scholarly journals A systemic explanation of denial of pregnancy fitting clinical observations and previous models

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Life Story ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Tension Response ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Intrapersonal Conflict ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Dual Character

Introduction: The etiology of denial of pregnancy remains poorly understood. Neither necessary nor sufficient conditions can be synthesized from the risk factors identified from psychological analyses. Furthermore, the involvement of mother-fetus interactions cannot result only from psychology causes in the mother. Although instructive, the few available evolutionary and systemic explanations proposed remain insufficient. This article synthesizes and extends previous knowledge within a systemic model which is fully compatible with clinical observations. Methods: A systemic intrapersonal conflict theory opposing primitive, evolutionary-inherited forces to psycho-sociological forces embodied across individual’s childhood is developed. Results: As members of a social species, human beings have a dual character of independent organisms and of social group members that is a source of customized intrapersonal conflicts. Authors explain denial of pregnancy as a standby-in-tension response to such an unresolved intrapersonal conflict between forand against-pregnancy forces. As long as the woman’s brain is unable to renounce one option in favor of the other, denial of pregnancy offers a standby-in-tension means to postpone conflict resolution. It may thus be considered as temporarily adaptive response. Conclusions: The proposed systemic psycho-evolutionary explanation of denial of pregnancy is fully consistent with clinical observations. It brings into agreement the previously reported models with the advantage of being more synthetic. It is thus compatible with a large diversity of causative events in accordance with the actual life story of each woman concerned. The systemic intrapersonal conflict approach developed herein provides a new means of investigating body-mind problems, especially pseudocyesis.

scholarly journals A systemic explanation of denial of pregnancy fitting clinical observations and previous models

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Life Story ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Tension Response ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Intrapersonal Conflict ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Dual Character

Introduction: The etiology of denial of pregnancy remains poorly understood. Neither necessary nor sufficient conditions can be synthesized from the risk factors identified from psychological analyses. Furthermore, the involvement of mother-fetus interactions cannot result only from psychology causes in the mother. Although instructive, the few available evolutionary and systemic explanations proposed remain insufficient. This article synthesizes and extends previous knowledge within a systemic model which is fully compatible with clinical observations. Methods: A systemic intrapersonal conflict theory opposing primitive, evolutionary-inherited forces to psycho-sociological forces embodied across individual’s childhood is developed. Results: As members of a social species, human beings have a dual character of independent organisms and of social group members that is a source of customized intrapersonal conflicts. Authors explain denial of pregnancy as a standby-in-tension response to such an unresolved intrapersonal conflict between forand against-pregnancy forces. As long as the woman’s brain is unable to renounce one option in favor of the other, denial of pregnancy offers a standby-in-tension means to postpone conflict resolution. It may thus be considered as temporarily adaptive response. Conclusions: The proposed systemic psycho-evolutionary explanation of denial of pregnancy is fully consistent with clinical observations. It brings into agreement the previously reported models with the advantage of being more synthetic. It is thus compatible with a large diversity of causative events in accordance with the actual life story of each woman concerned. The systemic intrapersonal conflict approach developed herein provides a new means of investigating body-mind problems, especially pseudocyesis.

scholarly journals To transmit genes without becoming mother: An evolutionary conflict behind denial of pregnancy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Women Health ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Evolutionary Conflict ◽  
Primitive Species ◽  
Pregnancy Denial

Aim: The etiology of pregnancy denial remains poorly understood. Neither necessary nor sufficient conditions can be synthesized from the risk factors identified from psychological analyses. In accordance with clinical observations, we aim to explain denial of pregnancy from an evolutionary conflict perspective. Methods: Authors investigate evolutionary biology aspects and emphasize on the transition from solitary animal species to social species. The possibility of conflicts between primitive species-perpetuation forces and subjective social-identity forces are explored. Results: As members of a social species, human beings have a dual, contradictory character of independent organisms but interdependent people. This results in evolutionary inherited conflicts that, with respect to women's reproduction, distinguish between primitive and social-identity issues: i) to transmit genes by giving birth and ii) to become mother. Authors explain denial of pregnancy as a standby-in-tension response to a conflicting attempt to transmit genes without becoming mother. It may thus be considered as temporarily adaptive response by postponing conflict resolution. This model, based on subjective internal appraisals, is compatible with a huge diversity of causative events as expected from the specificity of each woman's life course. Conclusions: The proposed etiology is consistent with clinical observations and brings prior models into agreement. From a clinical practice perspective, the ability to explain denial of pregnancy rationally may favor understanding and acceptation by concerned women. Health professionals' information may also be facilitated and psychotherapeutic follow up may gain in efficiency with reduced recidivism. More generally, this evolutionary conflict approach provides a supplementary perspective to explore psychosomatic dysfunctions.

scholarly journals To transmit genes without becoming mother: An evolutionary conflict behind denial of pregnancy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Women Health ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Evolutionary Conflict ◽  
Primitive Species ◽  
Pregnancy Denial

Aim: The etiology of pregnancy denial remains poorly understood. Neither necessary nor sufficient conditions can be synthesized from the risk factors identified from psychological analyses. In accordance with clinical observations, we aim to explain denial of pregnancy from an evolutionary conflict perspective. Methods: Authors investigate evolutionary biology aspects and emphasize on the transition from solitary animal species to social species. The possibility of conflicts between primitive species-perpetuation forces and subjective social-identity forces are explored. Results: As members of a social species, human beings have a dual, contradictory character of independent organisms but interdependent people. This results in evolutionary inherited conflicts that, with respect to women's reproduction, distinguish between primitive and social-identity issues: i) to transmit genes by giving birth and ii) to become mother. Authors explain denial of pregnancy as a standby-in-tension response to a conflicting attempt to transmit genes without becoming mother. It may thus be considered as temporarily adaptive response by postponing conflict resolution. This model, based on subjective internal appraisals, is compatible with a huge diversity of causative events as expected from the specificity of each woman's life course. Conclusions: The proposed etiology is consistent with clinical observations and brings prior models into agreement. From a clinical practice perspective, the ability to explain denial of pregnancy rationally may favor understanding and acceptation by concerned women. Health professionals' information may also be facilitated and psychotherapeutic follow up may gain in efficiency with reduced recidivism. More generally, this evolutionary conflict approach provides a supplementary perspective to explore psychosomatic dysfunctions.

scholarly journals Customization of psychosocial stress effects on human health: An intrapersonal conflict perspective

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Stress Perception ◽  
Stress Effects ◽  
Intrapersonal Conflict ◽  
Internal Forces ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Dual Character

From etiologic, clinical or public health perspectives, differences in psychosocial stress responses remain a huge scientific and medical challenge. We address the customization of psychosocial stress responses in humans by considering our dual character of independent organisms and interdependent social group members as a source of intrapersonal conflicts. By challenging our subjective representations on our social identity, psychosocial stress triggers or exhibits intrapersonal conflicts and may enhance divergence between physiologically-driven and psycho-sociologically-driven internal forces. In this perspective, our individual-specific brain development constitutes a major cause of interindividual variability since it impacts the overall stress-to-disease links. We propose a two-step stress-to-disease etiological chain: i) stress perception and appraisal and ii) response to actually perceived stress. We argue that the first step of stress perception and appraisal is more affected by interindividual variability than the second step of response to actually perceived stress. A psychocognitive approach correlating symptoms with actually perceived stress is proposed to address the epidemiology of psychosocial stress effects. The ability of this approach to reduce interindividual variability biases is discussed. From this perspective, pathological effects of psychosocial stress might be questioned as possible conflict responses internally emerging as the lesser evil, thus corresponding to adaptation attempts.

scholarly journals Customization of psychosocial stress effects on human health: An intrapersonal conflict perspective

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Stress Perception ◽  
Stress Effects ◽  
Intrapersonal Conflict ◽  
Internal Forces ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Dual Character

From etiologic, clinical or public health perspectives, differences in psychosocial stress responses remain a huge scientific and medical challenge. We address the customization of psychosocial stress responses in humans by considering our dual character of independent organisms and interdependent social group members as a source of intrapersonal conflicts. By challenging our subjective representations on our social identity, psychosocial stress triggers or exhibits intrapersonal conflicts and may enhance divergence between physiologically-driven and psycho-sociologically-driven internal forces. In this perspective, our individual-specific brain development constitutes a major cause of interindividual variability since it impacts the overall stress-to-disease links. We propose a two-step stress-to-disease etiological chain: i) stress perception and appraisal and ii) response to actually perceived stress. We argue that the first step of stress perception and appraisal is more affected by interindividual variability than the second step of response to actually perceived stress. A psychocognitive approach correlating symptoms with actually perceived stress is proposed to address the epidemiology of psychosocial stress effects. The ability of this approach to reduce interindividual variability biases is discussed. From this perspective, pathological effects of psychosocial stress might be questioned as possible conflict responses internally emerging as the lesser evil, thus corresponding to adaptation attempts.

Individual differences in response to sibling birth among free-ranging yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago

Behaviour ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (7) ◽  
pp. 899-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Maternal Aggression ◽  
Cayo Santiago ◽  
Focal Animal ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Free Ranging

AbstractThe birth of a younger sibling is a normal event in the life of a nonhuman primate, yet commonly it is thought to be a stressful transition for the older sibling. In our previous research, we found that yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) experienced increases in one mild form of distress but no significant increases in overt forms of distress, in spite of significant reductions in mother-yearling interaction. Nevertheless, some individual yearlings were distressed by this transition and here we examine variables that may structure individual differences in distress. We observed 31 yearling rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, during the month before and month after their siblings' births using focal animal sampling methods. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969), parent-offspring conflict theory (Trivers, 1974), and dynamic assessment models (Bateson, 1994) all predict a relationship between reduction in maternal care and increase in offspring distress, yet no previous study of sibling birth in primates has examined this relationship. We found that the reduction in the proportion of time on the nipple from the month before sibling birth to the month after was related to the rate of geckering (a distress vocalization) after sibling birth, and that the increase in time out of sight of the mother was related to the proportion of time yearlings spent in a tense state after sibling birth. Maternal aggression after sibling birth also was related to the yearlings' rate of geckering. Yearling distress was related to qualities of the mother-yearling relationship, in that yearlings that had relatively greater responsibility for maintaining proximity with their mothers before sibling birth were relatively more tense afterwards. Yearlings displayed increases in play, grooming, and contact with group members other than the mother after sibling birth, suggesting a marked shift toward greater maturity in their social relationships.

scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF ACUTE ALCOHOLISM ON THE NORMAL VITAL RESISTANCE OF RABBITS TO INFECTION

1896 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Vital Functions ◽  
Bacillus Coli ◽  
Resistance To Infection ◽  
Acute Alcoholism ◽  
Gastric Mucous ◽  
Macroscopic Examination

The deductions that may be drawn from the results of these experiments are as follows: That the normal vital resistance of rabbits to infection by streptococcus pyogenes (erysipelatos) is markedly diminished through the influence of alcohol when given daily to the stage of acute intoxication. That a similar, though by no means so conspicuous, diminution of resistance to infection and intoxication by the bacillus coli communis also occurs in rabbits subjected to the same influences. And that, while in alcoholized rabbits inoculated in various ways with staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, individual instances of lowered resistance are observed, still it is impossible to say from these experiments that in general a marked difference is noticed between alcoholized and non-alcoholized animals as regards infection by this particular organism. It is interesting to note that the results of inoculation of alcoholized rabbits with the erysipelas coccus correspond in a way with clinical observations on human beings addicted to the excessive use of alcohol when infected by this organism. In the course of the work an effort was made to determine if, through the oxidation of alcohol in the tissues to acids of the corresponding chemical group, the increase of susceptibility could be referred to a diminution in the alkalinity of the blood as a result of the presence of such acids. The number of experiments thus far made on this point is too small to justify dogmatic statements, but from what we have gathered there is but little evidence in support of this view. Throughout these experiments, with few exceptions, it will be seen that the alcoholized animals not only showed the effects of the inoculations earlier than did the non-alcoholized rabbits, but in the case of the streptococcus inoculations the lesions produced (formation of miliary abscesses) were much more pronounced than are those that usually follow inoculation with this organism. With regard to the predisposing influence of the alcohol, one is constrained to believe that it is in most cases the result of structural alterations consequent upon its direct action on the tissues, though in a number of the animals no such alteration could be made out by macroscopic examination. I am inclined, however, to the belief, in the light of the work of Berkley and of Friedenwald, done under the direction of Prof. Welch, in the Pathological Laboratory of the Johns Hopkina University, that a closer study of the tissues of these animals would have revealed in all of them structural changes of such a nature as to indicate disturbances of important vital functions of sufficient gravity to fully account for the loss of normal resistance. The conspicuous influence of the alcohol on the gastric mucous membrane in many of these animals, with the consequent disturbance of nutrition, is undoubtedly the explanation of the marked loss in body weight that was observed in many of the animals employed in these experiments. In this light the susceptibility induced by alcohol to excess is somewhat analogous to that induced by starvation, where we see the resistance of animals to particular forms of infection very markedly diminished.

Unfortunate Destiny

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiko Ohnuma
Keyword(s):  
Moral Agency ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Buddhist Literature ◽  
Buddhist Doctrine ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
Spiritual Potential ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Identity And Difference

This book focuses on the imagery and roles of nonhuman animals in premodern South Asian Buddhist literature. Part I examines the animal realm of rebirth in Buddhist doctrine and cosmology and shows that early Buddhist literature depicts the animal rebirth as a most “unfortunate destiny” (Skt. durgati), won through negative karma and characterized by violence, fear, suffering, and a lack of wisdom, moral agency, or spiritual potential. It also shows that although animals are capable of being reborn in heaven, the means by which this occurs are passive in nature, highly dependent upon the physical presence of a buddha, and categorically inferior to the spiritual cultivation unique to human beings alone. In contrast, Part II looks at the thinking, speaking, and highly anthropomorphized animals that populate many previous-life stories of the Buddha (jātakas). Not only do these animals exhibit wisdom and moral agency, they also use their powers of speech to condemn humanity for its moral shortcomings and expose humanity’s rampant abuse and exploitation of the animal world. Part III examines the roles played by major animal characters within the life-story of the Buddha, arguing that certain animal characters can be seen as “doubles” of the Buddha, illuminating the Buddha’s character through comparison with an animal “other.” Throughout the book, the author shows that humanity’s relationship to the animal is forever characterized by a simultaneous kinship and otherness, identity and difference, attraction and repulsion—and that discourse surrounding animals is primarily aimed at illuminating the nature of the human.

Experimental evidence that acorn woodpeckers recognize relationships among third parties no longer living together

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1257-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A Pardo ◽  
Eric L Walters ◽  
Walter D Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Living Together ◽  
Melanerpes Formicivorus ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Acorn Woodpeckers ◽  
Group Relationships

Abstract Triadic awareness, or knowledge of the relationships between others, is essential to navigating many complex social interactions. While some animals maintain relationships with former group members post-dispersal, recognizing cross-group relationships between others may be more cognitively challenging than simply recognizing relationships between members of a single group because there is typically much less opportunity to observe interactions between individuals that do not live together. We presented acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a highly social species, with playback stimuli consisting of a simulated chorus between two different individuals, a behavior that only occurs naturally between social affiliates. Subjects were expected to respond less rapidly if they perceived the callers as having an affiliative relationship. Females responded more rapidly to a pair of callers that never co-occurred in the same social group, and responded less rapidly to callers that were members of the same social group at the time of the experiment and to callers that last lived in the same group before the subject had hatched. This suggests that female acorn woodpeckers can infer the existence of relationships between conspecifics that live in separate groups by observing them interact after the conspecifics in question no longer live in the same group as each other. This study provides experimental evidence that nonhuman animals may recognize relationships between third parties that no longer live together and emphasizes the potential importance of social knowledge about distant social affiliates.

scholarly journals An Existential Anthropological Study of Selfhood, Uncertainty and Resilience Among Youth of Tando Ghulam Ali, Sindh

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (No 1) ◽  
pp. 95-113
Author(s):  
Ali Taqui Shah ◽  
Abdul Razaque Channa ◽  
Syed Faisal Hyder Shah
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Terra Incognita ◽  
Anthropological Study ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Life Story Interviews

This study combines three orientations, namely existential thought about the meaning of ‘being’ and ‘existence,’ phenomenological insights into ‘lived experience,’ and anthropological endeavor at what it means to be human. It attempts to focus on the human conditions by directly engaging with human beings. Specifically guiding itself with the questions such as how young people engage in the meaning-making of their lived experiences in their life course’s ever-changing process. Taking its theoretical insights and inspiration from existential and phenomenological anthropology, by zooming in on lived experiences, the research was conducted using life story interviews to collect the narratives to gain understandings into the life-worlds as it is lived and made sense of by young people of Tando Ghulam Ali, a rural town of District Badin, Sindh. Based on the ethnographic data and observations, it is argued that the meaning-making of lived experiences was different among research participants with a strong presence of selfhood and self-consciousness temporally and affectively; the difference in orientation towards life is entangled with personal history as well. This research went beyond the horizons of culture and society to put existence, life, and being, which are silhouetted at meta-level, at the heart of anthropological focus. This research is an experimental research project in anthropology, which has attempted to step its foot into the human condition's terra incognita, which calls for anthropologists’ further exploration.

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