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The terrorist inside my husband's brain

m.neurology.org

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Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#61

Post by eveningcoffee »

HSO wrote: post #33

This is obviously painful for the family and the fans, and I hope my words are not taken in the wrong way. But I really wish Americans (and yes, I think it's mostly Americans who have this tendency) would choose their words more carefully. If I am not mistaken, we are talking about a disease . What makes the analogy to "terrorism" apt here? For a while, everything seemed to be a "war" ("war on drugs", "war on crime",…

Indeed, having seen the movie The War Within, I have to agree with you strongly.

The title does not resonate with the expectations to the content.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#62

Post by zhs »

bigtunacan wrote: post #57
gilaniali wrote: post #34

It is astounding that someone with the resources to pay for the best medical care was unable to arrive at the correct diagnosis. As we move towards AI assisted diagnoses, hopefully such suffering can be mitigated. Do neurologists follow checklists when diagnosing symptoms? Will this case change their procedures going forward?

Speaking from personal experience (I suffer from a rare neuro-muscular) disease. If you have a very common disease it is often somewhat quickly diagnosed and treated. The less common the disease the longer it takes and the more likelihood of early misdiagnosis. Often times there are symptoms overlap. A patient may not display or disclose the symptoms that makes it stand out from the others. Many diseases are diagnose…

Sorry to pry, but may I ask which neuro-muscular disease you're referring to? A bit fascinated by the inability of many doctors to make proper diagnoses when dealing with neurological issues.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#63

Post by mkalv »

th0vvavvay wrote: post #55
Normal_gaussian wrote: post #13

> He never said he had hallucinations. [...] it became evident that most likely he did have hallucinations, but was keeping that to himself. I do not know if I would tell people about hallucinations. It is bad enough to be out of control of your function, but to have no trust in your experience is terrifying. I wouldn't be surprised if I convinced myself I didn't have them in order to feel in control.

I experience mild hallucinations when stressed out or drunk. Lack of sleep is another trigger. I haven't had it diagnosed but I suspect HPPD, stemming from some badly times mushrooms trips a couple of years ago. I find it mostly ignorable thankfully. I was aware of the hallucinations for one year before I told anyone about it. Have only talked with one friend about it a couple of times. It is a difficult subject, and…

If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by mild?

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#64

Post by bigtunacan »

zhs wrote: post #62
bigtunacan wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking from personal experience (I suffer from a rare neuro-muscular) disease. If you have a very common disease it is often somewhat quickly diagnosed and treated. The less common the disease the longer it takes and the more likelihood of early misdiagnosis. Often times there are symptoms overlap. A patient may not display or disclose the symptoms that makes it stand out from the others. Many diseases are diagnose…

Sorry to pry, but may I ask which neuro-muscular disease you're referring to? A bit fascinated by the inability of many doctors to make proper diagnoses when dealing with neurological issues.

Stiff Person Syndrome.

It is extremely rare and occurs in only about 1 in 1 million people.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiff_person_syndrome

For this particular illness, 6 years is the average amount of time it takes to diagnose. Just to help put it in perspective.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#65

Post by smallnamespace »

tominous wrote: post #54
HSO wrote: post #33

This is obviously painful for the family and the fans, and I hope my words are not taken in the wrong way. But I really wish Americans (and yes, I think it's mostly Americans who have this tendency) would choose their words more carefully. If I am not mistaken, we are talking about a disease . What makes the analogy to "terrorism" apt here? For a while, everything seemed to be a "war" ("war on drugs", "war on crime",…

The problem with metaphors linking the human body with society is they are essentially fascist. The "parts" have no value and the "whole" is supremely important. So it is incumbent on people who use these metaphors to remember that in society the "parts" (i.e. each individual) do have value. Otherwise it's too easy to turn things around and say, "Terrorists are like disease, we must kill them all; that fast-growing e…

The biggest difference between individuals and societies: our cells cannot propagate or survive on their own, whereas individuals can.

As an analogy for society, a colony of bacteria or fungi would serve better than the human body.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#66

Post by kordless »

tominous wrote: post #54
HSO wrote: post #33

This is obviously painful for the family and the fans, and I hope my words are not taken in the wrong way. But I really wish Americans (and yes, I think it's mostly Americans who have this tendency) would choose their words more carefully. If I am not mistaken, we are talking about a disease . What makes the analogy to "terrorism" apt here? For a while, everything seemed to be a "war" ("war on drugs", "war on crime",…

The problem with metaphors linking the human body with society is they are essentially fascist. The "parts" have no value and the "whole" is supremely important. So it is incumbent on people who use these metaphors to remember that in society the "parts" (i.e. each individual) do have value. Otherwise it's too easy to turn things around and say, "Terrorists are like disease, we must kill them all; that fast-growing e…

Fascism is also highly inefficient.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#67

Post by Normal_gaussian »

ScottBurson wrote: post #14
wldcordeiro wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The title here is editorialized, I'd prefer to keep her original title.

I saw the other title and skipped it. I think this one is fine as is. ETA: I suppose "The terrorist in Robin Williams' brain" would be a fair compromise.

Mentioning that it is written by his widow was a large factor in me clicking the link.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#68

Post by zhs »

bigtunacan wrote: post #64
zhs wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to pry, but may I ask which neuro-muscular disease you're referring to? A bit fascinated by the inability of many doctors to make proper diagnoses when dealing with neurological issues.

Stiff Person Syndrome. It is extremely rare and occurs in only about 1 in 1 million people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiff_person_syndrome For this particular illness, 6 years is the average amount of time it takes to diagnose. Just to help put it in perspective.

Thanks for indulging my curiosity, have heard of it believe it or not.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#69

Post by kafkaesq »

HSO wrote: post #33

This is obviously painful for the family and the fans, and I hope my words are not taken in the wrong way. But I really wish Americans (and yes, I think it's mostly Americans who have this tendency) would choose their words more carefully. If I am not mistaken, we are talking about a disease . What makes the analogy to "terrorism" apt here? For a while, everything seemed to be a "war" ("war on drugs", "war on crime",…

I think her intent was simply to invoke empathy for what happened to her husband (to try to put us in his shoes). It wasn't meant as any kind of a broader social or political metaphor.

Re: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

#70

Post by th0vvavvay »

mkalv wrote: post #63
th0vvavvay wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experience mild hallucinations when stressed out or drunk. Lack of sleep is another trigger. I haven't had it diagnosed but I suspect HPPD, stemming from some badly times mushrooms trips a couple of years ago. I find it mostly ignorable thankfully. I was aware of the hallucinations for one year before I told anyone about it. Have only talked with one friend about it a couple of times. It is a difficult subject, and…

If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by mild?

That they are usually just predictable visual "enhancements" like trailing images, pulsating or undulating motion, or shifting colors. I see these as mild compared to something like intrusive movement in the peripheral vision, or hallucinations that react to the external world.
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