Comments on: The mental health perils of travelling abroad https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/ Marketing Ethics for the Easily Swayed Fri, 26 Aug 2016 00:40:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Carolyn Thomas https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-45076 Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:30:07 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-45076 Thanks for your perspective, Michele. I too have similar reactions out in nature, and I read recently that “blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the level of stress hormones all decrease faster in natural settings.” (Finnish Forest Research Institute).

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]]> By: Michele https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-45070 Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:27:40 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-45070 I stumbled onto this blog while researching what I experience when communing with nature. I had heard of Florence Syndrome….which I experience mildly….but the same thing happens when I leave the city…a deeply profound emotional JOY…..must be time for country living.

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]]> By: Carolyn Thomas https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-40078 Sun, 15 Jul 2012 12:21:40 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-40078 The Stork Club was famous! Here’s an old photo of Lucy and Desi at the Stork Club in 1946. 🙂 PS. You should plan a trip back to your birthplace someday!!

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]]> By: Bev RN https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-40069 Sun, 15 Jul 2012 10:10:08 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-40069 On the other hand, I might have a serious reaction to being in New York City!

I was born there but haven’t returned since I caught a flight out to Oklahoma at age 3 months. (Okay – so I was in my momma’s lap. I still caught that flight!) I was famous – well, a 10 pounds of famous, while in NYC: My great uncle owned the Stork Club, a world famous speakeasy of the 1930’s through the 1960’s, and we lived in an apartment upstairs. Dad was a “manager” there (in name only, I suspect). And since I was born while we lived there, the New York Times couldn’t resist a notice stating that I was born IN the Stork Club! A forgivable white lie, I have decided.

The Stork Club was quite a place. There’s a book out now, titled Stork Club with all my uncle Sherman Billingsley’s inflammatory notes, the Mafia’s involvement, the bugging, even Edgar Hoover’s table(!), and the like in it. The fascinating details were provided by one of his daughters or granddaughters, so that piece of history wouldn’t be lost. The library where I live – on the west coast – has a copy, so maybe yours does, too.

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]]> By: Bev RN https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-40063 Sun, 15 Jul 2012 09:44:01 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-40063 I saw Lily Tomlin, too. I have to say, Topol won hands down! Maybe you would disagree, but you would be wrong! Haha!

Okay, someone can get back to the actual question at hand now. I’ve had my fun. At least for the moment….🙂

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]]> By: Carolyn Thomas https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-40042 Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:49:01 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-40042 Hi Bev – it’s so funny you should mention your wonderful experience watching Fiddler on the Roof. I had a similar reaction in 2000 at the Booth Theater in New York City when Lily Tomlin walked onstage for her performance of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. I practically fainted. “That’s Lily Tomlin! That is the REAL Lily Tomlin!”😉 As you said, it was a deep and strong healthy response – delicious, really!

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]]> By: Bev RN https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-40036 Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:02:13 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-40036 I have always been deeply affected by the film production of Fiddler on the Roof. A few years ago, I was able to see the last road show of Fiddler on the Roof, with Topol himself there to play Tevye. When he first walked onto the stage, everyone immediately stood and burst into wild applause. Me? I sat with my hands in my lap, almost in disbelief that I was actually looking at the man I had associated with this moving story for so many years. Tears began streaming down my cheeks and I was close to bursting out crying. But no, I would not need a drug to assist me during or because of this experience. To the contrary, I wouldn’t be robbed of my deep and strong healthy response to what I perceived as a representation of greatness.

Big Pharma will undoubtedly wreak havoc with people’s good mental health. Perhaps there are a few who do have an unhealthy response to glorious art, but I bet they are few and far between.

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]]> By: Carolyn Thomas https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-39931 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:00:04 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-39931 Hello Dave – thanks so much for your comments. I too am surprised yet oddly moved by the “swoon” I feel during such reactions (reaching for a drug would just be medicalizing the human condition – except possibly for that minority who actually require hospitalization – can you imagine?) But mark my words: Big Pharma rarely wastes an opportunity to medicalize many “normal” conditions.
PS You gave away your History of Art?! I’ve had my well-worn copy for 42 years and still love browsing through it. 😉

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]]> By: Dave Wyman https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-39927 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:53:05 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-39927 What a terrific post! Except maybe the tie-in to drug companies. I think your piece stands on its own. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if such a drug exists; Ativan comes to mind.

I definitely suffer from the Syndrome, often when I observe an artistic portrayal of the human condition. I felt a bit emotional just yesterday, just reading a review of Gabriel García Márquez‘s Love in the Time of Cholera (Garcia is suffering from dementia). I’d rather experience the overwhelming surge of emotion than take a drug to “combat” it.

What really impresses me is your mention of the Janson book. I think I finally gave mine away about five years ago. I purchased it – used – in 1966, when I started college.

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]]> By: Carolyn Thomas https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-39920 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:51:13 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-39920 Thanks, Barbara. That “puny” factor has in fact been identified in soaring cathedral architecture!

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]]> By: BarbaraH https://ethicalnag.org/2012/07/12/paris-syndrome-florence-syndrome-jerusalem-syndrome/comment-page-1/#comment-39919 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:28:24 +0000 http://ethicalnag.org/?p=9431#comment-39919 Maybe it’s not the beauty of the artwork that’s actually affecting them. Maybe they’re exhausted from schlepping around all day. Maybe craning their heads back to see things that are up high makes them dizzy. Or maybe it suddenly hits them how puny their own accomplishments are in comparison to Michelangelo’s. Luckily I’ve been aware of how puny my own accomplishments have been since early childhood, so I’m in no danger of sudden medical-intervention-requiring epiphany.

By the way I’ve been reading your blog for a long time even though I’ve never commented before. I think it’s great and look forward to reading it whenever it appears in my inbox.

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