Posted by gary (209.187.113.8) on January 14, 2000 at 23:53:09:
In Reply to: So, the question is ... posted by Q on January 14, 2000 at 19:25:48:
who knows ?
this is all certainly far more art than science at this point
Personally, I don't think there is any carrot & stick dynamic going on - even subconsciously
the hypothalamus section involved in the apparent structural anomaly is involved in very very primitive responses - basically reactions to presented stimuli (internal & external)
seems that the idea of us being stimulated to the pain attack as a mechanism to produce a pleasurable sensation (though a VERY ingenious theory - which may still be usable in developing a tewchnique of cognitive relief during the attack) would be a much higher-function rational process -
it would require some sort of standing precognition of a secondary (or tertiary) effect, but require that precognition to functiona as a autonomic stimulus of very basic primitive processes
another thing I try to do with any of these "pieces", is see if they fit into the big puzzle taking shape on the table -
it's OK if they don't have a place yet - - they can be set aside until progress is made far enough to either fit them in or rule them out
but they can't be mutually exclusive with pieces we have already established -
one very well established thing that seems totally mutually exclusive is the seasonality of the whole cluster occurrence
there doesn't seem to be much question anymore - ther IS a 24/7 "illness" of some sort that activates periodically for long durations, and the attacks are contained symptoms of that larger scope illness
and it seems to me the primitive neurological defect package is still the best candidate, responding to a cyclical stimulus of some sort
(I REALLY like the light change theory)-
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as far as pain being pleasurable (directly)
I'm very well aware that "masochists" truly gain direct sensual arousal and/or fulfillment from feeling pain AND that a lot of people use self inflicted pain to distract themselves from mental/emotional stress
in those cases though, there seem to be much higher function forces at work - whether they are rational/sane higher functions isn't relevant
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but it is INDISPUTED that your pain transcendence notion is very very sound & really works
I just finished using it on a "surprise" attack
!!!!!!!!!