Jerry and all others
Statistics may be able to prove anything,they did never proved the
relation between pre-morbid personality structure and PD. When I studieed
psychology the first and sometimes I fear, the only thing I learned about
"measuring" personality, were things like "people who wear spectacles are
always assessed as being more intelligent than people without spectacles
and people who are overweight as being more "social" as skinny people.
So I think a personality expert is the first to doubt the reality of the
pre-morbid personality structure. Theories about that are in the first
place not at all founded on outcomes of experimental psychology. My theory
( never experimantally proven. too ) about the cause of their existence is
that the personality-structure of some of the common physicians, does not
allow them to handle the fact that they do not have any answer on many
fundamental questions about their own home territrory and have to hide
this behind "deep insights"
Ida Kamphuis
At 19:18 29-3-98 -0600, you wrote:
>"With relative uniformity, PD patients are described as industrious,
>rigidly moral, stoic, serious and non impulsive."
>
>Twice this past week I've had to remind someone close to me about my
>"Parkinson's mask." Although I may be insanely happy, unless someone
>knows me what they see is a very serious face - stoic, rigid. The voice
>they hear is not the voice with which I speak.
>
>Given a test, most of us would not pick the answers that reflect an
>uninhibited lifestyle, not because we don't want to, but because we just
>
>flat out can't. I'm no longer the "life of the party." Once I would
>check yes to that question. Not anymore, because I know that people tend
>
>to wander away from conversations with me. I don't "look" like I'm
>having a good time or that I'm laughing at jokes so, when asked, I would
>
>have to say "not very much" about my level of social activity. I wonder
>if those researchers took this aspect of PD into consideration, or they
>just assumed that the PD face and the PD desire to stay home bears the
>true reflection of our personality. Humans, and other animals for that
>matter, take the physical clues of personality into consideration before
>
>we interact with others. The way we walk, hold our hands, the expression
>
>on our face, are all acting as a subconscious signal to others about our
>
>moods and that is reflected back when others interact with us.
>
>And if the analysis of their research were based on personality tests,
>which they claim, why would they assume that we have always had the same
>
>personality? There are "personality types" for smokers, drug users,
>Republicans, people who buy white bread, even for people who write to
>listservers. Statistics can prove anything. Ninety-nine percent of the
>people who develop PD drank milk when they were children. One hundred
>percent of us have inhaled fumes from motorcycles.
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Vriendelijke Groeten / Kind regards,
Ida Kamphuis mailto: [log in to unmask]
