Court ceremonial and marriage in the Sumerian epic ‘Gilgamesh and Huwawa’

1992 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Bendt Alster
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation

Four versions of an episode in the Sumerian composition ‘Gilgamesh and Huwawa’ are discussed here. The encounter of Gilgamesh and Huwawa is interpreted in terms of Gilgamesh playing the role of a visitor received in audience at a foreign court. His gifts aim at inviting Huwawa to reciprocate, and thereby give up his protection. Gilgamesh especially exploits Huwawa's social isolation and lack of noble ancestry by offering him his two sisters, one in marriage and one as a concubine. he version in which the two sisters are the only offer makes most coherent sense. In another version the inner logic was distorted when the list was expanded to at least six offers.TIM IX 47 (IM 62827) was first published by J. van Dijk, in Šumer, 15,1959, PI. 2, and edited in the same volume, pp. 8–10.1 had a chance to collate the text in the spring of 1990 when I visited the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.1 Since this led to some improved readings, which may clarify a difficult episode in the Sumerian composition ‘Gilgamesh and Huwawa’, a complete edition of the tablet is presented here.2 With a few exceptions my readings are in agreement with van Dijk's copy.

Motives for Social Isolation Following a Negative Emotional Episode

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Gérald Delelis ◽  
Véronique Christophe
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Affiliation ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Cognitive Regulation ◽  
Emotional Event ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Emotional Events

Abstract. After experiencing an emotional event, people either seek out others’ presence (social affiliation) or avoid others’ presence (social isolation). The determinants and effects of social affiliation are now well-known, but social psychologists have not yet thoroughly studied social isolation. This study aims to ascertain which motives and corresponding regulation strategies participants report for social isolation following negative emotional events. A group of 96 participants retrieved from memory an actual negative event that led them to temporarily socially isolate themselves and freely listed up to 10 motives for social isolation. Through semantic categorization of the 423 motives reported by the participants, we found that “cognitive clarification” and “keeping one’s distance” – that is, the need for cognitive regulation and the refusal of socioaffective regulation, respectively – were the most commonly and quickly reported motives for social isolation. We discuss the findings in terms of ideas for future studies aimed at clarifying the role of social isolation in health situations.

Older people’s news dependency and social connectedness

2021 ◽  
pp. 1329878X2110064
Author(s):  
Caroline Fisher ◽  
Sora Park ◽  
Jee Young Lee ◽  
Kate Holland ◽  
Emma John
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
News Media ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Older Citizens

Social isolation has become a growing issue, particularly among older citizens. The ‘digital divide’ has been identified as one of the contributing factors leaving many older citizens behind. While increasing digital literacy among seniors has been identified as one of the remedies, less attention has been paid to the role of news media on the wellbeing and connectedness of older people. Through the lens of the uses and gratifications theory, this article reports on the findings of a survey of 562 news consumers aged 50 years and above who live in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The analysis highlights the important role of news in reducing feelings of social isolation, particularly for those who spend more time alone and older people with cognitive impairment. Older participants who had difficulty concentrating and learning new tasks were also more dependent on news. We suggest this is due to the habitual, predictable and concise nature of news. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of news in the wellbeing of older people and point to the need for policymakers and those in the aged care sector to ensure access to news for older citizens to improve the quality of life.

Impact of Covid-19 on the mental health needs of asylum seekers in Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110054
Author(s):  
Sarah Mares ◽  
Kym Jenkins ◽  
Susan Lutton ◽  
Louise Newman AM
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Mental Health Needs

Objective: This paper highlights the significant mental health vulnerabilities of people who have sought asylum in Australia and their additional adversities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Australia’s policies in relation to asylum seekers result in multiple human rights violations and add significantly to mental health vulnerabilities. Despite a majority being identified as refugees, people spend years in personal and administrative limbo and are denied resettlement in Australia. Social isolation and other restrictions associated with Covid-19 and recent reductions in welfare and housing support compound their difficulties. The clinical challenges in working with people impacted by these circumstances and the role of psychiatrists and the RANZCP in advocacy are identified.

scholarly journals Social Isolation: How Can the Effects on the Cholinergic System Be Isolated?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaromir Myslivecek
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Cholinergic System ◽  
System Response ◽  
Receptor Subtype ◽  
Receptor Subtypes ◽  
Cholinergic Signaling ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Social species form organizations that support individuals because the consequent social behaviors help these organisms survive. The isolation of these individuals may be a stressor. We reviewed the potential mechanisms of the effects of social isolation on cholinergic signaling and vice versa how changes in cholinergic signaling affect changes due to social isolation.There are two important problems regarding this topic. First, isolation schemes differ in their duration (1–165 days) and initiation (immediately after birth to adulthood). Second, there is an important problem that is generally not considered when studying the role of the cholinergic system in neurobehavioral correlates: muscarinic and nicotinic receptor subtypes do not differ sufficiently in their affinity for orthosteric site agonists and antagonists. Some potential cholinesterase inhibitors also affect other targets, such as receptors or other neurotransmitter systems. Therefore, the role of the cholinergic system in social isolation should be carefully considered, and multiple receptor systems may be involved in the central nervous system response, although some subtypes are involved in specific functions. To determine the role of a specific receptor subtype, the presence of a specific subtype in the central nervous system should be determined using search in knockout studies with the careful application of specific agonists/antagonists.

scholarly journals Geographical and social isolation drive the evolution of Austronesian languages

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243171
Author(s):  
Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias ◽  
Erik Gjesfjeld ◽  
Lucio Vinicius
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Cultural Group ◽  
Geographical Isolation ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
New Words ◽  
Gain Loss

The origins of linguistic diversity remain controversial. Studies disagree on whether group features such as population size or social structure accelerate or decelerate linguistic differentiation. While some analyses of between-group factors highlight the role of geographical isolation and reduced linguistic exchange in differentiation, others suggest that linguistic divergence is driven primarily by warfare among neighbouring groups and the use of language as marker of group identity. Here we provide the first integrated test of the effects of five historical sociodemographic and geographic variables on three measures of linguistic diversification among 50 Austronesian languages: rates of word gain, loss and overall lexical turnover. We control for their shared evolutionary histories through a time-calibrated phylogenetic sister-pairs approach. Results show that languages spoken in larger communities create new words at a faster pace. Within-group conflict promotes linguistic differentiation by increasing word loss, while warfare hinders linguistic differentiation by decreasing both rates of word gain and loss. Finally, we show that geographical isolation is a strong driver of lexical evolution mainly due to a considerable drift-driven acceleration in rates of word loss. We conclude that the motor of extreme linguistic diversity in Austronesia may have been the dispersal of populations across relatively isolated islands, favouring strong cultural ties amongst societies instead of warfare and cultural group marking.

scholarly journals Heart transplantation in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: delirium, post-transplant depression, and visitor restrictions; the role of liaison and inpatient psychosomatic treatment—a case report

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Sadlonova ◽  
Birgit Gerecke ◽  
Christoph Herrmann-Lingen ◽  
Ingo Kutschka
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Heart Transplant ◽  
Oral Intake ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Orthotopic Heart Transplant ◽  
Post Transplant ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
End Stage

Abstract Background Heart transplant recipients show a high risk of developing major depression with an increased risk of post-transplant morbidity and mortality. Heart transplant specialists and patients face unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have enormous clinical implications such as the increased risk of COVID-19 as well as visitor restrictions with social isolation during the post-transplant inpatient treatment. Case summary We present a case of a 64-year-old woman with end-stage heart failure caused by non-compaction cardiomyopathy who received an orthotopic heart transplant (OHT) without any intra-operative complications. Post-operatively, she showed acute psychotic symptoms in the intensive care unit (ICU) with improvement after switching intravenous tacrolimus treatment to an oral intake. Furthermore, the patient developed severe depressive symptoms with malnutrition and had a prolonged hospitalization. Standard medical care was complemented by intensive psychocardiological treatment to overcome the crisis. Conclusion High complexity of the post-transplant management after OHT underlines the importance of multidisciplinary teamwork, involving heart transplant specialists and allied mental health professionals. This collaboration led to an excellent long-term result. Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital visitor policies may be scrutinized, carefully looking at the role of social isolation, post-operative experience in the ICU, and medical complications after OHT.

Nervous control of male sexual drive in the hermaphroditic snail

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (5) ◽  
pp. 941-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Boer ◽  
R Jansen ◽  
J Koene ◽  
A Maat
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Firing Pattern ◽  
Lymnaea Stagnalis ◽  
Prostate Gland ◽  
Pond Snail ◽  
Nervous Control ◽  
Sexual Drive ◽  
Motivational Model ◽  
Behavioural Experiments

We studied the role of the prostate gland in determining the level of male sexual drive in the hermaphroditic pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Male sexual drive is high after a period of social isolation and decreases after copulation as a male. A positive correlation exists between the level of male sexual drive and the volume of the prostate gland. Like male sexual drive, the volume of the prostate gland increases during a period of social isolation and decreases after copulation as a male. Behavioural experiments demonstrated that animals with a lesion of the nerve that innervates the prostate gland (NP1) have a lower level of male sexual drive after social isolation than control animals. However, lesion of NP1 did not affect the increase in the volume of the prostate gland caused by social isolation. Extracellular recordings from NP1 in a semi-intact preparation show a change in firing pattern during an experimentally induced increase in prostate gland volume. The results indicate that NP1 serves as a nervous pathway for the male sexual drive. We propose a simple motivational model for male sexual behaviour in L. stagnalis in which the volume of the prostate gland sets the level of male sexual drive.

The Role of Social Isolation in the Relationships Between Psychosis and Suicidal Ideation

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-62
Author(s):  
Lindsay A. Bornheimer ◽  
Juliann Li ◽  
Vitalis Im ◽  
Madeline Taylor ◽  
Joseph A. Himle
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Social Isolation
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document