(My upcoming paper)
Although diseases like Schizophrenia can be a hugely debilitating mental disorder, which has been proved to have a genetic basis, it has been present in the human race for a long time and instead of slowly dying out, as would be expected of a disease with a genetic basis, it is still believed to be growing at a remarkably fast rate, currently affecting roughly 1% of the worlds population.
'Schizotypy' is an embryonic form of Schizophrenia, in which the affected person possesses some of the symptoms of the Schizophrenic Spectrum, like a tendency to non conformity and unusual experiences, they do not display certain other traits like introversion, affective disorders, an inability to find pleasure in everyday situations, or avolition. As a result of this they lead fairly normal lives, although they share some mental tendencies with Schizophrenic personalities. Recent studies by have found that these individuals have a tendency to greater creativity, which in turn has been shown to lead to greater mating success. This would explain why we continue to have Schizophrenia in society, because a milder variant, which could then occur amongst close relatives of affected individuals, will lead to greater mating success.
Other articles:Schizotypy, creativity and mating success in humans - Daniel Nettle, Helen Clegg (Full article, PDF)
The creative process: A phenomenological and psychometric investigation of artistic creativity - Christopher Barnaby Nelson (Full article PDF)
Creativity and mental illness: Prevalence rates in writers and their first degree relatives - Nancy C Andreasen (Full article PDF)
Natural selection and schizophrenia - Roger J Sullivan, John S Allen (Abstract)
Pic: Syd Barrett
There is a simple reason that schizophrenia continues to "run in families" even though the disease could not be genetically transmitted because the onset in adolescence prevents most marriages.
ReplyDeleteWhat is being genetically transmitted are increased physical abilities and behavioral qualities. Examples are the tendency to hold back and watch rather than participate, and the propensity to daydream. Both of these have been correlated to schizophrenia. They both increase the likelihood of exposure from Subliminal Distraction.
Studies at the University of Georgia by Dr. L Stephen Miller found a genetic defect in the M-Channel for vision in Schizophrenics and their close disease free relatives.
The information from peripheral vision to trigger a startle and vision reflex would be transmitted by the M-Channel.
Although information about Subliminal Distraction has been used to prevent mental breaks in business offices since 1968, there is absolutely no knowledge of it in the medical or mental health field.
Visit VisionAndPsychosis.Net and perform the psychology of habituation in peripheral vision and then read the Everquest Connection. Other pages connect Qi Gong and Kundalini Yoga to the phenomenon. They show outcomes of exposure from Subliminal Distraction.