Creativity and Disease

***As always, with Hughes, I enjoyed the readings***

-It is extremely interesting that people with serious illnessess are prone to picking up the arts. I think it has something to do with the fact that the person feels thier life may end, so they let thier creativity shine while they still can.

-Also..the mention of Michel Foucault's Madness and Civilization, originally, Folie et déraison. Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique (I had to research him for a New Historicist project in my English class) was interesting, because Foucault actually died of AIDS related illness.

-I remember seeing Saturn Devouring One of His Children in my art history class...I looked at my notes, and it said this painting was depicting Saturn hearing that the only way he could die is if one of his sons killed him. He didn't want that, so he was paranoid and ends up eating his child to avoid the outcome...pretty weird stuff..very in depth...but a result of lead paint.

-Sensory deprivation is facinationg. Once you lose one of your senses, your other senses kick into high gear...this explains why blind muscians have an "ear" for music.

-When reading the section about TB and AIDS, i thought it was interesting that Hughes states, "TB was a wholesale killer for many generations(and is likely to become so again)" I THINK he means in overpopulated countries without enough medical care....or maybe he thinks we will have an outbreak of it again...am i wrong?

-Being that those with hypomania can function well on little sleep with little concentration, i wonder if people who are super stressed out become manic depressant...if(in a small or large way) they are mutually exclusive somehow.

-I have had migraines and I am not aware of having hallucinations and trancelike states before one...i will have to pay attention(though i hope to never have one again)

-Finally we come to alcohol..a staple of college students and businessmen alike...it is sad to know that it is so easy to get...we all know that in excess, it causes a lot of damage...I did not know that so many factors went into alcoholism...psychological, physiological, social, and genetic. Social..yes...psychological...yes I wasn't aware that people could be genetically predisposed to becoming an alcoholic....interesting stuff