They would have transitioned me: third conditional TERF grammar of trans childhood

Some of the most virulent public trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) discourse in the UK follows the grammatical form of the third conditional: if I had grown up now, I would have been persuaded to transition. This articulation of the hypothetical threat of a transition that did not happen but is imagined, in retrospect, to be not just possible but forcibly enacted plays an important role, both politically and psychically, in a contemporary political landscape that is threatening the livelihoods of trans children. Interrogating this discourse via an analysis of an open letter by J.K. Rowling, and a documentary by Stella O’Malley, this article asks: what might we learn about contemporary transphobia in the UK if we took seriously the grammar of TERF discourse animated by trans childhood? It argues that while the third conditional grammar of TERF discourse could articulate a politics of solidarity between cis and trans positionalities and politics, its potential for a shared political standpoint is routinely interrupted by the defence mechanisms that are oriented by the psychic life of the child. Interrogating these defence mechanisms at the level of the cultural, the article traces out paranoia (as reading practice and psychic state) as well as projection, as two main modes of TERF engagement with trans childhood. The article thus engages with the range of real and fantasmatic impossibilities that haunt the trans child both in the present and the past, and it contributes to the growing body of scholarship on trans childhoods. In doing so, it makes the case that public discourse on trans children should desist from hypothetical third conditional claims, and instead find ways of embracing trans childhoods unconditionally.

Beyond the brain: towards a mathematical modeling of emotions

This article focuses on a mathematical description of the emotional phenomenon. The key concept is to consider emotions as an energy, and to rely on the analogy with the electromagnetic waves. Our aim is to provide a mathematical approach to characterize the emergence of emotional fluxes in the human psyche. This goes beyond classical pscychological approaches. In this setting, specific emotions correspond to specific frequencies and our psychic state results from the summation of different characteristic frequencies. Our general model of psychic state is a dynamical system whose evolution results from interactions between external inputs and internal reactions. The model provides both qualitative (frequencies) and quantitative (intensity) components. It aims to be applied to real life situations (in particular in work environments) and we provide a typical example which naturally leads to a problem of control.

The Structure of Courage in the Laches, Meno and Protagoras

The following article provides an interpretation of the structure of courage in Plato’s Laches, Meno and Protagoras. I argue that these dialogues present courage (ἀνδρεία) in the soul according to the same scheme: that there is a normatively neutral psychic state which is informed by the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge (ἐπιστήμη) which informs this normatively neutral psychic state is called practical wisdom (which Plato refers to as φρόνησις or sometimes σοφία). This interpretation seems to negate the claim that virtue is knowledge. I will show, however, that this is not a contradiction and that virtue is in fact knowledge, despite the complex moral psychology of courage. Finally, I will argue that the conception of courage in the Republic addresses some of the problems posed by the discussion of courage in the above-mentioned dialogues.

EXPLORING DIMENSIONS OF IMPULSIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH PERSONALITY DISORDER DURING THE PERIOD OF CONFINEMENT

Objective:The objective of this work is to describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and to explore the dimensions of impulsivity in patients with personality disorders and to evaluate their evolution during the period of confinement. Methods:This study included a sample of 60 patients followed in ambulatory consultation at the university psychiatric hospital Arrazi inSaléwith a personality disorder. The description of the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics was carried out using a questionnaire. The exploration of the dimensions of impulsivity was carried out based on the BarrattImpulsiveness scale. Results: The average age of our patients was 28.3 years, most of the patients were male (75%). In our sample, 61.7% had a substance use disorder, 38.3% had a depressive comorbidity. Concerning the impulsivity context, borderline personality disorder was found in 78.3% of our patients, antisocial personality disorder was found in 21.7%. According to the scores obtained on the Barratt Impulsiveness scale, the three dimensions measured were high in all our patients. Conclusion: Confinement is a mode of adaptation of daily life in crisis situations that has dramatically changed the habits of millions of people throughout the world. It is necessary to underline the great vulnerability of people with a personality disorder to this situation which could expose to a weakening of their psychic state.

Psychogenic theory of consciousness

The brain is a unique organization in nature, having the psychic activity, which is expressed in subjective states: thoughts, feelings, emotions. Knowledge of the nature of mental activity of the brain is the most urgent and the most challenging task of physiology. Historically the neurophysiology developed on the basis of physical and chemical laws discovered in an inanimate nature. Our investigation is devoted towards the origin of a human subjective state, and presents a new methodology for studying of the nature psychic brain activity. We have established the existence of physical phenomena unique for the living brain so-called «psychogenic field», which reflects the expressed psychic state of human brain. The subjective state of a human being was shown to affect remotely the physicochemical properties of the blood. An original schematic diagram is presented to describe the formation of the brain psychic activity. This approach is based on the feedback influence of a psychogenic field on neuronal molecular processes (self-induction in the brain). The paper describes the interrelation of neurophysiologic and subjective processes in the system organization of goal-seeking behavior. A «Psychogenic theory of consciousness» is proposed, suggests presuming the existence of physical phenomena unique for the living brain and brain fields, and their role in the origin of a subjective state.

Subjetividade e “Deslocamento” na obra homônima de Lucy Knisley

In certain way, “displacement” refers to the change. It is the action of a body that moves from a certain space to another. In addition to its obvious physical implications, in the case of human displacement, there are also great subjective implications. In this way, displacement can be of other orders, as symbolic, metaphysical and mental, we can also consider even maturation as the displacement from one psychic state to another. In this case, the present work aims to analyze the different figurations of the concept of displacement present in the work: Displacement — A travelogue by Lucy Knisley, as well as the affiliation of the work to a narrative tradition perpetrated by authors who take the daily genre and the trip report as a means of subjective construction of reality, both in literature and in comics. In order to do so, will be used authors who studied the writing of female authors, having the travel narrative as a research horizon, such as Sonia Serrano and Miriam Adelman; as well as authors who focus on the specificities of the comic language that, under the aegis of “graphic novel”, engender an aesthetic construction that privileges the autobiographical narrative (Santiago Garcia and Hilarry Chute). We intend to highlight the richness that the comics bring to the symbolic construction of the genre “travel diary/narrative” through its peculiarities of self-representation.

Podmiotowość i „przemieszczenie” w komiksie Lucy Knisley

In certain way, “displacement” refers to the change. It is the action of a body that moves from a certain space to another. In addition to its obvious physical implications, in the case of human displacement, there are also great subjective implications. In this way, displacement can be of other orders, as symbolic, metaphysical and mental, we can also consider even maturation as the displacement from one psychic state to another. In this case, the present work aims to analyze the different figurations of the concept of displacement present in the work: Displacement — A travelogue by Lucy Knisley, as well as the affiliation of the work to a narrative tradition perpetrated by authors who take the daily genre and the trip report as a means of subjective construction of reality, both in literature and in comics. In order to do so, will be used authors who studied the writing of female authors, having the travel narrative as a research horizon, such as Sonia Serrano and Miriam Adelman; as well as authors who focus on the specificities of the comic language that, under the aegis of “graphic novel”, engender an aesthetic construction that privileges the autobiographical narrative (Santiago Garcia and Hilarry Chute). We intend to highlight the richness that the comics bring to the symbolic construction of the genre “travel diary/narrative” through its peculiarities of self-representation.

OUTLET OBSTRUCTED CONSTIPATION AND FECAL INCONTINENCE: IS REHABILITATION TREATMENT THE WAY? MYTH OR REALITY

ABSTRACT Pelvic floor rehabilitation aims to address perineal functional and anatomic alterations as well as thoraco-abdominal mechanic dysfunctions leading to procto-urologic diseases like constipation, fecal and urinary incontinence, and pelvic pain. They require a multidimensional approach, with a significant impact on patients quality of life. An exhaustive clinical and instrumental protocol to assess defecation disorders should include clinical and instrumental evaluation as well as several clinical/physiatric parameters. All these parameters must be considered in order to recognize and define any potential factor playing a role in the functional aspects of incontinence, constipation and pelvic pain. After such evaluation, having precisely identified any thoraco-abdomino-perineal anatomic and functional alterations, a pelvi-perineal rehabilitation program can be carried out to correct the abovementioned alterations and to obtain clinical improvement. The success of the rehabilitative process is linked to several factors such as a careful evaluation of the patient, aimed to select the most appropriate and specific targeted rehabilitative therapy, the therapist’s scrupulous hard work, especially as regards the patient’s emotional and psychic state, and finally the patient’s compliance in undertaking the therapy itself, especially at home. These factors may deeply influence the overall outcomes of the rehabilitative therapies, ranging from “real” success to illusion “myth”.