This class’ overarching theme has been empathy, how one would define empathy, how one should balance empathy and objectivity, and what is needed to have empathy for other people. All of these sub topics of empathy covered, for the most part, speak of empathy in a philosophical and psychological manner, but they do not touch on the physiology behind empathy. They do not touch on the physical aspects of empathy; what biological processes in the brain make empathy possible. I believe that in order for this class’ context to be complete that it is necessary to understand all aspects of empathy including the physical biological processes that make empathy possible for the human mind. I also believe that the biological aspects most likely play a large role in how much empathy one person is able to express compared to that of another. In order to study this, I have come up with the critical question:

What are the biological processes/ physiological pathways which allow empathy to occur within the human mind? With the understanding of these pathways and through manipulation of them is it possible to induce empathy for people who do not express it and may be a danger to society? This begs the question, is it ethical to do so if possible?

In answering this critical question, one will be able to develop a greater understanding of how empathy works in the brain and what things can alter empathy medically. One will also be introduced to the debate of altering someone’s feelings through medical manipulation with hopes of making them more beneficial to society through the discussion of the ethics behind altering someone who is a possible danger to society.

Cheng, Yawei, et al. “How Situational Context Impacts Empathic Responses and  Brain Activation Patterns.” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 11, Apr. 2017, doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00165.

Grimm, Simone, et al. “The interaction of corticotropin-Releasing hormone receptor gene and early life stress on emotional empathy.” Behavioural Brain Research, vol. 329, 2017, pp. 180–185., doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2017.04.047.

Sedgwick, Ottilie, et al. “Neuropsychology and emotion processing in violent individuals with antisocial personality disorder or schizophrenia: The same or different? A systematic review and meta-Analysis.” Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Sept. 2017, p. 000486741773152., doi:10.1177/0004867417731525.

Grice-Jackson, Thomas, et al. “Consciously Feeling the Pain of Others Reflects Atypical Functional Connectivity between the Pain Matrix and Frontal-Parietal Regions.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 11, 2017, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00507.

Waal, Frans B. M. De, and Stephanie D. Preston. “Mammalian empathy: behavioural manifestations and neural basis.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 18, no. 8, 2017, pp. 498–509., doi:10.1038/nrn.2017.72.

As the group who decided to use the article on Morgellons disease as their inspiration for the research paper arose the question: In the context of mental or physical illness, is it possible for an outsider free of the illness to fully empathize with the victim, or just sympathize with them? If not, what factors limit an outsider’s ability to empathize with them? To address this question two sources have been identified for reference, Empathic Foundations of Clinical Knowledge by Nancy Nyquist Potter and The Challenge of Morgellons Disease by Caroline S. Koblenzer MD. The first, takes the perspective of someone with a philisopical background, the second, a physician who deals with mentally ill patients.

Within Empathic Foundations of Clinical Knowledge Potter goes into depth about how empathy is a combination of many different concepts. Specifically, focusing on clinicians needing empathy to be able to effectively treat their patients. Potter goes through the processes of how one is able to attain empathy and describes the difficulties of having empathy for a person who one cannot fully understand due their condition, specifically their mental condition, that they are in. She elaborates on a concept called “world traveling”, an idea of Iris Murdoch, in which the subject trying to empathize towards another person must place themselves within the other person’s world; the subject needs to be open to experiencing the other person’s world and everything that comes with it. Potter also touches on the fact that in order for the clinician to be effective in their treatment they have to disassociate the patient from the disease; the patient has to be, in their mind, separate from the disease. The idea that the clinician needs to be open to world traveling and needs to be able to separate the patient from the disease within their mind allows the clinician to have empathy for the patient they are treating. Potter does not specifically state if the extent of the empathy formed is effective enough to give the necessary treatment provided. However, he does touch on the fact that the empathy that would be the best is actually unattainable because although one can know all of the facts of a person, if they are not that person, they will never actually know what that person is going through. Overall, Potter comments on the way empathy should be attained for patient’s clinicians have a hard time understanding, specifically referring to mentally ill patients. In the end Potter is uncertain if even the empathy described is effective enough to provide the necessary treatment for the patient, but she is certain that treatment without this empathy is ineffective.

The Challenge of Morgellons Disease written by Dr. Caroline S. Koblenzer presents a short, but detailed description of Morgellons disease and an effective approach to treatment of the disease for patients who suffer from it. Dr. Koblenzer describes Morgellons disease and the sensations the patients feel. She goes further to state that there are a more affected patient population who feel the need to know what is going on and they themselves dive deeper into the mystery of what is protruding out of their skin. Dr. Koblenzer proposes the idea that in order to treat Morgellons patients effectively one should treat the patients with treatments for the skin, but also treat the underlying psychological cause of the disease. Dr. Koblenzer argues that one of the crucial treatments for these patients is to treat them in a way that such that they feel that what they tell the doctor is being received; the patient should not feel “brushed off” by the doctor. Overall, Dr. Koblenzer comes to the conclusion that in order to effectively treat patients with Morgellons disease one needs to be able to treat them in a way that they feel recognized as well as understand that the condition for them is their reality. In essence, the physician needs to be able to empathize with them, or at least make the patient believe that they are, whether or not it is possible to empathize with a mentally ill patient, like a Morgellons patient, is what will be discussed in the formal paper addressing the question proposed earlier.

Works Cited:

Koblenzer, Caroline S. “The Challenge of Morgellons Disease.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, vol. 55, no. 5, 1 Nov 2006, pp. 920-922. Science Direct, PlumX.

Potter, Nancy Nyquist. “Empathic Foundations of Clinical Knowledge.” Oxford Handbooks Online, May 2013, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199579563.013.0021.

Desire and obsession are motivational emotions that can lead to both good and bad things. They can lead to lead to more time and effort being spent on a specific topic which leads to a solution that would not have been found otherwise. However, they can also lead to a waste in time, trying to prove something that simply cannot be proven or does not exist. In extreme cases, can one’s desire to believe they are right, and their obsession to be right, lead the human mind to create an alternate reality for that person in which they are right as a coping mechanism?

Within Devils Bait by Leslie Jamison, one is introduced to Morgellons disease. A disease where people feel and can see foreign objects rising up and out of their skin. These objects are claimed to be microscopic and cause intense itching of the skin by the people who suffer from the disease. The itching leads to extreme scarring and disfigurement of the body areas affected. Each diseased person has their own abstract cure for the disease, but no cure for the disease seems to last for long. However, Morgellons disease is not credited as a real disease, but rather an irrational phobia of parasites, by the medical community. This leads to a group of Morgellons patients gathering at a conference where they are not outcast by the people around them, but instead welcomed by other people suffering from the same thing. Each interaction Jamison has with a patient reiterates the idea that the patient feels outcast by society because of their condition and that the things coming out of their skin is reality for them, not a figment of their imagination.

While reading this essay, one questions why each patient is so set on their beliefs if the medical community has already agreed that no such thing is happening to them. Nor, is there outside proof that the disease is anything more than a phobia. Also, the fact that no cases of such a disease are recorded before 2001. Are the patients so obsessed with finding the things under their skin so much so that their minds create it for them? Then begs the question: does the mind do this as a coping mechanism so that one’s desires are fulfilled because the contrary would lead to an endless pursuit of something non-existent?

Works Cited:

Jamison, Leslie. “Devils Bait.” The Empathy Exams 27-56

Within A Time to Kill, one’s emotions fluctuate among each other in a dynamic matter. The viewer of the motion picture feels a range of emotions. Everything from hate to sympathy and anger to brokenness is felt. Many of the viewers are brought to tears within the movie along with some of the characters. Among these emotions, empathy is most definitely felt by the viewer multiple times. However, there is one instance in where both the viewer and the characters are simultaneously made to feel empathetic. This occurs when Jake Brigand addresses the jury for his summation statement at the end of the court case. Jake Brigand does this by asking the jurors to picture themselves at the scene of the horrific rape which took place to Carl Lee’s daughter. In doing so, he vividly describes the rape as it had taken place, not leaving out any minor details or sugar coating it in any way. As he does this, the jurors can be seen in an uncomfortable manner; for some, they shift in their seat, for others, tears start to run down their face. As the viewer, one is unable to detach themselves from the scene he is describing and ends up putting themselves in the same position the jurors are. Both the viewers and the jurors see themselves as a bystander as this horrific act which takes place. They see the rape happening and cannot help but feel for the little girl who is the victim.  Jake Brigand is invoking this empathy. The matter in which he does it is the only way to have the jurors see the case through un-biased eyes. Jake’s approach to this also causes the same thing to happen to the viewers. Both the viewers and the jurors then not only feel sympathy for the little girl who was raped, but also for her father who did what he thought was just. One is invoked to feel empathy here because it puts them in a position where they can imagine the suffering of the little girl and Carl Lee.

I believe that the empathy taking place is a real empathy for both the viewer and the jurors within the movie. Although the viewer understands that the whole thing is part of a motion picture and is not actually happening, the empathy felt is still very real. My main reasoning for thinking this is because both the viewer and the jurors want to take action. The viewers root for Carl Lee to go free and the jurors change their minds on from, a guilty verdict to a not guilty verdict, acquitting Carl lee. I don’t believe apparent empathy causes people to take significant action like the jury did in the movie or the significant action that the viewers wanted to take; only real empathy causes this drive. Also, at least in my personal case, the empathy felt for this girl has not gone away yet after the movie is finished, it still lingers in my emotional consciousness even though I am full aware that what has taken place is fictional.

Works Cited:

A Time To Kill.  Joel Schumacher. Regency Enterprises, Warner Bros 1996. Swank Motion Pictures. Web. 20 September 2017.