Today in History

[Maya]

Today in history (1616): William Shakespeare died.

There's been debate on whether one person really wrote all those plays on his own, or if William Shakespeare was actually a collective of different writers using the same pen name. What do you think?

I believe there is even a movie about the true writer behind Shakespeare's work, Anonymous is the title iirc. There are speculations that he is a fraud who stole some one else's work but there isn't enough evidence or documentations to support this claim.

 

[Shimmer.Fade]

Yea, sort of, which is why the N. Vietnamese were justified toppling their regime, which was my initial point

The Khmer Rouge were an offshoot of the North Vietnamese, operated under a very similar system, and had a seat at the UN

Ok, offshoot is a wrong word, maybe regional peer is better. The systems were in quite a few ways similar simply because of their close geographical proximity to each other. Relative to other places in the world they are very similar, and were both also under French control for quite a while (who allowed Vietnamese settlement into Cambodia) leading to a blending of peoples. What you say are big points involved in why the two countries were at odds in recent times. I was saying that without thinking so much in order to illustrate why from a N. Vietnamese point of view the Khmer Rouge would be considered dangerous, manipulated enemies at the point in time when the N. Vietnamese decided to topple them, and that they were justified in deciding to do so.

 

[Shimmer.Fade]

I believe there is even a movie about the true writer behind Shakespeare's work, Anonymous is the title iirc. There are speculations that he is a fraud who stole some one else's work but there isn't enough evidence or documentations to support this claim.

Whoever wrote them, I like some more than others, and they all take time to get into the style. My favorites are A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice. I wouldn't be surprised if some were written by different people considering the fairly large contrasts between some them. Then again ones view can change dramatically over time.

 

[Tude]

Today in history (1916): The Easter Rebellion began in Ireland.

Why did the rebellion fail?

 

[Bardeaux]

^I wouldn't call the rebellion a total failure. Obviously, a handful of men weren't going to defeat the global superpower of the era. However, the rebellion caused a sea change in Ireland. It certainly wouldn't be the last clash, and the IRA was formed just a few years later, winning independence for most of Ireland from the UK.

On April 25, 1915, British, Australian and New Zealand forces landed at Gallipoli during WWI.

In 1945, delegates met in San Fransisco, California to Organize the United Nations.

And on this day in 1992, the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capitol of Kabul following the end of the Afghan-Soviet war.

 

[Maya]

Also today in history:

1945 Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java

1881 French troops occupy Algeria and Tunisia

1886 - Sigmund Freud opens practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna

What is your opinion about Simund Freud? Your opinion on Psychoanalysis?

 

[Bardeaux]

^Psychoanalysis, as far as I know, is practically obsolete and has been vastly discredited.

 

[Tude]

To me, Sigmund Freud was way preoccupied with sex. Lol it's like he thought EVERYTHING was sexual. Granted, that's certainly the case with some people, but not everyone is like that.

 

[Maya]

Today in history:

1959 - Cuba invades Panama
1974 - Malta adopts constitution
1721 - Smallpox vaccination 1st administrated

How was the smallpox vaccine developed?

 

[Kittycat5]

Different forms of inoculation to small pox dates back several thousand years. People would breathe in small amounts of small pox scabs (yum) and far fewer developed the disease and died than those not treated.

In the late 1700s, it was discovered that people who contracted cowpox, had immunity to smallpox. People began using calves to produce an inoculation with much greater safety, and vaccination (vacca=cow in latin) was born. Unfortunately, using animals as the source led to some nasty bacterial infections in the age before sterilization.

Further advancements lead to the use of a related virus (vaccinia) for vaccination, and we still use it today.

 

[Bardeaux]

1959 - Cuba invades Panama

I wouldn't call this a Cuban invasion, per se. It was slightly similar to the Bay of Pigs invasion, in that a group of Panamanian rebels allegedly supported financially by the Cuban government attempted to overthrow the Panamanian government.

On April 28th, 1788, Maryland became the 7th state in the United States,

In 1945, Fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini was executed and publicly shamed in the streets.

In 2001, Dennis Tito became the world's first space tourist.

And on this day in 2004, the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal hits the airwaves on 60 minutes, exposing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers.

2004 was also arguably the most violent year in Iraq. Do you think seeing these sorts of images changed the public perception of the war, much like when photos and news coverage of the violent campaigns in Vietnam were aired in the 60s?

 

[Shimmer.Fade]

^Psychoanalysis, as far as I know, is practically obsolete and has been vastly discredited.

Still alive and well here in Deutschland actually, but most certainly modernized and much more evidence based than during Freud's time.

I do believe that past/present (so much as one can be in it) experiences are a big part of who we are. You can kind of explain it as a person having three pillars. The first is built during the formative years, the second is object/other value (hard to translate), and the third is self value. The tendency is when one of these is pillars is improperly formed, knocked away, etc... that the other one or two take on the burden, but something is off, and this can begin to manifest itself in many symptoms we also see related to stress, depression, etc...(something negatively influencing every day functionality). When all three pillars are gone people can crash pretty hard.

 

[Tude]

And on this day in 2004, the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal hits the airwaves on 60 minutes, exposing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers.

2004 was also arguably the most violent year in Iraq. Do you think seeing these sorts of images changed the public perception of the war, much like when photos and news coverage of the violent campaigns in Vietnam were aired in the 60s?

I definitely think news coverage changed the public perception of the war. It's hard to isolate yourself from a war when it's taking place in your living room.

 

[Maya]

Still alive and well here in Deutschland actually, but most certainly modernized and much more evidence based than during Freud's time.

I do believe that past/present (so much as one can be in it) experiences are a big part of who we are. You can kind of explain it as a person having three pillars. The first is built during the formative years, the second is object/other value (hard to translate), and the third is self value. The tendency is when one of these is pillars is improperly formed, knocked away, etc... that the other one or two take on the burden, but something is off, and this can begin to manifest itself in many symptoms we also see related to stress, depression, etc...(something negatively influencing every day functionality). When all three pillars are gone people can crash pretty hard.

Weren't there other doctors who improved Psychoanalysis after freud passed away? Do you know of any tests?

 

[Shimmer.Fade]

This is hard to explain. All standardized tests in medicine, and in many scientific areas here are designed to adhere to specific ideals in terms of reliability, reproducibility, accuracy, etc... the same as in the US pretty much according to current bio-ethics. The Psychoanalysis of Freud's day only remains fragmented throughout modern theory/practices (though it still plays an important, if much more oriented to the general population, role). There are several written/practical tests I know, but they are all in German. I've dealt with mainly depression and burn out, but only in the role of a student/GP as I am no specialist.

From what I have seen we never rely on single tests here though, much more so on talks with the patient during the following weeks (normally 8 for middle grade) of therapy either stationary or ambulant. We may use even ideas of Freud, but rarely on their own and rarely without contrast or co-application with other prominent theories.

For instance, from my experiences I would never as a GP attempt to actually diagnose/name such an issue. I would refer my patient to a proper specialist who I trust to do what is in her/his best interests. I would conduct very brief tests and talks, but only to flesh out certain suspicions (i.e. If patient shows depressive symptomatic do the typical 4-7 questions (preferably separate from one another) to see if suspicion is validated). If validated, I would say something along the lines of , "Hr. Braun, you seem to be having a rough patch right now, and I would like you to know that we are here to help you through it when you need us". The success getting these patients on the right track is very reliant on the patient having to trust the doctor and the system, and realize when a specific doctor is on his/her side. Unfortunately not all doctors are.

To answer your question, yes there were many, and are now fewer. Most areas that remain are rooted in evidence based medicine.

 

[Bardeaux]

Still alive and well here in Deutschland actually, but most certainly modernized and much more evidence based than during Freud's time.

Indeed, psychiatric evaluation is still a thriving practice. Although I tend to associate Freud's psychoanalysis with what I like to call "fluff" psychology; abstract, subjective. This I believe was somewhat antithetical in a way to his peers of the time, who were delving into empirical, scientific psychological analysis.

 

[Tude]

Today in history (2011): Osama bin Laden was killed.

Why did it take so long to find him?

 

[Maya]

IMO, he had a lot of protection around him including the police/leaders in Pakistan, thus making it hard for his capture. Although, tbh, I am still torn about what really happened. Was he actually killed? Or is there more to this? Did they really capture him or this is just another facade?

 

[Tude]

That's what I've been wondering. There was never any proof.

Today in history (1979): Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to be elected prime minister of England.

Have there been many women "in charge" of the country you're in?

 

[Shimmer.Fade]

Indeed, psychiatric evaluation is still a thriving practice. Although I tend to associate Freud's psychoanalysis with what I like to call "fluff" psychology; abstract, subjective. This I believe was somewhat antithetical in a way to his peers of the time, who were delving into empirical, scientific psychological analysis.

For his time he had some pretty radical/good ideas, some of which needed more than a bit of refining. I don't know a lot about that period though because it is all relatively obsolete except in terms of medical/scientific history. There is a ton to know about, and lots of cool stuff to be learned. Classical Psychoanalysis is fairly unpopular among patients because of the lack of real interaction. I guess the real goal of it was to get to suppressed memories/feelings, and I think it often fails in this regard.

I am a bit mixed on modern day medicine in the realm of mental health, and see area for many improvements. It also differs greatly from country to country. Here they do a pretty good job, but are still quite dogmatic about certain themes. One thing I would like to see is more fields (i.e. sociology) being involved in seeing though the full extent of a therapy.

I would venture to guess that sometimes in Psychology/Psychiatry subjective, even abstract, opinions/statements of patients themselves can be important (though never trusted explicitly).