.com/dailyloaf/archives/2012/07/04/around-the-world-in-9-mental-illnesses#.T_WWcfLmAJY.email
Lies of Mental Health in Foreign Lands
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Tel: 1-800-782-2878
Psychiatry is determined to destroy everything American. This is another attempt of psychiatry to trample our rights as American citizens. Freedom of movement is in our Constitution, freedom of the open open road to pursue opportunities is the America Spirit, and what America was once all about. There is not a darn thing wrong with any of us who have the American Spirit within us, so psychiatry can just go to hell. The U.S. Government should place the psychiatric industry under arrest for trying to criminally infringe on our freedom of movement.