I sent off my last message a bit too quickly. Another interesting
item on Nash is at the New York Times site at
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/14/reviews/980614.14singht.html
with links to a profile on him by Sylvia Nasar (author of "A
Beautiful Mind") and to the first chapter of her book.

The NY Times article says about his insulin treatment:

"As each decade passed, the treatments varied. In 1961 for six
weeks, five days a week, Nash was injected with insulin to induce
a comatose state. If blood-sugar levels dropped too low, patients
would suffer spontaneous seizures, sometimes biting their tongues
and occasionally breaking bones. Nash described the treatment as
torture. The theory was that starving the brain of sugar would
kill marginally functioning brain cells, but the therapy was soon
phased out because it was considered too expensive and dangerous.
The alternative was electroshock therapy. Nash's colleagues and
family refused to allow this treatment on the grounds that there
was evidence that it numbed the brain, and they believed that the
ultimate nightmare for Nash would be to lose his genius. "

-Stephen

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Black, Ph.D.                      tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology                  fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University                    e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada     Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
           Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
           http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
------------------------------------------------------------------------


---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Reply via email to