I think it was Margaret Mead, a cultural anthropologist, who wrote that normal behavior in a culture was defined by the behavior of the majority of the people in that culture. I never realized that mental health was a democratic process! But if it was...then the patients in a mental unit would be the normal ones--by the numbers. And the staff would be the abnormals! But the staff are the authority figures--the Power. So it could follow that normal behavior is defined by those in power--authority figures. Then again, those in power are enforcing what they learned during their education which was based on what the majority believes, approves, and allows to be taught from approved published material!
So is this a valid corollary: Truth is defined by what the majority accepts as truth? E gads! Sounds like something out of 1984!
And if history is validated by eyewitness accounts, could I change history writing "erroneous" (according to current experts) eyewitness accounts for future generations? If my views of the world were the only ones left after the Great Flooding because the ice caps are melting...I believe the future would be very different from the way it is now and will be forever, amen. Better or worse? Each person must choose the world they create around them and thus the world in the future. For me, it would be better.
2 comments:
Hi there. I wanted to drop by and see your place. I'm hosting Change of Shift next week and I was wondering if you would submit a post about relationships. The deadline is next Tuesday. I'd like your observations about the type of relationships that you have seen in the hospital (doctors, nurses, patients, and so on). I have many good posts from doctors and nurses, but none from health care consumers. I'm looking for posts that will give balance to the theme. By the way, I like your idea about reality based paranoia. There is an old saying, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they are not out to get you." Thank you for putting me on your blog roll. I'll add you to mine.
MJ
Hey MJ, I am honored to be asked to write about hospital relationships. May I write more than one? Maybe one about those while in the Psych unit and one when I was a patient in Intermediate ICU with a DVT and PE? I'm not sure I understand exactly what Second Shift is--other than evening shift!
Thank you for replying to my blog.
TM
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