Illness and Relationships
Men are seven times more likely than women to leave a seriously ill partner, a study has found:
“His behaviour was more difficult to cope with than my illness. In the end I became suspicious and checked his phone and e-mails and found he was seeing two other women. I confronted him and he said he wasn’t going to break off either of the relationships because if something happened to me he didn’t want to be alone. We split up and the irony is that he is the one who is on his own, not me. I have a huge circle of family and friends who have helped me through everything.”
Pretty surprising article. There’s no reason why anyone, male or female, should leave a (previously) loved one behind, especially during the time when they need them the most. (It also ties nicely with my post two posts down, regarding sex, eros, philia and agape (I know, I’m such a nerd). )
At most, the person leaving is at the philia stage.
Random Fact: Showering
When I shower, I don’t close my eyes (well, I only close them while I’m rinsing the shampoo out of my hair). No idea why; it’s not because of the shower scene from Psycho or The Ring.
Because of this my showering routine is weird. I first rinse my hair, put shampoo in it, then soap myself, rinse (but not rinse my hair), then I soap my face and neck, and then I rinse my hair and face.
I have lots of other little random facts about myself, which I’ll post later, one by one.
“Love” in Psychology Readings
“It has become all too easy to learn the mechanisms of sexuality, perform in a physiologically adequate manner, and then tell ourselves that we have “connected” with another person. Yet the only connection and the only passion has been physical. Has anyone ever told you that having sex would bring you closer together? By this reasoning, prostitutes should be “close” to more people than anyone else in the world.”
I found this quote, by my professor, really funny (and true; not that it’s ever happened to me though).
Rollo May saw there being four types of “love”:
- Sex (aka lust; what we see/hear in most entertainment today)
- Eros (want to be with the person; urge toward higher forms of being and relationship)
- Philia (friendship; enjoy being with the person)
- Agape/caritas (devoted to the welfare of the other; similar to God’s love for man)
He notes that every human experience of authentic love is a blending, in varying proportions, of these four.
Other than that, I think I should sleep now.
“Sexually Handsome”
“You look sexually handsome today” – PSY 706 Prof (I walked into class wearing a beige overcoat over my pinstripe suit)
Hmm…
I’ve really got to fix my biological clock.