Vultology, Depression & the Flat Affect
Jun 12, 2017 22:27:28 GMT -5 by Auburn
Alerith, mikesilb, and 4 more like this
Post by Auburn on Jun 12, 2017 22:27:28 GMT -5
Rising out of Alerith 's thread, and as an elaboration of the core conclusions found therein, this thread is dedicated to the "flat affect" signal.
The above image is of Aviv Geffen, who suffers from strong depression. The left side image was photo-manipulated to approximate the difference between non-affected and affected, for the sake of comparison.
It would appear that this signal can accurately identify at least the most severe cases of mental illness. The absence of the signal may not discount the possibility of illness, but the presence of it very positively identifies it. It's composed of:
The signal is essentially no different from Ekman's signal of sadness. Except it is not a momentary expression, but a longstanding feature of a person's countenance. This is not the first observation of this trait, as it's been observed that people with schizophrenia show limited capacity to express the Ekman signal of happiness, while their face is perpetually in the expression of sorrow.
Psychology
I'd venture to speculate this signal correlates to trait Neuroticism via the Big Five, as well as a strong/unhealthy presence of any core enneagram type. Which, so far as I know, are different ways of describing the same thing. One article describes it as:
Those high in neuroticism are more easily upset, are prone to negative emotions, have a sensitivity to negative emotions, have a low stress tolerance and can be volatile.
Why is this useful?
The presence of mental illness can greatly interfere with a reading. Not only does it alter a person's countenance, but also the degree of animation of their body. As quoted above, it leads to a lower dynamic emotional range overall.
Factoring this signal into readings will greatly increase our accuracy in understanding others, the present state of their psychology and what their underlying type may truly be.
The above image is of Aviv Geffen, who suffers from strong depression. The left side image was photo-manipulated to approximate the difference between non-affected and affected, for the sake of comparison.
It would appear that this signal can accurately identify at least the most severe cases of mental illness. The absence of the signal may not discount the possibility of illness, but the presence of it very positively identifies it. It's composed of:
- A heaviness falling over the eyes/brow, distinct from Pi/Ni/Si. While Ni's signal looks cunning, and retains an animation to the eyes, in the flat affect the eyes lose all magic or life.
- The corners of the lips are continually being pulled downward, and the cheeks also experience some atrophy.
- Talking often comes out as mumbling, as the mouth's animation is constricted.
The signal is essentially no different from Ekman's signal of sadness. Except it is not a momentary expression, but a longstanding feature of a person's countenance. This is not the first observation of this trait, as it's been observed that people with schizophrenia show limited capacity to express the Ekman signal of happiness, while their face is perpetually in the expression of sorrow.
...using the Ekman FACS.6,8 Both patient groups (schizophrenic and depressed patients) exhibited less spontaneous facial expression of emotion than healthy people and, compared with the schizophrenic patients, depressed patients showed a greater deficit. A discrepancy between minimal facial expression of sorrow and an intense subjective feeling of sorrow was found in depressed patients
Psychology
I'd venture to speculate this signal correlates to trait Neuroticism via the Big Five, as well as a strong/unhealthy presence of any core enneagram type. Which, so far as I know, are different ways of describing the same thing. One article describes it as:
- Experience a lot of stress
- Worry about many different things
- Get upset easily
- Experience dramatic shifts in mood
- Feel anxious
- Feel sad or depressed
Those high in neuroticism are more easily upset, are prone to negative emotions, have a sensitivity to negative emotions, have a low stress tolerance and can be volatile.
Why is this useful?
The presence of mental illness can greatly interfere with a reading. Not only does it alter a person's countenance, but also the degree of animation of their body. As quoted above, it leads to a lower dynamic emotional range overall.
- Depression can make an extrovert appear more introverted. If a person shows the flat affect, their true type is probably much more animated. So if someone looks on the fence between FiNe and NeFi, with the affect, they're quite probably NeFi.
- If the mental condition is one of numbness/apathy, it can make a high-F user appear high-T. So we mustn't conflate a disassociation from one's own emotions with T-priority.
- Inversely it can make a high-T type appear uncharacteristically affected by emotions. So we mustn't conflate emotional amplitude with ethical priority.
Factoring this signal into readings will greatly increase our accuracy in understanding others, the present state of their psychology and what their underlying type may truly be.