"When Hearing Voices is a Good Thing"

I found this article to be extremely interesting as it takes a mental illness (that is thought to be purely bad for both the person and society) and sheds some light on why it's not always bad. Schizophrenia is the mental disorder that people often associate with being "crazy". People suffering from the disorder often experience some sort of hallucination, whether its visual, auditory, or olfactory.  In the article, it explains that many of the auditory hallucinations Americans experience are violent and hostile; but research shows that's not the case for those in collectivist cultures.  While the voices heard by Americans said things such as torturing people and cutting someone's head off, the Indians and Africans studied reported that their voices were friendly and even reminded them of their friends or family. They were able to talk to their voices as if they had a companion or friend with them. Just changing the way they perceived their voices altered what they said. So hearing voices isn't as bad as one would think.

"Can Loneliness kill you"

         Humans are an intellectual specie with complex cognitive and emotional capabilities and yet with such advantageous minds it seems as though it there are some repercussions. In the article "The Lethality of Loneliness," Judith Shulevitz delves into the serious dangers of true loneliness. Shulevitz discusses the earliest exploration of loneliness by psychoanalyst Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. The German therapist defined loneliness as "the want for intimacy." This strong feeling of rejection has real notable effects on a person's physical well-being showing that there is little dichotomy between the mind and body. Scientist have figured out that "...loneliness sends misleading hormonal signals, rejiggers the molecules on genes that govern behavior, and wrenches a slew of other systems out of wack." This can lead to other health-related complications and in some cases even death. But what's most interesting about loneliness is that it's more likely to affect a certain subgroup of the population. They are those who are often discriminated against, the poor, women and those who are retired or unemployed. When they are singled out they often feel the pain of rejection more which puts them at a more vulnerable biological position to combat illness. But loneliness can be caused by ones environment in combination with their genetics.The idea of nature needs nurture deems true when considering the development of loneliness.