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Thursday, April 27. 2017

"Patient Zero"

'Patient zero': The misunderstood stories of how disease spreads.


I have always been interested in how psychological disorders/aberrations spread, too. Mass hysterias, fad diseases, and the like. In the 1990s it seemed as if half the hysteric women in New England believed they had chronic Lyme disease and there was no way to dissuade them. Before that, it was Chronic Fatigue. Both are now old hat and no longer in vogue.


I have been reading about the sudden upsurge of trans children. What is that about? It seems rather unusual, and disturbing.

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Medical, Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 11:07 | Comments (21) | Trackbacks (0)

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I have written a little about this topic, in this post: http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2017/04/transgender-is-new-black.html

The most interesting book I've found on the topic of psychologically driven epidemics is Ethan Watters: Crazy Like Us. It's better than it's title.
#1 Stuart Schneiderman (Link) on 2017-04-27 11:10 (Reply)
Lyme (and it's accompanying bevy of tick-regurgitated cohort diseases) seem to remain pretty poorly understood by the medical community at large. That leaves a lot of openings for the rumor mill to fill in the blanks. It might be better for modern medicine to openly it admit what it doesn't know, and to leave it at that. Nothing can stop the Yentls, but if the doctors could admit that they Just.Don't.Know... ..oy.

Lyme disease is set to explode and we still don’t have a vaccine
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23431195-800-lyme-disease-is-set-to-explode-and-you-cant-protect-yourself/

Bennington County top in state in tick-borne illness
https://vtdigger.org/2017/04/24/bennington-top-state-tick-borne-illness/
#2 Krusty on 2017-04-27 11:50 (Reply)
Agreed Krusty, it's remarkable how 10's of thousands of general practitioners refuse to accept the work of microbiologists.

Here's the latest article that I'm aware of: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/mayonii.html

Our local medical facility (huge) still sends these suffering people to their in house psychiatrist who puts them on Zoloft and sends them home to suffer needlessly.

It's criminal.
#2.1 Don on 2017-04-29 10:11 (Reply)
Dear Doc:

You are so right to ask this question. Here is the answer to newly discovered transgendered children and the exponential growth thereof. The answer is quite simply MONEY! or maybe you could make that JOBS! What I have witnessed over the years in SEATTLE is this: the wealthiest of women (Boeing, Weyerheuser,Amazon, Microsoft, UPS, etc.) and their high level union female leadership have since 2000 worked together to create the world of their design. They have a network of mentors and their obedient wannabe females many of whom have kids. The wannabe moms do what they are told with this in mind "She (person of power) is going to MENTOR my daugher--she will have a job for life". The "IN THING" with this group of women is to destroy the sexes, thereby destroying women's dependence on men. These are the same gals that forced homosexuality into the Episcopal Church. You can track the validity of that comment beginning
here
Of course Mrs. Schori is only the first clear example.
I once had one of my mother's savings accounts closed down by a tearful bank loan officer because "you know, they charged my son with assault and accused him of rape, he was in jail for two years and I just got him back. I was told to do this (close down mom's account) or else he would go back in."
This was in spite of the fact that there was a cash CD on hold that doubled the outstanding amount ($5,000) which was 1 week late on a payment. I had known this loan officer for years--but, the dirty girls of SEATTLE needed to send me a lesson. These gals reward with jobs the parents of the newly transgendered children. If you have access to any type of investigation service check it out. I will bet you that financial situation of these parents has improved noticeably since their children "coming out".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Jefferts_Schori
#3 faculty wife on 2017-04-27 12:27 (Reply)
It is a travesty to encourage confusion in children, yet that is exactly what is happening today. Suggestible, vulnerable (and gullible?) teenagers are being led down this primrose path of transgenderism by an unholy combination of ideologues and Instagram activists and YouTube how-to videos. Mental health professionals are no help. Statements like "I've always been really uncomfortable in my gender" are taken at face value by therapists and transitioning is encouraged (!) as the standard of care.

In ten years there are going to be a lot of physically damaged ex-trans people walking around, but thsee ideologues don't really care. These kids are just collateral damage to them.

Here are some websites trying to push back against the "everyone who is confused should transition genders" narrative that is currently being pushed by both the media and mental health professionals:

https://4thwavenow.com/

https://youthtranscriticalprofessionals.org/

https://handsacrosstheaislewomen.com/
#4 JM01 on 2017-04-27 12:38 (Reply)
Do I have unusual self-confidence? I was often uncomfortable about gender roles I perceived as being thrust on me, but I assumed that the people thrusting the roles were the mistaken ones. It didn't make me think I wasn't a girl or, later, a woman. I just figured they were confused about what a girl or a woman was.
#5 Texan99 on 2017-04-27 12:44 (Reply)
Honestly, it seems like the more conventional and isolated a teenager is, the more likely they are to "come out" as trans.

Tough-minded individuals do not seem to be getting swept into the ideology of transgenderism, so that leaves out most tomboys ;-)

Unconventional people are already used to being weird by the time they become teens and for the most part they have learned to not care what other people think. Instead it's the unimaginative and suggestible teens who for whatever reason are socially isolated who are getting swept up in the whole "you need to affirm my new identity" fad of policing other people's speech and behavior. It's a drag to be around, that's for sure.
#5.1 JM01 on 2017-04-28 13:01 (Reply)
I don't really know any trans people.
I do know one of my favorite economists, Deirdre McCloskey, is trans (formerly Donald). She is a terrific source of information on this topic, and has even written about the transformation.

Her views are quite unique. She is, after all, a 'Christian Libertarian' and rather conservative on certain issues you'd expect a trans person to be more liberal about.

She's that way with good reason. After all, on several occasions, people tried to get the state to strip her of her rights because they tried to argue she was insane. She's quite sane, and remarkably intelligent. She won her cases and won a deep distrust of the states' involvement in individual identity.
#5.1.1 Bulldog on 2017-04-28 13:07 (Reply)
Apologies for the misunderstanding. My comments are not about people who are actually transgender. People who are truly trans have persistent, lifelong gender/body dysphoria and their issues are usually limited to body dysphoria. I do know some trans folks.

One of my childhood friends later transitioned to being a man - I was a tomboy with both male and female friends, and emotionally speaking hanging out with Joe was much more like hanging out with my guy friends than my girl ones. (For example Joe's main childhood hobby was building model airplanes.) So when Joe announced that he was transitioning, I really can't say I was surprised.

This is something different. A lot of these newly 'transgender' teens are kids who never had any problems with their gender or their bodies until they hit puberty - unlike transgender people who have lifelong dysphoria. It's called 'sudden onset gender dysphoria', and until 10 years ago it didn't really exist.

About 2/3 of the teenagers with sudden onset gender dysphoria also have clinical depression, and a significant number of them are on the autism spectrum as well. These socially isolated teens are spending a huge amount (several hours per day) of time online. Teenagers swept up in the transgender trend are for the most part confused and lonely, are looking for an explanation for their pain, and many of them have found the 'answer' online.

Unfortunately right now the therapeutic model is based on trans people with persistent, lifelong gender dysphoria, like my friend Joe - not teenagers with the sudden onset kind. It's kind of a mess out there for therapists right now because the treatment model is based on a different population. Everyone's eager to avoid being labeled transphobic and so supporting transition is the only way to go.

We have a lot of learning to do with these issues still as a culture, and right now the therapeutic model has not caught up to current reality of troubled teenagers. In another 10 years there should be more recognition that for some people, especially troubled teenagers unhappy with their bodies, feeling like you are transgender is not the same as experiencing persistent, lifelong gender dysphoria. Being uncomfortable in your own body after puberty hits you like a ton of bricks is not the same as being transgender...it just means you're human.
#5.1.1.1 JM01 on 2017-04-29 10:52 (Reply)
I see what you mean, and while there is plenty of clinical language to go around this topic, I think there are two main threads (not really opposed to yours, but for me they simplify the concept):

1. Too many parents don't 'parent' and like to apply tags to their kids. It's easier to just tag your kid early in life, and if you can apply a really 'cool' tag, then you can be a 'cool' and 'hip' parent. You know, like 'rainbow/indigo/crystal children' when your kid is autistic. You like the label? It makes you feel included? Gives purpose to your goal as a parent? Fine. But the minute you start adopting the nonsense that goes along with those tags, you're headed down a lousy path. I've seen this done to kids before, and the kids wound up having tortured lives, which may (or may not) lead to:
2. Kids wanting to 'fit in' somehow. This is especially true with parents who are absentee somehow. Either mentally, physically, or emotionally. Without proper guidance and support, kids will forever flounder on their own, seeking a path out of their perceived troubles. Trans is very 'in' right now, and as you point out, kids surf the net like mad and see it all over. It's hip, it's cool and it gives them an easy out. There are additional terms I've seen becoming popular. Sapiosexual, pansexual - less about gender specifically, more about a mindset or being in the moment. It makes a kid feel like they are smarter than everyone else. They believe they are more advanced that society. Again, a lousy path to head down if taken too seriously.


We all did things in our teens that mimicked these behaviors. I found my niche in the punk rock movement, which (thankfully) was really less about a lifestyle and more about music. I was smart enough to limit my adoption of the look and lifestyles they tried to promote, and when people called me out, I replied the idea was to be inclusive, while dressing the part was more poseur than position. Wow....you'd think I'd invented the idea, the way people would back down.
The same is true today, but the difference is that the spread of information and ideas is just much faster and more pervasive. Kids can get caught up a little to easily and quickly.
#5.1.1.1.1 Bulldog on 2017-05-01 11:24 (Reply)
My father (retired doctor) opposed socialized medicine for a variety of reasons, but one of them was its utter misuse when it is provided for free.
His example of what happens relied entirely on his experience as a naval base doctor from 1962-1966. He told me how 'disease' would spread by word of mouth and before long his waiting room would be filled with 'patients' that had contracted some malady, which one person might actually have but most others had only heard about it and became convinced they had it.

I never asked how he actually treated all these patients. I was more enthralled at the concept of people believing they were ill when they weren't.

He said some parents would even commit themselves to having 'sick' kids because they'd heard "something is going around."

He was convinced there were 2 reasons for this behavior. The first was that it cost nothing to show up at his office and get checked out. Had he been able to charge a fee, people would weight the costs and benefits of actually showing up and wasting time and money (very few people realize their time IS money, but that's another discussion).

The second reason was a desire to be part of a group. He realized his waiting room was a coffee klatch. But more importantly, everyone could share their stories of their 'maladies' and feel like they were 'in'.

Bizarre behavior, if you ask me. As a kid, I enjoyed wearing my mother's high heels on occasion to make people laugh. It was hilarious stumbling around and thinking this was how adults got around (I do not envy you ladies who wear them). Today, I'd be classified as trans and embraced for my diversity. I wasn't ever going for that, but kids will always love the attention, and it could actually be a negative impact on their lives as parents use gender and identity labels as "celebratory" weapons.
#6 Bulldog on 2017-04-27 12:49 (Reply)
Good piece BD.
#6.1 faculty wife on 2017-04-27 12:57 (Reply)
I was always a "tomboy", only had two friends to play with in my neighborhood--both boys. But, I sure loved pretty dresses, etc.
Never questioned that I was a girl, because there was no conversation about "change" in our generation. Still don't envy guys, love being a woman!
#7 Apple Pie on 2017-04-27 12:50 (Reply)
Ha! I've always thought the same about women; I really love them, but I'm glad I am a man.
#7.1 B Hammer on 2017-04-27 16:15 (Reply)
Corrupt doctors mutilate mentally ill children for profit.

Dr. Mengele lives.
#8 bob sykes on 2017-04-27 14:45 (Reply)
The post and comments, illustrate how the Gramsci influence is winning. One smart guy, he was.
#9 XRay on 2017-04-27 22:24 (Reply)
Expand, please. I found his work to be interesting, but not in the way he hoped.

After all, his view of 'the intellectual' gains great life with the internet and the ability to share views. Sadly for him, the marketplace of ideas works against what he hoped for. People, as he suspected, are actually pretty smart and know what they want/need.

Adam Smith owned him, he just wasn't wise enough to realize it.
#9.1 Bulldog on 2017-04-28 08:44 (Reply)
Totally abhor what is being done to young children by transgender advocates. If you're not a "girly girl" or a "boy boy", these advocates are saying you're not what your genes tell you, and are advocating for aggressive therapy. Am watching out for the grandbrats, particularly for the girls who combine wanting to be princesses with being totally physical "tomboys".

On the other hand, back in the day (and we're talking the early '90s) who did hit the wall with serious fatigue issues. She recovered, and went on to do very well, but her Grade 10 year was fraught. There was something physically wrong with her that year; it wasn't all mental. I'd had similar issues for some months before - suspect a slow virus that we gradually threw off.
#10 Frances on 2017-04-28 00:01 (Reply)
One of the oddest things about the whole situation is the way the 'trans-positive' types often use the crudest stereotypes as a measuring stick for determining if 'gender' doesn't match biology. In a similar vein my quite liberal wife is almost proud of the sensitivity of her 'gaydar' but I've never seriously tried to convince her that she would go ballistic if a conservative remarked in the same one about a man's fashion sense or a woman's butch haircut.
#10.1 Christopher B on 2017-04-28 15:06 (Reply)
I spoke to a physician once who thought it might be related to hormones from birth control pills getting into the water system.

??
#11 ahem on 2017-04-28 18:41 (Reply)
Actually, that's been my speculation as well. Either that, or the hormones they feed to animals that then get in the food system. It would explain a lot about what's going on.
#11.1 Jim on 2017-04-28 20:36 (Reply)

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