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%MENTAL DISEASE AS STRATEGY 791028
A person may in a sick way use sickness to get
attention. A person who is starved for affection may
become sick to gain affection, if no other strategy seems
to work. If a certain kind of sickness brings attention
and affection then the sick person may be confirmed in the
sickness, and attending to it may turn into a prolonged
sickness which will last as long as the attention.
Efforts to help the sick person get over such a sickness
may prove tragically counter-productive. Such efforts may
occasion unjust sacrifices on the part of those who seek
to be helpful. To permit the sick person to make unjust
demands upon the time and energy of friends is to run the
risk of promoting the sickness. To be indifferent to the
pleas for attention---is to run the risk of becoming
inhuman through insensitivity. In either instance the
respondents may become sick through the way they respond.
To maintain balance which avoids going to either extreme
is essential, but difficult in the extreme.
The way in which we respond to sickness depends upon
our theory of the nature of sickness. Is it punishment
for failing to conform to human or divine expectations?
Is sickness the result of microorganisms which invade the
body? Is sickness the result of chemical malfunctions or
imbalances? Is the sickness of an individual person a
symptom of perverted social inter-relationships which
involve that individual? Is sickness related to the
body's efforts to restore balance when life has gotten out
of balance? Is the sick person a victim of a power over
which the person has no control, or is the sick person
using the sickness to achieve a personal goal? How each
of us responds to a sick person is indicative of how each
of us might respond to such questions. Through our
thoughts and actions we indirectly answer such questions.
Any pattern of behavior which affirms one answer to
any question like the above---is likely to be alienative
if it thereby denies value in complementary affirmations
and behavior patterns. No exclusive theory of sickness is
likely to promote reconciliation which is the ground for
genuine health. Alienation is a common feature of all
forms of sickness; and reconciliation is a common feature
of all healing. Exclusivity is not healthy.
(c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in
www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty
(On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)
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