The PsyCreative Column

Among the myriad of untold stories scattered throughout history, lies that of Princess Alice– one that is deeply disturbing and leaves you wondering. Depicted in the popular television series, ‘The Crown’, the case of Princess Alice of Battenberg paints a grim picture of Psychotherapy and ethics in psychological research in the early 20th century. Alice, born in 1885, suffered a major disadvantage in life: she was deaf. At the age of 18, through her marriage with Prince Andrew of Greece, she became a part of the Greek Royal Family. It was during the Balkan Wars that Princess Alice volunteered as a nurse, assisting at on-site operations and setting up field clinics. Her experiences in healthcare were described as ‘gruesome’, the effects of which began to gradually show. Those around her advised her to take a break from service; however, she refused to. As a result, her health declined. In today’s times, the symptoms she showed would indicate PTSD, and sleep deprivation.  During an u...

  “Call 911!” is a phrase we’ve frequently heard in Hollywood movies. It is the designated ‘Universal Emergency Number' for citizens throughout the United States used to request emergency assistance. But how did it’s use/existence come about?  Catherine Susan Genovese AKA Kitty Genovese was murdered during the early hours of 13th March, 1864. This ruthless rape and murder was one of the factors that pushed this system into place.  born in New York, on 7th July 1935, to Italian-American parents. Their eldest of five children, she was raised in a four-family row house in Park Slope, neighbourhood for housing Italians and Irish. She was very popular in school. At 28 years, she drove up to her garage around 3 A.M., and noticed that a man was following her. Winston Moseley, a serial killer, approached her and caught up with a running, screaming Genovese, stabbing her twice with a hunting knife. Upon some shouts from neighbours, he rushed away and Kitty managed to take herself ...

  During the early 1950s, the newly formed 2 2 Central Intelligence Agency developed a top secret mind control operation called “PROJECT ARTICHOKE” as a technique of interrogation.  "ARTICHOKE" refers to the agency’s cryptonym for studying or performing unconventional methods and techniques of interrogation which may involve the use of drugs, hypnosis, or "total isolation" as a form of psychological harassment. It was preceded by Project “BLUEBIRD" and was operated by the CIA's office of scientific intelligence, with the primary goal of finding out whether a person could be manipulated into involuntarily performing an assassination.  American prisoners who returned from the Korean war were the primary targets of this project and these servicemen were subjected to behavioral modification programs that included the use of drugs as well as special interrogation methods. In order to test the project's effects, CIA agents were initially administered drugs su...

  King George III born on June 4,1738 and was the king of Great Britain. He had a difficult childhood due to the slow development of his mental health and the death of his father when he was just 12. He was left as an heir of the throne but he was not prepared for it. He considered John Stuart as his inspiration and married Charlotte Sophia on his suggestion. It was a healthy marriage which lasted for more than 50 years; and they had 15 children. His reign was marked by a lot of political instability and struggles. He also lost several American colonies during his rule. It was in 1788-89 that he suffered his first medical illness. It lasted for a period of 6 months and was followed by jaundice. He was diagnosed with porphyria— a genetic blood disorder. It was marked by abdominal pains, skin sensitivity, insomnia and other psychiatric symptoms. His behaviour was largely affected by this disorder. He became a maniac, started having hallucinations. During that period, it was not clear...

  Do you remember that one friend in high school who took a trip abroad and when they came back, their entire personality had been altered due to that one vacation? Well, something of a similar sort happened with Phineas Gage, but to a much larger degree. The Accident By profession, Phineas Gage was a railroad foreman in the 1800s and is popular due to a disastrous accident that he met with. On the fateful day of September 13th, 1848, Gage was in Cavendish, Vermont, and due to the nature of his work, he was required to blast rocks to make a roadbed. To do this, he would require a tamping rod to push gunpowder deep within a rock. But due to oversight, the rod launched at him and shot through his left cheek, behind his left eye, and exited through the top of his skull. The momentum of the 6 kg heavy and 1.1 m long rod caused him to fall on his back, but strangely enough, he survived the mishap regardless of the hole that had just erupted in his brain and skull.  The physician, D...

CASE BACKGROUND House number 25, Cromwell Street, Gloucester, UK- now packed with the rush of hundreds of tourists, was once home to the most gruesome murders the country had ever seen. This is the case of the serial killer couple- Fredrick and Rosemary West. In this blog, we will try and understand how nurture plays a role in creating criminals- throwing the childhood of the serial killer couple into the spotlight.  THE CHILDHOOD Both Fred and Rose had been through a disturbed childhood. Fred was one of the six children his parents had. He was fifteen when he left school to become a full-time labourer at his parent's farm. At sixteen, he and his brother began socialising at a youth club, later where he was found harassing girls. His mother was known to be overprotective of him and encouraged his bestiality. He was arrested for repeatedly raping his own sister, and during the investigation, it was found that his mother introduced him to sex at the age of twelve. His reply to being ...

  In retrospect, Facebook’s innovation attracted a lot of attention. Social media has always had an influence on individuals and still do. It is easy for people to behave in particular ways that are inconsistent with who they really are. However, In 2014, Facebook addressed the issue of well-being in a study entitled, ‘Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks’, otherwise known as ‘The Facebook Experiment’ (Kramer, Guillory, & Hancock, 2014). As the experiment received a lot of criticism, with many referring to social media platforms as “terrifying” and “creepy”, it overshadowed the intent and purpose of the initial study.  Facebook basically tampered with the news feed of over half a million people to determine whether the quality of posts i.e. positive or negative have an effect on the individual’s emotional state and what effect the changes had on the tone of the posts the recipients then wrote. The paper defined emotional contag...

  Named after his great grandfather and stillborn brother, Vincent Willem van Gogh, born on 30th March 1853 in the Netherlands,  is one of the greatest post-impressionist painters but people commonly know him as the “tortured artist”.  “ It’s a rather sad prospect to have to say to myself that the paintings I do will perhaps never have any value. ” wrote Vincent in one of his letters to Theo, his brother and confidant throughout life.  The melancholy that he carried with him was a childhood friend. One who was by his side in both life and death.  In 1869, Vincent started working at Goupil Art Gallery in London. Enjoyment from work, and living his life with fanaticism to grow didn't last long. He fell in love with his landlady's daughter who rejected him. Following this, he kept his own company and lost joy in life. This marked the first depressive episode in Vincent’s life. On his parents’ request, he went to Paris in 1875. Feeling displaced he tried working for...