apropos Carol Cox's remarks on the mentally ill, the whole question of
diagnosis is suspect -- the only thing that the DSM (the document created to
"standardize" mental illnesses so that therapists can get paid) proves is
that, following its guidelines, everyone is treatable.  consider the
following, which serendipitously appeared simultaneously with Carol's post.

Subj:    [evol-psych] Suspicious minds
Date:   06/02/2000 7:59:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:   [log in to unmask] (Ian Pitchford)
Reply-to:   <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Ian.Pitchford@scienti
st.com</A> (Ian Pitchford)
To: [log in to unmask]

From last week's Times Higher Education Supplement
http://www.thesis.co.uk/

Draxler, A. (2000). Suspicious minds [letter]. Times Higher Education
Supplement, May 27, p. 17.

Psychologist David Buss says "individuals diagnosed as 'pathologically
jealous'
often turn out to have partners who have strayed in the past, are straying or
are contemplating straying" ("I love you to death", THES, April 20).

That is a shocking way of justifying pathological behaviour. Any sample of the
population would reveal a high percentage of partners who have strayed, are
straying or are contemplating straying. If you restrict your survey to those
suffering severe stress in the partnership, clearly one would come up with a
majority who are or have been in straying mode.

While pathology is, of course, a severe and deformed manifestation of a
condition that in its standard form is rational, his statement seems to
justify
pathology, and that will no do. He must know all the damage that can be caused
by extreme jealousy and should be more careful in describing its causes.

Alexandra Draxler
Paris, France.
http://www.thesis.co.uk/