Morgellons Still a Mystery

Landrew said:
I'm not sure how well skepticism is being employed with regard to the symptoms of this disease which appear to be very unambiguous. Many doctors dismiss it with lame and implausible explanations such as that the sores are caused by scratching, and the fibers are from clothing. Both these explanations have been disproved, but large parts of the medical profession continue to torment the sufferers of this disease by claiming it's all imaginary.

Is there anything wrong with simply admitting that this strange phenomenon doesn't fit with conventional knowledge, and needs to be studied seriously? Why must some skeptics once again make fools of themselves by ignoring evidence and pretending to know all the answers?
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Necromember necrothreads, and this is the best you can do? Surely you could have included at least one piece of spurious evidence to bolster your invalid assertion?
 
Landrew said:
Is there anything wrong with simply admitting that this strange phenomenon doesn't fit with conventional knowledge, and needs to be studied seriously? Why must some skeptics once again make fools of themselves by ignoring evidence and pretending to know all the answers?
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Is there anything wrong with simply admitting that this strange phenomenon HAS been studied seriously by the US Center for Disease Control and come up empty?
 
OK, I have to say that this is pretty disappointing behavior.

Do you folks also go out and laugh at homeless schizophrenics? Crack jokes about depressed people standing on bridges?

This a serious psychological illness, not a late-night comedy routine. I think it's pretty disgusting for anybody who calls themselves a rational thinker to sit around and take their personal amusement from the suffering of others.

I doubt you will be, but you should be ashamed.

Luke.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
OK, I have to say that this is pretty disappointing behavior.
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I didn't get the impression that anyone in this thread was mocking the suffers of Morgellon's Syndrome themselves, just the Woo Medicine Crowd that is using it as another silly swipe at established medicine.
 
As was said earlier, the suffering is real, the disease is psychological.

I'm laughing at the beliefs, not the suffering of the believers. Beliefs are not people.

Who knows, it may even help sufferers to see that their beliefs are silly.

I certainly don't think it helps them to think the disease is caused by anything other than fibres and psychology.
 
JoeBentley said:
I didn't get the impression that anyone in this thread was mocking the suffers of Morgellon's Syndrome themselves, just the Woo Medicine Crowd that is using it as another silly swipe at established medicine.
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Are these not, in fact, the same people? Do you know anyone who thinks they have Morgellon's and who isn't part of the woo medicine crowd?

Orphia Nay said:
Who knows, it may even help sufferers to see that their beliefs are silly.
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I've spent a lot of time caring for people with debilitating mental illness. I've yet to meet one who liked being called silly or had their disease process benefited in any way from hearing it.

Like I said, I didn't expect anybody who's already posted in the thread to agree. I was simply offering the alternate viewpoint of those who find such behavior juvenile and counter-productive for your consideration. Take the comment as you wish.

Luke.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
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Are these not, in fact, the same people? Do you know anyone who thinks they have Morgellon's and who isn't part of the woo medicine crowd?
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Speaking only for myself I had never even heard of Morgellon's prior to this thread. I know no suffers of the disease personally or otherwise.

I don't know if they are Woo Slingers or not nor does it matter.

The problem is people insisting that Morgellon's isn't the psychological issue, something we have plenty of and which we have ways of treating, that the CDC's study shows it is but it just has to be some new mysterious disease because "Big Medicine" is evil or corrupt or whatever excuse they need because it won't let them keep their Woo.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
I've spent a lot of time caring for people with debilitating mental illness. I've yet to meet one who liked being called silly or had their disease process benefited in any way from hearing it.
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I repeat, I'm laughing at the belief, not their suffering. I'm not calling them silly. Just the belief.

Years ago my woo beliefs were laughed at, and that helped lead me to reconsider them.
 
Orphia Nay said:
I repeat, I'm laughing at the belief, not their suffering. I'm not calling them silly. Just the belief.
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In most cases I would agree and not have such a problem with threads like this.

In this case, though, the delusion is the disease. The belief is the suffering. Believing in Morgellons is having Morgellons. You can't separate the two. It's a subtle difference to the kinds of things we normally discuss around here, but I think it's important to point it out.

I spent many years researching organic roots of Tourette Syndrome. I can tell you firsthand that a major component of the pain those people experience comes from having to endure the jokes about the illness and the laughs and stares from the public.

It's one thing to make fun of people who have unscientific opinions by choice. You can educate those people. You can shame them. You can (try to) reason with them and get them to change their minds.

These people literally can't control their beliefs. Their illness seems just as real and quantifiable to them as the sun's warmth does to us. To them making fun of the symptoms is the same as making fun of them.

I'll repeat myself as well: I don't expect everybody to agree with me - especially those who've never worked around people with serious psychological or neurological illness - and I respect those who may disagree. From my perspective, though, there's nothing good to come from having a laugh over something like this. To me it degrades both the jokesters and their target.

Luke.
 
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ectoplasm said:
For Orac's take on the study, click here.
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The comments on that piece get very very bizarre.

There is a great video posted by a believer with "Morgellons Fibres" 'dancing' to music.
Apparently this is proof of something....

Then they get on to Chemtrails, NAZI's, HARRP and fluoridation.
Its a cornucopia of conspiracy.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
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In most cases I would agree and not have such a problem with threads like this.

In this case, though, the delusion is the disease. The belief is the suffering. Believing in Morgellons is having Morgellons. You can't separate the two. It's a subtle difference to the kinds of things we normally discuss around here, but I think it's important to point it out.

I spent many years researching organic roots of Tourette Syndrome. I can tell you firsthand that a major component of the pain those people experience comes from having to endure the jokes about the illness and the laughs and stares from the public.

It's one thing to make fun of people who have unscientific opinions by choice. You can educate those people. You can shame them. You can (try to) reason with them and get them to change their minds.

These people literally can't control their beliefs. Their illness seems just as real and quantifiable to them as the sun's warmth does to us. To them making fun of the symptoms is the same as making fun of them.

I'll repeat myself as well: I don't expect everybody to agree with me - especially those who've never worked around people with serious psychological or neurological illness - and I respect those who may disagree. From my perspective, though, there's nothing good to come from having a laugh over something like this. To me it degrades both the jokesters and their target.

Luke.
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I'm not laughing at any sufferers of anything (at least I try not to. But I myself suffer from the terrible burden of skepticism).

I do mock the people who support the suffering of others in their delusions. Morgellons is not a real disease. The people who "have" it deserve psychological treatment.

And.

I'd don't expect every reader to cotton to my responses.
 
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Mind your own knitting Shemp. You are getting under my skin.
 
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shemp said:
I'm getting crochety about these darned knitwits needling the mentally ill!
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Short of moral fiber, perhaps.

casebro said:
Mind your own knitting Shemp. You are getting under my skin.
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No worry. Just give him enough rope.

Note to the sensitive: No, I'm not making fun of the poor people who suffer from whatever it is they suffer from. I'm making fun of the people who exploit them, and those who continue to pursue the Fata Morgellon as if it were something it's not, and the conspiracy theorists who believe that in some strange reversal of polarity, Big Pharma is hiding a disease.
 
When a rash of puns is taken for mockery it's time to scratch the thread.
 
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