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    Friday the Thirteenth - AND a full moon!

    Feather

    Feather

    • Post n°26

    Friday the Thirteenth - AND a full moon! - Page 2 Empty Re: Friday the Thirteenth - AND a full moon!

    Post by Feather Wed 18 Jun 2014, 09:36

    I've just had a thought--unusual, I know. What about the condition called OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
    Does it have its roots in superstition? Why should a sufferer feel safe, fulfilled, when he/she has performed a task eg 10 times instead of the normal once? His brain is telling him that, if he doesn't do it 10 times, something bad will happen.There is no logic in this and yet OCD is an extremely difficult condition to overcome. Like superstition, it feeds off fear. What causes it? Is it an inherited tendency? There are different manifestations of it, some hardly noticeable but some even life changing. I haven't looked up any definitions of it. These are just my thoughts and questions. Is it a manifestation of superstition or something else?
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    Kitkat
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    • Post n°27

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    Post by Kitkat Wed 18 Jun 2014, 12:04

    Feather wrote:I've just had a thought--unusual, I know. What about the condition called OCD,  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
    Does it have its roots in superstition? Why should a sufferer feel safe, fulfilled, when he/she has performed a task eg 10 times instead of the normal once? His brain is telling him that, if he doesn't do it 10 times, something bad will happen.There is no logic in this and yet OCD is an extremely difficult condition to overcome. Like superstition, it feeds off fear. What causes it? Is it an inherited tendency? There are different manifestations of it, some hardly noticeable but some even life changing. I haven't looked up any definitions of it. These are just my thoughts and questions. Is it a manifestation of superstition or something else?

    Nah, superstition "fears" tend to be learned, OCD "fears" are perceived.

    The first are usually relatively harmless; the second can be crippling...


    Either way, scientists can't agree:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/disorders/causesofocd.shtml

    The community of scientists studying obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been split into two factions by a bitter feud over the exact cause of the illness. On one side is a group who believe that obsessive-compulsive behaviour is a psychological disorder.

    On the other side are scientists who believe that obsessive-compulsive behaviour is caused by abnormalities in the brain.
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    Feather
    Feather
    Feather

    Location : Scotland
    • Post n°28

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    Post by Feather Wed 18 Jun 2014, 13:09

    But aren't psychological problems caused by the brain as well? I don't see the distinction here.
    OCD's range is very wide, from hardly noticeable to life changing. The cause is fear and anxiety.
    This can be inherited. Its effects can sometimes be lessened but often can't be cured.

    I think people can choose to be superstitious or not but OCD sufferers don't make the choice .
    Their tendency to suffer from it is ingrained in them as a result of their ancestry. Psychological
    problems can also be inherited as well as being the result of trauma earlier in life.
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    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop

    • Post n°29

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    Post by Umberto Cocopop Wed 18 Jun 2014, 15:31

    OCD and superstition look superficially similar but they're not related.

    When people with OCD are tested for superstitious thinking and behaviours using standardized tests, they show no more tendency towards superstition that anyone else.

    In superstition there's something called "negative magic" or "taboo" which is the idea that bad things can be prevented from happening by the performance of some, usually ritualistic, behaviour. A common cultural example is "touch wood".

    This idea that a ritualistic behaviour can prevent something bad from happening seems to be incredibly similar to the purpose of ritualistic behaviours in people with OCD. But, it turns out that the root cause of OCD is not superstition.

    Yes, it surprised me too! I'm not sure what the cause of OCD is, but it doesn't seem to be an extreme form of superstitious thinking.
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    Feather
    Feather
    Feather

    Location : Scotland
    • Post n°30

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    Post by Feather Wed 18 Jun 2014, 16:13

    Surely the thinking that dictates what an OCD sufferer does to feel safe is at least linked to superstition in that the sufferer thinks that by performing certain rituals, he will avoid bad things. He performs the ritual as a safeguard whereas in reality there is no connection between the two. Whether something nasty happens--or doesn't happen-- to a person has nothing to do with his rituals.Is that not a form of superstition?
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    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop
    Umberto Cocopop

    • Post n°31

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    Post by Umberto Cocopop Wed 18 Jun 2014, 18:27

    I think that the "taboo" rituals that those with OCD engage in could well be described as being classic superstition, but what seems to be the case is that OCD is not a case of "superstition gone mad". It doesn't seem to arise because of superstitious thinking. And besides the OCD behaviours, those with OCD are no more superstitious than anyone else.

    OCD isn't a form of superstition nor is it caused by superstition even if the resulting behaviours are superstitious in nature.

    I think that's the overall case although I don't know enough about OCD to say what it actually is.
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    Feather
    Feather
    Feather

    Location : Scotland
    • Post n°32

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    Post by Feather Wed 18 Jun 2014, 22:10

    I agree. I think OCD takes over a person when their anxieties get too much for them but it doesn't happen to everyone either so we can't say that the cause of OCD is anxiety. Many people feel anxiety but they don't all have OCD. It's likely that it's a brain malfunction due to an imbalance of chemicals. After all, OCD and clinical depression are linked. Some people suffer from anxiety, nerves, fear--call it what you will--far more than others. That's the hereditary factor---or it may result from traumatic experiences.
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    Kitkat
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    • Post n°33

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    Post by Kitkat Thu 19 Jun 2014, 01:05

    I have a friend who shows signs of many of the issues (symptoms?) associated with OCD - has done for many years now. She is definitely not a superstitious person, in any way. Superstition has nothing whatsoever to do with it - in her case anyway.
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    Kitkat
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    • Post n°34

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    Post by Kitkat Sun 08 Jan 2017, 22:07

    Oh no!  I've just realised ...  the 13th of this month falls on a Friday.  scared   (January 13th 2017).  wary

    Friday the Thirteenth - AND a full moon! - Page 2 Friday-13th-ColorResized
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    Whiskers
    Whiskers
    Whiskers

    • Post n°35

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    Post by Whiskers Mon 09 Jan 2017, 16:07

    Lots of people won't even leave their house to go to work on Friday 13th, just stay at home and not even get out of bed!  For some, even that turns out to be unlucky.

    Even staying in bed couldn't help this man

    Friday 13th August, 1976, was particularly unlucky for New York man Daz Baxter.

    Having elected to stay in bed to ward off bad luck, the floor of his apartment block collapsed and he fell six storeys to his death.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/friday-13th-arrives-13-tales-6818913

    I dont know how accurate this story is, but I have heard it before -
    Retired bus conductor Bob Renphrey of North Wales decided to spend every Friday 13th in bed after a run of bad luck on the fateful day.

    Among other misfortunes he wrote off four cars, got made redundant, fell into a river, crashed a motorcycle and walked through a plate glass door.

    Can't blame him, really.

    ...and it didn't stop when he died

    When Bob died of cancer in 1998, his widow Betty – who on previous Friday 13ths had fallen downstairs, been hit by falling guttering and been hospitalised after Bob hit her in the face with a stick he was throwing to a dog - decided to book his funeral for Friday 13th March as a final tribute

    Alas, all Rhyl’s undertakers were too busy.

    “Bob would have seen the funny side,” said Mrs Renphrey.

    And there's an official word for it - paraskevidekatriaphobia means fear of Friday the 13th! (in case you didnt already know). sidestep
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    Stardust
    Stardust
    Stardust

    Location : City of Light
    • Post n°36

    Friday the Thirteenth - AND a full moon! - Page 2 Empty Triskaidekaphobia

    Post by Stardust Mon 09 Jan 2017, 20:52

    Some people consider that 13th is lucky especially if it's on a Friday.
    That's why there are special lotteries held on Friday 13th.

    Fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia !
    So that's two new words learnt with Whiskers' above.

    Hey, Whiskers, congratulations on being the Kat that got the cream! bravo
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