Merged Migraine Test, VFF, and LightinDarkness

[VisionFromFeeling]

I understand all the concern and disbelief. But I did detect the missing kidney and there was no way I could have fabricated it as a false memory afterwards. It is fair to suspect it to be a false memory, but I know it wasn't. The test - that will be held soon - should prove once and for all whether I can do this or not.

As for the migraines, it is not I who claims that I healed someone. It is the man who says that his migraines got remarkably better. That is, again, why I'd like to try this again to see if it can produce similar effects. Just in case it can. Don't forget that half of the attempted treatment involves a massage that I design based on how I feel blood vessels and nerves and pressure points, so it's not like it's just a visualization which no one could ever expect to have any effect what so ever. I still wish LightinDarkness would have volunteered for this one.

 

[jhunter1163]

I'm in Connecticut, and could travel as far as New York given some notice to arrange things. I would be willing to waive privacy for this purpose.

 

[volatile]

This article reminds me of Anita big time: http://counsellingresource.com/ask-the-psychologist/2008/11/21/supernatural-powers/

"They often believe they have special powers such as:

• predicting the future,
• the ability to read minds,
• the ability to control others with their thoughts,
• the ability to heal or diagnose,
• the ability to receive messages from the deceased, and
• a host of other powers and abilities not normally associated with their culture. "

Errmmm...

Anita has claimed 2, 4 (obviously), 5 and 6.

And it goes on:

"Schizotypal Personalities often report physical and perceptual experiences that tend to justify their belief in having supernatural powers. They typically report a variety of sensations and bodily changes that they link to their supernatural powers, "

I think that bears repeating: Suffers of schizotypal disorder "typically report a variety of sensations and bodily changes that they link to their supernatural powers". Wow. Does that remind you of anyone? Desertgal, I think your proto-diagnosis may have been closer than we thought.


"As part of Schizotypal Personality, she would exhibit (according to the DSM-IV):

• Ideas of reference: The belief that unrelated objects, experiences in her environment are directly related to her, perhaps feeling she could see patterns in the way people walk nearby or feeling that she knew the radio would play songs in a specific order. She may report the ability to read signs in nature.
• Magical thinking: The belief that she has supernatural/magical control over her environment, control of the air or ocean waves, healing, etc. Mental telepathy and clairvoyance are often reported.
• Unusual body and sensory perceptions.
• Odd and unusual speech and thinking: Speech, thinking and language patterns may be viewed as peculiar by those around her, being overly elaborate, vague, or containing odd phrases/references.
• Suspiciousness or paranoid behavior: This experience being created by the excessive ideas of reference, eventually feeling others dislike them or are planning against them.
• Inappropriate or constricted affect: An impairment in their emotional response that may be unpredictable, very numb, or otherwise out of the expected range of emotional expression.
• Odd and eccentric behavior and appearance: Exhibiting unusual rituals, superstitions, or strange behavior. Attire may be unusual and can take on a “costume” appearance.
• Lack of friends due to excessive social anxiety.

If her functioning in the community is as you describe — mature, imaginative, intelligent — this is the most likely explanation, a Schizotypal Personality."

Anita - from what you've said on this forum, I would say you have all seven of these diagnostic criteria. Will you go see a healthcare professional? Take particular note of the primacy of "Unusual body and sensory perceptions" in this list... looks like you're a textbok case.

 

[desertgal]

I understand all the concern and disbelief. But I did detect the missing kidney and there was no way I could have fabricated it as a false memory afterwards. It is fair to suspect it to be a false memory, but I know it wasn't. The test - that will be held soon - should prove once and for all whether I can do this or not.

[qu0te=VisionFromFeeling]As for the migraines, it is not I who claims that I healed someone. It is the man who says that his migraines got remarkably better.

YOU are the only claiming that. He's not posting here, or anywhere else, making the claim. He's just a anecdote.

Don't forget that half of the attempted treatment involves a massage that I design based on how I feel blood vessels and nerves and pressure points, so it's not like it's just a visualization which no one could ever expect to have any effect what so ever. I still wish LightinDarkness would have volunteered for this one.

All it is is I offer a free gentle massage (I specify "gentle", since it involves no skeletal manipulation or other obviously potentially harmful techniques). It is just like offering a hug to someone who is sad.

And she changes her story yet again.

 

[GeeMack]

I understand all the concern and disbelief. But I did detect the missing kidney [...]

No, you didn't. Your constant repetition of this lie will not make it true.

[...] and there was no way I could have fabricated it as a false memory afterwards.

Yes, there is. That's how false memories work. Your own recollection of events would seem real and it would seem to you that you didn't or couldn't have fabricated it. You wouldn't recognize it as a false memory. In this case, however, it's very likely you know perfectly well that you created this missing kidney crap from scratch. So most likely it's not a false memory, but an out and out lie.

It is fair to suspect it to be a false memory, but I know it wasn't.

Again, if it were, you wouldn't know it. You would say, sincerely, "I know it wasn't." Also again, we mostly believe you know it wasn't a false memory because you do know it's a work of fiction. Just another lie.

The test - that will be held soon - [...]

Not if you can help it, it won't.

[...] should prove once and for all whether I can do this or not.

And that's why it won't happen. You have demonstrated beyond doubt, by a preponderance of evidence, that you simply will not submit to any sort of testing that would "prove once and for all whether you can do this or not."

As for the migraines, it is not I who claims that I healed someone. It is the man who says that his migraines got remarkably better. That is, again, why I'd like to try this again to see if it can produce similar effects. Just in case it can. Don't forget that half of the attempted treatment involves a massage that I design based on how I feel blood vessels and nerves and pressure points, so it's not like it's just a visualization which no one could ever expect to have any effect what so ever.

It would be attacking the person to say you're full of crap, so I'll go the way of attacking the argument here instead. That, what you just said, is a bunch of crap.

I still wish LightinDarkness would have volunteered for this one.

Considering the piss poor way you treat your volunteers and anyone who offers you assistance, it's probably a good thing that people generally shun any opportunity to be a part of your freak show.

 

[desertgal]

Desertgal, I think your proto-diagnosis may have been closer than we thought.

Possibly. Now, you might think that might be due my recognizing certain consistencies, after 32 years of dealing with the disorder myself.

But that isn't so, and if you missed it on Anita's website, you get to read it here first. Thanks to Dr. Anita, who is as expert in psychiatry as she is in science and law, it is because I transferred my 'complications' onto her.

The consistencies between Anita's behavior and any personality disorder don't actually exist. She doesn't "feel" mentally ill, so she isn't. We just don't "get it".

Almost 200 people who voted in the survey on UY's website declared that Anita was either suffering from a personality disorder, fooling herself, playing games, or setting up a future scam - and they are all wrong. It's the 6 people who voted that her abilities are real who "get it".

Ain't that right, Anita?

 

[LightinDarkness]

I understand all the concern and disbelief. But I did detect the missing kidney and there was no way I could have fabricated it as a false memory afterwards. It is fair to suspect it to be a false memory, but I know it wasn't. The test - that will be held soon - should prove once and for all whether I can do this or not.

As for the migraines, it is not I who claims that I healed someone. It is the man who says that his migraines got remarkably better. That is, again, why I'd like to try this again to see if it can produce similar effects. Just in case it can. Don't forget that half of the attempted treatment involves a massage that I design based on how I feel blood vessels and nerves and pressure points, so it's not like it's just a visualization which no one could ever expect to have any effect what so ever. I still wish LightinDarkness would have volunteered for this one.

Not again. Anita, I did volunteer for this but you refused to meet my conditions - you refused to do the test. Then you violated by privacy and defended your violations of my privacy after it was pointed out to you that you had no right to post PMs or my name on your attention whoring website.

 

[VisionFromFeeling]

I'm in Connecticut, and could travel as far as New York given some notice to arrange things. I would be willing to waive privacy for this purpose.

Connecticut and New York are too far for me to travel.

 

[Kariboo]

Sure, let's do it. Where are you located?

I'm in Connecticut, and could travel as far as New York given some notice to arrange things. I would be willing to waive privacy for this purpose.

Connecticut and New York are too far for me to travel.

Oh, so close....you almost set up a test there.

Where can you travel? since California was not a problem but New York is too far.

 

[Maia]

"They often believe they have special powers such as:

• predicting the future,
• the ability to read minds,
• the ability to control others with their thoughts,
• the ability to heal or diagnose,
• the ability to receive messages from the deceased, and
• a host of other powers and abilities not normally associated with their culture. "

Errmmm...

Anita has claimed 2, 4 (obviously), 5 and 6.

And it goes on:

"Schizotypal Personalities often report physical and perceptual experiences that tend to justify their belief in having supernatural powers. They typically report a variety of sensations and bodily changes that they link to their supernatural powers, "

I think that bears repeating: Suffers of schizotypal disorder "typically report a variety of sensations and bodily changes that they link to their supernatural powers". Wow. Does that remind you of anyone? Desertgal, I think your proto-diagnosis may have been closer than we thought.


"As part of Schizotypal Personality, she would exhibit (according to the DSM-IV):

• Ideas of reference: The belief that unrelated objects, experiences in her environment are directly related to her, perhaps feeling she could see patterns in the way people walk nearby or feeling that she knew the radio would play songs in a specific order. She may report the ability to read signs in nature.
• Magical thinking: The belief that she has supernatural/magical control over her environment, control of the air or ocean waves, healing, etc. Mental telepathy and clairvoyance are often reported.
• Unusual body and sensory perceptions.
• Odd and unusual speech and thinking: Speech, thinking and language patterns may be viewed as peculiar by those around her, being overly elaborate, vague, or containing odd phrases/references.
• Suspiciousness or paranoid behavior: This experience being created by the excessive ideas of reference, eventually feeling others dislike them or are planning against them.
• Inappropriate or constricted affect: An impairment in their emotional response that may be unpredictable, very numb, or otherwise out of the expected range of emotional expression.
• Odd and eccentric behavior and appearance: Exhibiting unusual rituals, superstitions, or strange behavior. Attire may be unusual and can take on a “costume” appearance.
• Lack of friends due to excessive social anxiety.

If her functioning in the community is as you describe — mature, imaginative, intelligent — this is the most likely explanation, a Schizotypal Personality."

Anita - from what you've said on this forum, I would say you have all seven of these diagnostic criteria. Will you go see a healthcare professional? Take particular note of the primacy of "Unusual body and sensory perceptions" in this list... looks like you're a textbok case.

Clever! Kudos to Volatile. Because Schizotypal Personality Disorder is actually a pretty rare condition, though, I'm still backing either some weird TLE-related thing or BPD.

 

[Paul2]

ut I did detect the missing kidney and there was no way I could have fabricated it as a false memory afterwards.

Why? Why is a false memory not a possibility? Scientifically?

 

[VisionFromFeeling]

Oh, so close....you almost set up a test there. Where can you travel? since California was not a problem but New York is too far.

I'm going to California for the kidney detection test and that's obviously important for me because it will bring final conclusion into the medical perception claim. But to travel a great distance only to meet with one person for an attempt at migraine treatment it will not necessarily provide a final conclusion in that claim and so I do not think it is worth it as much. How far I would travel? Depends on how much it would cost to get there and what I can afford.

 

[VisionFromFeeling]

Clever! Kudos to Volatile. Because Schizotypal Personality Disorder is actually a pretty rare condition, though, I'm still backing either some weird TLE-related thing or BPD.

Please expand your abbreviations.

 

[VisionFromFeeling]

Keep in mind that synesthesia is by definition not a mental disorder. It is a perfectly valid way of experiencing the world. Very different from those that do not have it. I see colors and shapes where there are really none.

The medical perceptions are when I see images that depict internal tissues and health information. But it really starts as a landscape of colors and shapes that builds up into those images. All of this is an acceptable way of seeing the world and is not of concern. Some people taste sounds, so it really could be worse than what I have! I do not have automatic sense of reality to these perceptions, they are subjective and personal. The only reason I am going through all this trouble to investigate is because the medical perceptions have lead to accurate descriptions of health where external symptoms should not have been available to reach those conclusions of health by ordinary means.

There are countless of reasons why something like this would be of concern. For instance, if my perceptions were uncomfortable or scary to me, which they are not. They are also not a distraction, they do not divert my attention away from my ordinary information processing and awareness. They do not come with automatic sense of reality, I consider them to be subjective impressions and not reality. I have ordinary senses of perceptions and logic that is normal and independent and aside from the synesthesia.

I do not tell people about my perceptions of them. And when my perceptions differ from what is conventionally known, I do not insist that my perceptions would be real and what is objectively agreed to as reality would not be real.

The only reason I am interested in any real-world connection is because I have experienced correlation that is independent of me as the observer. When my perceptions of health agrees with actual health of persons and in cases where there was no way for me to know and no known external symptoms that could have provided a clue. Or when I attempted to treat migraines the person claims dramatic and so far lasting improvement.

The appearance of seemingly reality based perceptions (and the migraine treatment is designed based on my perceptions of the migraine) is not something that I would have chosen, or wanted. I have not been able to falsify these two claims on my own. I can not explain how I could have known certain health information, or why he reports that his migraines improved so dramatically after seeing me. It is fairly simple to assume that I am lying or that I'd be delusional and therefore wrong about my accounts, but it is just not that simple.

I have every right to look into these claims. The perceptions themselves are not a mental condition. And the way I manage the perceptions is also not a mental condition. And my experiences of unexplainable basis in reality is something often confirmed by others and independent of me and also not explainable as a mental condition. I do think these claims are entitled to a test and I think the best we can do is to wait for the tests to take place and to rely on the conclusions offered by those tests. I have to admit that I am unable to conclude on the claims on my own, and you all have to allow that you have not personally experienced my claims and you can not dismiss them just like that. I do know that there is lack of evidence until the tests, but that doesn't mean that I should be discouraged from proceeding to testing my claims.

Just accept that I believe I have had experiences that justify a test. And if the claims are falsified I will have no need to have my mental health evaluated then either because I would resume to having this visual experience of the world but knowing that any occasional correlation is only by chance and explainable.

And I chose to go public about this because I love research and someone else might be interested in the elements of this claim and in the process of undergoing a paranormal investigation.

 

[LightinDarkness]

Keep in mind that synesthesia is by definition not a mental disorder. It is a perfectly valid way of experiencing the world. Very different from those that do not have it. I see colors and shapes where there are really none.

More lies from VFF. You have provided NO PROOF that you have synesthesia, and you ADMITTED that when you took a online test for it that you FAILED it. You don't have synesthesia, you never have. You have used this as an excuse to try to bring legitimacy to your delusions.

The medical perceptions are when I see images that depict internal tissues and health information. But it really starts as a landscape of colors and shapes that builds up into those images. All of this is an acceptable way of seeing the world and is not of concern. Some people taste sounds, so it really could be worse than what I have! I do not have automatic sense of reality to these perceptions, they are subjective and personal. The only reason I am going through all this trouble to investigate is because the medical perceptions have lead to accurate descriptions of health where external symptoms should not have been available to reach those conclusions of health by ordinary means.

"Medical perceptions" is not synesthesia. It never has been. You have yet to provide any evidence that you have even once had "accurate" perceptions, and have failed again and again at your own tests.

There are countless of reasons why something like this would be of concern. For instance, if my perceptions were uncomfortable or scary to me, which they are not. They are also not a distraction, they do not divert my attention away from my ordinary information processing and awareness. They do not come with automatic sense of reality, I consider them to be subjective impressions and not reality. I have ordinary senses of perceptions and logic that is normal and independent and aside from the synesthesia.

This is all perfectly normal for delusions. If you could tell the difference between reality and the delusions, they would not be delusions.

I have every right to look into these claims. The perceptions themselves are not a mental condition. And the way I manage the perceptions is also not a mental condition. And my experiences of unexplainable basis in reality is something often confirmed by others and independent of me and also not explainable as a mental condition. I do think these claims are entitled to a test and I think the best we can do is to wait for the tests to take place and to rely on the conclusions offered by those tests. I have to admit that I am unable to conclude on the claims on my own, and you all have to allow that you have not personally experienced my claims and you can not dismiss them just like that. I do know that there is lack of evidence until the tests, but that doesn't mean that I should be discouraged from proceeding to testing my claims.

Its just too bad that you always dodge every offer to have you legitimately examine your claims, isn't it? You don't want to test them because you know you would fail.

And I chose to go public about this because I love research and someone else might be interested in the elements of this claim and in the process of undergoing a paranormal investigation.

As a real researcher and academic, don't you dare describe your little games as "research." It is an insult to those of us who do real research. You have yet to launch any legitimate research inquiry into your claims,and you never will.

 

[bookitty]

Not again. Anita, I did volunteer for this but you refused to meet my conditions - you refused to do the test. Then you violated by privacy and defended your violations of my privacy after it was pointed out to you that you had no right to post PMs or my name on your attention whoring website.

If you don't mind my asking, what were the conditions that VFF refused to consider?

 

[LightinDarkness]

If you don't mind my asking, what were the conditions that VFF refused to consider?

I told Anita I would provide documentation that I have migraines and then, after giving it a few months (after she practices her woo on me), I would provide documentation that I still have migraines and thus demonstrate her woo did not "heal" me. Upon my providing proof that her woo had failed, Anita would agree to drop her woo in its entirety and go back to being a normal student.

Of course, she declined, because she knows her woo would fail because its not real.

 

[Sideroxylon]

Anita, in the dowsing thread you demonstrated good critical thinking by saying:

I advise you to read up on the ideomotor effect, just do a web search and you'll find plenty on the subject.

I do encourage you to investigate your claim, but I am highly unconvinced of dowsing but would welcome any evidence to prove otherwise. If you could truly dowse, that would be wonderful. But you need to prove it first. Note that if one had a true dowsing ability, the tests that are set up for dowsers should be very easy to pass.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153641 (post 6)


Dowsers are at least as self assured of the existence their abilities as you are. They get their signal from the rod and then dig to uncover the item they are looking for. The personal experience of the rods being moved without any apparent input from themselves paired with a hit is powerful stuff. They just “know” it works and fail to see the need for rigorous testing. But you and I know better, don't we. The world is not so simple. We are pattern seeking creatures and we jump to cause effect conclusions without proper justification. Then there is the problem of various cognitive biases and further, mental illness.

You have no more right than the dowsers to make any claims of supernatural ability until you demonstrate that you can score hits beyond chance while under rigorous test conditions that eliminate the mundane explanations. Be the scientist you want to be and do your damnedest to falsify your claims and forget the flashy website full of cheap anecdotes - those are for cranks and charlatans. Why not strip back your belief systems a la Descartes, build up and see what's left. Why not also visit a medical health professional to assure yourself your perceptions are not the result of confounding mischievous demons of the mind - a parsimonious explanation is it not?

Applying sceptical thinking to the beliefs of others is easy but less rewarding than making your own the target.

 

[bookitty]

I told Anita I would provide documentation that I have migraines and then, after giving it a few months (after she practices her woo on me), I would provide documentation that I still have migraines and thus demonstrate her woo did not "heal" me. Upon my providing proof that her woo had failed, Anita would agree to drop her woo in its entirety and go back to being a normal student.

Of course, she declined, because she knows her woo would fail because its not real.

Thank you for the information. It is odd that your "bet" was enough to make her back off. She's been playing the naif when it comes to results. Anecdotal evidence is proof, right. So why refuse to test you when anything could be twisted to a positive result afterward? The migraine page on her site used to have some malarkey about the skeptic probably lying about getting better and her not caring about that because she just wants to help people, so obviously she had already thought about what she would say.

But suddenly she is worried that she would have to keep her word on something? After all of the manipulation, lies, stalling and evading. Wouldn't it just be one more question to dodge with more martyrdom?

That girl aint right.

 

[bookitty]

The paragraph I mention has been cached. It reads:
How many psychic claimants or claimed healers (although I don't claim to be a healer) would willingly take the initiative to contact a very tough Skeptic and ask them to be the subject in a test to see whether their claim holds up? Let alone to submit to a test? This Skeptic comes across as someone who strongly dislikes woo and I wouldn't be surprised if he hates me and dispises me. Meanwhile I am looking forward to meeting him and finding out whether he might experience some relief in his migraines after the "treatment". There is the possibility that this one is not an objective Skeptic, what if he experiences improvement in his migraines but doesn't want to tell us? Then I would be glad that he has experienced improvement. None of this is about me, it is about others and to find out whether I might be of any help.