Letters to Editor 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Koski L, Iacoboni M, Dubeau MC, Woods RP, Mazziotta JC. Modulation of cortical activity during different imitative behaviors. J Neurophysiol 2003;89:460‑71. Greyson B. Incidence and correlates of near‑death experiences in a cardiac care unit. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2003;25:269‑76. van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. Near‑death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: A prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet 2001;358:2039‑45. Stevenson I, Greyson B. Near‑death experiences. Relevance to the question of survival after death. JAMA 1979;242:265‑7. Kelly EW, Greyson B, Stevenson I. Can experiences near‑death furnish evidence of life after death? Omega 1999‑2000;40:513‑19.
Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.indianjpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.130516
Relevance of parapsychology in psychiatric practice: Response to Dr. R. C. Jiloha’s comments Sir,
Science cannot grow to reach from truth to larger truth if we stop exploring.
I have known Prof. Satwant Pasricha as a friend and as a learned mental health professional colleague, since long. Her work on para‑psychology from India is indeed laudable. I admire her in depth knowledge on the subject. However, I may not necessarily agree with her conclusions.
The control mechanism of inputs like “rebirth,” “reincarnation” is faith by which manipulated vision is directed away from verifiable truth.[3] Science cannot afford to enshrine fossilized divine knowledge.
I do not intend to enter into a lengthy argument on her letter written in response to my rejoinder.[1] This rejoinder was given for her article, “relevance of para‑psychology in psychiatric practice”[2] which appeared in your journal 3 years back.
Department of Psychiatry, Maulana Azad Medical College and GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India E‑mail: [email protected]
I only wish to submit that the readership is an enlightened lot and cannot get misguided by anyone’s comments. They know what is wrong and what is right. My plea is essentially to stress upon viewing the paranormal experiences in a scientific perspective. Near death experience (NDE), for example, is an experience which paranormal experts claim as an evidence of afterlife which has no scientific basis while many in scientific community label it as a hallucinatory experience. There is no denying the fact that NDE is purely a physiological state occurring within an oxygen starved brain, which a person with scientific background can well appreciate. Some people explain it on the basis of religious beliefs.
R. C. Jiloha
REFERENCES 1. Jiloha RC. Relevance of parapsychology in psychiatric practice: A rejoinder. Indian J Psychiatry 2012;54:297‑9. 2. Pasricha SK. Relevance of para‑psychology in psychiatric practice. Indian J Psychiatry 2011;53:4‑8. 3. Jiloha RC. Hanuman complex and its resolution: An illustration of psychotherapy from Indian mythology. Indian J Psychiatry 2004;46:275‑6.
Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.indianjpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.130517
Methodological considerations in studying psycho-social aspects of suicide Sir, I read carefully both the article by Kumar and George[1] and their response to a letter in the current issue of this journal which focuses on the psychosocial correlates of suicide. This important issue has been largely unexplored in Indian subcontinent. The study is well conceptualized and the 208
scales and questionnaires used are highly suitable for use in Indian population. However, I would still like to highlight few limitations of the study, which are as follows: 1. Universe of sample for controls is not adequately explained. 2. General Health Questionnaire-12[2] screens for current nonpsychotic illnesses only and not enough sensitive to Indian Journal of Psychiatry 56(2), Apr-Jun 2014
Letters to Editor
detect ongoing psychotic illness. Hence, the possibility of unidentified psychotic illness and unreliable response for scales and questionnaires among a number of individuals in the control group is not ruled out. Either obtaining a detail clinical history (medical and psychiatric) and mental state examination by mental health professionals or by using screening instrument like mini-international neuropsychiatric interview.[3] Would have served the purpose adequately. 3. Using these scales and questionnaire 1 week immediately after an attempted suicide increases the possibility of colored responses particularly in the Social Support Questionnaire, psychological, social relationship domain of WHO-QOL Bref scale,[4] hence leading to possible false low score among suicide attempters. The possibility of false score remains high among those with adjustment disorder, depression. 4. The possibility of unreliable responses among subjects with ongoing psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia in all the scales cannot be ruled out completely. 5. These scales could have picked up reliable responses if used among those suicide attempters currently in remission for any psychiatric illness. This could be ascertained by validated instruments with cut-off scores, mental state examination and also obtaining or confirming history from a defined key informant. 6. History of medical comorbidity among both groups, which might produce low score on WHO-QOL Bref, also has not been ruled out. 7. Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) coping
styles questionnaire[5] having 87 items has been wrongly quoted as “AECOM coping style scale” having 95 items.
Piyali Mandal, Sathya Prakash
Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi, India E‑mail: [email protected] REFERENCES 1.
Kumar PN, George B. Life events, social support, coping strategies, and quality of life in attempted suicide: A case-control study. Indian J Psychiatry 2013;55:46-51. 2. Goldberg D, Williams P. A User’s Guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER-Nelson; 1998. 3. Sheehan DV, Lecrubier Y, Sheehan KH, Amorim P, Janavs J, Weiller E, et al. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): The development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. J Clin Psychiatry 1998;59 Suppl 20:22-33. 4. Murphy B, Herrman H, Hawthorne G, Pinzone T, Evert H. Australian WHOQoL Instruments: User’s Manual and Interpretation Guide. Melbourne, Australia: Australian WHOQoL Field Study Centre; 2000. 5. Plutchick R, Conte HR. Measuring emotions and the derivatives of the emotions: Personality traits, ego defenses and coping styles. In: Wetzler S, Kats MN, editors. Contemporary Approaches to Psychological Assessment. New York: Brunner Maze; 1989. p. 239-69. Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.indianjpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.130518
A fresh look at homosexuality Sir, The recent Supreme Court Judgment criminalizing homosexuality, overruling the 2009 Judgment of the High Court, has been a shock to everyone. It has emotionally disturbed those with homosexual orientation and their families. Recently, two articles were published in IJP on homosexuality.[1,2] I am writing in response to the above, to have a fresh look on homosexuality.
homosexuality is a normal psychosexual development. A normal variant cannot be considered completely normal. It is, in fact, an aberration in the psychosexual development, caused by genetic and psychosocial factors for which the person is not responsible. There are research findings, which suggest that there are structural differences in the brains of people with homosexual orientation.
The official position of the medical and psychiatric classificatory systems on homosexuality is that it is a normal variant in the psychosexual development. This is a positive approach in the understanding of homosexuality. In the past, it was associated with sin and crime and hence those people with homosexual orientation were ostracized in society. With this new approach, they will have a healthy space in society.
Homosexuality is not normal statistically and biologically. Statistically, it is not normal since it forms a minority and skewed in the normal distribution. Every biological function has a physiological goal and purpose. Sexual activity has two goals. One is procreation to safeguard the continuation of the species. The second one is the experience of pleasure, which in fact, is to facilitate the sexual activity and to strengthen the bond between husband and wife. Homosexuality negates one of the goals of sexual activity procreation.
While welcoming and agreeing with a positive perception of homosexuality, it is difficult to accept the position that
Homosexuality has therefore, to be considered as an aberration in the psychosexual development caused by
Indian Journal of Psychiatry 56(2), Apr-Jun 2014
209
Copyright of Indian Journal of Psychiatry is the property of Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Koski L, Iacoboni M, Dubeau MC, Woods RP, Mazziotta JC. Modulation of cortical activity during different imitative behaviors. J Neurophysiol 2003;89:460‑71. Greyson B. Incidence and correlates of near‑death experiences in a cardiac care unit. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2003;25:269‑76. van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. Near‑death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: A prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet 2001;358:2039‑45. Stevenson I, Greyson B. Near‑death experiences. Relevance to the question of survival after death. JAMA 1979;242:265‑7. Kelly EW, Greyson B, Stevenson I. Can experiences near‑death furnish evidence of life after death? Omega 1999‑2000;40:513‑19.
Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.indianjpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.130516
Relevance of parapsychology in psychiatric practice: Response to Dr. R. C. Jiloha’s comments Sir,
Science cannot grow to reach from truth to larger truth if we stop exploring.
I have known Prof. Satwant Pasricha as a friend and as a learned mental health professional colleague, since long. Her work on para‑psychology from India is indeed laudable. I admire her in depth knowledge on the subject. However, I may not necessarily agree with her conclusions.
The control mechanism of inputs like “rebirth,” “reincarnation” is faith by which manipulated vision is directed away from verifiable truth.[3] Science cannot afford to enshrine fossilized divine knowledge.
I do not intend to enter into a lengthy argument on her letter written in response to my rejoinder.[1] This rejoinder was given for her article, “relevance of para‑psychology in psychiatric practice”[2] which appeared in your journal 3 years back.
Department of Psychiatry, Maulana Azad Medical College and GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India E‑mail: [email protected]
I only wish to submit that the readership is an enlightened lot and cannot get misguided by anyone’s comments. They know what is wrong and what is right. My plea is essentially to stress upon viewing the paranormal experiences in a scientific perspective. Near death experience (NDE), for example, is an experience which paranormal experts claim as an evidence of afterlife which has no scientific basis while many in scientific community label it as a hallucinatory experience. There is no denying the fact that NDE is purely a physiological state occurring within an oxygen starved brain, which a person with scientific background can well appreciate. Some people explain it on the basis of religious beliefs.
R. C. Jiloha
REFERENCES 1. Jiloha RC. Relevance of parapsychology in psychiatric practice: A rejoinder. Indian J Psychiatry 2012;54:297‑9. 2. Pasricha SK. Relevance of para‑psychology in psychiatric practice. Indian J Psychiatry 2011;53:4‑8. 3. Jiloha RC. Hanuman complex and its resolution: An illustration of psychotherapy from Indian mythology. Indian J Psychiatry 2004;46:275‑6.
Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.indianjpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.130517
Methodological considerations in studying psycho-social aspects of suicide Sir, I read carefully both the article by Kumar and George[1] and their response to a letter in the current issue of this journal which focuses on the psychosocial correlates of suicide. This important issue has been largely unexplored in Indian subcontinent. The study is well conceptualized and the 208
scales and questionnaires used are highly suitable for use in Indian population. However, I would still like to highlight few limitations of the study, which are as follows: 1. Universe of sample for controls is not adequately explained. 2. General Health Questionnaire-12[2] screens for current nonpsychotic illnesses only and not enough sensitive to Indian Journal of Psychiatry 56(2), Apr-Jun 2014
Letters to Editor
detect ongoing psychotic illness. Hence, the possibility of unidentified psychotic illness and unreliable response for scales and questionnaires among a number of individuals in the control group is not ruled out. Either obtaining a detail clinical history (medical and psychiatric) and mental state examination by mental health professionals or by using screening instrument like mini-international neuropsychiatric interview.[3] Would have served the purpose adequately. 3. Using these scales and questionnaire 1 week immediately after an attempted suicide increases the possibility of colored responses particularly in the Social Support Questionnaire, psychological, social relationship domain of WHO-QOL Bref scale,[4] hence leading to possible false low score among suicide attempters. The possibility of false score remains high among those with adjustment disorder, depression. 4. The possibility of unreliable responses among subjects with ongoing psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia in all the scales cannot be ruled out completely. 5. These scales could have picked up reliable responses if used among those suicide attempters currently in remission for any psychiatric illness. This could be ascertained by validated instruments with cut-off scores, mental state examination and also obtaining or confirming history from a defined key informant. 6. History of medical comorbidity among both groups, which might produce low score on WHO-QOL Bref, also has not been ruled out. 7. Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) coping
styles questionnaire[5] having 87 items has been wrongly quoted as “AECOM coping style scale” having 95 items.
Piyali Mandal, Sathya Prakash
Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi, India E‑mail: [email protected] REFERENCES 1.
Kumar PN, George B. Life events, social support, coping strategies, and quality of life in attempted suicide: A case-control study. Indian J Psychiatry 2013;55:46-51. 2. Goldberg D, Williams P. A User’s Guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER-Nelson; 1998. 3. Sheehan DV, Lecrubier Y, Sheehan KH, Amorim P, Janavs J, Weiller E, et al. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): The development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. J Clin Psychiatry 1998;59 Suppl 20:22-33. 4. Murphy B, Herrman H, Hawthorne G, Pinzone T, Evert H. Australian WHOQoL Instruments: User’s Manual and Interpretation Guide. Melbourne, Australia: Australian WHOQoL Field Study Centre; 2000. 5. Plutchick R, Conte HR. Measuring emotions and the derivatives of the emotions: Personality traits, ego defenses and coping styles. In: Wetzler S, Kats MN, editors. Contemporary Approaches to Psychological Assessment. New York: Brunner Maze; 1989. p. 239-69. Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.indianjpsychiatry.org
DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.130518
A fresh look at homosexuality Sir, The recent Supreme Court Judgment criminalizing homosexuality, overruling the 2009 Judgment of the High Court, has been a shock to everyone. It has emotionally disturbed those with homosexual orientation and their families. Recently, two articles were published in IJP on homosexuality.[1,2] I am writing in response to the above, to have a fresh look on homosexuality.
homosexuality is a normal psychosexual development. A normal variant cannot be considered completely normal. It is, in fact, an aberration in the psychosexual development, caused by genetic and psychosocial factors for which the person is not responsible. There are research findings, which suggest that there are structural differences in the brains of people with homosexual orientation.
The official position of the medical and psychiatric classificatory systems on homosexuality is that it is a normal variant in the psychosexual development. This is a positive approach in the understanding of homosexuality. In the past, it was associated with sin and crime and hence those people with homosexual orientation were ostracized in society. With this new approach, they will have a healthy space in society.
Homosexuality is not normal statistically and biologically. Statistically, it is not normal since it forms a minority and skewed in the normal distribution. Every biological function has a physiological goal and purpose. Sexual activity has two goals. One is procreation to safeguard the continuation of the species. The second one is the experience of pleasure, which in fact, is to facilitate the sexual activity and to strengthen the bond between husband and wife. Homosexuality negates one of the goals of sexual activity procreation.
While welcoming and agreeing with a positive perception of homosexuality, it is difficult to accept the position that
Homosexuality has therefore, to be considered as an aberration in the psychosexual development caused by
Indian Journal of Psychiatry 56(2), Apr-Jun 2014
209
Copyright of Indian Journal of Psychiatry is the property of Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
