The Insanity Virus

[gwyn]

I've been waiting for months for Discover magazine to put up this fantastic, utterly fascinating article on a possibly viral connection to schizophrenia (and maybe some other illnesses such as MS), and they have finally posted The Insanity Virus online.

If this pans out, it could be one of the most groundbreaking mental health developments ever. In the same magazine a few months before, they posted a long interview with the guy who discovered that almost all cases of stomach ulcers were in fact caused by a bacteria, not stress or spicy food, and the incredibly difficult battle he had convincing people of the viability of his research. I'm really curious to see where this virus thing for schizophrenia goes, and if it will have a similar resolution.

I'm sort of a ... geek about this topic, I guess, because I wanted to work with autistic children and schizophrenics when I was younger; that was my goal when I went to college, but I quickly learned I would never be a good scientist. But I've never stopped being incredibly interested in the topic; I watched the HBO movie Temple Grandin tonight, in fact, and was reminded that in the '60s, they called autism "infantile schizophrenia" and of course that was when they still blamed it on "refrigerator mothers." We've come a long way, but if there's a virus connection, that could change everything we think we know.

And even more than that, I'm watching it because of the MS connection -- the Northwest, where I live, has the highest incidence of MS anywhere, and an awful lot could be done if we can find out more about it. I was a caretaker for a woman with very advanced MS once, and it was devastating to watch; to have something we could hold on to, identify and deal with... it would make such a huge difference.

BTW, if you haven't seen Temple Grandin, I highly, highly recommend it. Claire Danes is stunning, and it moved me to tears a number of times -- including one part where she's explaining her humane slaughter ideas, where I very nearly sobbed. I've followed her career since she pretty much became known, and they did a magnificent job of translating her books and explanations of how autistic people think into an easily relatable film for people who aren't familiar with the issue. Incredible movie.

I owe a dear yuletide author letter soon, but I'm still having a funk about the whole thing since Charlie Jade the character was deleted from the Charlie Jade the fandom nomination form. It's going to take me a few days to get over my snit. I watched the first two eps with belmanoir the other night, and it made me feel intensely fannish for it again, and it was hard to lose that -- it's left me feeling really uninterested in participating. I'm going to have to snap out of it soon though. And man, watching CJ on the plasma... I have no idea why the hell it's taken me so long to rewatch it on the plasma hi-def, but wow, wow, wow.

Comments

[klia]

a possibly viral connection to schizophrenia

If that's true -- wow. And it would make sense, too.

Back when I was a kid, a family friend was an oncology nurse who worked in a hospice, and she was sure scientists would eventually figure out that cancer was caused by a virus, because who contracted it seemed so random to her. And, sure enough, in the past decade, maybe, researchers have discovered links. And it's been discovered that feline leukemia is caused by a virus, too.

I'm still having a funk about the whole thing since Charlie Jade the character was deleted from the Charlie Jade the fandom nomination form.

Wait... WHAT?! How did that happen? No way are there too many Charlie (or any other) stories in that fandom! Have you tried contacting the mods and asking that he be added back?

[gwyn]

Viruses would make so much sense for so many things. That there are triggers for the genetics, and more of them in modern times, would just seem like one of those "of course!" things. I really am interested in this story.

I wish I understood how Charlie was removed. I don't get the whole process at all, but I know for a fact he was in there before -- for one thing, I put him in two years ago, and he has been there each year because I've picked him. But this year, they made the forms different with these autofill tags, and so that sounds to me like some individual actually removed him manually. I mean, wtf? If you're unfamiliar with a fandom and you take out the title character because his name's on the title, you're fucking with someone's fandom, and that is not cool. It'd be like taking Harry Potter out because his name is already there in the title or something. It makes me so, so angry. That was my most-wanted fandom, and my only wanted character. ANd as you say, it's not like there are any stories out there for it.

[klia]

I don't participate in Yuletide, but I didn't think each individual character in each fandom had to be re-nominated every year, or anything like that. So it seems to me like it could've been a mistake, because it's just... really weird. If it were me, I'd email the mods privately and ask if there's any way he could be added back.

[gwyn]

Nope, they won't.

Which is partly my frustration and why it makes me less thrilled to participate -- even when something goes wrong, they won't fix those things after nominations because then everything gets borked in the system. But it's too late, and then you're screwed even when you did everything right in the nom process.

[klia]

Ugh. I'm sorry, that sucks.

Vit D

[talking_sock]

There was also an article recently on the relationship b/w vit D deficiency in pregnancy and schizophrenia in the kids later. Based on unusually high frequencies in dark countries/areas....

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

I loved Temple Grandin. They did an excellent job with it, and Claire Danes was spectacular.

Why did they delete Charlie Jade from the nomination form? I don't understand how Yuletide works, I think. Heh.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I know, I am so angry about Charlie I can't stand it. I don't understand the process at all, but they have gone to this autofill tag system instead of drop downs, and even though he was on the nomination form (I made sure of that), someone at some point took him out. I mean, if you don't know the fandom and you think "oh, his name's already there in the title," wtf is wrong with you that you'd do that without finding out? I get that people are volunteers, but that's just shitty -- you might as well take Harry Potter out because he's already listed in the title.

I really don't feel like participating, but I'm going to try to give it my best shot. I just have to stop being angry (and it's, I think, more angering because there's no one to talk to about it, and nothing to be done, and I have no idea what that means for next year).

[kirbyfest.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link to the article. Fascinating. I hope this leads to new, more effective treatments.

And sorry about Charlie. :(

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the sorry -- it helps to know that people feel bad for me. I know how small that sounds, indeed. I just have to get my shit together and remind myself that even if I can't ask for my most wanted fandom, it'll be okay.

I really do hope that this will lead to huge breakthroughs for so many things -- when they discovered the ulcer bacteria, it really shook things up, and this could be even more important if it pans out.

[thaccian.livejournal.com]

I subscribe to Discover (love it) and recall the article you mention. Good to hear that it has made its way to the online version because it really provides some very interesting new ways to think about several illnesses.

Thanks for the link