[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: AW: "Radiation free zones" etc/Paranoia
Everyone please pull your feet back out of the aisle for a minute--I want to
step on as few toes as practical. First, just because you're paranoid
doesn't mean no one is after you. :-) More seriously, I've found that the
many hypersensitivities to which I've been exposed from other people, and a
few I've had myself, are developed. They haven't been on the level of a
reflex, but more of a habit. You can test this yourself by deliberately
reacting to any particular stimulus and see how adept you become at picking
it out--you'll get to where you'll know the stimulus was present because you
reacted to it. These can also be undeveloped. However, you have to decide
which ones are worth the effort and which aren't. I could suppress the
allergies I developed as an adult, but when I made the effort, it took so
much more energy that it was easier to take a little tablet when the
symptoms develop and go on with what I'm doing. Others have been more
significant and so were worth the effort.
Here's the toe-stepping part--I've also found that many people prefer to
keep their hypersensitivities for various psychological reasons. In response
to the question, "From a compassionate standpoint, how do you come to
understand what these people are feeling?" I would caution to be empathetic,
but never sympathetic. There are times that it's easier to accommodate these
quirks in an adult with whom you choose to preserve a relationship, but
similarly to asking a child who's fallen, "Did you hurt the floor?" when you
know they're all right, so they don't over-react to it based on your
expression of concern or sympathy, being sympathetic to an adult will only
exacerbate the situation and won't benefit them or you. Obviously I haven't
been exposed to all types of these (strange) emotions, but I'm speaking from
the limited experience I've had in this area and as a long-time observer of
human behavior (as diplomatically as I can and still convey the point).
Jack Earley
Radiological Engineer
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard L. Hess [mailto:lists@richardhess.com]
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 3:39 PM
To: Bjorn Cedervall; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: Re: AW: "Radiation free zones" etc/Paranoia
Not to defend, but to try and understand:
From history we have at least Tesla who was apparently hypersensitive to a
wide variety of things, at least as reported in "Tesla: Man Out of Time" a
biography by Margaret Cheney. (a popular book, I'm afraid).
From "art" we have the bubble-man episode from the TV series "Northern
Exposure." I understood at the time (10 years ago?) that there actually
were people who had (or at least imagined they had) such sensitivities. I'm
only bringing this up to the extent that art mirrors life (or sometimes the
other way around).
I'm surprised in a way that there's such a large suspected population in
Sweden that might have this challenge. I wonder if the fantastic support
system there may allow people the time and confidence to be more
introspective.
I honestly don't know anyone that fits this category. One friend from long
ago MIGHT have had some sensitivity, but he loved playing with things
electronic. He just could "feel" some things I couldn't.
One of my usual one-liners is, "I'm paranoid from birth--I'm a native New
Yorker." We always knew who was around us on the Subways, who was lurking
in shadows, which dark alleys to bypass on the other side of the street. I
think you grow up wary in a place like NYC. (And I'm not picking on NYC in
particular--I just happened to have grown up there).
I think most of us think this hypersensitivity is at least over-blown if
not bunk. BUT, from a compassionate standpoint, how do you come to
understand what these people are feeling? I'm perhaps more sensitive to
this TYPE of thing as I have a son with very bad food allergies--tallest in
his class, but food allergies nonetheless.
Cheers,
Richard
At 08:38 PM 9/16/2002 +0000, Bjorn Cedervall wrote:
>>Also the letters to the discussion forum are so far away from any sense,
>>that one should probably be sorry for such people, who are afraid of
>>everything and see dangers in every aspect of life. Isn't that called
paranoia?
>---
>One of their writers is a retired professional to answer such questions
>(assoc. prof. in psychiatry). He has written about me recently. I
>presently do not intend to write about him.
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/