The Mailer Review/Volume 4, 2010/Norman Mailer: From Orgone Accumulator to Cancer Protection for Schizophrenics: Difference between revisions

{{Byline |last=O'Neill Hooker |first=Maureen |abstract=Cancer is a recurring theme in Mailer’s fiction. He believed that malignancy begins with a single defective cell that attacks a healthy body from inside. Mailer believed that spontaneous action requires courage, a feeling synonymous with guts and bravery and audacity. He also believed that the failure to act, or the failure of a courageous attempt to act, causes cancer.|url=...}}

In fact, cancer is a recurring theme in Mailer’s fiction. He believed that

Later in the ''Mademoiselle'' interview, Mailer suggests that Americans no longer believe in their innate ability to rise to the demands of the moment. He associates their lack of confidence to a generation’s lack of courage and

no time for preparation and the outcome is uncertain. If an ax-wielding

madman chases you across a bridge and you throw yourself over the side in time to land on the deck of a passing barge, your courage has saved you. But the opportunity to jump existed in a flash of wild exhilaration and would have disappeared if you had hesitated for an instant to consider the impulse.

In 1974 Dr. Robert Ader, an experimental psychologist, gave lab rats sugar water and a nausea inducing drug called Cytoxin. As soon as the rats were conditioned to associate sweet water with a stomachache, the Cytoxin was

eliminated. Thereafter, the rats became sick when they drank plain sugar water. Dr. Ader watched and waited to determine how long it would take the rodents to forget that sweet water made them nauseous. In the second month, the rats surprised him by dying.

In 1981 it was Neurobiologist Dr. David Felten, (currently a Research and Medical Director at the Beaumont Hospital Research Institute and a former recipient of the MacArthur Foundation genius award), a leading researcher in mind-body medicine, who finally discovered the hardwired connection between the immune system and the central nervous system controlled by the brain. Although ideas of cellular structure and function had existed for some time, they could not be proven because it was impossible to observe submicroscopic compositions like viruses. Advances in technology, including the invention of the electron microscope, greatly expanded the verifiable. The Felten research team led the way in a new field named Psychoneuroimmunology, or PNI. Researchers used fluorescent stain to trace nerves from the brain to bone marrow, lymph nodes, and the spleen. They discovered a network of nerves leading to blood vessels as well as cells of the immune system. At last the connection was visible and scientific research had proven

In 1989 Dr. Michael Bishop and Dr. Harold Varmus won the Nobel Prize

In a ''Harvard Magazine'' article which included excerpts from his book that

would be published later that year, Dr. Bishop quotes Norman Mailer, a fellow

alumnus. He refers to Mailer’s “cancer trigger” theory with a quote from

Anne Harrington, the chair of the History of Science Department at Harvard, writes in her book, The Cure Within, that Mailer authorized his defense lawyers to develop the argument that if he had repressed his rage,

An estimated two million Americans have schizophrenia, a biological condition that affects a person’s ability to think clearly, distinguish reality from fantasy, manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others. The World Health Organization has identified schizophrenia as one of the ten most debilitating diseases affecting humans. The fact that those who suffer

mental illness protected them.

to make basic decisions about their development and their fate. She says,

<blockquote>“This is about basic decision making by cells—whether to multiply, move, or change their basic architecture. . . .Cancer and schizophrenia may be strange bedfellows that have similarities at the molecular level. The differences lie in how cells respond to external stimuli: in cancer the molecular system functions to

Dr. Daniel Weinberger of NIMH says, “It’s very curious that a brain disorder associated with very complicated human behavior has at a genetic and cellular level a striking overlap with cancer, a very non-behavior related disorder.

The most advanced research today is attempting to target cancer cells and

turn down their genetic instructions to multiply, invade, occupy, and overcome

it off. The human cell, with the infinite complexity of its ultramicroscopic

components, has been revealing its secrets to scientists who now envision

But what about Mailer’s belief that schizophrenia affords protection from

However, one fact must not be overlooked. Cancer is a disease of old age, and the mentally ill die earlier than the general population. In the article{{pg|449|450}}“Dying too Young; Cardiovascular Neglect of the Mentally Ill,” we learn that earlier studies of the mentally ill estimated their life spans to average 20% fewer years than the rest of the population. Recent figures vary from state to state, but are alarmingly higher. In Ohio schizophrenics average a loss of

thirty-two years of life. As a rule, they take poor care of themselves, have an unhealthy lifestyle, and suffer from metabolic syndrome (idle, overweight,

Mailer’s newly discovered handwritten hypothesis, which connects “impotent

emotion” and cancer, draws attention to the feeling we are most likely

to label “stress.” The bane of modern humankind, stress causes a myriad of

It is interesting that a Dissociative State (a term used in mental illness) can be a temporary condition that follows a period of high stress. It may involve a sudden disappearance which includes travel or wandering and sometimes the establishment of a new identity. The missing period is called a Fugue.

passion of his opinions.

===Works Cited===

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* {{cite journal |last=Ader |first=Dr. Robert |title=On the Clinical Relevance of Psychoneuroimmunology  |journal=Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology |volume=64.1 |date=1992|pages=6-8 |ref=harv }}

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