On 16 Jun 2004 12:52:27 GMT, (Iris Cohen) wrote:

Archie has been posting crazy nonsense to this newsgroup for years. He is a
rather harmless kook and he makes an easy whipping boy because he is such a
misinformed delusional fool.

Because this is a science group, I would like to explain "Archie" to those who
are new here. (If you want my credentials, I am a retired psychiatric social
worker). As far as I can deduce, he is a schizophrenic. In schizophrenia, the
neurotransmitter dopamine (& possibly others of less importance) is not
distributed normally in the brain. There is too much of it in some areas, which
causes delusions & hallucinations. There is often not enough of it in other
areas, which causes depression and lack of motivation. Schizophrenics have
great difficulty processing information both from within themselves & from the
outside world. This leads to distorted impressions and poor social skills. We
generally only hear about those schizophrenics who develop violent behavior,
which is a small percentage. The majority are harmless, albeit functioning on
the fringes.
Newer methods of physical diagnosis, like PET scans, have determined that parts
of the brains of schizophrenics use too little oxygen. There have long been
medicines, starting with Thorazine, which control the excess dopamine, reducing
psychotic symptoms, but only recently we have developed medicines like Abilify,
which also increase dopamine in the weak areas. However, medication has to be
accompanied by social sructure, counseling, and case management for these
people to function normally. Of course I have no way of knowing, but I suspect
Archie does not have any good family supports, and lives alone. In this modern
day & age, some of these people, especially those who are educated, have found
their way to the Internet & live in their own little world, which is more
comfortable than trying to navigate reality.
I strongly suspect that Archie's contact with plants is very fragmented &
sporadic. I think his farm and orchard are figments of his imagination. He sees
this or that tree in a park or nursery & asks questions. He also probably
frequents the library & reads up on gardening & evolution. However, his
disorder prevents him from integrating this knowledge or connecting any dots,
so he is left with his questions.
There are probably thousands of such people. It is a sad waste of human
potential, but there is nothing we can do except ignore him when he gets too
silly. The only other thing we can do is to pressure our legislators to enforce
adequate medical insurance for mental health treatment, and adequate community
mental health services. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."


Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

All you say is quite so, but AP's correspondence suggests Asperger's
Syndrome much more strongly than schizophrenia to me. The delusions
that are the most characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia tend to be
bizarre or disturbing and disconnected from reality or reason, whereas
AP's are always founded on some partial understanding of a subject
reasoned doggedly to an absurd conclusion.

Carrying on about a subject (possibly for a few years, then carrying
on just as loquaciously about something else), while ignoring all the
social cues that cause "neurotypical" people to drop it and move on,
is suggestive of Asperger's. But of course no kind of mental disorder
can be diagnosed with any kind of assurance from writings alone.

You are quite right about the need for compassion and support of
mental health services.

--
Chris Green