WOS # 14 : Eccentrics: they live longer, happier and are odd! : David Weeks

Eccentrics: they live longer, happier and are odd! (interview with author David Weeks)(Interview)
From: Nutrition Health Review | Date: 1/1/1996

Q: What prompted you to make a scientific study of eccentricity??

A: Psychologists have undertaken exhaustive studies of every personality type and mental disorder under the sun, yet somehow we have completely overlooked eccentrics. And psychiatry, on the other hand, tends only to take an interest in those who seek treatment, and since eccentrics rarely do so, they have been overlooked. Eccentrics were to psychology what black holes once were to astronomy. I thought it might contribute something important to our understanding of the mind if we had a better understanding of the thought processes of those who regard themselves and who are regarded by others as eccentric.

Q: Can you give us a thumbnail description of the eccentric?

A: The eccentric is very creative and curious and has vivid visual imagination in the daytime and vivid dreams at night. Eccentrics are intelligent, opinionated, and frequently have a mischievous sense of humor. Many of them are loners, and they often have unorthodox living arrangements.

Q: For example?

A: We have several men who lived in caves. Women eccentrics tend to he obsessive collectors and renovators. One woman in our study has 7,500 garden gnomes on her lawn. Sarah Winchester, the widow of the man who made the rifle, kept adding to her house in San Jose until it had eight stories, 158 rooms (not counting the secret chambers), 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, and 48 fireplaces.

Q: You found in your study that eccentrics are happier and healthier than the rest of us. Why do you think that is so?

A: I believe that's true. We did meet a few gloomy eccentrics, but most of the subjects in our study had a refreshingly sunny outlook on life. There is also pretty solid proof that eccentrics are healthier than the norm. In Great Britain, where health care is free, the average person goes to the doctor twice a year, while eccentrics will typically go for eight or nine years without seeking medical help. It's not that they're avoiding doctors or don't believe in conventional medicine. They just don't need it much.

Q: How do you explain shot?

A: It's a combination of an optimistic outlook and low stress, due to the fact that eccentrics don't feel the need to conform. Eccentrics don't give a hoot what the rest of the world thinks of them; if someone makes-fun of them, instead of getting angry or embarrassed, they regard the other person as the one with a problem. In fact, eccentrics revel in the fact that they make people laugh. Another nice benefit is that they may have slightly higher levels of growth hormone, which can postpone some of the ailments associated with old age, such as osteoporosis and muscle atrophy.

Q: What makes a person an eccentric? After all, everyone has some unusual habits or traits.

A: Eccentricity is a choice. It's quite true that everyone has eccentric traits, but as we grow older, most of us learn to conform, to blend in -- the process we call socialization. But the eccentric says, "No, thank you," and chooses not to conform. Often it is triggered by an event in childhood, when the budding eccentric consciously makes -- the choice to be different from the other kids. It can even be something as simple as a name: a woman named Salome told us that when she was seven years old, "I made the decision that, having an unusual name, I was damn well going to be different."

Q: Under your definition, how many people qualify as true eccentrics?

A: Based upon our study, we found that approximately one person in 10,000 is a classic, full-time-eccentric. However, because this was the first scientific study of the subject, we put a 50 per cent margin of error on the figure. In ether words, it might be as common as one in 5,000, or as rare as one in 15,000.

Q: Are men or women more likely to be eccentric?

A: The incidence of eccentricity is about the same, but it manifests itself in different ways. Society has always been more tolerant of aberrant behavior in men than in women; if a man gets into a fight with a co-worker or goes off on a drinking spree, we might overlook it, but if a woman does the same thing it's considered scandalous. One female subject told us, "My moods were not permitted. First they were called premenstrual histrionics. Then they were called pre-menopausal histrionics." A woman sometimes becomes eccentric later in life, a phenomenon we call "flowering" or "blossoming." She conforms in her youth, marries and has children, but once the kids have left home, she leaves her husband and lets her eccentric, creative side take over. Today higher proportions of women, especially liberated women in the United States, are deciding to be eccentric -- and self-fulfilled.

Q: Dr. Weeks, are you eccentric?

A: I've been trying to get inside the minds and hearts of these extraordinary people for the past eleven years, to emphathize with them, to see the world from their unique perspective. If you do that seriously, some of their traits are bound to rub off on you. Emulating their unorthodox way of thinking can have terrific results. I have recently filed a patent application, a new one, which has actually been granted. Yet, I would say that I may have always been slightly eccentric, perhaps a little rebellious. However, I do admire the authentic, life-long eccentrics. I think we can all learn a lot from them about holding onto the dreams and curiosity we had as children.