Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch.14 1st Impression Post: Mental Illness

This video really opened my eyes to Schizophrenia. I was never very sure what exactly what Schizophrenia was. I always pictured the voices in the victim’s heads be more like whispers and sound like the victim’s actual voice. I never really thought of the voices being loud, emotional tones, or convincing enough to the point where the victim let the voices control their behavior. I thought the voices for the victims were more annoying than convincing and the victim would surrender to the voices’ demands so they would stop speaking.

I didn’t think the hallucinations were so subtle to the point where they were realistic like when the pizza box said “poizon” instead of pizza. I thought video portrayed the voices of the victim to be parents or significant role models of the victim.

I always thought of traditional superhero villains when I thought of Schizophrenia. The Joker from Batman movies and cartoons comes to mind first. Then a video game character from Call of Duty, Alex Mason, also strikes my memory.

I always thought the Joker had schizophrenia because of his complex and dark personality. He always had schemes where’d he plan them to where they were organized, dark, and dramatic. I think one of the main pieces of the Joker’s persona which made me think he was Schizophrenic was his scary clown theme. Another reason why I thought he was Schizophrenic was because when he had the opportunity to kill Batman, he wouldn’t do it. The movies made this very apparent to the point where there wasn’t a doubt Batman survived just so they could keep making movies. I think the Joker like committing crimes and causing tyranny but he wouldn’t enjoy it as much if Batman was dead. It looked like the Joker enjoyed causing chaos like a sport and he enjoyed the challenging competition which Batman provided. The Joker’s thinking process was so unnatural which is why I believe he is a pop culture symbol for Schizophrenia.

The video wouldn’t any help to categorizing the Joker as a Schizophrenic. However, the list of symptoms defines the Joker as a victim of Schizophrenia. We know from the The Dark Knight, the Joker’s father suffered from it because his solution to making a sad young son happy was to carve the his face so the marks resembled a permanent smile. This means Schizophrenia was in the Joker’s genes. Then the dark thoughts and agitated body movement the Joker had in the movies confirmed he was a Schizophrenic.

The second portrayal of Schizophrenia I know comes from a video game character. Alex Mason from the Call of Duty had a different way the Schizophrenia manifested itself. He was on a mission to kill Castro but only ended assassinating Castro’s body double. He was captured by the Russians. One of the Russian generals brainwashed him. The general implanted numbers into Mason’s head. The Russians planned to Mason release back to the United States. When Mason got back to the US, he would use the numbers he was brainwashed with to activate Russian sleeper agents. The sleeper agents would then release a toxic and deadly gas called Nova 6. Even after the Russians’ plans were stopped, Mason continued to see and hear the numbers. They would still instruct him to do certain things.

Due to the voices in Mason’s head instructing to conduct certain actions and the hallucinations of numbers is why Alex Mason another pop culture symbol of Schizophrenia. Mason fits the video’s description of Schizophrenia very well because both characters had voices in their heads and hallucinations.

This assignment was definitely an eye opener to what Schizophrenia really is. I had no idea hallucinations could be so subtle before watching the video. I feel like I’ll have an easier time putting myself in Schizophrenic’s shoes if a situation occurs where I have to interact with a victim after completing this assignment.

Ch. 12 1st Impression Post: Social

I can remember a couple times where cognitive dissonance may have changed my beliefs. I believe it happens more than people think. I experienced cognitive dissonance when I first started weed whacking my home when I was a freshman in high school.

I refused to use safety glasses or goggles when I first weed whacked. I didn’t enjoy wearing any protection because I wasn’t used to wearing glasses. They always felt weird on my face. They always fogged up or impaired my vision from sweating on hot summer days. I didn’t wear ear protection either because earbuds become uncomfortable after sweating and I’d rather be able to hear when my weed whacker when the gas tank was approaching empty. I knew it was a safety hazard but I believed if I always whacked the weeds at a certain angle, projectiles would never hit me in the face s0 I would never need to use safety glasses. I continued this behavior for a few years.

My beliefs completely changed I got my first job as a groundskeeper at a local country club. My first day, I walked into the groundskeepers’ quarters. I noticed a man wearing an eye patch. Instead of being awkward and staring at it for the whole summer, I asked my older coworker what happened to his eye.

He said he was weed whacking around the boundaries of the country club. He wasn’t wearing any eye or ear protection. He ended hit a piece of rusted metal from a barb wire fence which removed years beforehand. This piece of metal went straight through his cornea and blinded him in his left eye for life.

He was unable to make to any sort of lawsuit or receive any compensation for the accident. This was because he removed his eye protection. He also seemed part deaf. It was probably from working around loud equipment for so long.

After talking to him, I always wear eye, and ear protection when weed whacking and working with loud equipment at all times. I even wear jeans and sometimes sleeves when weed whacking now.

Another instance which reinforced my neediness for eye protection is from a story my dad told me. He nearly blew my mind when he said he was welding an exhaust pipe without eye protection. I could see people not use eye protection while weed whacking but I could never fathom someone welding without a welders mask. My dad ended up having a liquid hot piece of metal fall off the exhaust pipe and hit him in the eye. He went to the emergency room even though he thought the debris was out of his eye.

The doctors told him the aluminum was so hot it was in liquid form. The reason why he thought it was gone because the metal melted into his eye. He vision in that eye was bad at first and he recovered. However, he will never be able to see out as well out his right eye again because the metal is still there. He can’t go through an MRI machine because the magnetism involved with the machine would cause the metal to erupt out of his eye.

After hearing those 2 stories from 2 different people and from hearing absolute horror stories from safety meetings, I will never hesitate to use eye protection for any semi-hazardous job I’ll have.

These 2 instances were very rare and serious but I would never want something similar to those 2 occurrences to happen to me. I rely heavily on my eyesight and hearing to play Call of Duty at a professional level so I would never jeopardize my hobby and possibly a career because I didn’t use proper safety precautions to do landscaping work.

Ch.13 First Impression Post

The first test was a Myers-Briggs test. I was a ISTP personality before I took this test again. The last time I took a Myers-Briggs test was 2 years ago. This time I was an INTP. I think this is because after 2 more years of college, I learned to have a more a universal view and have more of a environmental awareness rather than thinking subjectively.

The second test was another Myers-Briggs test. It only had 2 options for each question. The 2 options bothered me because I would be between the 2. For example, when I make decisions, I don’t either act impulsively or rely on past experiences. I feel I use both equally.

For the 3rd test, I was labeled barely an extrovert. In the other tests I was barely an introvert. I think it depends on how the questions are asked and the answers to choose from. For the second part, I was labeled as extremely emotionally stable. I could agree with it. I wasn’t always like that until a year ago. For part 3, I was labeled agreeable and friendly.For factor 4, I was seen as Conscientious so I am careful and diligent. For factor 5, I was labeled Intellect/Imagination so I’m open to experience. I agree with this test.

Then I took the Color test. To be honest, I thought this was ridiculous but it actually had me dead on. I was very shocked when I received my results. I don’t know why it was correct but I’m definitely curious about what everybody else’s reactions about this test will be.

I feel like all the tests were helpful in some way. I feel like as long as you answer them truthfully, you can learn a a lot about yourself or get reassurance on who you see yourself as.

Ch9: Experiences With Educators

I went to private school since preschool so maybe I could a different opinion on interactions with educators. The classes were always small so the teacher always knew your name. I never had a elementary school or middle class with over 20 students.

I always noticed the teachers who were always best in terms of having a well behaved class and a decent learning experience were always the ones who knew they had to earn your respect and showed empathy. The teachers who were down to earth and didn’t act like dictators always had the best results. They didn’t have a ton of homework or busy work just to show their superior they had a ton of stuff in their lesson plan.

These teachers had tests which seemed easier. I feel like they would take the pressure off you for tests because they had you prepared for tests. When the pressure is off, I feel like the material is easier to learn because you either want to learn it or its just easy to pick up the concepts because the teacher took into account for more learning styles. When they used powerpoint and had entertaining videos, it was always easier to learn.

My best way of learning is when I can do activities with my hands. I like being able to take something apart and put it back together to see how everything works. I think I learn best this way because every male on my father’s side was the same way. We are all mechanics.

Visual learning was my second best way of learning so videos always helped me best. I could sit through six months of lectures and not learn anything but I could watch a History Channel or Discovery Channel marathon on a subject and be an expert in it.

The worst teachers were the ones who acted like your boss. They always seemed structured and always taught one way. They were usually older and didn’t care. They just needed to show up so they get their pension. The worst teacher I ever had was probably taking algebra with my principle as the teacher. She did whatever she wanted because she was untouchable. She always had a lot of homework and it seemed so overwhelming to the point where I wouldn’t want to do it because it was more than enough work.

If I were to recommend to changes to the school system, I would make restrictions where nobody can teach for over 20 years unless you have an excellent rating with students and peers. However when your finished teaching for 20 years, you get a pension with 33.3% student loans paid off by the state government.

Is Stress a Good Thing?

I watched a TED talk from Kelly McGonigal called “Making Stress Your Friend.” I didn’t really believe the study she brought up. I believe one of the statistics was if one of the participants believed stress was bad for their health and was moderately to severely stressed, then they had an increased 43% of dying the next year. I believe a survey size of 30,000 is not large enough to be preaching numbers like this.

Then she talked about what out body does to react to stress. The body releases oxytocin which is also called the “cuddle hormone.” The heart contracts blood vessels while stressed. When your stressed, you begin to breath quicker and your heart pumps harder. This is why stress is linked to cardiovascular disease.

This seems like a lot of doom and gloom. However, it can all change if you think of stress as a good think. McGonigal said if you view stress positively, you won’t have compressed blood vessels and your heart will continue to beat harder which is good for cardiovascular health. Stress also helps to you to reach out to people you care about and seek support which is caused when oxytocin is released. Oxytocin helps with stress resilience and helps heart cells regenerate. She even said snorting oxytocin would be great for everyone.

I think this a great video to show someone who is in the middle of a slump. It’s inspiring and its supported with science. I wouldn’t believe everything she said about the studies but everything else seemed pretty legit to me.

I already implement this into my life. I played sports all my life and always got burst of energy when the enemy team or crowd was booing or talking smack. I take it as a challenge and I always seemed to play better when my back was against the wall or there was money on the line.

Pressure makes me perform better. That’s probably why I’ve always been an extreme procrastinator.

Emotional Intelligence Quiz

I took the Greater Good Intelligence Quiz. I got an 18/20 on the quiz. The test had 20 pictures of people making different facial expressions. I had to choose which emotion these people were expressing.

The 2 emotions I had problems with were anger and pain. I think I mixed them both up because most of the time, I feel like people are angry because they got hurt physically like if they stubbed their toe or hit their head off the kitchen counter. Both facial expressions looked similar because both emotions have similar micro-expressions occurring at the same time. Every other emotion was very easy to answer.

The test isn’t very credible. I feel like every interpretation of someone’s emotions requires more situational awareness. There were no audio cues so you couldn’t tell the tone of the person’s voice. You couldn’t see what their hands or body were doing except for the embarrassment emotion.

I already use this information in daily life. This might have been useful 15 years ago. I have 2 Tiger Parents so I need to know exactly how their feeling so I know when or if I can engage them about something. I can tell how their feeling by the sound of them opening a door or how they go up stairs.

I see emotional intelligence being more important than normal IQ. You can be the smartest person in the room, but if you don’t know how to properly communicate with people or express your emotions properly, then how successful could you ever be?

Why Do We Sleep?

The first prominent theory is for restoration of the brain. This has been a rising and dying fad throughout time. This theory is making a resurgence because new studies are suggesting specific genes only activate during sleep. These genes help with restoration and metabolic pathways

The second theory is energy conservation. The idea behind this theory is when we sleep, we save calories. However, if you compare someone who slept all night with someone who stayed up all night with limited movement, the difference is only 110 calories. This theory is much less credible due to the small difference in calories saved.

The last theory advocates for brain function. It suggests we sleep for brain processing and memory consolidation because when you sleep after learning a task, you are much more likely to learn and remember the information. You also have more creativity after sleeping on information so you are more likely to come up with simple solutions to complex problems. The more important synaptic connections are strengthened after a good night’s rest.

I believe the 1st and 3rd theories are the same. I feel like the 3rd theory gets more into detail about what the 1st theory does. If you combine both theories it would be, “We sleep to restore brain processes and memory consolidation.”

I think sleeping is like checking email. When we sleep, we’re checking all the important emails from work or staying up to date with our fields of study from newsletters we receive. Then we clean out the junk mail and delete it because memes and dad jokes aren’t important and don’t need to be stored in our hard drives.

Then we wake up in the morning. We go through our daily routine. Then we check our email again.

Not All Memories Created Equal

I always wondered why it was so easy to remember a song or funny joke rather than some information I for a class. I have several different theories about this.

At least for me, I always seemed to remember things when I needed to know them. I always remember I thought was important. I have almost perfect memory when it comes to do with my hobbies or in a serious moment. I would be able to remember how to take apart an engine after doing it one time but remembering algebraic equations or the ATP cycle would take an eternity for me to learn because I don’t see those pieces of information as important or I don’t seeing myself using those pieces of information in everyday life.

Another theory I have about memory is when your trying to remember something which involves all 5 senses, taste, touch, hearing, sight, and smell. It maybe because of my adhd but I’m unsure.

I think everyone can remember where they were when they heard about 911 because I think most of their peers asked them the same question for a month after it occurred so it was well ingrained into their heads.

I think we can study powerful memories by asking people about 911 while in an FMRI machine. Then we could ask them what they had for breakfast last week. We could view what parts of the brain are activated during a powerful memory and short term memory.

Violence in Video Games

My perspective on violent video games will be slightly biased. I’m on the verge of playing Call of Duty as a career so I think I could offer a unique opinion on the subject.

From my perspective, video games have always offered me an escape from life. I have had extremely strict parents. I was never allowed to go out as a kid. Nowadays, I’m still required to go through a 15 minute interview with each parent before I go anywhere. Most days I can’t put up with it so I lock myself in my room and I take my anger and frustration out on the game.

I’ve met many people and made many friends throughout the course of my e-sports career. They all play video games for similar reasons as me. Some play to stay out of trouble. Some play because they’re severely injured or have some sort of medical or mental problem so they can’t function normally in society. Some have lost everything and games are all they have left.

I don’t believe video games make people violent. If anything, they keep people from committing violent acts because they can get the violent vibes out of their system by playing video games.

I think its ludicrous people are calling for the banning of video games. These games have changed in recent years. For example, in Call of Duty, much more teamwork, communication, and self sacrifice is required in order to win consistently. Players need to learn to communicate efficiently. A much quicker reaction time is required now so this would help people when driving or when quick decision needs to be made. These games are helping children with poor eye sight have better cognitive recognition and better peripheral vision.

I think video games have helped many more people than they have hurt.