CaptnHook-
Hmmmmmm I think you would agree that it is possible for a person that was formerly moral and righteous to become corrupt and degenerate and vica versa. As you stated before—the former transformation is a result of mental illness but the latter is perhaps a changing of perspective on life i.e., finding God or spiritual enlightenment is not a result of mental illness although some hardcore atheist might argue that it is. :chuckle: We both agree that pedophiles are sick bastards and thus mentally ill… then why cant we agree that healthy people can become sick and are not necessarily born that way, therefore I submit to you that a priest can become a pedophile if he was not already one to begin with. This does not mean that this is the manner in which a priest necessarily becomes a pedophile since it is possible that he was one already before the priesthood but it certainly a way that is not outside the scope of possibilities.
Thanatos:
The “”death instinct”” which signals a desire to give up the struggle of life
Eros:
The “”life instinct”” sourcing from the libido, which stands for creativity and the sexual and life
Frustration:
Prevention of the satisfaction of instinctual impulse which leads to the damming up of libido
Somewhere between Thanatos and Eros—there can exist illness whether it be physiological or mental. Surpressing- the “Life Instinct” leads to fustration— lets consider the sexual and creativity for a moment. Creativity sometimes sits on the edge of what some would consider to be insanity…Some of your greatest geniuses were somewhat reclusive and borderline schizos.
Therefore, at best, creativity can lead to genius inventions and at its worst it can lead to a warped mind—combine that with sexuality aspect as defined above and you can see how it could have negative sexual psychological consequences that can possibly result in mental illness. If one can have the Thenatos “the death instinct” and give up the struggle for life then I think it is not unreasonable that through mental illness one can give up to give up the struggle for morality. The raping of children is an unthinkable and evil act for those of us that have any conscious and healthy sense of morality but what if sexual suppression gone haywire leads to mental illness in some individuals? You must consider that and not rule it out.
A cut and paste from the Internet, the full article can be viewed here:
Freud began to see that the causes of deviant (or neurotic (hysterical)) behaviour in his patients were the product of mental activity in the unconscious. This was divided into two parts: The preconscious (which contained all the memories and ideas capable of becoming conscious) and the unconscious (which are made up of destructive desires and wishes (and often sexual in nature)). These unconscious wishes are driven by the Pleasure Principle which are tamed by the Reality Principle. An example of how this works can be seen in the natural feeling of hunger. If the basic desire for food occupied one’s mind all the time (Pleasure Principle) then one would not be capable of thinking about ways to get it. So the Reality Principle allows a person to forget food long enough to find ways of getting some. As far as Freud is concerned all thought is a compromise between these preconscious and unconscious aspects of human cognition. In terms of sex Freud believed everyone was born with a basic desire called the ‘Libido’. When an infant is born this libido is reversed such that it gains pleasure from being stimulated in any part of its body. Developing the libido so that it can relate coherently and responsibly to persons and situations outside of the individual requires experience but Freud believed that in this ‘turning’ things can, and often do, go wrong and that it is from here that neurosis can develop (and be traced back to).
As far as gains are concerned I am still on plateau of sorts but working on some shock routines to try and break out of it but I have not lost any gains—-whewwwwwwwww! :p Thanks for asking CaptnHook. I like all your postings and you are a welcome addition to Thunders and we need more people like you that can inject some life into the threads.