Adult circumcision - eidence of mental disorder???

[bendigoboi]

NB: That should be "evidence"

I doubt that it was really a necessary operation, but I'm also certain it's not the worst decision this guy has ever made:

'Anxiety' behind Rush circumcision
'Anxiety' behind Rush circumcision

TOM ALLARD, JAKARTA

May 12, 2010 THERE are grave concerns for the mental well-being of death row inmate and Bali nine member Scott Rush, as friends and family come to terms with his decision to be circumcised at an Islamic prayer room.
The circumcision occurred after a doctor was smuggled into Kerobokan prison on Friday by a group of Muslims and raised questions about Rush's religion.
Circumcision is commonly a part of a conversion ceremony although Rush told members of his prayer group who visited him yesterday that he remained a Christian.

But according to a former psychiatrist who was part of the group, the young Queenslander was ''anxious, thought disordered and confused''.
''He exhibited naivety and did not seem to realise the implications of what he had done,'' the former psychiatrist, who asked not to be identified, reported back to Rush's family and legal team.
''He is an anxious, lonely and terrified young man. He is trying to find understanding in a world that no longer makes sense.''
The former psychiatrist said Rush showed signs of ''death row phenomenon'', a mental malady that affects people under a death sentence, leading to ''perception disorder''.
Rush has been on death row for 2½ years for his role in the syndicate that tried to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin to Australia. His final legal appeal is due shortly.
According to Kerobokan's section head of rehabilitation, Anang Huzaini, Rush has prayed with Muslims at the jail and ''he did at one point tell me he had converted to Islam''.
Rush now maintains he undertook the circumcision - apparently performed with a laser - for ''health reasons'', Mr Huzaini said. But the jail has a clinic for such operations.
Mr Huzaini said he would ask the prison doctor on Friday to consider whether Rush needed outside psychiatric assistance.
With AMILIA ROSA

 

[wallaboi]

What's the worst decision...attempting to smugle a large amount of heroin (and ending up in a Balinese prison on death row) or choosing to get circumcised?

I'd say the first.

It seems Scott isn't the sharpest chisel in the toolbox and has been a drug abuser from an early age, but we can only speculate whether his current state of mind is disordered.

Choosing to get circumcised as an adult is not evidence of a mental disorder. Perhaps body modification is a distraction from execution, or maybe his choice of religion in the face of death is Islam.

I'm not really sure what this thread is about??? It's just sad that this young man has ended up in this bad situation.

 

[gaygent]

Not sure what the first poster was trying to say in putting this forward. If he is implying that this is evidence adult circumcision can cause mental health problems then that is not what the article is saying. It is reporting that a man on Death Row, with mental health issues possibly caused by the anxiety of being on Death Row, asked to be circumcised as part of the ritual to become a Muslim. However, the man is also saying he remains a Christian. The article is about the mans mental state not about his circumcision.

 

[bendigoboi]

I know that the article is about his mental health - it just seems that all of this recent concern appears to have emerged from his decision - for whatever reason - to become circumcised.
viz these sections from the article:

"THERE are grave concerns for the mental well-being of death row inmate and Bali nine member Scott Rush, as friends and family come to terms with his decision to be circumcised at an Islamic prayer room."

'''He exhibited naivety and did not seem to realise the implications of what he had done,'' the former psychiatrist, who asked not to be identified, reported back to Rush's family and legal team.'

The article seems to be fairly light on any consideration of whether reaching out to any particular religion is a rational act or not, but seems to treat the circumcision as being totally irrational, even seeming to mock the alternative justification....'Rush now maintains he undertook the circumcision - apparently performed with a laser - for ''health reasons'', Mr Huzaini said.'

Given where his life has taken him, I would have thought that there would be more questions about his rationality and state of mind arising from his decision to act as a drug courier from a country with an energetically applied death penalty for the crime.

After all, despite the vehement argument that the subject always raises on here and other boards, in the great scheme of things, the circumcision is not going to make much difference to Scottie's life - unless it is related to him finding some consolation in one brand of religion.

 

[gymfresh]

May 12, 2010 THERE are grave concerns for the mental well-being of death row inmate and Bali nine member Scott Rush, as friends and family come to terms with his decision to be circumcised at an Islamic prayer room.

But according to a former psychiatrist who was part of the group, the young Queenslander was ''anxious, thought disordered and confused''.
''He exhibited naivety and did not seem to realise the implications of what he had done,''

...

The former psychiatrist said Rush showed signs of ''death row phenomenon'', a mental malady that affects people under a death sentence, leading to ''perception disorder''.
Rush has been on death row for 2½ years for his role in the syndicate that tried to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin to Australia. His final legal appeal is due shortly.

...

Mr Huzaini said he would ask the prison doctor on Friday to consider whether Rush needed outside psychiatric assistance.
With AMILIA ROSA

I recently read an article about the Bali Nine. I'd never heard of them before.

It's easy to understand how 30 months on death row could make you crazy, and perhaps Rush's decision to get circumcised was a symptom of that stress. Of course, he got cut on 7 May without knowing his sentence would be reduced to life in prison just three days later, on 10 May 2010. I doubt his suspected conversion influenced the Indonesian Supreme Court justices in his favor, but who knows.

As for the way the thread title is worded, I'd have to say no. In this instance the urgent decision to be circumcised may have been a symptom of mental illness, but in general the decision of an adult to modify his own penis is not reliable evidence of a mental disorder. Whether it's rational to do it as an adult to please your invisible sky-god is an open question.

 

[SirConcis]

It is pretty clear to me that this inmate chose to join the islamic religion and to show his peers he was serious, he got circumcised.

I don't agree with organised religion. But if a guy is going to be stuck with a group of men for the rest of his life, fitting in will likely be quite important, and that means joining their religion.