11 replies to this topic

[KomissarBojantchev]

For now none of these are fully curable and many of them are highly detrimental to society. When do you think, and  what medical advancements will be needed to cure them?

 

If cures are found then   criminals  diagnosed with them would probably enter  mental institutions and get lighter sentences since it wasn't entirely their conscious fault for their crimes.

 

I also hope cure is found ASAP since I'm a sufferer of asperger's syndrome :/

[FutureOfToday]

Out of that list, I recall hearing most about curing schizophrenia.

[Lily]

From the list above, I definitely think phobias will be the first to go and the easiest to treat. You can treat (many) phobias successfully now.

Fear is actually a leftover from primordial times where fear and its consequent reactions were designed to save your ass. You can train your brain to lessen the impact phobias have on your everday life. Not all phobias require treatment, and some fears are definitely still called for today.

 

The rest might be much more tricky. I don't have any substantial knowledge on this topic, so I'm going to drop out now.

[Futurist]

I guess phobias will be the first one and pedophilia will be the last one (since it might very well need large modifications in the brain for this to be done, perhaps sort of like with changing one's sexuality and/or gender identity).

 

I don't necessarily view necrophilia as a mental disease, though.

[Logically Irrational]

It depends on how complex the causes are. If it's a genetically-determined physical disorder in the brain, it will hopefully only be a couple of decades. But if it results from genetics but is specific to some degree for each person, its going to be a lot more difficult. I agree that phobias are probably the likeliest to be cured right now, whatever form that cure may take. Already, psychiatric treatments can do a lot for people suffering from phobias.

[Casey]

So what's all this about phobias being amongst the first (if not the first) disorders to be cured? I have to say, nature would be a hell of a lot easier to enjoy without my arachnophobia.

[KomissarBojantchev]

What about pedophilia? Is it also a genetic disorder? If not what would be the techniques to cure it?

[Futurist]

What about pedophilia? Is it also a genetic disorder? If not what would be the techniques to cure it?

Pedophilia is certainly a mental disease/disorder. As for curing pedophilia, as I said before, curing it "might very well need large modifications in the brain for this to be done, perhaps sort of like with changing one's sexuality and/or gender identity."

[TheComrade]

Offtopic:

 

Pedophilia (according to its definition in modern law) is a complete nonsence. There is actually nothing mentally abnormal if, say, 30-40 year-old man feels attracted to 15-16 year-old girl, already reached puberty. In my country, there were even crazy cases of 19 year-old boy persecuted for having sex with his own 16-17 year-old girlfriend.

[Lily]

^ Isn't it about people feeling attraction towards prepubescent children? That's the crux of the matter, they like children, not teenage girls/boys who have already developed a much more mature female/male outer appearance.

 

The other thing you mentioned is about defending the younger one's rights and vulnerability. I stated somewhere before - in almost all cases, the older one can take control and manipulate the younger person affected because they have more power (physical and/or financial, social etc.).

You last example is about the age of consent and is different in every country. The major reason for this is to protect minors from being abused. You might argue that a sixteen-year old knows what he or she is doing, but this is doubtful. We're talking about an age where most young people are trying to find their own identity and place in the world. Insecure, sometimes unpredictable, their behaviour and decisions can't be compared to a thirty-year old's.

 

Paedophilia is when this attraction toward younger people is taken to its extreme. If a 30 year old person, male or female alike, wants to pursue sexual relations with, say, a 7-year old child, that is just wrong. The seven-year old wouldn't be able to do anything to prevent it from happening, neither in terms of physical force nor psychologically. Isn't it the case that victims of sexual abuse are blackmailed into keeping the whole matter quiet? Imagine what it is like for a child if it is told that it's a very very bad person if it tells uncle Jim's/aunt Jenny's little secret? Exactly.

 

Sexual abuse scars people for life. That is to be prevented, and therefore, certain laws have been made. One can argue where to draw the line, but some things, in my opinion, aren't up for debate.

 

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@Casey: Have you tried behavioural therapy? I mean something where you would be confronted with your phobia and slowly re-train your bain to 'accept' spiders without a too extreme reaction. I heard it helps.

[TheComrade]

The other thing you mentioned is about defending the younger one's rights and vulnerability. I stated somewhere before - in almost all cases, the older one can take control and manipulate the younger person affected because they have more power (physical and/or financial, social etc.).

 

Yes, of course... i only said here is nothing mentally abnormal (in case of 40 y.o. man vs 16 y.o. girl)

 

As for the age of consent, in Russia it's 16 and 18 years old. This sometimes lead to absurd situations:

- Boy [font="tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"](under 18) [/font]and girl (under 16) having sex - OK, no problem

- Boy reached 18 while his girlfriend still under 16 - may be considered as paedophilia

- Girlfriend finally reached 16 - no problem again

[Alric]

A couple of years ago I took an introduction course for psychology, and the teacher told everyone that there was no point in studying psychology unless you wanted to study it for fun to appreciate history. In his professional opinion, he thought all those would be cured in 10-20 years and that there was no future in the field.