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conference
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.com
Volume 6, Issue 6 (Suppl)
OMICS J Radiol, an open access journal
ISSN: 2167-7964
Neuroradiology 2017
October 30 to November 01, 2017
October 30 to November 01, 2017 | San Antonio, USA
2
nd
International Conference on
Neuroscience, Neuroimaging & Interventional Radiology
Yacov Rofé
Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel
Yacov Rofé, OMICS J Radiol 2017, 6:6, (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2167-7964-C1-017
Psycho-bizarreness: The intuitive rational-choice theory of madness
T
he book,
The Intuitive Rational-Choice Theory: Schizophrenia, Criminal Inanity & Neuroses,
presents a new theory
which explains the development and treatment of schizophrenia and criminal insanity as rational coping mechanisms.
Based on the strong relationships between schizophrenia and neurological impairments, medical models took for granted
that all cases of schizophrenia result from neurological impairments, even when there was no evidence, as in the case the
Unabomber and John Nash. The new theory, termed also Psych-Bizarreness Theory, demonstrates that it can explain all cases
of schizophrenia, regardless whether they suffer from neurological damages or not, as well as criminal insanity and neurotic
disorders, by conscious-rational terms. According to the new theory, when individuals are confronted with extreme levels
of stress, irrespective of whether the source of the stress is neurological or environmental, their behavioral options become
limited: They can commit suicide, develop a drug abuse, use aggression to eliminate the stressor, or intuitively choose certain
mad/bizarre behaviors diagnosed by five empirical criteria (Rofé, 2000, 2016), that suite their coping demands. Madness is
seen primarily as a repressive coping mechanism, which individuals intuitively choose when confronted with unbearable levels
of stress. Thus, contrary to psychoanalysis, madness causes repression rather than visa versa. The choice of a specific mad
behavior is determined by the same three principles which guide the consumer's decision-making process when purchasing a
certain product. The major principal is the need controllability: The specific mad behavior must increase the patient's ability
to exercise control over the stressor and\or provide certain desired privileges. The second guiding principle is availability: The
choice of the specific symptom is affected by various channels of information, such as the media, personal experiences, genetic
predispositions, family and peers that increase the saliency of certain suitable behaviors. The third principle is cost-benefit
analysis: The mad behavior is chosen only if the individual intuitively feels that it will reduce the level of his or her emotional
distress. Although the decision to implement the intuitive/unconscious choice is conscious, patients become unaware of the
Knowledge of Self-Involvement (KSI) through a variety of cognitive processes that disrupt the encoding of this knowledge
and a number of memory inhibiting mechanisms that cause its forgetfulness. Subsequently, utilizing their socially internalized
beliefs regarding the causes of psychological disorders, patients develop a self-deceptive belief which attributes the cause
of their symptoms to factors beyond their conscious control. The new theory proved its ability to integrate all therapeutic
methods pertaining to neurosis into one theoretical framework, explaining all data relevant to the development and treatment
of conversion disorder, including neurological findings, which seemingly support the medical explanation of this disorder, and
resolves the theoretical confusion regarding the explanation of phobia by distinguishing between bizarre (e.g., agoraphobia and
chocolate phobia) and non-bizarre phobia, such as dog phobia. Robert Aumann, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, noted
in a letter of recommendation to publishers of the present book (2017), Rofé's theory is as "revolutionary as it sounds, fits well
into the frameworks of economics, game theory, and evolution".
Biography
Yacov Rofé is a Professor of Psychology and former Chair of the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. He
taught for the Department of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and was a visiting Professor at Rutgers Medical School in New Jersey.
He has published many articles in leading academic journals of Psychology, including a theory entitled “Stress and Affiliation: a Utility Theory”, published by Psy-
chological Review in 1984. An additional influential article, published in Review of General Psychology, 2008, is a review that refutes the existence of repression
and the Freudian Unconscious.
Jacov.Rofe@biu.ac.il