535675 letter2014
ANP0010.1177/0004867414535675Australian & New Zealand Journal of PsychiatryPridmore
Letter Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2014, Vol. 48(12) 1170–1174
Letters
Herodotus on conversion disorder Saxby Pridmore University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia Corresponding author: Saxby Pridmore, Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7005, Australia Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.1177/0004867414535675
To the Editor Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian. His only known (extensive) work, The Histories, was completed c.420 BCE and focuses on the GraecoPrussian Wars. While he has critics, Herodotus was called “The Father of History” by Cicero, and has strong supporters (Burn, 1972). A recent translation (Holland, 2013, p 433) provides lines concerning the battle at Marathon, which may be of interest to scholars of conversion disorder:
‘I move therefore I am’: The anoetic ideomotor theory of autism Jenny Curran Centre for Disability Health, Education Centre, Modbury Hospital, Modbury, Australia Corresponding author: Jenny Curran, Centre for Disability Health, Education Centre, Modbury Hospital, Modbury, SA 5092, Australia. Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.1177/0004867414547055
To the Editor The emergence of the human capacities for self–other differentiation,
© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav anp.sagepub.com
An extraordinary thing happened at Marathon to one Athenian, a man called Epizelus, the son of Couphagoras, who had been fighting with great bravery in the very thick of the hand-to-hand combat when suddenly he lost the sight of his eyes. He had taken no wound, nor a blow to anywhere on his body; and yet from that moment on, to the very end of his days, he continued to be blind. I have heard a story that he used to tell to account for his affliction: that he had imagined himself confronted by a giant man in full armour, whose beard was so bushy that it shadowed his entire shield. This phantom brushed by Epizelus and killed the man standing next to him. Is this an account of conversion disorder? Sudden sensory loss in the absence of physical injury in a battle setting satisfies diagnostic criteria. The uncharacteristic features are the reports of the “phantom” and that the symptom remained throughout life (symptoms usually fluctuate or resolve). Herodotus was primarily concerned with the events of the battle. His account of the sudden
onset of blindness is doubtless more reliable than what may, or may not, have been said by or happened to the “patient” decades later. This society was different from ours, and cultural factors will have influenced the presentation and progress of symptoms. The battle was fought in 490 BCE; thus, this would appear to be a very early account of conversion disorder.
bodily self-awareness and the capacity to imitate are arguably developmental phenomena. Based primarily on clinical observations of patients with autism and intellectual disability over a 25-year period, I propose a novel theory of autism: the ‘anoetic ideomotor theory’. It states that many of the characteristic features of autism can be explained by impairments in early consciousness and specifically in the embodied sense of self. Anoetic consciousness is defined as ‘the rudimentary state of affective, homeostatic, and sensory-perceptual mental experiences’ (Vandekerckhove et al., 2014). It precedes knowledge-based consciousness (known as ‘noetic’ awareness) and is critical to the development of higher
forms of consciousness. In autism, I have observed that the embodied and psychological senses of self are in varying degrees poorly integrated and relatively undifferentiated. Impaired development of the anoetic, foundational awareness is proposed to arise from limitations in cortical processing of motor actions, particularly imitative behaviours. Paulus’ work in neurotypical infants demonstrates the fundamental importance of a functionally connected motor planning (ideomotor) system for social and emotional learning (Paulus, 2014). The theory differs from Ayres’ sensory integration theory in that the core impairment in the anoetic theory is the disordered development of a basic sense of self.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48(12)
Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of interest The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
References Burn A (1972) Herodotus: the histories. London: Penguin Classics. Holland T (2013) Herodotus: the histories. London: Penguin Classics.
ANP0010.1177/0004867414535675Australian & New Zealand Journal of PsychiatryPridmore
Letter Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2014, Vol. 48(12) 1170–1174
Letters
Herodotus on conversion disorder Saxby Pridmore University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia Corresponding author: Saxby Pridmore, Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7005, Australia Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.1177/0004867414535675
To the Editor Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian. His only known (extensive) work, The Histories, was completed c.420 BCE and focuses on the GraecoPrussian Wars. While he has critics, Herodotus was called “The Father of History” by Cicero, and has strong supporters (Burn, 1972). A recent translation (Holland, 2013, p 433) provides lines concerning the battle at Marathon, which may be of interest to scholars of conversion disorder:
‘I move therefore I am’: The anoetic ideomotor theory of autism Jenny Curran Centre for Disability Health, Education Centre, Modbury Hospital, Modbury, Australia Corresponding author: Jenny Curran, Centre for Disability Health, Education Centre, Modbury Hospital, Modbury, SA 5092, Australia. Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.1177/0004867414547055
To the Editor The emergence of the human capacities for self–other differentiation,
© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav anp.sagepub.com
An extraordinary thing happened at Marathon to one Athenian, a man called Epizelus, the son of Couphagoras, who had been fighting with great bravery in the very thick of the hand-to-hand combat when suddenly he lost the sight of his eyes. He had taken no wound, nor a blow to anywhere on his body; and yet from that moment on, to the very end of his days, he continued to be blind. I have heard a story that he used to tell to account for his affliction: that he had imagined himself confronted by a giant man in full armour, whose beard was so bushy that it shadowed his entire shield. This phantom brushed by Epizelus and killed the man standing next to him. Is this an account of conversion disorder? Sudden sensory loss in the absence of physical injury in a battle setting satisfies diagnostic criteria. The uncharacteristic features are the reports of the “phantom” and that the symptom remained throughout life (symptoms usually fluctuate or resolve). Herodotus was primarily concerned with the events of the battle. His account of the sudden
onset of blindness is doubtless more reliable than what may, or may not, have been said by or happened to the “patient” decades later. This society was different from ours, and cultural factors will have influenced the presentation and progress of symptoms. The battle was fought in 490 BCE; thus, this would appear to be a very early account of conversion disorder.
bodily self-awareness and the capacity to imitate are arguably developmental phenomena. Based primarily on clinical observations of patients with autism and intellectual disability over a 25-year period, I propose a novel theory of autism: the ‘anoetic ideomotor theory’. It states that many of the characteristic features of autism can be explained by impairments in early consciousness and specifically in the embodied sense of self. Anoetic consciousness is defined as ‘the rudimentary state of affective, homeostatic, and sensory-perceptual mental experiences’ (Vandekerckhove et al., 2014). It precedes knowledge-based consciousness (known as ‘noetic’ awareness) and is critical to the development of higher
forms of consciousness. In autism, I have observed that the embodied and psychological senses of self are in varying degrees poorly integrated and relatively undifferentiated. Impaired development of the anoetic, foundational awareness is proposed to arise from limitations in cortical processing of motor actions, particularly imitative behaviours. Paulus’ work in neurotypical infants demonstrates the fundamental importance of a functionally connected motor planning (ideomotor) system for social and emotional learning (Paulus, 2014). The theory differs from Ayres’ sensory integration theory in that the core impairment in the anoetic theory is the disordered development of a basic sense of self.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48(12)
Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of interest The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
References Burn A (1972) Herodotus: the histories. London: Penguin Classics. Holland T (2013) Herodotus: the histories. London: Penguin Classics.
