Psychosis, Ordinary Thinking Not Distant Relatives
Mark Moran
Psychiatric News December 7, 2007 DOI: 10.1176/pn.42.23.0023 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | The abstract juxtaposes a widow hearing her dead spouse's voice, Gallup poll data on widespread belief in the devil, black magic, foretelling the future, and extrasensory perception, and a psychiatric patient's claim that sparrows urged him to destroy a neighbor's satellite dish, as heard by a nature-meditating nurse. No central argument is stated in the abstract. |
Abstract
A newly widowed woman wanders the rooms of her now empty home hearing the voice of her dead spouse. A Gallup poll reveals that a significant percentage of people believe in the devil, black magic, the ability to foretell the future, and extrasensory perception. A patient on a psychiatric ward confides that sparrows nesting on a neighbor's roof had urged him to destroy the neighbor's satellite dish since it was intruding on nature; the nurse who hears this revelation has spent the morning hiking in the woods and meditating on the importance of" communing" with the natural world.