Psychology Facts

Living Well With Acne

2009-04-04T09:45:00.006+08:00

Ideal skin has a smooth, even complexion with no obvious pores; it is also supple and winkle free. But this ideal skin exists only on the covers of magazines, where exceedingly think airbrushed models tease us into believing that such goals are truly attainable when in reality they are only fragments of our collective imagination and marketing agency talents.

We all strive for smooth and flawless skin -- the perfect skin. It defines beauty, exudes confidence, and implies success. However acne is an obstacle to beautiful skin. It distorts the otherwise smooth contour; leaves the skin red, bumpy, and uneven in tone; and leaves behind scars that can last a lifetime. It makes people feel embarrassed and self-conscious. It creates a barrier between the beauty within and the face that we put forward. Luckily there is good news -- if treated and appropriately, it can be controlled so that the negative impact is minimized or ideally erased.

Acne is a condition of the skin that is more than just about how we look. It can also be a sign of, or be made worse by, hormonal disturbances, stress, medications, and other factors. The scarring that can result from even mild acne can last a lifetime and serves as a painful reminder of the acne that was.

Acne occurs most commonly after puberty and affects adolescents and young adults. However, it can also occur during infancy, and even in adulthood. Although its appearance may vary at different ages, the basic lesions of comedones, inflamed papules, and pustules remain the same. It can be a debilitating, scarring, disfiguring condition that can affect anyone of any age, gender or ethnicity at any time. Many myths about acne also exist that make it difficult for some people to manage and understand their condition.

It is very important to understand that acne has several underlying causes and there are many options available in the market. Whether you currently have acne, have phantom acne, or are living with the physical and emotional scars from acne, the solution to the problem of acne involves a dual approach. While learning to better manage your acne, your other job is to learn how to live your life well and in a meaningful way. Fill your life with positive thoughts. Give your life more emotional freedom and happiness; diminish your tendencies toward self-deprecation, anxiety and unnecessary sadness. Positive thoughts and feelings coupled with increased energy can enhance your ability to enjoy life, feel more positive emotions, think more clearly, focus better, laugh more, and live better.

Accept yourself. You can win the skin game. Winning does not mean attaining the perfect, flawless skin. Perfect skin does not exist in this world. Perfection does not exist in reality. Perfection is an illusion. Achieving and maintaining perfection is impossible and the emotional price is unaffordable. To be 'perfect people' are miserable and exhausting. They are resentful of others who define them by their perfection and demand that they always live the part. Most movie stars and supermodels eventually burn out, and many turn to alcohol and drugs to alleviate the stress and pain associated with maintaining their supposed perfection. They pay the emotional and physical toll of living in a society that refuses to allow them human flaws.

Real human beings, like you and me, have imperfect skin with blemishes, blood vessels, dark and light spots, rough texture, visible pores, oil spots, and unwanted hairs. You can view these imperfections not as an affliction but as a blessing in disguise. As a real living person, you are a wonderfully imperfect being. It is not necessary to live imprisoned by the false illusions portrayed in the media. You can simply strive for good skin, good heart, and good soul. Remember that acne treatment and healing is not an overnight process. Various acne treatments and acne solution are available, such as lasers, intense pulse lights, photodynamic therapy, and new medications. Skincare products or Acne product like cleansers, spot gels, clearing gels, alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), beta hydroxy acids (BHAs), botanicals, etc are easily available. With modern medicine, acne can be effectively treated. Don't worry, be happy. Spend your time wisely, stop dwelling on self-pity and dejection because of your acne problem. Take part in various activities, have an active and healthy lifestyle.

Alzheimer's Disease

2009-04-02T18:22:00.010+08:00

Picture of the brain areas: It is the cortex that makes us human -- our ability to plan, calculate, imagine and create. When the cortex of the brain function normally, it creates a person, someone with a particular pattern of feelings, beliefs, reactions and thoughts, and these transcend the purely physical. A working cortex produces an individual pattern of emotion, aspiration and experience that defines the character and the personality. Unfortunately, it is the cortex, this brain-cell layer half an inch(1.25cm) thick on the surface of the brain, that is most affected by Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease, or more accurately, a group of disorders that results in impaired memory, thinking and behaviour. It afflicts approximately 4 million Americans and as many as 15 million people worldwide. Research has also shown that Alzheimer's disease is more prevalent among women than among men, and this prevalence increases with age.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, which is not a disease itself but rather a group of symptoms that involve a loss of intellectual function severe enough to interfere with daily activities. Formerly called senility, dementia was once thought to be a normal and almost inevitable accompaniment of aging. Today many doctors and researchers believe that dementia occurs in the elderly only when they are afflicted with specific diseases or disorders. Some of these disorders include nutritional deficiencies, drug reactions, depression, thyroid disorders, and alcoholism. The dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease cannot be reversed, and this ultimately results in a loss of the ability to care for oneself.

The average person with Alzheimer's lives about 8 years beyond the time of the initial diagnosis, with some people living 20 years or more. However long the survival time, symptoms continue to worsen over the years, and the patient becomes increasingly susceptible to infections and other illness, which are often the direct cause of death.

Unlike various kinds of normal age-related memory impairment, the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease worsen over the years. The person with Alzheimer's disease soon cannot manage their daily work and social life. In addition to forgetfulness, the patient have problems with reasoning and judgment, as well as mood and behavioural changes.

Just how quickly the disease progresses can vary considerably from one person to the next. In the early stages, the patient may have trouble finding the right word, take longer to react, experience short-term memory loss, and have difficulties making mathematical calculations. She may or may not be aware that she has a problem handling these and other routine tasks. As the disease progress, the patient will have increasing difficulties with understanding and self-expression, and will exhibit marked disorientation, behavioural changes, repetitive actions, and impaired judgment. The patient will often seem lethargic and cold emotionally, having little memory of the recent past and not recognizing familiar people while still retaining a clear memory of distant times. In the final stage of the disease, the patient with Alzheimer's requires 24-hour care. She is apathetic, unaware of her state of cleanliness or dress, unable to communicate, and incontinent. She has little memory, either short-term or long-term. Eventually, many patients will assume a fetal position and gradually shut down their entire mind and body.

Currently there are no treatments available to cure or reverse the dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease. However, some of the symptoms of Alzhemier's -- including depression, insomnia and behavioural disturbances, can be managed with medications. Eating a balanced diet, getting proper health care, and engaging in regular physical exercise and social activity can make the condition more bearable.

Caring for your beloved with Alzheimer's disease is not an easy task. The utmost concern of the caregiver is keeping their loved ones safe. For example, some people with Alzheimer's disease can become feeble to the point of being at serious risk for falls. Every person with Alzheimer's disease is different, and the stage of your loved one's illness also is an important factor. However, it is always wise to take the necessary precautions to prevent any accidents from happening.

The home is where most accidents would happen, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. Keep all potentially dangerous utensils and appliances out of reach or under lock and key. Most falls occur in the bathroom than any other room of the house, so make sure all rugs and mats have slip-resistant backings, and consider having handrails or medical alarm installed. Medical Alarm can detect any falls at home -- so you can have peace of mind when you are at work. Also be sure to keep all potentially dangerous medications out of reach and switch off the heater when not in use.

Wandering is also very common in Alzheimer's disease. Random wandering occurs when a person moves about and does not know where he or she is going. In a secure area, this is not a problem. However, when people wander out in the street or in a hospital ward, they may cause problems for themselves and others. Thus it is advisable to have the Alzheimer patient to carry identification whenever possible, or better still, encourage them to wear medical alert bracelet inscribed "Memory Loss" or "Alzheimer's". The foremost consideration for managing the problem is always the person's safety. For more information about medical alarm, please refer to BrickHouse Security.

Psychological Effects of Acne

2009-04-01T20:58:00.001+08:00

No single disease causes more psychological trauma, maladjustment between parents and children, insecurity, feelings of inferiority, and mental suffering than acne.

Quality of life is defined as the burden of disease in terms of impairment of the patient's day-to-day life as well as burden to society. Acne affects the four key dimensions of a patient's life, which are closely interelated: psychological, social, occupational, and physical.

Acne patients are often conscious of their condition -- they tend to be unhappy and frustrated about their appearance, and may consequently become depressed. Sometimes, they can become so distressed that even routine daily activities are affected. one patient was so conscious of a particularly big pimple on her nose that she locked herself up in her room, refused to go to school, and did not even want to see her family members, who lived in the same house! Acne sufferers often think that people judge them primarily on external appearance, and may be unwilling to go for job interviews, convinced that employers will have a poor first visual impression and think that they are unable to do the job effectively.

Acne patients feel that their relationships with friends, especially new acquaintances, are affected. They may be uncomfortable even interacting with family members, and tend to withdraw from people and social activities. They often hide themselves in their room and avoid going out when they have a breakout. Outings, if any, tend to be solitary; they usually avoid crowded places.

Preoccupation with self-image may also take its toll on patients' daily activities and pursuits. For teenagers, concentration is affected and they may neglect their schoolwork, resulting in falling grades. For adults, work performance may also be similarly affected.

Whether to treat acne at all and even how to treat acne are very personal decisions. Some people are devastated by one lesion, others can have many lesions and barely even notice. Larger acne lesions such as inflamed nodules and cysts may hurt and sometimes bleed and discharge pus; this may impose certain limitations on the patient's physical activities. Topical treatments are the mainstay of acne treatments. They are used alone or in combination with oral medications to treat and control acne breakouts.

Acne is divided into three basic categories from mild to severe depending on the number of pimples and the amount of scarring:
1. Mild - nonscarring, fewer than 10 lesions;
2. Moderate - may scar, more than 10 lesions; and
3. Severe - cystic, nodulocystic, scarring.

If you get only one new acne lesion of any type per month but each lesion leaves behind a scar, this would make 12 new scars each year. In this case, it would be wise to treat the acne in order to prevent as many new lesions as possible and to help the ones that do appear to clear as quickly as possible in order to minimize the chance of permanent scarring.

It is also important to remember to avoid picking at or squeezing lesions. Do not pick. Picking at acne lesions or scars leads to a longer duration of lesions and a higher chance of permanent scarring as well as increased pain at the site.

Despite not being life-threatening, acne has a significant psychosocial impact on sufferers. Even mild to moderate acne can cause severe psychological distress, and affect the body image. Psychological morbidity -- low self-esteem, social withdrawal, frustration, anxiety, anger, depression, and suicidal thoughts -- may develop as a result of acne or its residual scars.

Getting our skin to look good and keeping it that way have become a multibillion dollar per year industry, and it affects us to our deepest core. Virtually hundreds of thousands of acne products are available that claim to be the latest, newest, and best product to give you flawless skin that will change your life overnight -- for example, Resurgence. Acne products are often available in washes (Acne Body Wash), solutions, gels, lotions, creams, and ointment formulations. We are always looking for the newest, secret, magical ingredient that will clear any problems in our skin, real or imagined, from acne to wrinkles, and give us that 'glow' that signals health, beauty, youth and success!

Male Erectile Disorder

2008-06-24T20:26:00.000+08:00

Inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for successful sexual intercourse was formerly called impotence. It is now known as male erectile disorder or erectile insufficiency. In lifelong erectile disorder, a man has never been able to sustain an erection long enough to accomplish a satisfactory duration of penetration. Lifelong insufficiency is a relatively rare disorder, but it has been estimated that half or more of the male population has had some experiences of erectile insufficiency on at least a temporary basis.

It is believed that erectile dysfunction is primarily a function of anxiety about sexual performance. It is also a common consequence of aging. Prolonged or permanent erectile disorder before the age of 60 is relatively rare. One study found that more than half of married men over 70 had some erectile difficulties.

Increased erectile dysfunction with age, and erectile disorder in general, are increasingly viewed as medical rather than pyschological problems. The most frequent cause of erectile disorder in older men is vascular disease, resulting in decreased blood flow to the penis or in diminished ability of the penis to hold blood to maintain an erection. Thus, hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, and other diseases causing vascular problems are often causes of erectile disorder. Diseases that affect the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, can also cause erectile problems.

A variety of treatment have been employed in recent years to correct erectile dysfunction. These include drugs such as yohimbine, injections of smooth muscle relaxing drugs into the penile erection chambers and even a vacuum pump. In extreme cases, penile implants may be used. These devices can be inflated to provide erection on demand. They are made of silicone rubber or polyurethane rubber.

There has been immense public interest in the new drug Viagra which works by facilitating nitric oxide, the primary neurotransmitter involved in penile erection. Viagra is taken orally, at least one hour before sexual activity. Unlike some other biological treatments for erectile dysfunction, Viagra promotes erection only if sexual desire is present. In a study, over 70% of men receiving Viagra reported that their erections had improved. Viagra may be the most commercially successful drug ever marketed. Click here for more information on how you can Recover your virility and manhood with Viagra at canadadrugspills.com!

Heart Problems

2008-06-20T23:38:00.000+08:00

This is Jesus. His Heart is transpierced and provoked by numerous sins of this world. Yet his heart showed love till the very end, even to His enemies...

The heart is really a super organ, able to pump blood to all parts of the body, without the need of you to think about it. Everyday, every moment and every seconds, your heart is pumping blood to all the cells of your body, supplying oxygen and all nutritional needs to your cells.

It is such a miraculous organ which function effectively not only through proper nutrients, but also our emotional part as well. How many times do we feel our heart being pierced and poked with pain when someone betrayed us and hurt us? Our heart can help us to choose various paths of life when we get hurt in our life. We can choose to forgive or let go or choose another alternative path. All these, the way we lead our life depends on the capacity of our heart. What is the capacity of your heart, how big it is, in turns depend on the mind of the person.

God made us in the image like himself, making the first man Adam and woman, Eve. Because of the first sin which they had made, sins had been passed down to us. Soon, Jesus was born, given to this earth to die on the cross for the sins of this world. He loved the world so much. He knew everything about us and the sins of the world. His heart is filled with love and passion, so much so that he had no fear, he was full of bravery and courage. His death on the cross was his holy and sacred heart, filled with unlimited passion and love for mankind.

Problems of the heart will be solved through the truth of the heart. The truth of the heart is the heart that clicked...

The Pump Room was where I worked. I was a Trainee Perfusionist then at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. That was my first official full-time and permanent job after my graduation. I saw many Open-heart surgery like mitral valve surgery, CABG, aortic valve surgery and so on. Most were successful heart surgeries, but some were not so fortunate. I got to see the real heart anatomically and I also see the real heart of people as contrast to their faces. I got to see what was shown differently from TV Shows too. I got to see famous doctors, rich surgeons and many faces of the people in the operating theatres... Anyway, lots of things to shared but not possible to finish everything within one post. Just a word about surgical treatment of valvular disease. Maryland Heart Center contains information about mitral valve repair, including interesting topics like History of Mitral Valve Repair, Mitral Valve Repair Rates and Mitral Valve Disorders and even Patient Success Stories and many more!

Normal or Abnormal

2008-06-18T16:30:00.001+08:00

Old people always like to perm their hair -- just like this picture above. My paternal grandmother. She always went to Blk 176 Boon Lay Drive, one of the hair salon there to perm her hair and wash her hair. My grandmother often came to our house. She always wanted to ask my father for money. Then at our home, she would always like to wash her feet in our bathroom. She always washed her hands and she always like to ask my sister to wash her hair and cut her finger nails.

These were what I saw. What I heard about her was that she was 'siao' (crazy, mental illness) and always asking people for money. Almost the whole of Boon Lay people knew her. At my neighbourhood, my block, 169 and 170, she was 'well-known'. People would avoid her (if I am not wrong), and 'scare' of her.

When I was young, many times my grandmother came knocking at our door, but my father said,"don't open the door". We would look at the small eye-piece at the door before we opened the door. My grandmother had a 'characteristic' knocking door sound. We would know its her by the knock of the door. I could not remember how many times, but there were times where we did not open the door(as instructed), and she kept knocking and after that, finally walked away...

Is she really 'crazy' and perhaps suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder, from what I saw? I would tell you more about her, from what I know, and you will see that everybody is born 'special' -- normal or abnormal, it is not for you to judge. Normal or abnormal, the person know himself/herself best. What is normal and what is abnormal? She could walk home herself, she knew how to walk to the hair salon, she knew how to go to the church and she knew how to come to our house. She even knew all her children and her husband.

She looked perfectly fine and she was perfectly energetic everytime I saw her. There was hardly any time or I never knew of anytime she was sick or hospitalized where we need to visit her in her home or hospital. However, during my junior college days, she was 'gone' forever. I heard she slept and never woke up anymore. No words left for anyone. It was a normal day she went to sleep and it was the husband who discovered her 'cold' body in the next morning. It was such a sudden news.

Our life is so fragile, anytime you will 'breath your last'. Life is a special gift from God, our creator. We must treasure our life, because to end our life and not treasure it is a sin. To go to hell is suffering, even more suffering than to live. In order to live our life wisely, we need to work and spend our money wisely. Having Health Insurance Plans can help to save on medical expenses. E Health Help has been guiding people through the healthcare maze since 1999. Search for affordable health insurance and you can apply online in minutes. Getting a health insurance quote from one of the healthcare industry's leading insurance providers only takes a minute at eHealthHelp.com!

Everyone is born different. Normal or abnormal? I had seen people around me, and personally me; there are 'weird' people around, but surely they served some purpose on earth.... just like my grandmother...

Perfectionism

2008-06-16T14:37:00.000+08:00

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In ethics and value theory, perfectionism is the persistence of will in obtaining the optimal quality of spiritual, mental, physical, and material being.

Perfectionism may manifest itself in excessive attention to minor details. It can be defined as a personality trait characterized by a compulsive effort to eliminate all flaws and blemishes from one's behaviour and the products of that behaviour. If perfectionism is chronic and excessive, then the individual is said to suffer from an obsessive compulsive personality disorder. In this personality disorder, there is neither blatant irrational ideas or magic rituals.

Signs and Symptoms associated with perfectionistic tendencies or an obsessive compulsive personality disorder include:

Emotional isolation
Inflexibility and rigidity
A tense, 'uptight' attitude toward life
Excessive attention to minor details
Miserliness
Abandonment of personal projects
A desire for complete personal effectiveness and competence

The face and the colour of our skin is what makes us different from one another. It is the appearance and the external look of you which determine the 'fate of you'. Many people judge people according to their appearance. Many men want to have a pretty women when it comes to looking for a partner in their lives. This is equally so for some women. Because so many people judge according to appearance, many men and women have always been 'troubled' by their appearance. They want to have a face that looks perfect. Many men and women want to have perfect skin, the skin that appear soft, fair and flawless, with no painful pimples and acne. Acne is a complex condition that involves many parts of the body even though it shows up as only eruptions on the face and else where on your skin. It is a signal that you have problems elsewhere deep within your body. Acne can be caused by a toxic colon, poor digestion of food, weak liver and other conditions that cause the blood to carry too much toxicity. There are so many types of facial products or skincare products in the market. Every products claimed to be the best, and there are all sort of price range. For example, Murad Acne Complex, developed by world renowned dermatologist, has success rate of over 90% from acne users -- in just 4 weeks, breakouts are reduced.

Many people has their confidence and self-esteem reduced all because of their looks. Because of sudden breakouts and pimples on their face, they cancel their appointments and choose to stay at home. Some even spent huge amount of money just to use any ways and means to get rid of those ugly blemishes and pimples on their face. Acne is the most common skin disorder. Over 10% of Americans age 25 - 44 have acne. Over 85% Americans age 12 - 25 will have acne at one time or the other. Developed by Dr Howard Murad, Murad Acne is priced at $29.95, including 2 free gifts and what's more, there is 60 day money back guarantee. This could be your solution to your acne problems, a doorway to your 'perfect' skin!

Workaholism

2008-04-21T11:08:00.000+08:00

Workaholism, a pathological psychological symptom that some psychologists view as a serious affliction -- and unfortunately, one that's socially sanctioned. By definition, workaholism is an obsessive need to work, or compulsiveness (obsession) about working, akin to obsessive compulsive disorder -- a broader obsession with orderliness, perfection, and control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency.

Workaholics are intelligent, ambitious, successful persons and they are prisoners of their own success. The workaholic believes that he is the only person capable of performing their work. The workaholic person is a perfectionist, who will not accept mistakes that are a part of being human, and feels the needs to get more tasks done before he can feel good about himself. It's very difficult for a workaholic to relax, often feeling that he must complete certain tasks.

The concept of workaholism does not apply to individuals who must work long hours as a necessity. A small farmer with livestock that must be tended to everyday may work 60-70 hours a week, but he or she is not suffering from workaholism. A single parent who works long hours and takes college classes in hope of becoming a better provider is not a victim of workaholism.

The persons who display workaholism tend to perform either challenging or creative work, not routine drudgery. These are people who tend to be workaholics:
i. have their own businesses or have management positions in a business
ii. have professions in such fields a medicine, law and teaching
iii. have careers in the fine arts, such as writing, composing, or performing.

Signs and Symptoms of workaholism

overly committed and driven to work -- working 50% or more over the standard 40 hour work week
no separation for you between work and home eg. talking about work constantly
work is on your mind every hour, every minute -- working even when ill
being bored and restless when on vacation -- Your happiness is found in your work.
obtaining almost all psychological and emotional gratification from work
feeling vaguely guilty when not working
the "I'm doing this for you" rationalization
the conviction that others are incompetent
the early-death syndrome

Many firms expect employees to exhibit more than just dedication to their jobs. Corporate culture rewards single-minded workers with fat paychecks, awards, and promotions -- and the status that accompanies success. Yet despite these social and business pressures, workaholism is slowly losing its cachet as a respectable vice. Instead, it is increasingly recognized as an insidious problem that can have life-threatening consequences.

The most common problem as a result of workaholism is straining of relationships and health problems. Being too obsessive in their work, the workaholics neglect their health -- such as their personal hygiene, infrequent meals, not enough water consumption, wrong sitting posture and so on. All these will lead to subsequent reduction in productivity of the workaholic. Common health problems they suffer is halitosis (bad breath), mouth ulcers, dehydration, gastric problems, headache and various stress related illnesses. For oral health, you might want to try Devrom Tablets or toothette oral swabs.

A German proverb says,"What is the use of running when we are not on the right road?" The "I have to hurry because I have so much to do" attitude toward life characteristic of work-addicted individuals is frequently counterproductive. A nervous froth is not the best way to get things done. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare -- the tortoise won the race because it paced itself and did not get too excited. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

Listen to your body. Your heart will tell you. You are what you eat and as you are what you eat, your health start from your mouth. Just as Peace Starts With A Smile, a set of clean teeth requires you to take good care of your teeth. Good health, good smile begins only when you feel good about yourself. Can you feel your own breath? JRSmedical.com is a licensed Pharmacy distributor which has over 15000 online medical supplies that provides good online shopping experience for their customers. As part of their excellent service specially catered for their customers, they provide fair prices and quick shipping -- FREE shipping on most orders over $100! As part of their comprehensive service totally committed to provide the best products at the best price and best information to you, they also have their own medical blog which bring special good news!

If you find that you are unable to cope on your own with the maladaptive trait of workaholism, always seek the help of professionals -- eg. psychiatrists and therapists.

Addiction Facts

2008-03-03T23:37:00.000+08:00

Drugs and Alcohol change the brain -- they change its structure and how it works. The addictive process undoes or weakens what the brain knew before, and then teaches it something else entirely...

The science of understanding addiction has been exploding in recent years through the use of various different technologies, including genetics, animal studies in humans and brain imaging. Addiction is frightening, chaotic, sometimes tragic and always destructive. Addiction is a complex disease that impacts 1 in 4 families. The younger a person starts drinking or using drugs, the more likely they are to go past occasional illicit experimentation into frequent abuse and then addiction.

Addiction has profound effects on the health and well-being of the individual addict, as well as those around them, and society at large. Like other chronic illnesses, addiction -- with the proper treatment, can be managed, so that an addict can live a life without drugs. The road to recovery, however, is often fraught with devastating consequences, some of which are short-lived and others, lifelong. Health, reputation, livelihood, and interpersonal relationships are just a few areas that can be severely affected by drug and alcohol abuse -- and that, in many cases, can be repaired in recovery.

According to a survey by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, half the public believes that addiction is a personal weakness. In the 2006 USA Today/HBO Family Drug Addiction Poll, while 76% of those polled identified addiction as a 'disease', they identified 'lack of willpower' as the main problem facing addicts. In fact, the new understanding of drug and alcohol addiction that top scientists like Volkow and Willenbring agree on suggest the opposite. A more accurate way to put it would be that any so-called lack of willpower in an addict has been caused by changes in the brain. Dependence on drugs or alcohol caused these very changes. The inability to make clear decisions is a by-product of the same disease from which the addict is trying to escape.

Addiction is a progressive, chronic, relapsing disorder of the brain. If you're an addict or your love one is addicted to alcohol or drug, quitting often seems like an impossible dream -- something you talk about and never do. Orchid Recovery Center for Women Drug Rehab and Alcohol Rehab Center is here to help. Brains harmed by addiction can be repaired via Drug Addiction Recovery. It may take more than one try; it most certainly won't be an easy road, but it can be done. Addiction can be successfully treated. It is not a moral failing but something much closer in its nature to diseases like asthma or diabetes. Visit Orchid Recovery Center for various Drug Treatment now!

What Alcoholism Can Do

2008-02-20T09:36:00.001+08:00

The central nervous system and the liver are the parts of the body most frequently damaged by alcohol. The nervous system can be affected by polyneuritis(inflammation of the nerves), and at a later stage dropfoot -- when the muscles of the front foot cannot support the toes which drop below the level of the heel, so that the sufferer looks as though he is waling on a feather mattress. The patient may also be striken by Wernicke's encephalopathy -- named after the German neurologist Karl Wernicke, in which he is confused, unsteady on his feet and has weakness in some eye muscles.

Alcoholism is a disease and its effects can end in death. Potential or actual alcoholism can affect four areas of people's lives: mental, physical, professional, and domestic and social. The effects of alcoholism were described in the previous post.

The most common mental ailments are anxiety, tension and depression. These may be caused by drinking itself, by financial worries, by feelings of guilt or insecurity or by a combination of all three. However, anxiety, tension and depression may themselves have been the cause of the alcoholism: it is often difficult to identify the root of the problem.

In 10% of sufferers, more serious complaints develop with the advance of alcoholism. The drinker may develop phobias, start hearing things and seeing things, and show signs of schizophrenia -- delusions and hallucinations -- marked disturbances of thinking and contact with reality. Some sufferers develop Korsakoff's syndrome, named after the 19th century Russian neurologist Sergei memory which he unwittingly tries to disguise by relating stories of non-existent experiences.

Alcoholic dementia may occur. This is an irreversible intellectual deterioration in which the drinker shows loss of memory, comprehension and judgment similar to senile dementia. If the drinker is deprived of alcohol, he suffers the withdrawal syndrome -- hallucinations, tremors, seizures, and worst of all, delirium tremens. The main features of this are restlessness, confusion, distortion of sense of time and place, and also frightening and vivid visual hallucinations.

The alcoholism of one member of a family can affect all others. The husbands or wives and the children of drinkers often suffer from anxiety and depression, and there may be physical effects too. Although most problem drinkers strive to be good marriage partners and parents, they may, in drunkenness, go from vocal abuse to actual physical violence against members of their families. That is why it is important for these people to seek drug and alcohol recovery as soon as possible. Some suffer from paranoid jealousy, in which the drinker is mistakenly convinced of his partner's infidelity and may become violent in attempting to justify his suspicious.

In addition to mental and physical injuries, the family may also be faced with financial hardship because the drinker has lost his job, or because he or she squanders money on alcohol. Sexual problems such as impotence and frigidity are also common.

The constant need for money to pay for their liquor drives many sufferers to crime, and the depressive effects of excessive drink lead others to take, or attempt to take, their own lives. These we can see how serious and deadly alcoholism can be. Recovery from alcoholism is a life-long process. If you are one of such drinker, go for alcohol detox now. Save yourself, save your family at drug rehab.

Effects of Alcholism

2008-02-19T08:12:00.000+08:00

According to the NIAAA, about 14 million people in the United States abuse alcohol or are alcoholic. Statistics also showed that men are four times more likely than women to be heavy drinkers. Men are twice as likely to be alcohol abusing or alcohol dependant. Compulsive drinking causes major health problems and every year, more than 100,000 Americans die of alcohol-related causes. It is also estimated that $98 billion are spent annually in the health and welfare services, property damage and medical expenses, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

The most common effect of alcohol after use is commonly referred to as a hangover. Hangovers usually occur after large amounts of alcohol are consumed, and usually comes with these symptoms -- dizziness, headache, nausea, thirst, and fatigue. Drink driving and getting in an accident are all effects of alcoholism.

Alcoholism effects can be short term or long term. After a while, many problem drinkers find that they cannot do their work as well as they could before, or that they are absent more frequently to recover from their drinking. As a result, they may lose their jobs and drink even more to compensate. The long term effects of alcoholism includes Impaired mental functioning, Liver disorders, Gastrointestinal problems, Heart disease and stroke, Lung disorders, Cancer, Skin, muscle, and bone disorders, Pregnancy and infant development complications and increased risk for other addictions. In addition, pregnant women who consume alcohol during pregnancy may give birth to infants with fetal alcohol syndrome. Infants with fetal alcohol syndrome may be afflicted with physical and mental abnormalities.

Alcoholism is a disease which brings with it many harmful effects. They all lead to death. The trip down the road of alcoholism can be stopped, and it must be done soon. Alcoholism effects aren't always physical. Many alcoholics end up in prison because of crimes committed under the influence. Driving under the influence is a common crime committed by alcoholics. This crime can lead to many legal problems. Alcoholism also affect those who care about the alcoholic. Broken relationships are common among alcoholics. Look for a treatment professional if you are suffering from alcoholism. Advice and help for the problem drinker are equally important. You can stop all the harmful effects of alcoholism through addiction recovery at ChillPharm.com. Those drinkers who sincerely want to end their addiction or dependence can also do so with qualified drug rehab. Find various drug treatment such as Drug Detox Programs and many more at ChillPharm.

Alcohol Abuse

2008-01-26T11:12:00.000+08:00

Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive, and often fatal disease. Twice as many men are alcoholics. Studies have found that People who start drinking alcohol before the age of 14 are five times more likely to eventually become alcohol dependent than those who start drinking after age 21.

I had no experience of alcohol abuse myself, but I had seen people around me addicted to alcohol and they had destroyed their family in the process. I had seen my mother drinking excessively to drown her sorrows and how he 'lost' herself in the process of drinking.

One of the symptoms associated with alcohol abuse is blackouts, or periods of amnesia that can span several hours or even several days. Alcohol abuse is a chronic self-destructive pattern of heavy drinking that produces significant damage to one's health, career and family relations. The chemistry of alcohol allows it to affect nearly every type of cell in the body, including those in the central nervous system. Alcohol dependence is the inability to free oneself at will from a pattern of heavy drinking and can be thought of as an addiction to a drug. Indeed, alcohol is a drug. It is a central-nervous-system depressant, and some of the dependent individual's craving is based on an acquired physiological need. After prolonged exposure to alcohol, the brain becomes dependent on it. The severity of this disease is influenced by factors such as genetics, psychology, culture, and response to physical pain.

Alcohol abuse is a tremendous social problem in the United States. It is estimated that somewhat over 10% of adults have at least one prolonged bout with alcohol abuse. The cost in auto accidents, damaged careers, and unhappy homes is beyond measure. If you find yourself abusing alcohol or are addicted to alcohol, ask yourself, if you are using alcohol to destroy yourself. If you become aware that you are using a bottle in much the way that a suicide victim uses a gun, then you have made an important step in the direction of recovery. If you feel helpless in the face of this kind of knowledge, you should seek outside assistance, the professional help like Stone Hawk Rehabilitation or the psychiatrists. Drinking alcohol does not solve your problems at all. TV programmes often 'taught' people about drowning your sorrows by drinking at the bar. This is not going to work.

Do not use alcohol to facilitate a creative process too. Most people need good, fresh ideas in their work. Engineers, teachers, people in the advertising business, writers, are all examples of people who are paid to be creative. Remember you do not need alcohol to gain inspiration. Do not start the habit of drinking too. Habitual drinking lead to addiction and abuse. If you discover that your drinking is out of control, and you cannot stop when you want to, and that alcohol abuse and addiction are having a destructive effect on your life, The Stone Hawk program is designed to enable graduates the ability to move back into their life on their own. The programs for re-entry focus on teaching students to live ethical lives free of their addiction, standing on their own two feet.

Coping With Depression

2008-01-21T00:10:00.000+08:00

Living life for more than 30 years, I have come across people who suffer depression, and I had also have my own experience of being depressed. Having been through depression and having seen how depression can change a person's life -- their own thinking and how they in turn affect the people around him/her, especially the family members, I had come to realise that depression is something which can be avoided and they are not contagious nor scary.

In fact, in this busy world, many people has experienced feelings of depression at one time or another. These feelings can be with us for as long as you want to 'indulge in your own world'. However, with the right kind of mentality and positive thinking, many depression can normally pass away in hours or days. However, not many people would want to get out of their world even when they were advised. Long term wise, depression if allow to persist, is harmful to the health of the person. If depression is prolonged and persist and the person has suicidal thoughts, then they should be referred to a mental health specialist or psychiatrist.

Depression is typically caused by a combination of biological, genetic, and psychological factors. Some common symptoms of depression are

Persistently sad or feeling sense of 'emptiness'
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness and helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed

If you have always wish to play tennis and have admired people playing it, then you should learn it. You live to learn. If you see your friend can do it, so do you.

This could be you. Anything is possible in this world only if you want to do it.

Coping and overcoming depression is a choice and a decision to be made. Family should give lots of support to the depressed person and the first step to cope with depression is to change the lifestyle of the victim. To overcome depression, the person must think positively and eliminate as much negative thoughts as possible. Next, visit tennis store or any sports store. Buy a pair of k swiss tennis shoes or any other shoes that you love. Pamper yourself, knowing that your life is precious and you have worked hard all your life. You deserved to be rewarded with things you love. Having tennis shoes, you must also look at babolat rackets and you must buy yourself tennis racket that you like. With tennis balls, tennis rackets and tennis shoes purchased, you can always be ready to go to the tennis court to play your favourite game with your friends.

Dress your best and you increased your self-esteem and you feel much more confident and better. Become socially active by planning your time for your hobbies as well as time for exercise and other social activities. Do something which you like and try to be good at it. You will feel a sense of accomplishments succeeding in the things that you love to do. Do not give yourself unachievable goals, but set realistic goals. Learn to rest and relax too, knowing that there must be a balance in everything in our life. Read good books, surround yourself with positive thinking individual and love what you are doing. When your time is well-spent and your mind is not filled with negative thoughts, you will realise that you are no longer depressed.

Pregnancy Blues

2008-01-20T16:23:00.000+08:00

During pregnancy, woman wants the husband to show more love and care for them. The woman needs all kind of support and help from the man he loves and trust.

The first time I discovered that I am pregnant was a memorable one, since that was my first time. I was filled with anxiety as well as excitement. Both Richard and me was happy. Pregnancy was hard and I had written at Happiness Is Bliss, signs of early pregnancy, which was so unbearable for me. It was no fun at all, but torture. Soon the baby was born and everything was fine.

Most women suffered postnatal depression after their birth of their child. But I have no problem with my first child. I knew everything about breastfeeding, feeding the baby, changing diapers and so on. I spent time with the baby and the three of us(Richard, baby and me) were okay. I started working again when the baby was about mine months old. That was where problems started and day by day, little problems become a big problem. Work, family, children and housework was still manageable. His mother always told him not to 'pamper' the wife, and what a good teaching is that. Thanks to the advice she gave to the son! She did not know what is love and no wonder her marriage was a broken one. How I wish my husband can show me some love (but to his mother, that is called "Pampering" me!).

Things were fine until I discovered I am pregnant again some months later. As usual, I felt terrible and moody. With so much work, both home and workplace, and now during that time, I was pregnant, it was a hard time. I felt totally stressed out on top of the feeling nauseous and I could not do anything like my first pregnancy. I got angry with husband who are not caring and not understanding. Since I was not feeling well, nauseous all the time, he should help out. Helping out and doing extra work is showing your love and not 'Pampering' me! Despite telling him my feeling, nothing was changed. I was not able to do any housework. He had to do them after he finished work(forced to do it, since I was not able to do anything). Our family time were reduced, more unhappiness in the family. Soon, he had more overtime and more late hours... I got depressed as well.

I feel that pregnant woman needs care and love very much. During pregnancy, the hormones in the body 'disrupt' their normal body function and not all woman can cope with such body changes. Things are especially harder if the pregnant woman needs to look after another small kid or even more when they are pregnant. When there are nobody to help them, they feel lost with no support.

However, even though my second pregnancy was not a pleasurable one, it was a much easier labour. I was depressed during my second pregnancy. My husband was not supportive and understanding. To make matter worse, I discovered only after the birth of the baby that he was actually having an affair...... that explained....

Depression Not The END

2008-01-01T16:36:00.000+08:00

If I had never been depressed, how do I know the meaning of real happiness? If I do not know what is cold, how do I know what is hot? For knowing what is pain when you fall down, you want to learn. You want to learn why you fall down, so that you will not fall down again to suffer the pain twice. If you have not taste the bittergourd, do you know what is bitter?

I have tasted all aspects of life. The sweet, the salty, the spices and the bitter of life. Life is never so meaning as now. My life seems to have just begin. I had just written a post, "The Genuine Smile" at Happiness Is Bliss, my blog about woman, woman's health, any matter pertaining to woman and all about happiness. I can confidently tell you what is The Genuine Smile today, if you read the post and you see my photograph, with the brown sentences below the picture.

I was depressed at a time where I was not happy with my job and at the same time, I was very fed up with my family life. I hate those days. But I am not going to leave all this with me when I am gone. When I am alive, I am going to LIVE to TELL my story, my life story, a story of a mediocre life, nothing special, nothing glamourous, but a real life, real story, unlike the TV shows and Movie.

I faced medical supplies and medical equipments everyday. I smelled 'hospital'. I 'live' in the refrigerator, the environment was extremely cold. However, I never complained about work. I worked to get my monthly pay. I worked to earn money -- Money for my future, money for my house with Richard, money for buying my favourite decorations and everything for my house.

Richard and I got our first house, our home. I was happy with Richard. We were happy, but the problem came also when the house came. It was a long story, which I will write slowly at appropriate time and relevancy. I suffered depression. I cried, I was very stressed and I thought of what was the meaning of living. I told the doctor what I saw and he thought that I had schizophrenia. But I know truly well, what kind of condition and what kind of situation I was in. I can still remember what I saw. I can tell you, I did not hallucinate. It was really something which I saw. I do not need anyone to believe me, but I know what I was doing and I still know what I am doing. Believe or not whether I am normal, abnormal, sick or not sick, does not matter.

At the hospital I worked so hard, I put on latex gloves while at work and I worked seriously. Back home, my new home (Richard and my home), I could not stand messiness and dirt. I cooked, I cleaned and I washed, everything which the housewife would do. I also need to work. I thought I came home and I could have peace and comfort. A home to rest after a hard day of work. But I was wrong. It was nightmare, back in those days where Richard and I had our first house. Richard was not the culprit, the cause of the nightmare. It was his father. I could still remember the kind of things he did. I hate it.

At work, I thought of my problems at home. At home, I had to face the problems. I, eventually could not take it and resign from my job, and my relationship with my father-in-law, Richard's father soured. Today, his father and his mother were divorced. I would not want his son to be like him one day.

I was depressed when my husband left me for another woman. I was happy when I met new love. I was happy when my husband came back. I am happy now that I know what I want and what is my purpose of living. Life may be hard but I choose what I want, this path. And I know that all these things which happened, everything that I had gone through are not without purpose. I will live to tell you my 'depression' experience, my 'schizophrenia' experience as what the doctor had said, and what kind of mental illnesses I had witnessed in people around me.

Psychiatrists are never 100% correct. They are just people like us, but they studied and they are qualified psychiatrists. But how sure are you that the psychiatrist themselves are 'normal' people and they are not psychologically healthy people? Studies, theories and practical are always different. If the researchers and scientist are so smart, why they cannot win the viruses? If Psychologists and Psychiatrists can read the minds of every person and predict their steps and actions and 'cure' these people, there would not be so many mentally-ill patients in the hospital. But I will tell you my views of all these illnesses, based on my own experiences and what I see, hear and know.

All About OCD

2007-10-19T09:57:00.000+08:00

The main symptoms of OCD are recurrent ideas or behaviours that are unwanted and that may appear to be pointless. People with OCD usually have a good sense of reality and readily admit that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational, absurd or superstitious. They are unable to stop themselves from yielding to these impulses, however, and become so completely absorbed in the obsession or compulsion that they think of nothing else until they have finished. If they are forcibly interrupted from completing their thought or behaviour, they usually experience considerable anxiety.

People with OCD tend to be stiff and formal in demeanor, precise and orderly about tasks, and overly concerned about conforming to social norms. They also tend to be intellectual rather than emotional in expression and are notably deferential to others. When they speak, they often qualify potentially assertive statements so as to make them less offensive. At the same time, people with OCD may be prone to lengthy monologues about subjects of interest, and they will continue to discourse even if the listener tries to interrupt or change the subject.

OCD seems to worsen during pregnancy in some women. In others, pregnancy triggers symptoms of OCD that never before existed. After delivery some women seem to develop OCD as a form of postpartum psychiatric disorder. These women often have unwanted and intrusive thoughts of harming their baby. Perhaps as a result of these impulses, women with OCD tend to have trouble bonding with their infants and try to avoid situations, such as bathing the infant, in which they might try to enact their fantasies. Sometimes obsessive-compulsive symptoms accompany other psychiatric changes such as depression which may appear in the weeks or months after the birth of a baby.

Treatment of OCD
Many people with OCD respond well to antidepressants or other drug therapy, often in combination with cognitive or other forms of behavioural psychotherapy. In women with postpartum OCD or OCD that has been exacerbated by pregnancy, the antidepressants Prozac(fluoxetine), Zoloft(sertraline), or Paxil(paroxetine) seem to be particularly effective, especially if combined with psychotherapy. in women who also have symptoms of depression, tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline(Elavil) or desipramine(Norpramin) may also help. Since very little is understood about OCD in these women, however, the final word about effective treatment must await results of the various studies.

Other links
Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Facts about OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

2007-10-08T13:28:00.000+08:00

Obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD)is a chronic or long-term illness. Although unrecognized by most people, OCD affects many people. Because the symptoms are so severe, OCD can be devastating. Anxiety is the most prominent symptom of OCD. Patients often cannot maintain emotional and social relations, have difficulty coping with daily life events, and have problems studying or working. Consequently, they face emotional and economic losses.

Symptoms of OCD vary with each person and include the following:

Obsessive thoughts

Fear of dirt or germs or overconcern about body smells/secretions or the proper functioning of the body

Overconcern with order, neatness, and exactness

Fear of thinking bad thoughts or doing something embarrassing

Constantly thinking of certain sounds, words, or numbers or a preoccupation with counting or checking

Constant need for approval or the need to apologize

Fear that something terrible will happen or fear of harming yourself or someone else
Disturbing thoughts of violence. Sometimes the sufferer's violent thoughts will be directed toward themselves or loved ones.

Compulsive behaviors

Constant hand washing due to an extreme fear of contamination, showering, or brushing teeth or the overuse of items to hide body smells

Constantly cleaning, straightening, and ordering certain objects

Excessive repetition of a procedure or ritual -- Repeatedly checking zippers and buttons on clothing; Checking lights, appliances, or doors again and again to be sure they are turned off or closed; Repeating certain physical activities, such as sitting down and getting up from a chair; Religious rituals, such as constant silent praying

Hoarding, which is the constant saving of useless items. The homes of OCD sufferers who hoard maybe become piled with garbage, because some people cannot even stand to throw away empty boxes and containers.

Asking the same question or saying the same thing over and over -- A word or phrase, repeated mentally. This also applies to music. A sufferer may have a song repeated in their head for days or weeks.

Avoiding public places or taking extreme measures to prevent harm to yourself or others

Constant need for symmetry of objects.

Sometimes the disorder progresses because it is not diagnosed and therefore not treated. Sometimes the patient believes it will spontaneously go away, but it rarely does. Sometimes the patient, family, and friends deal with the symptoms in a way that is not helpful and in fact very often destructive. With proper treatment, however, the chances of recovery are good. Treatments found to be successful include behavioural and cognitive therapy and drug therapy. Following treatment, patients can function once again. They can recover their losses and join the mainstream. Those with OCD should never give up.

The Nervous System

2007-10-06T00:23:00.000+08:00

Complex processes that need precise movements such as sewing, are made possible by the sophistication of the nervous system.

The human body contains at least two major communication systems. Once is the nervous system, which transmits by rapid traveling chemical-electrical signals, and processes information in exquisitely elaborate networks of nerve cells called neurons. The other is the system of endocrine glands that communicates by blood-borne chemical messengers called hormones.

The nervous system is conceptually divided into two major parts, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord enclosed in the bony protective sheaths of the skull and the spinal column. The peripheral nervous system extends throughout the body outside the brain and spinal cord.

The central nervous system analyses and initiates responses. Sensory nerves around the boy gather information and carry response signals through nerve cells back to the CNS. Motor nerves take instructions from the brain and spinal cord out to muscles to initiate movement. Autonomic nerves control functions like sweating, heart rate and sexual arousal.

The brain is the body's control centre and the largest organ of the central nervous system. It receives, sorts, interprets, and stores sensations and information from the nerves that extend from the CNS to every part of the body.

The peripheral nervous system, comprised of all parts of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord, includes the enteric, somatic and autonomic nervous systems. The enteric nervous system controls visceral functions. The somatic nervous system consists of the motor and sensory nerves and their bodily counterparts. The autonomic nervous system is important in maintaining survival and is divided into two complementary and "antagonistic" branches. The sympathetic branch involves the "fight or flight" functions that prepare the organism for activity. The parasympathetic branch relaxes the body and conserves energy.

Many problems associated with the nervous system can ease with the use of magnesium. Magnesium is known to have a powerful calming effect on the nervous system. For effective functioning of our body enzymes, they need the presence of magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is a cause of many problems and diseases in man. This includes osteoporosis; muscle dysfunction; depression; apathy; cardiac arrythmia; hypertension; atherosclerosis; and even stress and aging. For optimum functioning of our nervous system, we should eat more fruits, vegetables, healthy meat and take supplements such as magnesium gluconate or magnesium vitamin. Researchers suggest that for every 2.2 pounds (one kilogram) of body weight, we should ingest six mg of magnesium. For overall health, the nervous system, and to help reduce inflammation, consider adding a magnesium supplement to your diet.

Reduce Anger

2007-10-05T00:53:00.000+08:00

Anger that is stewed over turns inward to make you hate yourself or eventually, it explodes all over someone else. Anger that is expressed at the slightest pinprick of frustration will exhaust you and everyone around you. Making anger work for you requires learning not to care so much about things you cannot change and learning how to act on your anger and change what you can, rather than exploding or becoming hopeless and depressed.

Learn to let go of your problems. It might help to write down the problems and then tear it up and throw it way. Sometimes something is 'not my problem', but it still hurts. Your feelings are understandable, but it is very hard to help others if you descend to their level of depression. They need someone on the outside to help them through. If you know that you have taken care of your responsibilities and done everything in your power to make things better, then you have to learn to let go. This does not mean that you will not feel pain. You still need the opportunity to talk to others about your work and to cry if you need to.

Anger stimulates the production of adrenalin, which prepares your body for fight or flight, making you physically prepared for action. This response creates stress. You should not sit on all that stress. You need to talk to someone or write it down. If you are still steaming, go to the gym and punch it out on a punch bag; or go for a run! Remember that when you go to the gym, put all your personal belongings in anyone of the Gym Lockers so that you can prevent any 'anger' outbursts again. Imagine this: "Why did you step on my bag? You have broken my sunglasses!" This is just one example of what happens to your belongings if they are unattended or when they are being 'mishandled' by other Gym users. To prevent any unhappiness and further anger from you, we always protect ourselves and our belongings -- lock your precious valuables and belongings in Metal Lockers or Steel Lockers. Whichever types of Lockers you use, as long as they can protect your personal belongings, you would have enjoyed some peace of mind. You would feel calmer.

It is futile to be angry with yourself. It helps to yell or to cry. You may feel better. If things seem to have spun totally out of control, you may need advice, perhaps from a trained counsellor, to help you prioritize and get things back on track. To reduce anger, you just need to act and change the situation.

Fatigue

2007-08-30T07:34:00.000+08:00

Fatigue is only a symptom of an underlying problem. There is no quick-fix pill to raise energy levels permanently --rather the source of the symptom has to be found and eliminated. Sometimes the causes are many and interlinked within a person, but the first area to investigate is the diet. You are what you eat -- meaning that what you eat turns into you. So if poor quality food is eaten, poor quality you results!

Causes of Fatigue
1. Iron Deficiency is the best known cause of fatigue and is more common in menstruating women than others. When replacing iron, use iron phosphate, as it is non-toxic, rarely causes side-effects or constipation, and it absorbs well. Dietary sources of iron should be increased. Meat-eaters can get it from lamb's liver/kidneys, other meats and dairy products. Green vegetables are high in iron, but it is poorly absorbed, so vegetarians must rely on food sources lower in content buy high in availability, such as kelp, brewer's yeast, molasses, walnuts, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, soya beans, other pulses and fruit. Grains must be soaked, sprouted, fermented or cooked.

2. Folic acid deficiency may cause anaemia because this vitamin is necessary for the formation of red blood cells. Vegetarian rarely suffer from this type of anaemia. This is one of the many vitamins washed out of the body by the contraceptive pill, and research points to the value of folic acid in preventing birth defects, if the mother takes it before conception and for the first three months. The recommended dose is 400mcg daily for adults.

3. Hypoglycaemia causes fatigue because of low blood sugar levels, which mean no energy sources for the cells. If fatigue is clearly related to certain times of the day, such as late afternoon and before breakfast and if there is accompanying irritability, mood swings, weepiness or headaches, then follow the diet for hypoglycaemia.

4. Hypothyroidism can cause fatigue because when the thyroid gland is working too slowly, metabolism(energy production) is decreased. A slight hypothyroidism is common and will not show on a blood test. Diagnosis is according to symptoms, and several of the following will be present: difficulty in losing weight, fluid retention, a low body temperature, increased sensitivity to cold, dry skin or hair, puffy eyes in the morning, callouses on the feet, a slow pulse, lethargy and poor digestive function.

5. Stress is a direct cause of fatigue because it eventually weakens the adrenal glands. This means that the adrenalin supply is reduced, and therefore the normal conversion of stored sugar to glucose happens very slowly. Slow conversion leads to low blood sugar and fatigue. After long periods of anxiety, overwork or tension, the adrenal glands will become exhausted and say "enough is enough".

6. Heavy Metals accumulating in the body can affect brain function and energy levels. It is well known that aluminium, mercury and lead can have toxic effects on the brain. The early symptoms of mercury poisoning are anxiety, depression, headaches, fatigue, poor concentration and poor memory, spaceyness and muscle tremor. Later muscle weakness and poor co-ordination develop. Numbness and tingling of the extremities or visual or speech difficulties may occur as well.

7. Lead, Aluminium, Copper and Nickel all affect brain function, and the best method of determining body levels is through hair analysis, as blood tests are inaccurate. Vitamins, minerals and amino acids can be used to remove heavy metals.

8. Chronic constipation is a major cause of fatigue, as the brain is poisoned by the reabsorption of toxins through the bowel wall. Modern diets high in junk food, processed food and animal protein are low in fibre, so that the bowel contents are not cleared quickly enough. The use of laxatives, poor habits, lack of exercise and constant worry all contribute to chronic constipation with its resultant fatigue.

9. A lack of nutrients is another major cause of fatigue. Usually it is not a deficiency of the common vitamins at fault, but a lack of the trace and macrominerals, which should be plentiful in the diet. There are twelve basic minerals of which the body is largely composed, and if any are unbalanced a chain reaction of symptoms occur.

10. Allergic reactions to common food is a common reason for fatigue. It happens to children, adolescents and adults. People who are stressed have compromised immune systems, and this is often enough to tip the balance from adaptation to allergens into producing allergic symptoms. When a person is in adaptation, allergic complexes are removed from the blood by the immune system and symptoms are prevented. This is why many people are not even aware of being allergic to a food. However, the blood brain barrier, which protects the brain from toxicity in the blood, is permeable to histamine released as a result of an allergic reaction. This is why so many people with food allergies suffer variations of mental effects.

11. Other causes of fatigue are depression, bordom, anxiety and lack of exercise, and of course many diseases have fatigue as one of the symptoms. An early warning of rheumatoid arthritis is fatigue when any sort of effort is made. Candida, liver and kidney diseases, infectious fever and cancer all make people tired and lethargic.

Diet
The cause must be found and treated at the same time as improving the diet. In addition there are supplements which will enhance energy production. Many processed food contain preservatives to stop them from going bad. The most ancient and commonly used are salt and vinegar. These days, lots of artificial ones are also available to food manufacturers. Artificial sweetener aspartame contains an amino acid called phenylalanine. A small minority of people who have a condition called phenylketonuria, are not able to digest it effectively. Because of this, all food containing aspartame must carry a warning on the information panel saying "Phenylketonurics -- contains phenylalanine."

When it comes to vegetables, fruit and cereal crops, the concern is not with hormones and antibiotics, but with residues of pesticides used during their growth, and chemicals present during storage to prevent spoilage or slow down the ripening process. If pesticides and food additives pose any potential risk at all, we might be better off eating organic health products and even using organic products too. Organic food is more costly, but they are known to taste better.

Causes of Mood Fluctuations

2007-08-29T16:51:00.000+08:00

A general underlying cause of extreme mood fluctuations may be a genetic tendency or an inborn temperament. Studies suggest that close relatives are more likely to suffer from the problem than are people in general. Research in personality strongly indicates that emotional stability is a basic, or source, trait of personality. Such a trait arises not from learning but from biological causes.

A psychological factor can readily interact with an inborn tendency. If, for example, a person who is a natural extravert is forced by life circumstances to lead a reserved, inhibited life, then an "emotional breakout" may occur. This will be identified as a mania. Once the mania runs its course, the person may submit to social pressure, retreat, and manifest depression. The mood swings under these circumstances can be interpreted as a kind of protest by the natural personality against the imposed social one.

Mood fluctuations are possibly related to the body's circadian rhythms, biological processes that "travel in circles in one day". The wake-sleep cycle is the prime example. Consequently, disturbances in the wake-sleep cycle can be disruptive. The menstrual cycle is a biological rhythm too. If a female suffers from premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a cluster of symptoms such as cramps, headaches, illogical thinking, and excitability, may have an adverse effect on momentary emotional disposition. PMS is very common in the female population. In general, it can be said that anything that interferes with the body's regular patterns of functioning can induce oscillations of mood.

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The Storms of Temperament

2007-08-28T16:27:00.000+08:00

Are you a victim of your moods? To some extent, each person is at the mercy of the shifting winds of individual temperament. Approximately 2400 years ago, the Greek playwright Euripedes said,"There is no harbour of peace from the changing waves of joy and despair." And about 400 years ago, the French author Michel de Montaigne wrote in his Essays,"If health and a fair day smile on me, I am a very good fellow; if a corn trouble my toe, I am sullen, out of humour, and inaccessible." In short, to be human is to have emotional ups and downs. Within reasonable limits, this must be accepted.

However, there are people who experience wild, uncontrollable mood swings. These unhappy individuals are like ships at sea trying to keep from sinking in a storm -- in this case, a storm of temperament. Mood can be defined as "a transient, involuntary emotional state.". Associated with the primary psychological symptom of pathological fluctuations in mood (that is, mood swings that leave the individual emotionally drained and that interfere with the normal functioning of everyday life) are the following signs and symptoms:

episodic mania or hypomania
episodic depression
erratic, unpredictable behaviour
alternations in both approaching and avoiding others
extreme fluctuations in weight
wide variations in the need for sleep
a chaotic, ragged emotional life

Mania is characterized by euphoria, elation, agitation and hurried speech. When mania is extreme, the individual will appear to others as "mad" or "crazy". For lower levels of mania intensity, it is appropriate to use the term hypomania. The individual displaying hypomania will seem neither mad nor crazy, but will appear to be inappropriately elated and excited. When there are pathological fluctuations in mood, either mania or hypomania will alternate with depression.

Wide variations in the need for sleep are linked to mood. In general, persons in a state of mania seem to need little sleep or suffer from insomnia. Depressed persons, on the other hand, may sleep 10-12 hours per day. They appear to use sleep as a way to escape from reality.

Bipolar disorder is the diagnostic term used in psychiatry and clinical psychology when mood fluctuations are severe and extremely disruptive. The former name of this disorder was manic-depressive psychosis, which suggests that alternations of mania and depression were so severe that the individual had lost touch with reality.

Food Problems of Women

2007-07-13T14:19:00.000+08:00

Some people cannot tolerate particular food because they lack the enzymes to break them down properly. As a result, they may have chronic stomach or digestive problems or suffer from low energy levels. Other people may be allergic to specific proteins in food and may react with something as mild as a rash or as serious as a severe asthma attack. Food additives, pesticides and preservatives have also been connected with a range of health problems varying from hyperactivity to cancer. But perhaps the most common food problem for women lies in our minds.

Do you see food as a potential enemy, a potent force with the power to invade and overwhelm you? If this feels true to you, then you are not alone. For many women, and some men, the attempt to control their relationship with food is a life-long struggle. All eating disorders stem, in some way, from our image of ourselves and our place in the world. Often they conceal deeper fears about whether we are loveable; whether we are in control; whether we can cope with big changes ahead of us. This is why eating disorders often occur or recur in times of crisis. The problem can start a various stages in life:

In childhood - Starvation is often used to resist adult control, as Sheila McLeod explains in "The Art of Starvation", it can be used to "triumph over the wills of others and over the chaos ensuing from their conflicting demands".
In puberty - For some girls, controlling food intake (which includes overeating), is a way of avoiding becoming a woman.
As a young woman - It may be a response to the overwhelming onslaught of images that tells young women they ought to be thin, making the battle to control food intake a battle to become desirable.

The common eating disorders women might have are overeating, anorexia nervosa and bulimia. A mild eating disorder may resolve when a period of crisis is over and normal behaviour returns. A young woman who has been overeating, or starving, may find that a change of environment allows her to 'start again', to slip out of old patterns and find a healthy relationship with her body. This might be a holiday, or leaving home to go to college. Some find that the problem is intractable without help. Many self-help books deal with eating problems, and self-help groups with members who have had similar experiences can be invaluable.

You may be denying the fact that you have eating disorders or you may be seeking help. The first step to curb eating disorders is to eat healthily. Learn to feel good about yourself. Eating or drinking may be ways you know to comfort yourself. You may be 'numbing ' yourself with the habit of eating. You may also find that other people's attitudes toward your habit add to your feelings of self-loathing: you feel despised so you despise yourself, but you may need professional help to deal with deep-seated feelings.

Tell your friends and family about your problems and seek their help and support, not to tempt you. Addictive behaviour is often ritualized. Perhaps you need to eat when your exam are near, or when you are reading or studying. Do you find that you stuff yourself with sweets while watching television, or that you drink while preparing supper? Learn to recognize and cut these links.

Eating the right food in the right amounts is the key to good natural health. Healthy eating means having a right balanced of food that provide all the essential nutrients and energy needed by your body. Understand that maintaining a nutritionally balanced diet is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. To achieve a balanced diet, you should eat as wide a variety of food as possible. In this stressful world, where we are racing against time, it is not possible to consume a wide varieties of essential nutrients in a day. Most people are picky when it comes to eating. Sometimes, there are times where we had to skip meals too. That is why there are so many natural health products available in the market nowadays. Consuming natural health supplements help to 'replenish' our body with what we have missed out in our daily food.

Common Causes of Mental Distress

2007-06-08T16:07:00.000+08:00

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are affected by mental, behavioural, neurological and substance use disorders. About 877,000 people die by suicide every year. In addition, one in four patients visiting a health service has at least one mental, neurological or behavioural disorder but most of these disorders are neither diagnosed nor treated. For example, estimates made by WHO in 2002 showed that 154 million people globally suffer from depression and 25 million people from schizophrenia; 91 million people are affected by alcohol use disorders and 15 million by drug use disorders.

Mental health is how we think, feel and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Everyone feels worried, anxious, sad or stressed sometimes. But with a mental illness, these feelings do not go away and are severe enough to interfere with your daily life. It can make it hard to meet and keep friends, hold a job or enjoy your life.

Mental illnesses are common – they affect about one in five families in the U.S. It is not your fault if you have one. These disorders – depression, phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and many others - are real diseases that you cannot will or wish away. Fortunately, they are often treatable. Medicines and therapy can improve the life of most people with mental illnesses.

There are many reasons for a temporary disturbance to mental health. Some are are well documented -- dereavement, divorce or moving house, while others may be less obvious.

1. A reaction to immediate life events
The death of a loved one, the birth of a baby, the loss of a job, a serious accident or illness will throw most people, at least temporarily, off course.

2. Stress
Overwork, interrupted sleep, isolation, racism, sexual harassment, difficult, demanding or violent relationships all cause stress. Some stress is useful, but if we have too much to cope with, we may 'breakdown' under the strain.

3. A reaction to past life events
Children tend to submerge or suppress memories of particularly traumatic events, or simply create a new explanation for the event, that makes the pain explicable. Buried pain may come back to haunt us in ways we find hard to recognize, affecting the way we feel and behave and making us more vulnerable to stressful life events.

4. A biochemical imbalance
Some mental health problems may be biochemical in origin. It is hard to tell whether this is genetic or whether exposure to harmful life events has caused a kind of biochemical reaction similar to the effect of an allergen on someone susceptible to allergies.

Mental illnesses affect and are affected by chronic conditions such as cancer, heart and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Untreated, they bring about unhealthy behaviour, non-compliance with prescribed medical regimens, diminished immune functioning, and poor prognosis.

Mental Health

2007-06-07T15:49:00.000+08:00

Mental, neurological and behavioural disorders are common to all countries and cause immense suffering. People with these disorders are often subjected to social isolation, poor quality of life and increased mortality. These disorders are the cause of staggering economic and social costs.

Most of the people take our mental health for granted. We get on with our lives, eat and sleep, laugh and cry, work, talk to our friends, travel, shop and cook. But there may come a time, perhaps very briefly, when the ordinary patterns of living become oddly distorted. Perhaps we cannot sleep or we feel anxious, we may be afraid to go out, lose all feeling of hope and optimism or swing wildly from peaks of furious activity to periods of deep gloom.

It is very common for mental health to be disturbed now and again. Most people have experienced an occasional attack of the 'blues'. It is part of being human. Sometimes these attacks come in cycles, affected by menstruation, or by the seasons. You feel low for a while and then bounce back up again. If you learn to recognize the reason for gloom, you can usually learn to wait it out, then circumstances change and life seems to get better again.

Occasionally people get submerged, stuck inside misery. You need to ask for help to find a way out and back into the light again, but you may feel too low to make the first move, and sink into a cycle of feeling sad and uncared for. There may also be the fear of being considered weak, or perhaps of being labeled "mad". You may hope that by ignoring your pain it will magically go away by itself. Maybe it will, but you will almost always feel better for a little support. You may believe that you can pull yourself together, but the more you force the lid on your feelings, the more difficult it will become to deal with them and learn, first to accept them, and then to move on.

For some people the distortion of everyday reality becomes frightening -- either to them or to the people they are with. They may see or hear things that others are not aware of; behave in ways that friends find disturbing; threaten, or actually attempt suicide.

When reality has slipped too far away, others may need to intervene and help you find a route back, or a way of living that decreases the stress and pain. It is not uncommon to have a breakdown, but nor is it uncommon to recover completely. The sooner you find help, the faster the process of recovery will be, and you can learn to find ways of keeping yourself out of the abyss in the future.

Models Of Abnormality

2007-05-14T16:44:00.000+08:00

Abnormality is a derivative concept, since it depends on an understanding of normality. Moreover, normality describes norms of behaviour but does not prescribe what is necessarily healthy or adaptive. Models of abnormality have changed over time, from ascribing spiritual causes to disorders, to viewing abnormality as erroneous behaviour, to finally understanding abnormality as involving disorders. Abnormality can be defined and understood in statistical, cultural, and psychological terms.

Today several models are used to explain and treat abnormal functioning. At one end of the spectrum is the biological model, which sees physical processes as the key to human behavior. At the other end is the sociocultural model, which examines the effects of society and culture on individual behavior. In between are four models that focus on more psychological and personal aspects of human functioning: the psychodynamic model looks at people’s unconscious internal events and conflicts; the behavioral model emphasizes behavior and the ways in which it is learned; the cognitive model concentrates on the thinking that underlies behavior; and the humanistic-existential model stresses the role of values and choices in human functioning.

Given their different assumptions and concepts, the models are sometimes in conflict. Those who follow one perspective often scoff at the “naive” interpretations, investigations, and treatment efforts of the others. Yet none of the models is complete in itself. Each focuses mainly on one aspect of human functioning, and none can explain all aspects of abnormality.

1. The Spiritual Model
Archaeological and archival evidence indicates that abnormal behaviour has been identified throughout human history. Originally abnormal behaivour was ascribed to spiritual sources, and its treatment was related to religious practices and concepts. Thus disorders might be labeled as demonic possession and their victims beaten, ostracized, exorcized or executed.

It is believed that many of the men and women charged with and executed for witchcraft during the Middle Ages were suffering from various psychological disorders. The spiritual "model" of abnormal behaviour provided social and legal rules but no understanding of its causes or treatments.

2. The Moral Model
A moral model of abnormal of behaviour emerged gradually from the 16th century onward in Western Europe. Physical treatments were attempted (eg. bloodletting to release "bad humours"), but those with psychological disorders were segregated from those with physical disorders. A difference between the two was perceived, although no therapeutic models had yet been developed. Beginning with the work of French physician Philippe Pinel in the late 18th century and continued by American teacher and social activist Dorothea Dix in the 19th century, the moral model of abnormal behaviour advocated the view that the mentally ill needed compassion, kindness and pleasant surroundings.

3. The Medical Model
The medical model of abnormality was developed in the late 19th century with the growth of the medical specialty of psychiatry. In the medical model, disordered behaviour and thought are the symptoms or observable signs of diseases that affect the function of the nervous system. Cures and treatments are applied to the patients to alleviate their symptoms and eliminate the illness.

In the 20th century, with the development of psychotherapies independent of medical therapies, the medical model has given way to a more eclectic (varied) view of abnormality and its treatment. Nonetheless the medical model remains popular and influential today. An example of an application of the medical model can be observed when social problems like drug addiction and crime are referred to simplistically as "diseases".

4. Psychological Models
Psychological theories have led to different models of abnormal behaviour, each with its own assumptions about the causes and forms of abnormality. The psychoanalytic model explainus disordered behaviour in terms of unconscious conflicts. According to the behavioural model, abnormal behaviour is learned, just as normal behaviour is, through experiences of associations, reinforcements, and punishments. More recently, the cognitive model has argued that internal processes like expectations, biases, errors, and illusions in conscious thought result in maladjusted and disordered behaviour. Each of these models makes therapeutic recommendations on the basis of its own terms and assumptions.

5. Biological Model
This is the dominant model in our society today. This model defines abnormality as mental illness – "sick in the head" – the brain is not working in the way that it should. Mental illness can be treated in hospital with drugs and surgery. The symptoms are looked at and then an attempt at cure is made with prescriptions.

Mental illness does not show up in blood tests or x-rays, there are no bodily symptoms, it is "all in the head". There are no physical tests, which poses problems for doctors. They can only classify, diagnose and treat according to the symptoms presented.

A neurotic is somebody who has a problem that they are aware of: "I am depressed", "I'm having strange thoughts", "I have a phobia" etc.

A psychotic is not aware of their abnormality or illness. It may take over and the sufferer becomes detached from the world around them, as in Schizophrenia. There are two types of psychosis, Organic and Functional

- Organic psychosis is where something is wrong with the brain – either caused by a hit on the head, tumour or infection etc.
- Functional psychosis is where there appears to be no physical reason, but the person is functioning in a different way, loses contact with the world.

A mentally retarded person has "the mind of the young", and this may be caused by anything: accident, illness, etc.

6. Psychodynamic Model
The psychodynamic model is the oldest and most famous of the modern psychological models. This approach believes that something happened in the past that the person is unable to deal with, and this causes the problems in the present. The memory is buried, or repressed, and has gone into the unconscious mind.

Psychodynamic theorists believe that a person’s behavior, whether normal or abnormal, is determined largely by underlying psychological forces of which he or she is not consciously aware. These internal forces are described as dynamic- that is, they interact with one another; and their interaction gives rise to behavior, thoughts, and emotions. Abnormal symptoms are viewed as the results of conflicts between these forces. Psychodynamic theorists believe that these conflicts are tied to early relationships and to traumatic experiences that occurred during childhood. Psychodynamic theories rest on the deterministic assumption that no symptom or behavior is “accidental”: all behavior is determined by past experiences.

The psychodynamic model was first formulated by the Viennese neurologist Sigmund Freud at the turn of the twentieth century. After studying hypnosis, Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis to explain both normal and abnormal psychological functioning, and a corresponding method of treatment, a conversational approach also called psychoanalysis.

According to Freud, the Unconscious mind is 2/3 of the total mind, the conscious being 1/3. The preconscious is the small part between the two. The purpose of Psychodynamic therapy is to make the unconscious conscious.

Ego Defence Mechanisms: The Ego puts either the desires or rules into unconsciousness to make its job easier as it cannot satisfy both. Denial and Repression are examples of Ego Defence Mechanisms.

Slips of the tongue – Freudian slips: Truth sneaks out when least expected – it has not passed through sensors / filters: come straight from the unconscious.

Free Association: Flowing conversation – let it go wherever it goes. The idea is that the patient may make statements they did not intend to and the therapist picks these out of the conversation for analysis.

Word Association: A list of unconnected words is read and the patient says the first word that comes into their mind. E.g. "milk" might illicit the response "drink". Here the therapist is looking for "odd" associations, e.g. "father" might illicit the response "punishment".

Dream Analysis: Patients keep a diary, and the therapist looks for hidden meanings or things that might be symbolic of what is happening in the unconsciousness. The diary is interpreted in the light of what is known of the patient by the therapist.

All these approaches are effective, but only to a very small degree.

Projective Testing: The theory is that we project our own inner feelings onto other people and things. A good example is the famous inkblot tests. These contain no picture or hidden meaning, but Freud thought people would project their own feelings, and looked for a developing pattern when a patient was shown many of these drawings.

Another example of projective testing is the TAT test, which was not developed by Freud himself, but by followers of the Psychodynamic approach. An ambiguous photograph is shown to the patient, and they are then asked to "tell the story". E.g. a photograph of an old man and a young girl on a park bench: Grandfather's day out or potential dirty old man? Again, many pictures are shown and the therapist looks for a theme.

Regression: This is where the patient is asked to re-live parts of their life and examine them in detail, including their thoughts and feelings both at the time, and now.

7. Behavioral Model
The behavioral model concentrates on behaviors, the responses an organism makes to its environment, which can be either internal or external. In the behavioral view, people are the sum of their learned behaviors. Therefore, behavior theorists base their explanations and treatments on principles of learning, the processes by which these behaviors change in response to the environment. The behavioral model began in laboratories where psychologists were running experiments on conditioning, simple forms of learning.

8. Humanistic-Existential Model
As humans we have the ability to pursue philosophical goals such as self-awareness, strong values, a sense of meaning in life, and freedom of choice. Humanists, the optimists of the two groups, believe that human beings are born with a tendency to be friendly, cooperative, and constructive. People, these theorists propose, are driven to self-actualize- that is, to fulfill this potential of goodness and growth. They can do so, however, only if they honestly recognize and accept their weaknesses as well as their strengths and establish satisfying personal values to live by. Existentialists agree that human beings must have an accurate awareness of themselves and live meaningful, authentic, lives in order to be psychologically well adjusted. But existentialists do not believe that people are naturally inclined to live positively, instead they believe that from birth we have total freedom, either to face up to our existence and give meaning to our lives or shrink from that responsibility.

9. Sociocultural Model
According to the sociocultural model, abnormal behavior is best understood in light of the social and cultural forces that influence an individual. What are the norms of society? What roles does a person play in the social environment? What kind of family structure is the person part of? And how do other people view ad react to him or her? The model borrows concepts and principles from two fields: sociology, the study of human relationships and social groups, and anthropology, the study of human cultures and institutions.

10. Cognitive Model
In the early 1960s, Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck proposed that cognitive processes are at the center of behavior, thought, and emotions and that we can best understand abnormal functioning by looking to cognition. How do cognitive theories explain abnormal functioning? Some people may make assumptions and adopt attitudes that are disturbing and inaccurate. Illogical thinking processes are another source of abnormal functioning, according to cognitive theorists. Beck has found that some people consistently think in illogical ways and keep arriving at self-defeating conclusions. He has also identified a number of illogical thought processes regularly found in depression, such as overgeneralization.

Abnormal Behaviour

2007-05-13T16:39:00.000+08:00

Abnormality is a subjectively defined characteristic, assigned to those with rare or dysfunctional conditions. Defining who is normal or abnormal is a contentious issue in abnormal psychology.

Many layperson's first associations with psychology are ideas about abnormal behaviour and its treatment. Ideas of abnormality have varied over time and have affected attitudes toward disordered behaviour and its treatment.

Abnormal behavior is influence by biological factors (brain processes), psychological factors (emotional turmoil), and by social factors (inadequate relationships)

Woman are diagnosed more then males because

1. Woman more likely to behave in ways that others label as mental disorders.
2. Woman are taught to express their emotions, while men are trained to control them.
3. Woman have unequal social positions and greater discrimination, more likely to experience trauma-inducing circumstances
4. Woman often placed in "double-blind" situations in society… Woman labeled as mentally disordered for either over conforming or under conforming to feminine gender role stereotypes.

Definining Abnormality
Many definitions exist but none are entirely satisfactory. "Abnormal" literally means "away from the norm". The norm is the average or typical behaviour or characteristic of the population. Thus norms are different for different populations and can change with time and conditions.

Abnormal behaviour has been defined four different ways by psychologists and social scientists: statistically, culturally, in terms of psychological adequacy, and in terms of categories of symptoms.

1. Statistical Abnormality
In terms of statistics, abnormal behaviour includes any behaviour that is significantly different from the norm. In a normal distribution of characteristics or qualities, both very high scores and very low scores are considered statistically abnormal. For example, in terms of intelligence only "average" intelligence is considered statistically normal. Significantly below-average intelligence is considered abnormal, but so is significantly above-average intelligence. Thus in the statistical sense, unusually well-adjusted behaviour might be considered abnormal, just as disordered behaviour would be.

2. Cultural Abnormality
In cultural terms, it is normal to abide by cultural norms. Cultures have norms for every social behaviour, from personal practices in sexual behaviour and child-rearing, to public actions like driving a car or choosing what to wear. The cultural definition of abnormality includes any behaviour that deviates from cultural norms. If an individual does not know how to dress in public, he or she will be considered abnormal. If an individual deliberately chooses to be a nonconformist in some way, he or she will be considered abnormal.

A problem with the cultural definition is its arbitrariness across time and cultures.l It was normal in the 18th century for American men to wear wigs and pigtails, but not so in the mid-20th century. Judging nonconformists to be abnormal because they do not abide by a dress code will lead to erroneous identifications of abnormality.

3. Psychological Inadequacy
Closer to the "true" understanding of abnormal behaviour is a definition in terms of psychological adequacy. This has taken two forms, a value-based interpretation and a practical interpretation.

Adequacy as a Value: In one sense, an individual is abnormal if his or her behaviour is not healthy. This view assumes common understanding about what "healthy" behaviour is. Insofar as these values might vary across individuals, even across professionals, this view of abnormality has the same liabilities as the cultural definition. Most people will not achieve "ideal" mental health but will still functional adequately and should not be considered abnormal.

Practical Adequacy: One's behaviour is "psychologically adequate" if he or she sets and achieves goals, is capable of independent living, and can form and sustain close relationships with others. In this view, abnormal behaviour is that which is self-defeating, out of touch with reality, socially unskilled, and personally distressed. This approach to abnormality is more practical and "common-sensical" than the foregoing.

Several conventional criteria
1. One simple thing is statistical infrequency. This has an obvious flaw — the extremely intelligent, honest, or happy are just as abnormal as their opposites. Therefore, abnormal behaviour is considered to be statistically rare as well as undesirable.

Dr Chinemezu of Aba Nigeria on (Abnormalty) The word abnormalty is The state or quality of being abnormal; variation; irregularity - Darwin Something abnormal

2. A more discerning criterion is distress. A person who is displaying a great deal of depression, anxiety, unhappiness, etc. is defined to be abnormal. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of their own mental state, and while they may benefit from help, they feel no compulsion to receive it.
3. Another criterion is morality. This presents many difficulties, because it would be impossible to agree on a single set of morals for the purposes of diagnosis.
4. One criterion commonly referenced is maladaptivity. If a person is behaving in ways counterproductive to their own well-being, it is considered maladaptive. While tighter than the above criteria, it does have some shortcomings. For example, moral behavior including dissent and abstinence may be considered maladaptive to some.
5. Abnormal behaviour violates the standards of society. When people do not follow the conventional social and moral rules of their society, the behaviour is considered abnormal. However, the magnitude of the violation and how commonly it is violated by others must be taken into consideration.
6. Another element of abnormality is that abnormal behaviour will cause social discomfort to those who witness such behaviour.
7. The standard criteria in psychology and psychiatry is that of mental illness. Determination of abnormality is based upon medical diagnosis. This is often criticized for removing control from the 'patient', and being easily manipulated by political or social goals.

A mneumonic commonly used as a reference to define abnormality SID's eFFing DIM:

SI: Statistical Infrequency simply defines whether a behaviour is abnormal if it doesn't happen very often. There are no negative or positive overtones when using this definition of abnormality, as it covers behaviours which others don't deem 'abnormal' i.e. stamp-collectors, racing drivers.

D's: Deviation from Social Norms defines whether a behaviour is abnormal if it is a behaviour 'outside' of society's 'circle' of what is acceptable. The main problem with this definition of abnormality is that not all behaviours that break social norms are 'wrong', and that even some social norms need to be broken i.e. women wearing traditionally men's clothes. Another problem is that there are some behaviours that individuals may do, but don't openly admit it i.e. picking their noses is a crude example that not many people would admit to.

FF: The Failure to Function Adequately definition of abnormality defines whether or not a behaviour is abnormal if it is counterproductive to the individual. The main problem with this definition however is that psychologists cannot agree on the boundaries that define what is 'functioning' and what is 'adequately', as some behaviours that can cause 'failure to function' are not seen as bad i.e. firemen risking their lives to save people in a blazing fire.

DIM: Deviation from Ideal Mental health defines abnormality by determining if the behaviour the individual is portraying is affecting their mental well-being. As with the Failure to Function definition, the boundaries that stipulate what 'ideal mental health' is are not properly defined, and the bigger problem with the definition is that all individuals will at some point in their life deviate from ideal mental health, but it does not mean they are abnormal i.e. someone who has lost a relative will be distressed, but would not be defined as abnormal for showing that particular behaviour.

A common approach to defining abnormality is a Multi-Criteria approach, where all definitions of abnormality are used to determine whether an individuals behaviour is abnormal i.e. if an individual is exercising a particular behaviour that is preventing them from 'functioning', breaks a social norm and is statistically infrequent then Psychologists would be prepared to define this individual as abnormal. A good example of an abnormal behaviour assessed by a multi-criteria approach is depression: it is commonly seen as a deviation from ideal mental stability, it often stops the individual from 'functioning' a normal life and some could say it is statistically infrequent.

Coping With Aches, Pains & Fatigue

2007-04-20T22:46:00.000+08:00

If you believe that you suffer from physical complaints of psychological origin or have neurasthenic tendencies, you may find value in the following list of coping stragegies:

1. Believe your physicians. Many people with hypochondriacal or neurasthenic tendencies go from doctor to doctor hoping to find one who will agree that their problem has an organic basis. You should seek a second, and even a third opinion before you are satisfied with a diagnosis. But there is a logical limit.

2. Do whatever you can to manage stress. Beard, who you recall first introduced the term neurasthenia, believed that the condition was induced by overwork. Today, this appears to be an oversimplification. It is probable that an underlying neurotic process is at work. Nonetheless, there is some value to Beard's formulation. Overwork, life changes, difficult interpersonal relations, and so forth, can all act as triggers that precipitate a rash of complaints. Sources of stress, if they are not eliminated, can also aggravate the distress associated with complaints. Try to become an expert at "stress management". Learn effective ways to control or at least to diminish, the impact of stress-inducing events in your personal world.

3. Challenge the idea that you are frail and sickly. George Kelly, a pioneer figure in personality theory and psychotherapy, introduced the concept of a personal construct. A personal construct is an idea that one holds about oneself. It may or may not reflect objective reality. However, it is treated as if it is real by the individual holding it. Consequently, it determines behaviour and forms the basis of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thus, if you have ideas such as "I am frail" or "I am sickly", you will certainly act like a frail and sickly person. And by your own behaviour, you will create the very state of affairs you wish to avoid.

4. Refuse to play the role of sick person. It is important to recognize that this role is a kind of choice or decision that you make and that you have other options. The decision to play the sick role is made by your emotional self. It is seeking reinforcers such as attention, tokens of love, power over others, and so forth. You need to find more effective ways to meet your emotional needs. Use your thinking self to make a rational decision to give up the short-term satisfactions of the sick role and to seek the long-term satisfactions of mature behaviour.

5. Reflect on your early childhood. Keep a journal with dated enteries and try to explore the roots of any feelings you have of being unloved and underappreciated. Try to ask and answer questions such as this one:"Did I feel emotionally abandoned as a child?" Developing insight into the origins of today's emotional needs can give a certain amount of conscious control over these needs. It is one way to loosen the grip of a neurotic process.

6. Develop a stoical attitude toward minor aches and pains. Stoicism, an ancient philosophical viewpoint, teaches that it is possible, within rational limits, to develop an attitude of cool, calm indifference toward suffering. Such an attitude has at least two advantages. First, you will extract less expressions of pity from others, and this will help to extinguish complaining as a maladaptive habit. Second, you may find it possible to reduce the amount of pain medication you take. The Greek dramatist Aeschylus expressed almost 2500 years ago this thought in his play Agamemnon:"Who, except the gods, can live time through forever without any pain?"

7. Seek effective ways to deal with anxiety and depression. Both of these emotional states, if chronic, magnify the symptoms common in a neurasthenic syndrome.

8. Professional Help
If you find that you cannot cope adequately with physical complaints of psychological origin, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you.

Physical Complaints

2007-04-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

The nineteenth century biologist Charles Darwin, author of The Origin of Species, suffered from multiple physical complaints for most of his adult years. A relatively wealthy man, the entire household revolved around his varying states of health. Appointments were made to accommodate his 'frail condition'. He often complained of number fingertips, digestive problems and insomnia. Many evenings, he vomited shortly after dinner. He saw himself as a semi-invalid. In his later years, many of his symptoms subsided. He lived to the age of 73, and there appears to have been no organic basis for his various complaints.

There are two general sources of physical complaints:
1. the organic, or biological, domain and
2. the psychological, or behavioural, domain.

Physical complaints arising from the psychological domain are presumed to be due to mental and emotional conflicts or maladaptive habits and are said to be psychogenic. Another term applied to such complaints is functional and this will be discussed here.

Signs and symptoms associated with physical complaints of a functional nature include the following:

the conviction that one is frail and suffers from poor overall health
stomach and digestive disturbances
various aches and pains
disturbances in the sense of touch
irregular heartbeat
irrational worry about one's health
imaginary disorders
fatigue
sexual difficulties

The above items merit comment. The conviction that one is frail and suffers from poor overall health is a concept, an idea in the mind, in the case of psychogenic complaints. Stomach and digestive disturbances include the conviction that one has too much gas, that flatulence cannot be controlled, that one is constipated, frequent nausea and so forth. Various aches and pains in the muscles and joints are often associated with the notion that one has a muscle-wasting disease or rheumatoid arthritis. It is important to stress here that the aches and pains are real to the sufferer. They are actually felt and cause perceived discomfort.

Examples of disturbances in the sense of touch include tingling, numbness or heat in the fingers or toes. The clinical name for this condition is paresthesia. Irregular heartbeat includes palpitations and tachycardia. Such symptoms can and do occur in the absence of underlying heart disease.

It is common in persons who suffer from psychogenic complaints to develop excessive worry about their health. This is known as hypochondria. The person who suffers from hypochondria takes a small sign or symptom and magnifies it. A headache suggests the possiblity of brain cancer. Blurred vision foreshadows blindness. Victims of hypochondriasis recognize that their fears are irrational, but they feel helpless to control them.

Imaginary disorders often show up as false neurological impairments. These frequently involve problems in vision, hearing, the sense of touch, and movement (eg. the ability to walk). Complete blindness, deafness or paralysis is not at all unusual. The traditional name for this condition is hysteria. It is considered outdated today because the term was originally applied to women only. The contemporary name for the condition described in this paragraph is conversion disorder, the idea here being that anxiety has been converted into a bodily symptom.

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms associated with psychogenic physical complaints. The individual says,"I have no energy -- no get up and go. I drag myself through the day. I seem to always be exhausted. It's all I can do to meet my minimum responsibilities."

Sexual difficulties include problems such as inability to become excited, inability to reach an orgasm even if excited, inability in males to maintain an erection adequate for intercourse, and painful intercourse.

Coping With Food Abuse

2007-03-01T16:49:00.000+08:00

In a study to find out the psychology of food consumption, it was found out that an individual has a strong tendency to eat only a single unit of food, regardless of the size or caloric value.The concept of unit bias helps explain how environmental differences in portions and package sizes impact overall consumption and may provide a foundation for a better understanding of the psychology of obesity.

In this competitive world where women have multiple roles to play, most women hold their feelings or keep emotions to themselves in some cases. Sometimes to escape from problems, these women find ways to release their stress. Many women retort to eating, seeking pleasure in doing so and as ways to cope with their problems in life. Thus women many times find solace and comfort in food.

If you tend to abuse food, you may find value in the following list of practical coping strategies.

1. Work on separating food from emotional satisfactions. Say to yourself,"Food is not love," "Food is no substitue for sexual gratification," "Food does not help me cope in the long run with depression, anger or boredom," "It is childish to express my anger by eating. I'm only for love in the foods I eat, I'm looking for love in all the wrong places."

2. If you are using food as a tranquilizer, look for other more effective and less self-defeating ways of reducing anxiety.

3. If you believe that you have been "picked" by your parents or other family members to be the "fat one", consciously reject this role. Recognize it as a victim's role, as the result of accepting a status passively and without sufficient examination.

4. Make a functional analysis of your maladaptive eating habits. This involves listing each habit on a piece of paper and identifying what triggers the habit, such as a given time of day, the behaviour of other people, a mood, a special occasion, the sight or smell of food, and so forth. Now brainstorm each habit and try to come up with ideas for modifying or breaking it. Jot these down as they occur to you. Work on one habit at a time, starting with the easiest one first.

5. If you believe that you suffer from hypoglycemia, look for long-run, not short-run, relief. You can accomplish this by avoiding snacks high in sucrose and refined carbohydrates. Instead select snacks high in fiber and/or protein. Examples of good snack foods are both nonfat and low-fat milk, whole wheat bread, an apple or an orange, a few unsalted or dry roasted peanuts, or a broiled chicken breast. Such foods will give you relief, sustain your blood sugar at an optimal length for a longer period of time and help you stop abusing food.

6. If you suffer from anorexia nervosa and are in a power struggle with a parent or parents, become conscious of the fact that you are acting as your own owrst enemy. You are, as a familiar saying goes, "cutting off your nose to spite your face." If you lose your health while "proving that your parents cannot boss you around and tell you what to do, what is the real benefit to you? The answer is,"None". Look for healthy ways to assert your autonomy. There are times when you might feel you must go against your parent's wishes, but do no tmake food the weapon and the dining table the battleground. It is a sham battle that makes no sense and has little basis in reality. Fight for your real rights, not symbolic ones.

7. Be aware of the fact that advertising is designed to appeal to your childish self, to your impulsive nature. When you go to a grocery store, make a list not only of foods you intend to buy, but of foods you intend not to buy. Learn to resist suggestion.

8. If you find that you cannot cope adequately with a tendency to abuse food, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you. For example, taking a psychodynamic approach, a therapist will help you become familiar with the specific ways in which you abuse food to satisfy emotional needs. The best approach in therapy is one that fosters understanding of why you abuse food combined with practical methods indicating how you can break and modify your habits.

Most of the time, people who tend to abuse food have problems with their weight. A lot of people are overweight. Sometimes it is very hard to control the habit of eating as it has become part of your lifestyle. To overcome the problem of overweight and to lose weight, there has been recent productivity and marketing of Hoodia gordonii, an appetite suppressant. The appetite suppressant Hoodia, available in many forms as such hoodia pills, has been popularly known and marketed in many websites. So what actually is Hoodia gordonii and what you should know about it? Read more about Hoodia gordonii and how to lose weight with hoodia now.

Coping With Delusions

2007-02-27T23:24:00.000+08:00

It would at first appear contradictory to give advice on how to cope with delusions. The argument is that persons with delusions by definition believe their irrational ideas to be both real and true; therefore, they cannot be argued or reasoned out of them. This is correct. Nonetheless, persons with delusions often recognize their borderline and impossible character. Although they will usually resist outside reasoning, they often struggle within themselves against delusions. They psychoanalyst Robert Lindner points that it is incorrect to believe that in every instance persons with delusions are so "far gone" that they do no knowo they are mad. Lindner notes that, for the most part, deranged persons are suffering or because they are made to suffer for it by others.

Also, it should be noted that the severity of delusions waxes and wanes. Persons with schizophrenia often experience a spontaneous remission of symptoms, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. Antipsychotic drugs also bring about a reduction in the severity of symptoms. During periods of increased mental clarity, disturbed individuals are accessible to rational thinking, including their own.

If you suffer from delusions, you may find value in the following list of practical coping strategies:

1. In some cases, delusions have a quality similar to the experiences in a lucid dream. A lucid dream is a dream in which you become aware that you are dreaming. It is then possible to break out of the dream or control it. This often happens with delusions. A part of your consciousness whispers,"This can't be real. These ideas are impossible." Under these conditions, it is possible for you to take some control over the delusions.

2. When you are in good reality contact, when your delusions have retreated to the corners of your mind, take advantage of a behaviour therapy technique called stress-inoculation training. Stress-inoculation training involves preparing yourself ahead of time for a stressful situation. Play a mental movie of future situations in which a delusion interferes with your ability to function effectively. Visualize how you will cope in a practical manner, and work around the delusion. Stress-inoculation training can forearm you against your own unbidden delusional tendencies.

3. Make sure that your nutrition is adequate, that you obtain enough protein, carbohydrates, vitamines, and minerals. There is a substantial amount of evidence suggesting that clear thinking is associated with a healthy brain and nervous system. One way to look at the mind is to think of it as the brain and nervous system in action. A healthy mind requires an equally healthy body. To be more specific, certain chemical messengers in the brain (Eg. norepinephrine) are required for rational thought. These are synthesized out of substances provided by food. The B-complex vitamins have been found to be of particular importance.

4. Do not act on the basis of an idea that you think is true and that most other people think is false. Consider that it just might be a delusion. Do not jump from a roof just because you think you can fly. Do not try to live without food just because you think you are immortal and do not need it. Listen to the small voice within you that says,"I might hurt myself. May be other people are right."

5. Avoid the use of psychoactive drugs. These include amphetamines, cocaine, morphine, heroin, cannabis, and lysergic acid diethylamide-25. These drugs interact with a tendency to have delusions and sometimes greatly increase the level of irrational thought.

6. Be aware of the concept of consensual reality, that is, the way a well-defined group (eg. a family, a tribe) sees the world. Although from a strict philosophical point of view one cannot say that the group's perception of reality as a fact, be practical. Work with their reality, not against it, if you want to reduce your level of conflict and suffering.

If a partner, child or other person close to you suffers from delusions, below are coping strategies that may be of some value:

7. Do not challenge a delusion directly. Do not tell the troubled person such things as, "That's silly" or "That's nonsense." Do not discount the delusion and attempt to minimize its importance. Such blunt frontal attacks tend to galvanize resistance and push the individual farther into the delusion.

8. Try to encourage the other person to be as practical as possible in spite of the delusion. Describe the logical consequences of actions. Orient the individual toward reality by pointing out that a given behaviour may lead to imprisonment, bodily injury, or property damage. Working with the assumptions of the delusion, help the person steer clear of its buried dangers.

If you find that you cannot cope adequately with delusions, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you.

Causes Of Delusions

2007-02-26T21:56:00.000+08:00

One of the principal mental disorders associated with delusions is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder characterized by illogical thinking; often there are other signs and symptoms such as hallucinations. However, it is important to understand that a mental disorder such as schizophrenia is not in and of itself a "cause". The important question is: What causes schizophrenia? There is no single or simple answer to the question. Instead, a number of causal factors appear to play a role.

First, studies of identical twins and other siblings suggest that genetic factors play a role in the disease. Second, these genetic factors may contribute to an inherited brain defect making it difficult to process information in a conventional way. Third, there is evidence that the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical messenger, is overactive in the brains of schizophrenic patients. Fourth, emotional wounds inflicted in early infancy may aggravate the likelihood that the disease will appear later in life. Fifth, parents who confuse a child and who are emotionally distant may also aggravate tendencies to develop schizophrenia. Sixth, environmental triggers such as going bankrupt, getting divorced, or losing a loved one may be necessary to "light the fuse" of the disease.

All of these causal factors, interplaying with each other in a complex way, may play a role in the disease and, in turn, its delusions. One important way to explain delusions is to appreciate that they frequently have a meaning. Often, a delusion, or delusional system, represents a psychological need for power in the form of wishful thinking. Waldeman T., the man who said he could walk through walls, was a mild-mannersed, financially unsuccessful salesman for a plumbing company. Kirk Allen had been emotionally crushed in many ways in his early childhood. And he had been sexually abused by a governess. He felt weak and powerless in his actual life, but in his life a great star king, he ruled a galaxy.

Frequently, delusions can be understood as metaphors. Sawyer, who said he was a walking, talking corpse, was in essence saying that he felt as pressing itself. Delusions, if their meanings are sought, provide a kind of window into the troubled person's state of mind.

Delusions can be caused by an actual pathology of the brain and nervous system. Alzheimer's disease, brain tumours, strokes, general paresis(caused by syphilis), and alcohol amnestic disorder is "Korsakoff's psychosis" in honor of the Russian neurologist who first studied it. In alcohol amnestic disorder, there is damage to the brain caused by years of alcohol abuse.

The toxic effects of drugs can induce delusions. Irrational ideas are often present in the altered states of consciousness induced by such drugs as morphine and heroin. Some drugs are actually called psychedelics or hallucinogens because of their ability to greatly alter normal brain processes. Examples of these drugs are cannabis (ie marijuana), hashish, mescaline, psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide-25, and phencyclidine. Finally, it should not be forgotten that alcohol is a drug. Not only can a person have delusions when intoxicated, delusions are a common symptom of delirium tremens, which is caused by withdrawal from a dependence on alcohol.

Delusions

2007-02-25T20:53:00.000+08:00

Waldemar T. is convinced that he can walk through walls. Phillipa M. believes that she has six fingers, one of them invisible to others but visible to her. Orson L. thinks that in the year 2001 Earth will be destroyed in a collision with an enormous comet, that a great ark of space will be built that he will be one of its passengers, and that he will help set up a colony for humankind on Mars.

What do Waldemar, Phillipa and Orson all have in common? They suffer from delusions. A delusion is believing in something that most members of an individual's family or culture regard as irrational or false. One of the words used by ancient Greek writers to identify delusions was phantasia, and this is the root of our word "fantasy". A delusion may be regarded as a fantasy that is taken to be a reality.

In some cases, delusions seem to come and go without apparent rhyme or reason. As indicated above, Phillipa believes today that she has an invisible finger. Yesterday, she said that her head was made out of a pumpkin. Tomorrow, she may insist that she is only 2 inches tall. She is a hospitalized mental patient and suffers from schizophrenia. Her thinking is very disorganized and confused.

On the other hand, it is possible for an individual to have a highly organized, consistent delusional system. When this happens, a diagnosis of delusional disorder, also known as paranoid disorder, is made. An example of this kind of disorder is provided by a case history entitled "The Jet-propelled Couch", reported by the psychoanalyst Robert Lindner in his book The Fifty-Minute Hour. Kirk Allen, a physicist, believed that he led a dual existence. One existence was his mundane Earth life. In a second, more important existence, he was the lord of a planet in a distant universe. In this second existence, arrived at through telepathic means, he ruled an interplanetary empire and wore important robes of office. Kirk had accumulated 12000 pages of "records" documenting his role as a star king. Maps, charts, and biographical data were amazingly consistent.

A highly organized system such as Kirk's is relatively rare. Much more common are the more or less inconsistent delusions associated with such mental disorders as schizophrenia and organic mental syndromes.

Three common kinds of delusions are bizarre delusions, nihilistic delusions, and delusions of being controlled. Bizarre delusions are those that are ridiculous to most people -- Madge says that her eyes are made out of grapes, that her hair is cotton candy, and her ears are fashioned from leftover stew meat. Nihilistic delusions stress the themes of death and decay -- Sawyer says that he is a walking, talking corpse brought back to a sort of half-life by Dr. Frankenstein. Delusions of being controlled are characterized by the idea that external forces in the form of energies or persons are running one's thoughts and behaviour -- Tyrone has told his psychiatrist more than once that invisible wires held by the Puppet Master make him do things against his will.

Other signs and symptoms of Delusions frequently associated with the general symptom of a tendency to have delusions are :

Irrational thinking
Inability to use facts to modify the delusion
Hallucinations
Confabulation
Distortions of body image
Disorientation
Magical thinking
Distress

People with delusions sometimes have distortions of body image. These can themselves be kinds of delusions. Persons with more or less normal bodies may think they are withered, shrunken, gigantic, misshapen, wrinkled or obese.

Disorientation suggests that the person is poorly oriented in time and space. Individuals displaying this condition may not know what day, month or year it is. They may not know where they live or how to find their way home.

Magical thinking is characterized by a tendency to ignore the importance of natural causes and their effects. Thus, a person thinks that an airplane flies because he or she wishes it into the air, or that it will stop raining because he or she turns counterclockwise three times.

Finally, it is important to realize that distress is commonly associated with delusions. There is a myth that mental patients are happy with their delusions, that they provide an escape into a pleasant fantasy world. This can, of course, be true in some cases. However, it is more common for a patient to feel tormented and controlled by delusions, which the patient perceives as real and as beyond the control of his or her will. Consequently, the patient often feels like a victim of the delusions.

Coping With Boredom

2007-02-24T16:55:00.000+08:00

If you suffer from boredom, you may find value in the following list of practical coping strategies. The list has applications to both situational boredom and chronic boredom.

1. Make a systematic attempt to introduce more frequent and regular changes into your life. These should be changes that you can implement readily without too much effort. Here is an example: over a period of several weeks, Anatole R. called an old college friend he had not talked to for years, took a short vacation to a place he had never been to before, and visited for the first time a large, well-known used-book bookstore about 100 miles away from his home. The general idea is that if you are in something of a rut, try to break out of it.

2. Find something important to do. Much boredom is associated with the idea that one's work or other activities are meaningless. Your life should not be seen as an endless round of routine with no long-range purpose. Rediscover meaning in your work, or consider making a career change. You might consider offering your services as a volunteer to a hospital or a school.

3. Learn something new. Take an evening course at a community college in almost anything that presents a challenge and a mild psychological threat. By a psychological threat is meant something at which you just might fail. You will be forced to rise to the occasion, to use your intellect. The introduction of different ideas into your life helps to counter boredom.

4. Take a child to a movie. Kay G. took her seven year old granddaughter to see the Walt Disney version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Kay saw the film in the 1930s and remembered it with fondness. She would have not enjoyed seeing it alone. However, taking her granddaughter to see it allowed her to share a memory and re-experience the story vicariously through a child's eyes.

5. In general, learn to use fantasy in a constructive, creative way. Madame Bovary acted on her romantic fantasies in a destructive way. Instead, think of your fantasies as a kind of second psychological life, as a source of rich gratification. You do not have to insist that they materialize in the real world; the individual with a healthy personality makes a clear distinction between fantasy and reality.

6. Recognize that feelings come and go. Some boredom is natural. Learn to tolerate it. Go on with your daily activities in spite of the boredom, and it will often lift and vanish.

7. Think of boredom as coming from your child self. Imagine that you are the parent of an actual child who says, "I'm bored. There's nothing to do." How would you answer? Apply the answer to yourself.

8. When you are bored, do not just sit and stare. Get up and engage in some motor activity. It can be almost anything from taking a short walk to sweeping a kitchen floor. Motor activity is antagonistic to boredom. It is much more difficult to be bored when you are moving. You cannot will away your boredom, but you can will your actions. The activity will feed back on the boredom, reducing its intensity.

9. Use your intelligence. As earlier indicated, it has often been observed that intelligence is associated with boredom. It is possible that you have used your mind destructively to throw yourself into a psychological pit. The intelligent things to do is certainly not to passively accept the pit as a trap. If your intelligence got you in, it can get you out. The really bright person realizes that the trap of boredom is a self-made one, and it can be dismantled with intelligence just as it was constructed by intelligence. Brainstorm the problem. Make your own list of coping strategies that are likely to work for you.

If you find that you cannot cope adequately with boredom, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you.

Causes Of Boredom

2007-02-23T16:01:00.000+08:00

A major cause of boredom is lack of variety. Human beings appear to have a need for changes of stimulation. Imagine yourself confined to a small room with no windows, no telephone, no television set, no books to read, no interesting pictures on the wall, and no visitors. You probably would soon find yourself unbearably bored. As Robert S. Woodworth, a leading motivational theorist in the 1920s and 1930s, put it, "The eyes want to see and the ears want to hear." Various experiments in sensory isolation have demonstrated that if volunteer subjects are deprived of changes of stimulation, they will begin to have mild hallucinations. They may see spinning, glowing patterns or hear odd sounds.

Although a bored person may not be physically confined to a small room or systematically deprived of changes of stimulation, there are parallels. A young homemaker with three children and no car of her own commented, "I feel like I'm going stir crazy. Some days I'm so tired of it all I could scream." A woman who worked on an assembly line said, "When I go to work, I feel like I'm going to prison." If you perceive your life as greatly deficient in change of stimulation, if there is too much sameness, you are bound to be bored.

In some cases, unlike those cited above, boredom is associated with affluence. Galvin C. has no meaningful vocation, and he hires most personal services. He and his wife live well from the income of a large trust fund. He has time on his hands. He tries to cope with boredom by turning to popular entertainments such as luxury cruises and vacations at gambling resorts. Basically he is simply bored with life and knows it.

It is important to note that an interesting, varied environment is a matter of perception. Melanie thinks of a trip to an antique store as exciting and interesting. Paula, Melanie's sister, thinks of the same activity as boring. In contrast, Paula finds it stimulating and exciting to shop for clothes and look at the latest colours and styles. Melanie might as well be looking at gray uniforms. She takes no interest and is bored when she accompanies Paula.

A great deal of experimental evidence suggests that human beings have an inborn curiosity drive. This is true not only of human beings, but also of animals. Rats will actively explore areas of a maze that contain walls with vertical stripes and avoid areas that display gray walls without patterns. Apparently, as the rats run by the vertical stripes, they experience changes of visual stimulation. Infant's eye will spend more time gazing at a black-and-white checkerboard with nine squares than at a more simple one with only four squares. As the infant's eye scans the checkerboard, each shift from black to white or from white to black is a specific change of stimulation. The curiosity drive seeks as its goal changes of stimulation in the same way that the hunger drive seeks food. If the curiosity drive is not met adequately, boredom is the result.

Of course, in adult human beings, the curiosity drive is selective. This is because they have interests. Travel to faraway places will not satisfy the curiosity drive of an individual who finds it boring to leaf through the pages of an issue of National Geographic. An astrophysicist might be curious about the latest past data supporting the theory that there are black holes in space. The same information might bore someone else. However, both persons have a curiosity drive. And both persons need the kinds of changes of stimulation that will satisfy them.

A personal factor that may cause boredom is high intelligence. The psychoanalyst Eric Fromm said that the human being is the only creature that can be bored. This is not strictly speaking correct. On of the principal problems with the care of some animals in zoos is that they become bored. This is particularly true of relatively intelligent animals such as apes and bears. However, snakes and crocodiles do not appear to have a problem with boredom. Very bright individuals often take most of the information out of a stimulus before others do, and they are ready to move on when others are still interested. Informally, they get "saturated" with objects or other persons quickly and become bored with them.

A final factor in boredom is the "too much too soon" phenomenon. An individual is treated in youth like a prince or a princess. He or she has "had it all" or "seen it all". The good things of life are not earned but obtained with little or no effort. Boredom may set in at an early age. Diana Barrymore, daughter of the famous actor John Barrymore, wrote an autobiagraphy with the very title Too Much, Too Soon in which she describes a self-destructive life style arising in part from boredom. The motion picture actor Errol Flynn in his autobiography My Wicked, Wicked Ways portrays his life in a similar manner.

Boredom

2007-02-23T14:07:00.000+08:00

Madame Bovary is a novel by Gustave Flaubert that was attacked for obscenity by public prosecutors when it was first serialised in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, resulting in a trial in January 1857 that made it notorious. After the acquittal on 7 February, it became a bestseller in book form in April 1857, and is now seen as one of the first modern realistic novels.

The literary classic Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert, tells the story of a woman who is bored with her husband, bored with her fellow townspeople, and, in general, bored with her life. Her days are too tedious and predictable, and she is filled with romantic, idealistic fantasies. In order to escape from boredom, she enters into two love affair, both of them disastrous. In the end, she commits suicide by taking arsenic. First published in 1857, Madame Bovary illustrates that boredom is no newcomer to the human race as a psychological problem.

The novel, Madame Bovary, focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. Though the basic plot is rather simple, even archetypal, the novel's true art lies in its details and hidden patterns. Flaubert was notoriously perfectionistic about his writing and claimed to always be searching for le mot juste (the right word).

Boredom is an unpleasant mental and emotional state characterized by discontent and lack of interest. Physiological arousal is low -- any sense of excitement is completely absent.

A distinction can be made between situational boredom and chronic boredom. Situational boredom is specific, and everyone has experienced it. Examples are being bored with a classroom lecture, a movie, a book, another person, a long ride without interesting sights, a repetitive task, and so forth. Chronic boredom is general and pervasive. It is the kind that Madame Bovary suffered from. It is pathological and destructive. People who suffer from chronic boredom tend to be bored with significant others in their lives such as partners, parents and their children. They also tend to be bored with their day-to-day routines and their vocations. This second kind of boredom is a sort of psychological cancer that eats away at the heart of one's existence.

Boredom is always boredom with. As already shown, there can be boredom with a lecture, a person, or a situation. Thus, boredom is often perceived as having a source. And the individual is often convinced that if he or she could escape form or avoid the source of boredom, then boredom would go away. Consequently, there is often a lot of blaming associated with boredom. The bored individual thinks,"He bores me," or "She bores me," or "It bores me." The psychological contribution that one makes to one's own boredom is often missed.

Other signs and symptoms of frequently associated with the general symptom of boredom are :

1. Frequent drowsiness
2. The slow passage of time
3. Vanity and self-absorption
4. Listlessness or fatigue
5. Moderate to severe depression
6. Lack of commitment to goals and plans
7. Wishful thinking
8. Preoccupation with romantic or heroic fantasies
9. Vague discontent

Drowsiness or sleep is one way to escape from a boring situation. Situationally bored people might struggle to stay awake during a long lecture on a subject of little personal interest. Chronically bored poeple often sleep 10 to 12 hours a day if they have the opportunity, or they may take frequent naps.

Listlessness or fatigue may be so pronounced that the individual suspects that he or she has an illness. (If there is real reason to believe that an organic problem is present, this should, of course, be evaluated by a physician)

Depression overlaps with boredom, and depression is itself a major psychological symptom. Although they can coexist and do affect each other, they are not identical. It is useful to look upon boredom as a major symptom in itself and to identify it as an important causal factor in depression.

Boredom in and of itself does not call for the prescription of a drug. There is no such thing as anti-boredom medication. However, it is true that there are antidepressant drugs; and if boredom is a secondary complaint associated with a major complaint of depression, then one of these drugs may be prescribed and in turn may be helpful.

Coping With Anger

2007-01-14T14:04:00.000+08:00

Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before - it takes something from him. ~Louis L'Armour

Coping Strategies For Chronic Anger

1. Be open to the possibility that you might be overvaluing the importance of your own emotional states and not placing enough importance on your responsibility to act like a mature, reasonable adult. Place an image in your mind of how you should act in emotional situations, and try to use it as a guide.

2. Ask yourself if you are using anger as a way of coping with basic anxiety. If latent, or repressed, anxiety plays a role in your chronic anger, consider applying some of the coping suggestion on anxiety.

3. Impose a delay between a situation that aggravates you and your actions to it. It has been standard to advise people prone to excessive, quick anger to "count to ten". Although the advice is trite, it has value.

4. Think of a self-imposed delay as a "time-out". During the time-out, challenge the anger-inducing ideas going through your mind; for example, if you are thinking, "Susan always keeps me waiting like this" ask yourself, "Am I right? Does she always do it?" You may realize that you are overgeneralizing and being unfair to Susan.

5. Even if a tendency to be more aggressive than others is an inborn trait of your personality, you do not want to cling to the attitude that you are the trait's helpless victim. Instead, develop the attitude that you can work around the trait, that you can effectively diminish its influence with your intelligence and your will.

6. Perhaps you are imitating the angry behaviour that, as a child, you witnessed in your parents or older siblings. If so, ask yourself these questions, "Am I just a copycat? Do I have to do something just because I saw less thoughtful people do it as a child? Am I a programmed robot or a human being?" Reflective answers to these questions may help to set you free from the bondage of observational learning.

7. Perhaps being a psychological bully helps you get your way. An alternative is to look for ways to negotiate, to exchange agreements, with important people in your life. This will be better for your relationships in the long run than the raw use of hostile power.

8. If you think that you are perhaps somewhat hyperactive, you need some way to lower physiological arousal. This is why some chronically angry people abuse alcohol and sedatives. Alcohol depresses central nervous system activity. Dependence on drugs is an ineffective coping strategy. There are other methods to lower arousal. Depending on individual differences, those methods might be listening to music that you find soothing, taking a warm bath, having a snack and so forth. Some individuals have found that taking a course of instruction in meditation techniques is useful in lowering arousal.

9. If you feel that you must let anger out or else explode, try hitting a pillow or a punching bag. The physical movement will help you release some of the anger and may reduce its intensity.

10. Remember that acting in an angry manner is a choice you make. Refuse to think,"I can't help myself". Instead think,"I'm in the driver's seat. And negative emotional displays are not in my own best interests."

If you find that you cannot cope adequately with chronic anger, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you. For example, a therapist can help you explore the unconscious motives behind your anger. It is possible that you are retaining psychological grudges held against your parents. It is possible that during your childhood they were abusive, unloving, insensitive to your feelings, or overcontrolling. The anger you continue to feel toward them is "unfinished business" and it is generalized to almost anyone who attempts to exert the slightest authority over you, including a partner, a teacher, or an employer. Although it is generally held that insight into unconscious motives is of value, it is also generally held that such insight is insufficient therapy in and of itself. You must act on an insight in a constructive way.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~Buddha

Causes Of Anger

2007-01-13T13:16:00.000+08:00

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Chronic anger may have roots in early childhood experiences. In classical psychoanalysis, the id, the primitive, inborn self, is the source of aggressiveness. The superego, the moral self, comes into being as a result of socializing experiences. The moral self may not develop adequately because of ineffective parenting. In such a case, the id has too much influence on the adult personality and expresses itself too readily. Thus, the individual who manifests chronic anger is sometimes seen in psychoanalysis as a case of arrested emotional development. This is evidenced in familiar commonsense statements such as "He's just a big baby" or "I wish she'd grow up" or "She's just a brat".

The psychoanalyst Karen Horney theorized that victims of chronic anger may not have had their emotional needs met in infancy and toddlerhood. This led them to suffer from an underlying condition called basic anxiety, the unverbalized impression that the world is unsafe and threatening. One way an adult can defend against basic anxiety is by repressing it and converting it to anger. Threats are anticipated and dealt with while they are still far away on the psychological horizon. Thus, Horney looks on much chronic anger as a defense against emotional insecurity.

Longitudinal studies by developmental psychologists on traits of temperament suggest that these traits are to some extent inborn and relatively stable. Some children are more aggressive than others, and this is just their basic disposition. Although this is not an explanation of chronic anger, such a trait of temperament, if present, may interact with other causes and amplify chronic anger.

If a child grows up in a family that allows itself frequent irrational outbursts of anger, then observational learning can play a role in a tendency toward chronic anger. The adult may be imitating the behaviour of parents or older siblings. The individual was given tacit permission as a child to express aggressive impulses without sufficient restraint.

It is possible that the angry adult was a verbal or physical bully as a child or adolescent. Such behaviour often intimidates others and may bring short-term psychological payoffs. If so, the behaviour is reinforced and tends to become a trait of personality.

The aggressive adult may have been a hyperactive child. (Aggressiveness and hyperactivity are often linked in children.) One factor that appears to play an important role in childhood hyperactivity is minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). MBD is not gross damage, nor does it impair basic intelligence. However, it appears to be related to a problem in the brain center that controls arousal. Although it is commonplace to say that hyperactivity is something that will be outgrown in adulthood, it is possible that hyperactive tendencies carry over to some extent in some persons, and in turn, magnify normal anger into chronic anger.

Chronic anger may be aggravated by interpersonal problems. Here is an example. Mabel is married to a man who is a whining, clinging, sorry-for-himself individual. His constant self-indulgent laments leave her feeling frustrated. Mabel has an aggressive temperament. Consequently, it is not much of a wonder that she makes her husband the target of hostile remarks. She is angry, in a constant state of emotional irritation, and she expresses herself accordingly.

A basic way to understand anger is to refer to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which states that aggression is a natural response to frustration. Frustration is a state that occurs when the motivated individual is unable to
1. attain a desirable goal or
2. to escape from , or avoid, an unpleasant situation.

If you intensely desire a promotion and it goes to someone else, you will be frustrated and in turn angry. If you feel trapped in an unhappy relationship, again you will be frustrated and in turn , angry. Chronic anger may result when an individual believes, correctly or incorrectly, that life presents a constant stream of frustrating events.

The psychiatrist William Glasser, father of reality therapy, makes the point that anger is, to a large extent, self-induced. It is not only a reaction to a situation, it is a voluntary action. A person creates anger by his or her evaluations and choices, and thus needs to take responsibility for the anger.

People, like pins, are useless if they lose their heads.

Anger

2007-01-12T11:43:00.000+08:00

Pause before you become angry. Try channeling your anger constructively.

Mark is an angry man. He growls at his wife for little or nothing. He is short-tempered with his children and is quickly critical of the slightest infraction of his rules. He is convinced that he is underpaid and overworked. Although he believes that his employer is a hard-hearted Scrooge, Mark himself barks orders unfeelingly to workers beneath him. His wife complains to her sister, "Even when you're pleasant to Mark, you're likely to get an angry response. He seems to see red even when the light is green." In short, Mark lives in a state of perpetual resentment, exasperation, indignation and borderline rage. There appears to be little or no objective provocation for his constant emotional agitation.

Anger is an unpleasant emotional state characterized by high physiological arousal. The pulse quickens, the respirations increase, the pupils of the eyes constrict, blood rushes to the striated muscles of the body, and the adrenal glands pump out hormones. At the conscious level, there are commonly to be found ideas such as, "She shouldn't have said that to me," or "Who does he think he is ?" or "I can't take anymore of this," or "That bastard is always taking advantage of me." From the primitive biological point of view, the angry person is demonstrating a well-known response pattern called the fight-or-flight reaction. In a civilized setting, the angry person can seldom engage in a physical fight or run away. Therefore, an individual such as Mark is often forced to stew in his own emotional juice.

A distinction can be made between manifest anger and latent anger. Manifest anger is evident, and the individual is aware of it. Latent anger is repressed to an unconsicous level, and the individual is not aware of it. Latent anger pays a role in chronic depression. The kind of anger being discussed here is manifest anger.

Manifest anger can be transient or chronic. Everyone is familiar with transient anger. It is normal, appropriate emotion. It is usually a natural reaction to a frustration and tends to spontaneously evaporate in a short time. On the other hand, chronic anger represents a real problem in personal adjustment. It has three key attributes. First, it is pathological. It tends to poison the person's life and may even contribute to physical illness. Second, it is excessive. The anger expressed is out-of-bounds as a response to the frustration experienced. Third, it is irrational. Usually, an idea that is neither logical or reasonable is linked with it.

Other signs and symptoms frequently associated with the principal symptom of chronic anger are:

impatience
constant hurrying
speaking in a harsh, abrupt manner
egotistical and self-centered behaviour
inability to relax readily
high blood pressure
inability to play or enjoy vacations
verbal aggressiveness
free-floating hostility

Some of these signs and symptoms merit comment. Impatience and constant hurrying are both aspects of a general attitude that is called time urgency. It is as if the chronically angry person is in a time pressure cooker. High blood pressure is common in angry people because the body is always on the alert, always ready for action.

Free-floating hostility is characterized by being mad at everybody and everything. The chronically angry person is ready to hurl negative psychological thunderbolts at the slightest provocation. Thus, others are constantly discounted, abused or even insulted. Privately, people are given such labels as stupid, incompetent and lazy.

There is obviously a strong similarity between these signs and symptoms and a pattern of behaviour that was first designated Type A behaviour by the cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman in the 1970s. Research suggests that one of the most serious components of Type A behaviour is chronic anger!

People who fly into a rage overheat their engines and make bad landings.

Coping With Anxiety

2007-01-11T13:04:00.000+08:00

Anxiety is essential to the human condition. The confrontation with anxiety can relieve us from boredom, sharpen the sensitivity and assure the presence of tension that is necessary to preserve human existence.

Pathological anxiety is an irrational emotional response to an imagined threat. Free-floating anxiety is like a cloud that follows the person everywhere as if on a string, casting a long shadow over existence.

Practical Coping Strategies For Anxiety

1. Ask yourself if you are denying to yourself the existence of strong forbidden sexual and aggressive urges. Try to become more well acquainted with the unconscious level of your personality. Of course, if the unconscious level is really unconscious, how can you know what is there? The unconscious level reveals itself in many ways -- through dreams, conscious fantasies, idle thoughts, traits of character, and slips of the tongue. A personal journal of thoughts and reflections helps you to become more aware of your hidden self. The purpose of making contact with the darker side of your nature is not to act on it in an irresponsible way. On the contrary, the idea is to integrate your forbidden urges into consciousness in order to bring them under rational control. An understood impulse is less threatening than an incomprehensible one.

2. Suppose that, in the near future, you will need to deal with a threatening situation such as a job interview, a party where you will know almost no one, or an important examination. Use a method called stress-inoculation training. Imagine yourself in the situation and run a mental movie. Try to make the images as vivid as possible. You will feel your anxiety rising. But each time you run the mental movie, your anxiety will diminish. You will find that the reduction of anxiety associated with the imagined situation will transfer to some extent to the real situation.

3. It has been found that relaxation of the muscles is incompatible with anxiety. A warm bath will relax your muscles. You can also use a method known as progressive relaxation. Sit in a comfortable chair or a recliner. You cannot relax a set of muscles at will, but you can tighten them up at will. So consciously tighten the muscles in one of your legs for 10 to 15 seconds. Then you will find that it is easy to let go, and they will automatically relax. Then progress to the muscles in the other leg. Working upward, relax your abdomen, each arm, each shoulder, and your neck. In this manner, you will be able to systematically relax your whole body.

4. Examine your ideas about anticipated events. What are you thinking? Are your thoughts rational or irrational? Suppose you have been asked to give a talk or presentation before a group. Are you thinking "My mind will go blank", "I'll probably make a fool of myself", "They'll all laugh at me" , or something similar? If you are, challenge these thoughts with more realistic ones such as, "I'll get through it, even if I'm not perfect", "I'll probably do as well as most of the others would do", "This whole thing really isn't that serious" or something similar.

5. Do you have an overactive imagination? Anxiety-prone people often make good creative writers and love to read fiction. Their ability to conjure up images makes them see the worst in the mind's eye, and they hypersensitize themselves to anticipated events. You can't "fight fire with fire" by willing yourself to imagine pleasant, successful outcomes. In this manner you desensitize yourself to anticipated events.

6. Learn the art of meditation. This does not have to be an esoteric eastern technique in which you should try to become a yogi. You can simply sit in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, think the word relax in rhythm with your respirations. Think "re-" as you breath in, and think "-lax" as you breath out. Three or four minutes of this will induce a relaxation response. The relaxation response was studied by Herbert Benson of the Harvard Medical School, and it is antagonistic to the fight- or-flight reaction associated with anxiety.

7. If you think that hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, might be contributing to chronic anxiety, avoid highly processed foods and foods that contain large amounts of sugars. Concentrate instead on foods high in proteins and complex carbohydrates.

8. Keep in mind that a certain amount of background anxiety is normal. This existential anxiety described by the philosopher Kierkegaard is simply one of the burdens of life and must be accepted with a certain amount of courage and serenity. Everyone feels this kind of anxiety.

If you find that you cannot cope adequately with chronic anxiety, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you. For example, a therapist can help you to develop greater insight into the unconscious level of your personality. The interpretation of dreams, painful memories, slips of the tongue, and traits of character can all lead to greater self-understanding. This general approach, often called a psychodynamic approach in therapy, was inspired by the early work of Freud. It is assumed that greater self-understanding tends to reduce the overall level of pathological anxiety because the troubled person is no longer completely at the mercy of unknown forces.

A common approach used in contemporary psychotherapy is to focus on irrational thoughts and explore the ways in which these inflame anxiety. The therapist points out specific ways to modify irrational thoughts, thus sprinkling some cool psychological water on the fires of fear. This general avenue goes by several names including rational-emotive therapy, cognitive-behaviour modification, and cognitive therapy. The therapist will train you to modify your own thoughts when they are unrealistic or irrational.

The therapist may use guided fantasies with positive, safe outcomes as a way of defusing the anxiety associated with anticipated disasters, emotional or physical. This technique is called systematic desensitization, and it has been found to be one of the most effective ways to diminish chronic anxiety.

A psychiatrist may prescribe an antianxiety agent, also known as a minor tranquilizer. These drugs are of great value in the treatment of chronic pathological anxiety. However, keep in mind that there is a reason they are prescription, not over-the-counter drugs. In some cases, they may have adverse side effects, and benefits always have to be weighed against biological and psychological costs. Some individuals may abuse these drugs, and this will undermine the value of the drugs as therapeutic agents. Used properly, the drugs have a place in the treatment of anxiety.

Causes Of Anxiety

2006-12-21T12:33:00.000+08:00

Anxiety is experienced as a threat from the outside world, not the inner one. How is this possible if the source of danger is one's own impulses? The answer lies in a defense mechanism known as projection, a tendency to perceive the external world in terms of the conflicts experienced at an unconscious level.

An example is this: Timothy is a married minister with a traditional, conservative outlook on life. He has been married 11 years and has three children. His wife is a sincere person and very supportive of his work. More than once, he has experienced fleeting sexual fantasies relating to women in his congregation, particularly those who have sought pastoral counseling. He thinks of his fantasies as nothing more than will of the wisps and is offended by what he imagines is the seductive behaviour of some of the women. Of course, most of this is projection. He manifests most of the symptoms of a generalized anxiety disorder. The source of danger is his own forbidden sexual impulses.

A similar state of affairs can exist if the individual has forbidden aggressive desires. The wish to insult, injure or even kill another may exist at an unconscious level of one's personality. The possibility that one may actually do the forbidden thing is experienced as undefined anxiety.

It is not presently believed that all pathological anxiety arises from the kind of dark, murky, unconscious motives identified by psychoanalysis. Another way to explain anxiety is offered by the behavioural viewpoint, a viewpoint based on learning theory. According to the behavioural viewpoint, anxiety represents a generalization of learning from past experiences, a tendency to confuse two similar objects or situations. Assume that Sally was very badly mauled and bitten by a dog when she was five years old. It is understandable that as an adult, she is apprehensive int eh presence of dogs. This dog phobia is not, of course, generalized anxiety, but a specific fear. However, further assume Sally has had many bad experiences in the past, particularly during the early developmental years. She was a victim of child abuse, came close to drowning, almost died of a kidney infection, and so forth. It is easy to understand why Sally frequently experiences pathological anxiety. She has had enough bad experiences in the past that she generalizes her fear to almost anything.

Life can also be complicated by existential anxiety, apprehension revolving around one's very being. Everyone knows that life hangs by a thread, that it can be lost at any time by an accident or an illness, and that even a long and productive life ends in death. The future may be filled only promise and joy. But even if this is your perception, in the far future only the grave beckons. These kinds of sour musings were proposed by Soren Kierkegaard, the father of existential philosophy, as the basis for a built-in anxiety that can never be completely eliminated.

People try to brush existential anxiety away, to deny its existence. And in some ways this only makes matters worse. Kierkegaard's point is that existential anxiety cannot be explained away nor denied. It must be faced with courage and accepted. Then the individual can go on living in spite of the burden of existential anxiety.

Biological processes can contribute to anxiety. There is evidence that some individuals have an inborn temperament that makes them prone to anxiety. They are more emotionally reactive as infants and children than their peers, and this tendency carries over into adulthood. Individuals who suffer from hypoglycemia, or chronic low blood sugar is below normal, it is difficult to think, behave, and feel in a normal manner.

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Did You Know:

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Picture of Hoodia Gordonii

Worrying About Worry

2006-12-16T16:01:00.000+08:00

Fear something and it gains power over you.

Fear is a rational emotional response to a real threat. Pathological anxiety is an irrational emotional resonse to an imagined threat. If you walk down a dark alley in an unfamiliar city and a stranger stops you with a drawn gun, you experience fear. If you walk down a familiar street in broad daylight, and begin to imagine that some disaster is about to descend upon you without warning, you experience pathological anxiety. The two are tangled together. And it is not always possible to clearly distinguish them.

It is very appropriate to speak of 'worrying about worry'. Persons with neurotic tendencies tend to chew on their anxieties the way dogs chew on bones. There is a circular quality to their thinking, and the circle takes them downward until they are a quivering mass of apprehension. This is one of the characteristic aspects of pathological anxiety.

A type of anxiety often experienced by troubled persons is called free-floating anxiety. It is 'free-floating' because it is attached to nothing. It can be described as a cloud that follows the person everywhere, as if it were on a string. And the anxiety casts a long shadow over existence, making the individual constantly on the alert.

The overanxious person is hypervigilant. Anything and anyone may pose a hazard. There is a persistent state of arousal. The pulse is elevated, respirations are rapid, and blood pressure is high. This is essentially a fight-or-flight reaction. But where is the enemy? What is the source of threat?

Anxiety is a most distressing symptom. It is no wonder that antianxiety drugs have become perhaps the most popular prescription medicines ever produced. It is intolerable to be in a steady state of anxiety. Escape is essential.

Other signs and symptoms related to the major symptom of anxiety are:

Tight muscles
Uneasiness
Feeling tired
Difficulty breathing
Being cross and out of sorts
Problems in maintaining attention
Sleep disturbances

The anxious person has tight muscles because the fight-or-flight reaction has been activated, and the body is ready for action (action that seldom materializes). It is understandable that victims of anxiety feel tired. Their muscles and bodies are working overtime for no objective reason.

A breathing difficulty can refer to labored breathing or hyperventilation. The diaphragm, involved in the action of the lungs, is also a muscle. And it can be overly tight. When there is perpetual, low-grade anxiety the person often works too hard when breathing. On the other hand, if there is hyperanxiety or a panic attack, there is great excitement. And the individual may hyperventilate.

Chronic anxiety interferes with happiness. Therefore, it is understandable that its victims are often cross and out of sorts. A worried person may have a problem in attending to tasks, a lecture, or to something being read. The fantasies and random thoughts associated with the anxiety draw attention away from the objective, external world toward the subjective, internal world. Such individuals often seem to be 'somewhere else'.

Anxiety is a complicating factor in sleep disturbances. Assume that anxiety and its related symptoms are chronic. And also assume that the individual experiences substantial distress. In a case such as this, the psychiatric term used to describe the syndrome is generalized anxiety disorder (anxiety neurosis).

Worring About Money? Did You Know :

Credit ratings and credit history are very important when taking loans are considered. When making a loan application the client will be asked for details of any previous borrowings and whether they are still current or paid off. Normally staff of the loans approval department will then telephone the other lenders mentioned and ask for details of how the applicants have conducted their accounts. If they start to hear comments like "slow payer" or "never pays until the final notice is sent" the chance of getting a loan lessens. No lender likes the bother of people who have to be chased continually for money.

A good credit rating, like a good reputation, is one of the most valuable things anybody can have. It is advisible to make your loan payments on time and honour your obligations for loans made. There may come a time when you badly need to borrow money for a worthwhile purpose and a bad payment history may mean missing out on a great opportunity.

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Causes Of Food Abuse

2006-12-16T09:18:00.000+08:00

One of the principal reasons that people abuse food is that they are connecting food with certain emotional satisfactions. It is quite possible, for example for food to symbolize food. Therefore, someone who feels unloved often turns to food as a substitute for love. Associated with this is the fact that food can provide a degree of erotic gratification. In terms of psychosexual development, its first stage is often identified as oral. In infancy and toddlerhood, eating, biting, sucking, and chewing are very important. Individuals who lack adequate genital gratification as adults may find themselves returning to earlier levels of psychosexual development in a search for at least some erotic pleasure.

However, it should be noted that the wish to eat often arises in the face of almost any emotional lack. Depression, anxiety, anger and boredom are common causal factors in food abuse. In the case of depression, the activity of eating provides a bright moment when one has the 'blues' or the 'blahs'. In the case of anxiety, food often acts as a natural tranquilizer by activating the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system and lowering arousal. In the case of anger, eating provides the biting and chewing that people often feel like doing when they are in a rage. In the case of boredom, eating is simply something to do.

Food abuse is sometimes related to family style. There are 'fat families' in which the parents and the children all abuse food. In such cases the children have 'permission' from the parents to overeat and also to be obese (as it is ok to be fat). In some cases, parents even 'push' food to children as a way of proving that they love their children and also as a way of validating their own obesity or food abuse.

Maladaptive habits play a significant role in food abuse. A habit is an unthinking pattern of behaviour. 'Bad' habits are those that tend, in the long run, to work against a person's best interests even though they may provide momentary gratification. A person with bad habits of eating snacks and ice-cream every night before sleeping is an example. These kinds of bad habits are common, and they tend to have a momentum all their own. Such habits bring pleasure, and they are hard to break because their constant repetition gives them 'habit strength'.

A tendency toward hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), can be a contributing cause to food abuse. If one has a tendency toward hypoglycemia, he or she will frequently feel sluggish, fatigued, lacking in alertness. This is because a given meal may not sustain the blood sugar at an optimal level for the four-to-six-hour intervals between meals. A 'quick fix' for the problem is to eat candy bars, ice-creams, and so on.

A final contributing cause to food abuse is in the case of anorexia nervosa. A common contributing cause to the problem is a power struggle within the family. An analysis can be applied to unmarried adolescent females who live at home. Parents are naturally concerned with their daughter's unwillingness to eat and her consequent emaciation. They recognize that the behaviour is unhealthy. If they are somewhat overcontroling and authoritarian, they will insist in a harsh and directive way that she eat. The adolescent, on the other hand, is fighting the battle of autonomy. She wants to be in control of her own life and does not want to be told what to do. A psychological tug-of-war takes place, and 'winning' to the adolescent means not eating and following her own dictates.

Do You Have Acne Problems? Did You Know :
Acne, or pimples, affect everybody at one point in their lives. For some, the occurrence acne is mild and does not last for a long period of time. For others, the acne can be severe and long lasting. Furthermore, acne can lead to severe and permanent scarring.

Acne treatment options have vastly improved over the past twenty years. There are a number of over-the-counter medications available, including benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid preparations. Most prescriptions for acne include a combination of treatments. However severe acne often does not respond well to topical treatments and there are often side effects with medication. For these reasons, more people are now treating acne scars with lasers. To solve your acne problems and to know more about laser acne treatment, visit the acne laser center.

Food Abuse

2006-12-15T15:50:00.000+08:00

More than two thousand years ago, the philosopher Cicero said,"We should eat to live, not live to eat." People who abuse food often desperately wish they could live by Cicero's dictum, but they cannot. Some who abuse food feel helpless in the presence of food -- as if bewitched by it. Their behaviour is ruled by appetite and desire, not hunger -- at least not biological hunger.

It should be noted that overeating is not the only way in which food is abused. Some people manifest overcontrolled behaviour in the presence of food. Such individuals become phobic and will resist food to the point of emaciation.

Consequently, food abuse exists when an individual responds to food in pathological and self-defeating ways. Thus, the excessive eating of food may take the place of sexual satisfaction, help reduce anxiety, be a way to cope with boredom, be a substitute for love and attention, be a way to express anger, and so forth. These maladaptive aspects of food abuse can result in morbid changes in the body including obesity at the one extreme and emaciation at the other.

It is important to stress that obesity is not synonymous with food abuse. A person can abuse food and still be very thin or have a normal weight. Compulsive eating, one kind of food abuse, is characterized by the pathological eating and digestion of calories significantly beyond one's metabolic needs. And of course, compulsive eating is a contributing factor to obesity. However, it is only one factor. Other contributing factors to obesity include body type, metabolic rate, and body chemistry. These factors, biological in nature, to some extent reflect a genetic predisposition. People are not 'doomed to be fat' by their genes, however. Eating in moderation, eating foods high in fiber and low in saturated fat and refined sugar, and a reasonable amount of exercise help modify the impact of 'obesity genes' in a beneficial way. Although compulsive eating is but one factor, in obesity, it is probably in the vast majority of cases the principal factor. Therefore, it has to be indicted as one of the principal patterns of food abuse.

Other signs and symptoms associated with the principal psychological symptom of food abuse include the following:
1. Obsessively thinking about food
2. A failure of the will -- an ability to exercise voluntary control over eating
3. Sneaking food, hiding food, and lying to others about how much one eats
4. Using food somewhat like a drug -- as a way of coping with life's problems
5. Going on and off diets (riding a diet merry-go-round)
6. Gaining, losing and regaining significant amounts of weight (the yo-yo syndrome)
7. Extreme dissatisfaction with one's body image
8. A magical belief that all of one's weight or eating problems can be solved with a new kind of pill, a series of shots, hypnosis, or plastic surgery.

Although the above signs and symptoms are clearly associated with overeating and obesity, it is worth noting they are also associated with the pathological avoidance of food. Persons who fear becoming fat or who are prone to starve themselves tend, like those who overeat, to think obsessively about food. Also, they compulsively avoid food or compulsively diet; consequently, they have lost voluntary control over their eating., And they often have a distorted body image imagining themselves to be fat when instead they are too thin.

Did You Know?

Hoodia Gordonii has been used for many generations by the tribesmen of the Kalahari Desert to stave off hunger while hunting.

Hoodia Gordonii is a genus of succulent plants(cactus-like plant) in the family Apocynaceae. They are a native to the semi-arid regions of South Africa, that is widely used traditionally by the San people of southern Africa not only as an appetite suppressant, but also as a thirst quencher and as a cure for severe abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

Hoodia is a potential adjunct to behavior modification for weight control. There are various species of hoodia, but the Gordonii variation is the only one that contains the all-natural appetite suppressant. This type of hoodia contains a molecule that has similar effects on nerve cells as glucose, and tricks the brain into the sensation of fullness. Results of human clinical trials in Britain suggest that hoodia may reduce the appetite by hundreds of calories a day or more. Hoodia is available as Hoodia Diet Pills.

Intelligence Testing

2006-07-17T16:26:00.000+08:00

A Posey of Pretty Flowers By Carl Bauerle

Definition of Intelligence
There are many possible definitions of intelligence. There is
cognitive or intellectual intelligence, relating to the mind.
There is also emotional intelligence, how well an individual adapts
to his environment in an emotional sense, communication skills etc.

Basic ability to survive is an important form of intelligence,
as is longevity. Other forms of intelligence at the individual level,
are a person's health or degree of enjoyment of life.

At a broader level, there is intelligence of a group of people,
a community, a society, a whole species or even the intelligence of
an entire biosphere (i.e. the planet Earth).

A subgroup of the possible definitions are the thinking types of
intelligence. Thinking is used in all kinds of human activities, whether
its dancing, laying bricks, painting or whatever. Despite all these
possible definitions, it is still possible to categorize one type of
intelligence as the reading/writing thinking that is helpful in academic
success. IQ or intelligence tests,(or more accurately aptitude tests)
relate to this kind of thinking, and it is this that is the subject of the
current topic.

Intelligence Test
The most well known type of IQ tests are the written tests given to older
children and teenagers in school and the aptitude tests sometimes given to
job applicants. There are similar tests in books and on the net.
Most tests are "speed tests", there are more items than you are expected
to answer, so time is a factor.

The word intelligence evokes a lot of feeling and has many different
meanings, the word aptitude is probably better.

Intelligence tests measure verbal and/or performance(nonverbal) skills. These tests are designed to measure a person's potential or aptitude for intellectual performance. A long-term goal of intelligence testing is the development of a culture-free test that is valid regardless of cultural background. Two examples of popular intelligence tests are the Stanford-Binet Test for children and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale(WAIS).

The Stanford-Binet
Traditionally, the Stanford-Binet contained age-graded items in a variety of skill areas. Items were coded according to the average age at which children succeed on those items.

A child taking the Standford-Binet would be classified be according to age level achieved(mental age or MA). The child's mental age was compared to the child's chronological age(CA) to produce an intelligence quotient or IQ, using the formula: IQ = MA/CA X 100. This procedure set the IQ score of the average child at 100.

Recent revisions of the Stanford-Binet have abandoned this ratio scoring procedure in favour of a point scale similar to that used in Wechsler tests. The average IQ, however, remains at 100.

The WAIS
The WAIS uses 11 subtests -- 6 verbal and 5 performance (nonverbal) to generate 3 IQ scores: a verbal IQ (VIQ), a performance IQ (PIQ), and a full-scale IQ (FSIQ) representing overall level of performance. The WAIS, and Wechsler tests developed for other age groups, use a point scale where points are earned for each correct answer. Standardization of Wechsler tests determines the scale for converting raw score (points earned) to an IQ score. The average IQ arbitrarily is set at 100.

Issues In Intelligence Testing
Years of study indicates that IQ is not necessary constant over the life span. Although infant intelligence tests are available, IQ scores do not begin to distinguish between those likely to be high or low ability until about age 5. Intelligence test score is reasonably stable from age 12 to adulthood, but wide fluctuations in test scores are still possible.

Although IQ tests were designed to predict success in school, school achievement is greatly influenced by other factors such as interest, motivation, family support, and the quality of instruction. Even greater care must be exercised when using IQ score to predict other outcomes, such as occupational success. Occupational success reflects the additional influences of personality and specialized talents. Nevertheless, people in professional or managerial careers traditionally have a higher average IQ than people in unskilled jobs.

Intelligence tests were conceptualized as a pure measure of intellectual potential, free from the influenced by type of upbringing, social background, and education. There is continuing debate over whether these tests measure inherited ability, which is genetically determined or learning, which incorporates the effects of experience. Although there is research to support both points of view, critics contend that intelligence tests have become instruments for discriminating against lower social class or minority group children.

Types Of Psychological Tests

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Psychological tests can be grouped into several broad categories. Personality tests measure personal qualities, sometimes referred to as traits. Achievement tests measure what a person has learned. Aptitude tests are designed to predict future behaviour, such as success in school or job performance. Intelligence tests measure verbal and/or nonverbal skills related to academic success. Interest inventories are used to help individuals make effective career choices.

Psychological tests are usually administered and interpreted by a psychologist because studies in psychopathology, along with academic courses and supervision in psychological testing, are an integral part of the doctoral degree in clinical psychology. A counsellor who has had the appropriate academic courses and supervision may administer occupational tests or achievement and aptitude tests, but most counselors have not received the training to administer personality tests. Academic courses and supervision in psychological testing are usually not a part of a psychiatrist's medical training, so most psychiatrists can ethically administer only some specific clinical tests that are straight-forward check-lists of symptoms.

Of course, ethics is one thing, and the desire to make money is another thing. Therefore you will often find individuals offering to do all kinds of psychological testing—often on the Internet—even when they lack the training to administer and interpret such tests.

Psychological tests fall into several categories:

1. Achievement and aptitude tests are usually seen in educational or employment settings, and they attempt to measure either how much you know about a certain topic (i.e., your achieved knowledge), such as mathematics or spelling, or how much of a capacity you have (i.e., your aptitude) to master material in a particular area, such as mechanical relationships.

Intelligence tests attempt to measure your intelligence, or your basic ability to understand the world around you, assimilate its functioning, and apply this knowledge to enhance the quality of your life. Or, as Alfred Whitehead said about intelligence, “it enables the individual to profit by error without being slaughtered by it.”

Intelligence, therefore, is a measure of a potential, not a measure of what you’ve learned (as in an achievement test), and so it is supposed to be independent of culture. The trick is to design a test that can actually be culture-free; most intelligence tests fail in this area to some extent for one reason or another.

2. Neuropsychological tests attempt to measure deficits in cognitive functioning (i.e., your ability to think, speak, reason, etc.) that may result from some sort of brain damage, such as a stroke or a brain injury.

3. Occupational tests attempt to match your interests with the interests of persons in known careers. The logic here is that if the things that interest you in life match up with, say, the things that interest most school teachers, then you might make a good school teacher yourself.

4. Personality tests attempt to measure your basic personality style and are most used in research or forensic settings to help with clinical diagnoses. Two of the most well-known personality tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), or the revised MMPI-2, composed of several hundred “yes or no” questions, and the Rorschach (the “inkblot test”), composed of several cards of inkblots—you simply give a description of the images and feelings you experience in looking at the blots.

Personality tests are either objective or projective.

Objective Tests
Objective tests present specific questions or statements that are answered by selecting one of a set of alternatives(eg. true or false). Objective tests traditionally use a "paper-and-pencil" format which is simple to score reliably. Although many objective tests ask general questions about preferences and behaviours, situational tests solicit responses to specific scenarios.

The MMPI - The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is the leading objective pesonality test. Its hundreds of true-false items cover a broad range of behaviours. A major advantage of the MMPI is the incorporation of validity scales designed to detect possible response bias, such as trying to present oneself in a socially desirable way.

Projective Techniques
Projective personality tests use ambiguouis stimuli into which hte test take presumably projects meaning. This indirect type of assessment is believed by many to more effectively identify a person's real or underlying personality.

a. Scoring Projective Techniques
Because the test taker is free to respond in any way, rather than being required to select an answer from a set of alternatives, projective tests can be difficult to score.

To ensure reliability, projective tests must be accompanied by a specific set of scoring criteria. Projective tests are more reliable and valid when scoring focuses on the way the questions are answered (sturcdture of responses) rather than the content of the answers.

Two leading projective tests are the Rorschach and the Thematic Apperception Test(TAT).

b. The Rorschach Test
In the Rorschach, individuals are asked to describe in detail their impressions of a series of inkblots. Scoring involves analysis of both the structure and content of responses.

c. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
In the TAT, individuals construct stories to describe a series of pictures. TAT analysis traditionally focuses on the role played by the main character in each story.

5. Specific clinical tests attempt to measure specific clinical matters, such as your current level of anxiety or depression.

Development Of Psychological Testing

2006-07-16T13:48:00.000+08:00

Psychological testing and assessment has its origins in an interest in individual differences, which led to the development of specific tests for educational placement and psychological characteristics.

Individual Differences
Sir Francis Galton(1822-1911) maintained a lifelong interest in individual differences in abilities. His convictions about the origins of individual differences were apparently influenced by ideas about physiognomy.

Galton sought to identify key physical differences between "eminent" British citizens and their undistinguished, anonymous countrymen. He believed that the "eminence" of successful statesmen and scholars could be traced to such physical distinctions as head size, distance between the eyes, length of nose and hand-grip strength.

Galton failed to take into account important differences in education and environment(nurture) as well as inherited physical traits(nature), and failed to confirm his hypothesis. Nonetheless his early efforts mark the beginning of psychology's continued interest in assessing individual differences.

Intelligence Testing
In 1905 the French educator Alfred Binet(1857-1911) was asked by the French government to devise a means of classifying students for entry into a new nation-wide public education system. Binet and his colleague Theophile Simon(1837-1961) developed a test of age-graded items -- questions to answer, problems to solve -- for students to respond to, rather than measuring their head size or visual acuity. This was the forerunner of what we now call the intelligence test.

In 1916 Lewis Terman(1877-1956), on the faculty of Stanford University, revised the original Binet-Simon test, dubbing the new version the Stnaford-Binet. The Stanford-Binet test score was expressed as an Intelligence Quotient (I.Q). The I.Q is calculated by dividing the respondent's mental age by his or her chronological age, then multiplying by 100(to get an integer): IQ = MA/CA X 100.

Both the Binet-Simon and the Stanford-Binet tests were designed to be administered to one respondent at a time. After the outbreak of World War I, however, there emerged a need for a system for testing large numbers of military inductees to make appropriate leadership and task assignments. One psychologist, James McKeen Cattell(1860-1944), involved himself in this effort despite his personal opposition to America's entry into the war. Cattell had been Wilhelm Wundt's first laboratory assistant at Leipzig. In his career he pursued psychometric studies(measurement of psychological characteristics) as well as founding and editing several influential journals, including Psychological Review. The standardized tests so familiar to American college students are a modern legacy of the work of Cattell and other early assessment developers.

Personality Assessment
One of the most well-know psychological assessment techniques is the inkblot test. Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rosrschach(1884-1922) first employed subjects' interpretations of inkblot shapes as keys to dimensions of personality. In 1935 American psychologist Henry A. Murray(1893-1988) and his colleagues developed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a technique in which a subject examines and tells stories about each of a series of pictures. Both the Rorschach and the TAT are termed projective techniques because the subject is assumed to project his or her own needs and character onto an ambiguous test stimulus -- one which can be interpreted in different ways -- in developing a story or description.

The best known objective technique for assessing personality is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), develped by two University of Minnesota faculty members in 1943. The MMPI consists of 550 true-false items, whose response pattern reveals the respondent's scores on various personality traits first dianosed among a large clinical population, a group of patients in a setting like a clinic or psychiatric hospital.

The Sixteen Personality Factor Inventory(16PF), a personality inventory standardized on a normal population, was developed in 1950 by Raymond B. Cattell(1905) and his colleagues, who conducted a sophisticated mathematical analysis of many personality traits into a profile of sixteen basic personality "factors".

Psychological Assessment

2006-07-15T09:44:00.000+08:00

Psychological assessment is a process designed to measure characteristics of individuals or groups. Assessment procedures involve gathering samples of resposnes or behaviours for description of present characteristics and/or prediction of future ones. The most common type of assessment is psychological testing; other techniques include observation, interview, and rating.

Psychological tests aren’t magic. They assess and evaluate information that you give to the examiner, which is why the formal name of psychological testing is psychological assessment. You give this information either in the form of answers to interview questions or as answers on paper—or on a computer—to specific questions. Ultimately, a test’s accuracy depends on how carefully and seriously you answer the questions you’re asked.

In its original sense, science (from the Latin scire, to know) simply meant the state or fact of knowing, as compared to intuition or belief. The current technical sense of the word, however, refers to knowledge obtained from systematic observation, study, and experimentation.

Psychological tests aren’t magic; most of them have been developed through sound scientific principles. In fact, anyone who wants to become a psychologist must learn all the scientific principles of test construction; even if a psychologist has no desire to create a new test, he or she must be competent to evaluate the scientific value of any specific test before using it clinically.

Unfortunately, there are many psychological tests in wide use that are accepted as being scientific just because they are called “tests.” For example, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Enneagram, often used in educational and corporate personnel settings to assess personality “types,” are based in pseudoscience and psychobabble and have about as much worth in clinical settings as astrology. Any competent psychologist can use intuition to get as much information as these “tests” provide.

And then there is the classic Rorschach test that uses inkblots to assess a person’s inner psychological experience. Several methods for administering and scoring the Rorschach have been developed, and although some of them are surrounded with a considerable amount of published research, it would be surprising if any two independent psychologists could administer the Rorschach to the same person and achieve identical findings.

Similarly, tests such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which asks a person to tell stories about various pictures of social interactions, and the Draw-A-Person and House-Tree-Person, which ask a person to draw pictures, are not usually objectively scored and give results of questionable validity.

In the end, then, psychological testing can, in some ways, be both valid and reliable; yet, in other ways, it often does not achieve much more than an impressionistic evaluation of a person. And often the science and the pseudoscience are quietly mixed together in one “scientific” report.

Test scores can be very useful under the proper circumstances—and when the limitations of psychological testing are properly understood and respected.

Note, however, that the score you get on any psychological test is nothing more than “the score you have gotten on that test.” Let’s say you took an IQ test and got a score of 126. Well, your IQ test score may be 126, as measured by that test, at that time, under those circumstances. But what is your real IQ? Well, no one knows. And that’s a fact. So what does an IQ test really measure? Well, again, no one knows. And that’s another fact.

Note also that every well-known and widely used psychological test in the US was developed and standardized in English. This might not seem very important, but just consider what happens when someone needs to be tested who doesn’t speak English fluently. If the test is translated into another language—either in print or through a translator—all kinds of problems can occur. English words with multiple meanings cannot be adequately translated. English idioms cannot be expressed in another language without changing the entire sentence structure along with the underlying logic of the sentence—and when that happens standardization, and the guarantee of fairness it promises, is lost.

So, even though translated versions of tests might be used, and even though you might be given a score that appears to be official and scientific, that score is nothing more than “the score you have gotten on that test.” This might not mean much to you, and it might seem like philosophical quibbling. But what if your life depended on that score?

Lemon Juice Experiment

2006-07-13T15:56:00.000+08:00

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The amount of saliva you produce after putting a drop of lemon juice on your tongue might tell you something about your personality.

It's to do with a part of your brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS) which responds to stimuli like food, or social contact. For example, it controls the amount of saliva you produce in response to food. A good food stimulus is lemon juice. Squeezing lemon juice on to your tongue makes your mouth water, and it does this because your RAS is responding to the lemon juice.

Scientists now think introverts have increased activity in their RAS and therefore increased production of saliva. The theory is that the RAS in introverts has a high level of activity, even when it isn't being stimulated. So it only needs a small stimulus to produce a large response. This means that introverts are likely to produce a large amount of saliva in response to lemon juice. But because the RAS also reacts to social contact, introverts react more strongly to meeting people too.

In extroverts, on the other hand, there is a low level of activity in the RAS when it isn't stimulated, so they require a much larger stimulus to generate a response. So they usually produce less saliva in response to lemon juice than introverts, but are more comfortable with social contact.

Try this simple test with your friends and family and compare your results.

The Test

You will need:

Lemon juice
Kitchen scales
Cotton wool balls

This is what you need to do:

Put a large drop of lemon juice on your tongue and swill it around your mouth for ten seconds
Use the cotton wool balls to mop up all the saliva that you produce
When you've mopped it all up, put the cotton wool balls on your kitchen scales and see how much they weigh
Compare your results with your friends and family, and see whose weighs the most

We expect that you will find:

That introverts produce a lot of saliva in response to lemon juice
That extraverts don't produce much saliva in response to lemon juice

Personality Psychology

2006-07-12T15:51:00.000+08:00

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Personality psychology is a branch of psychology which studies personality and individual different processes - that which makes us into a person. One emphasis is on trying to create a coherent picture of a person and all his or her major psychological processes. Another emphasis views it as the study of individual differences. These two views work together in practice. Personality psychologists are interested in a broad view of the individual. This often leads to an interest in the most salient individual differences among people.

In psychology, personality is a collection of emotional, thought and behavioral patterns unique to a person that is consistent over time. The word originates from the Latin persona, which means "mask." Significantly, in the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world, the mask was not used as a plot device to disguise the identity of a character, but rather was a convention employed to represent, or typify that character.

There are several theoretical perspectives on personality in psychology, which involve different ideas about the relationship between personality and other psychological constructs, as well as different theories about the way personality develops. Most theories can be grouped into one of the following classes.

Generally the opponents to personality theories claim that personality is "plastic" in time, places, moods and situations. Changing personality may in fact resulting from diet (or lack of), medical effects, historical or subsequent events, or learning. Stage managers (of many types) are especially skilled in changing a person's resulting "personality". Most personality theories will not cover such flexible nor unusual people situations.

Types of personality tests include the Holland Codes, the Rorschach test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, NEO PI-R, and the Thematic Apperception Test. Critics have pointed to the Forer effect to suggest that some of these appear to be more accurate and discriminating than they really are.

Personality psychology is often closely associated with social psychology.

Around the 1990s, neuroscience entered the domain of personality psychology. Whereas previous efforts for identifying personality differences relied upon simple, direct, human observation, neuroscience introduced powerful brain analysis tools like Electroencephalography(EEG), Positron Emission Tomography(PET), and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI) to this study. One of the founders of this area of brain research is Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr Davidson's research lab has focused on the role of the prefrontal cortec(PFC) and amygdala in manifesting human personality. In particular, this research has looked at hemispheric asymmetry of activity in these regions.

Theories and Personality

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A theory is a model of reality that helps us to understand, explain, predict, and control that reality. In the study of personality, these models are usually verbal. Every now and then, someone comes up with a graphic model, with symbolic illustrations, or a mathematical model, or even a computer model. But words are the basic form.

Different approaches focus on different aspects of theory. Humanists and Existentialists tend to focus on the understanding part. They believe that much of what we are is way too complex and embedded in history and culture to "predict and control." Besides, they suggest, predicting and controlling people is, to a considerable extent, unethical. Behaviorists and Freudians, on the other hand, prefer to discuss prediction and control. If an idea is useful, if it works, go with it! Understanding, to them, is secondary.

Another definition says that a theory is a guide to action: We figure that the future will be something like the past. We figure that certain sequences and patterns of events that have occurred frequently before are likely to occur again. So we look to the first events of a sequence, or the most vivid parts of a pattern, to serve as our landmarks and warning signals. A theory is a little like a map: It isn't the same as the countryside it describes; it certainly doesn't give you every detail; it may not even be terribly accurate. But it does provide a guide to action -- and gives us something to correct when it fails.

Personality

Usually when we talk about someone's personality, we are talking about what makes that person different from other people, perhaps even unique. This aspect of personality is called individual differences. For some theories, it is the central issue. These theories often spend considerable attention on things like types and traits and tests with which we can categorize or compare people: Some people are neurotic, others are not; some people are more introverted, others more extroverted; and so on.

However, personality theorists are just as interested in the commonalities among people. What, for example, does the neurotic person and the healthy person have in common? Or what is the common structure in people that expresses itself as introversion in some and extroversion in others?

If you place people on some dimension -- such as healthy-neurotic or introversion-extroversion -- you are saying that the dimension is something everyone can be placed on. Whether they are neurotic or not, all people have a capacity for health and ill-health; and whether introverted or extroverted, all are "verted" one way or the other.

Another way of saying this is that personality theorists are interested in the structure of the individual, the psychological structure in particular. How are people "put together;" how do they "work;" how do they "fall apart."

Some theorists go a step further and say they are looking for the essence of being a person. Or they say they are looking for what it means to be an individual human being. The field of personality psychology stretches from a fairly simple empirical search for differences between people to a rather philosophical search for the meaning of life!

Perhaps it is just pride, but personality psychologists like to think of their field as a sort of umbrella for all the rest of psychology. We are, after all, concerned about genetics and physiology, about learning and development, about social interaction and culture, about pathology and therapy. All these things come together in the individual.

Social Learning Theory

2006-07-10T17:02:00.000+08:00

Observational learning or social learning is learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating behaviour observed in others. It is most associated with the work of psychologist Albert Bandura, who implemented some of the seminal studies in the area and initiated social learning theory.

Although observational learning can take place at any stage in life, it is thought to be particularly important during childhood, particularly as authority becomes important.

Because of this, social learning theory has influenced debates on the effect of television violence and parental role models. Bandura's Bobo doll experiment is widely cited in psychology as a demonstration of observational learning and demonstrated that children are more likely to engage in violent play with a life size rebounding doll after watching an adult do the same.

Observational learning allows for learning without any change in behaviour and has therefore been used as an argument against strict behaviourism which argued that behaviour change must occur for new behaviours to be acquired.

Social Learning Theory
The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others.

Bandura (1977) states: "Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action." (p22).

Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an environmental influences. The component processes underlying observational learning are:
(1) Attention, including modeled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement),
(2) Retention, including symbolic coding, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal),
(3) Motor Reproduction, including physical capabilities, self-observation of reproduction, accuracy of feedback, and
(4) Motivation, including external, vicarious and self reinforcement.

Social learning theory explains behaviour patterns as having been learned through a process of operant conditioning and observational learning. According to social learning theorists, the reinforcement, punishment, and models are provided by the social environment.

Scope/Application
Social learning theory has been applied extensively to the understanding of aggression (Bandura, 1973) and psychological disorders, particularly in the context of behavior modification (Bandura, 1969). It is also the theoretical foundation for the technique of behavior modeling which is widely used in training programs. In recent years, Bandura has focused his work on the concept of self-efficacy in a variety of contexts (e.g., Bandura, 1997).

The most common (and pervasive) examples of social learning situations are television commercials. Commercials suggest that drinking a certain beverage or using a particular hair shampoo will make us popular and win the admiration of attractive people. Depending upon the component processes involved (such as attention or motivation), we may model the behavior shown in the commercial and buy the product being advertised.

Principles
1. The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it overtly. Coding modeled behavior into words, labels or images results in better retention than simply observing.

2. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in outcomes they value.
3. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behavior has functional value.

Observational Learning

2006-07-09T17:02:00.000+08:00

Observational learning is when one animal can watch the actions of another and learn from those actions. This may be as simple as learning the location of a food source or as complicated as learning a sequence of actions that needs to be taken to earn a reward. Many animals can do this; good experimental evidence is available for the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, quail, rats, and a variety of primates.

Observational learning occurs when behaviour changes to imitate that of models. Work by Albert Bandura and colleagues has shown the power of both live and media models. Social learning theories have have argued that behaviour patterns in general are learned as a result of social reinforcements, punishments and models.

Required conditions
Bandura called the process of social learning modelling and gave four conditions required for a person to successfully model the behaviour of someone else:
1. Attention to the model
A person must first pay attention to a person engaging in a certain behaviour (the model).
2. Retention of details
Once attending to the observed behaviour, the observer must be able to effectively remember what the model has done.
3. Motor reproduction
The observer must be able to replicate the behaviour being observed. For example, juggling cannot be effectively learned by observing a model juggler if the observer does not already have the ability to perform the component actions (throwing and catching a ball).
4. Motivation and Opportunity
The observer must be motivated to carry out the action they have observed and remembered, and must have the opportunity to do so. For example, a suitably skilled person must want to replicate the behaviour of a model juggler, and needs to have an appropriate number of items to juggle to hand.

Effect on behaviour
Social learning may effect behaviour in the follow ways:
1. Teaches new behaviours
2. Increases or decreases the frequency of which previously learnt behaviours are carried out
3. Can encourage previously forbidden behaviours
4. Can increase or decrease similar behaviours. For example, observing a model excelling in piano playing may encourage an observer to excel in playing the saxophone.

Bandura's Work on Modelling
1. Live Models
Albert Bandura studied learning by observation in nursery-school-aged boys and girls in the 1960s. The subjects were tested individually in the laboratory. While the child was playing alone, an adult entered the room and displayed verbal and physical aggression to a plastic punching -bag clown("Bobo")doll. Later, the child was frustrated by being shown some highly attractive toys but being allowed to play with them only for a few minutes. Then the child was watched through a one-way mirror. Children displayed aggression toward the Bobo doll, in many cases mimicking the behaviour of the adult model of aggression. (Children who were frustrated in the same way, but who had not seen the adult model of aggression did not act so aggressively toward the Bobo doll.)

2. Media Models
In other research, Bandura and colleagues found that children could learn aggression by observing the behaviour on a cartoon. These results have caused some psychologists to caution parents about television and movie violence that children observe.

Principles & Applications Of Operant Conditioning

2006-07-08T17:00:00.000+08:00

Operant conditioning is also called instrumental conditioning.

The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual's response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond. The distinctive characteristic of operant conditioning relative to previous forms of behaviorism (e.g., Thorndike, Hull) is that the organism can emit responses instead of only eliciting response due to an external stimulus.

Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner's S-R theory. A reinforcer is anything that strengthens the desired response. It could be verbal praise, a good grade or a feeling of increased accomplishment or satisfaction. The theory also covers negative reinforcers -- any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response when it is withdrawn (different from adversive stimuli -- punishment -- which result in reduced responses). A great deal of attention was given to schedules of reinforcement (e.g. interval versus ratio) and their effects on establishing and maintaining behavior.

One of the distinctive aspects of Skinner's theory is that it attempted to provide behavioral explanations for a broad range of cognitive phenomena. For example, Skinner explained drive (motivation) in terms of deprivation and reinforcement schedules. Skinner (1957) tried to account for verbal learning and language within the operant conditioning paradigm, although this effort was strongly rejected by linguists and psycholinguists. Skinner (1971) deals with the issue of free will and social control.

Principles:
1. Behavior that is positively reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement is particularly effective
2. Information should be presented in small amounts so that responses can be reinforced
3. Reinforcements will generalize across similar stimuli ("stimulus generalization") producing secondary conditioning

Operant conditioning has been widely applied in clinical settings (i.e., behavior modification) as well as teaching (i.e., classroom management) and instructional development (e.g., programmed instruction). Parenthetically, it should be noted that Skinner rejected the idea of theories of learning (see Skinner, 1950).

An everyday illustration of operant conditioning involves training your dog to "shake" on command. Using the operant conditioning technique of shaping, you speak the command to "shake" (the discriminative stimulus) and then wait until your dog moves one of his forepaws a bit (operant response). Following this behavior, you give your dog a tasty treat (positive reinforcer). After demanding ever closer approximations to shaking your hand, your dog finally comes to perform the desired response to the verbal command "shake."

Applications of Operant Conditioning to Education:
Our knowledge about operant conditioning has greatly influenced educational practices. Children at all ages exhibit behavior. Teachers and parents are, by definition, behavior modifiers (if a child is behaviorally the same at the end of the academic year, you will not have done your job as a teacher; children are supposed to learn (i.e., produce relatively permanent change in behavior or behavior potential) as a result of the experiences they have in the school / classroom setting.

Behavioral studies in classroom settings have clearly established ways to organize and arrange the physical classroom to facilitate both academic and social behavior. Instruction itself has also been the focus of numerous studies, and has resulted in a variety of teaching models for educators at all levels. Programmed instruction is only one such model. Programmed instruction requires that learning be done in small steps, with the learner being an active participant (rather than passive), and that immediate corrective feedback is provided at each step.

Operant Conditioning

2006-07-07T16:57:00.000+08:00

Operant Conditioning : Learned Helplessness
Operant Conditioning has been applied in a number of ways to human behaviour. One example is work by researcher Martin Seligman that has led to a theory of depression.

Experimental Helplessness
Seligman's work began with dogs in escape and avoidance conditioning procedures. He set up a chamber with a barrier in the center. Every few minutes a light came on for 10 seconds, followed by a painful electric shock. The dog could escape the shock by jumping over the barrier; the dog could avoid the shock altogether by jumping over the barrier during the light presentation.

Dogs learned to escape fairly quickly, and most learned to avoid the shock with extensive practice. However, Seligman was disapointed with the slow avoidance learning. He tried a different procedure with some new dogs. These animals were first restrained in a harness and given several light-shock pairings. Seligman thought that this might teach them the significance of the light as a signal for shock, and that this might encourage fast avoidance learning in the chamber. To the contrary, these dogs performed poorly in the chamber. When the light was presented they acted afraid. Although unrestrained, the animals lay on the floor and whimpered when the shock was presented.

Depression As Learned Helplessness
After thinking about this result, Seligman realized that the training with light and shock in the harness had taught these animals that they could not do anything aobut the delivery of shock. He called this phenomenon learned helplessness. Seligman and colleagues have performed many additional studies, and learned helplessness has been demonstrated in cats, rats and humans.

According to Seligman, the key factor in the development of learned helplessness is the experience of having a lack of control over the environment. Further, he has theorized that several such experiences of lack of control, and the accompanying feeling of helplessness, is the cause of human depression. He has pointed out that losses of a spouse, relative or loved one are cases where one may perceive a lack of control. These situations lead to helpless feelings and depression.

This view of depression has implications for therapy with depressed clients. Seligman has proposed that depressed clients should be encouraged to engage in activities that will lead to success and a perceived sense of control over the environment.

Punishment

2006-07-06T16:56:00.000+08:00

In Extinction, a particular behaviour is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing a positive condition or stopping a negative condition. For example, a rat presses the lever in its cage and nothing happens. Neither a positive or a negative condition exists for the rat. The rat presses the lever again and again nothing happens. The rat's behaviour of pressing the lever is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing anything positive or stopping anything negative.

In Punishment, a particular behaviour is weakened by the consequence of experiencing a negative condition. For example, a rat presses the lever in its cage and receives a mild electrical shock on its feet. The shock is a negative condition for the rat. The rat presses the lever again and again receives a shock. The rat's behaviour of pressing the lever is weakened by the consequence of receiving a shock.

Positive punishment
Skinner defined punishment as the opposite of reinforcement. Therefore, punishment is any operation that decreases the rate of response. For example, when the rat presses the lever, shock is presented. This leads to a decrease in lever pressing, hence punishment has occurred. When shock or other painful consquences are applied to decrease behaviour, the consequence is referred to as positive punishment. It is called "positive" because the consequence involves presenting or applying a painful or shocking treatment. It is "punishment" because it is followed by a decrease in behaviour.

Negative Punishment
An alternative to positive punishment is negative punishment. An example of negative punishment might be to follow an undesirable behaviour with removal of a privilege. For example, a child who misbehaves has her favourite toy taken away for two days. As a result she does not misbehave as often. This procedure is " negative" because something is removed or taken away (a toy or privilege). It is still a form of punishment because it results in a decrease of the unwanted behaviour.

Issues in the Use of Punishment
In child-rearing, punishment contingencies are often used. Parents identify a behaviour they wish to decrease. The contingency might be: if the child engages in the behaviour, the child will receive a spanking. Or, if the child engages in the behaviour, the child must go to bed early.

Skinner was a strong advocate for the use of reinforcement rather than punishment. He thought that reinforcement led to stronger control of behaviour than did punishment. Another reason was concern that, although punishment does eliminate unwanted behaviour, it cannot in itself teach or encourage alternative behaviours. Finally, repeated use of punishment has been found to make subjects behave in hostile or helpless ways.

Types Of Reinforcement

2006-07-05T16:54:00.000+08:00

Operant Conditioning is the term used by B.F. Skinner to describe the effects of the consequences of a particular behavior on the future occurrence of that behavior. There are four types of Operant Conditioning: Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Punishment, and Extinction. Both Positive and Negative Reinforcement strengthen behavior while both Punishment and Extinction weaken behavior.

Positive Reinforcement
In Positive Reinforcement a particular behaviour is strengthened by the consequence of experiencing a positive condition. For example, a hungry rat presses the lever in its cage and receives food. The food is a positive condition for the hungry rat. The rat presses the bar again and receives food. The rat's behaviour of pressing the lever is strengthened by the consequence of receiving food.

Skinner defined reinforcement as any operant that increases the rate of a response. An operant conditioning contingency that leads to reinforcement is : if the rat responds (presses the lever), then food is presented. The rate of response increases. This procedure is called positive reinforcement. The word "positive" is used because the consequence is the presentation of food. The word "reinforcement" is used since the effect of the contingency is to increase the rate of response. In most examples "positive reinforcement" is recognizable as a form of reward.

Negative Reinforcement
In Negative Reinforcement a particular behaviour is strengthed by the consequence of stopping or avoiding a negative condition. For example, a rat is placed in a cage and immediately receives a mild electrical shock on its feet. The shock is a negative condition for the rat. The rat presses a lever and the shock stops. The rat receives another shock, presses the lever again, and again the shock stops. The rat's behaviour of pressing the lever is strengthened by the consequence of stopping the shock.

The word "negative" is used because the consequence is the removal of shock. The word "reinforcement" is used since the effect of the contingency is to increase the rate of response.

This kind of negative reinforcement is also called escape. A similar procedure called avoidance occurs when the lever pressing allows the animal to totally avoid shock.

Shaping
One can train an animal by positive reinforcement by waiting for the desired response and immediately rewarding the animal. Shaping is a process that speeds up the training process. To shape the animal's behaviour, the experimenter reinforces the animal for more and more specific steps in the desired behaviour. For example, a dog can be trained to roll over first by learning to lie down, then to lie down and roll onto one side, and ultimately to lie down, roll onto one side, and then over onto the other. Because of the step-by-step procedure, shaping is called the method of successive approximations.

Schedules of Reinforcements
The examples provided so far have all been cases of continuous reinforcement, because every response was reinforced. Alternatively, there are many ways to provide partial reinforcement, which involves less attention and expense because not every response is reinforced.

Reinforcement schedules may be timed according to either the ration or the interval of the responses. Ratio schedules involvce reinforcing every fixed number of response. Interval schedules involve reinforcing every specific time period, no matter how many responses have occurred.

In addition, both ratio and interval schedules can be either fixed or variable. A fixed schedule reinforces for the same ratio or interval everytime in the learning process. A variable schedule involves changing the ratio or interval between reinforcements from trial to trial.

According to research on schedules of partial reinforcement, the rates at which organisms learn and lose what they have learned depend both on the specific behaviour involved and the nature of the reinforcement schedule adhered to.

Extinction: Continuous Versus Partial Reinforcement
Extinction refers to the loss of an acquired response, or the failure to make a learned response. Extinction is brought about when, following a period of reinforcement for responding, reinforcement is no longer provided.

After continuous reinforcement, extinction is very fast. On the other hand, following partial reinforcement, extinction is typically very slow. This is called the partial-reinforcement extinction effect.

In human behaviour, there are similar effects. Parents who reinforce a child's crying on a partial schedule have a very difficult time extinguishing the crying behaviour.

What Is Operant Conditioning

2006-07-04T16:48:00.000+08:00

Operant conditioning (also called instrumental conditioning) is based on a contingency (casual connection) between a response and the consequence that follows the response. Contingencies can be expressed as if-then statements. In operant conditioning there is a contingency of this nature: If the response occurs, then this consequence follows.

Overview
The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual's response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond. The distinctive characteristic of operant conditioning relative to previous forms of behaviorism (e.g.,Thorndike, Hull) is that the organism can emit responses instead of only eliciting response due to an external stimulus.

Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner's S-R theory. A reinforcer is anything that strengthens the desired response. It could be verbal praise, a good grade or a feeling of increased accomplishment or satisfaction. The theory also covers negative reinforcers -- any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response when it is withdrawn (different from adversive stimuli -- punishment -- which result in reduced responses). A great deal of attention was given to schedules of reinforcement (e.g. interval versus ratio) and their effects on establishing and maintaining behavior.

One of the distinctive aspects of Skinner's theory is that it attempted to provide behavioral explanations for a broad range of cognitive phenomena. For example, Skinner explained drive (motivation) in terms of deprivation and reinforcement schedules. Skinner (1957) tried to account for verbal learning and language within the operant conditioning paradigm, although this effort was strongly rejected by linguists and psycholinguists. Skinner (1971) deals with the issue of free will and social control.

Scope/Application
Operant conditioning has been widely applied in clinical settings (i.e., behavior modification) as well as teaching (i.e., classroom management) and instructional development (e.g., programmed instruction). Parenthetically, it should be noted that Skinner rejected the idea of theories of learning.

Example
By way of example, consider the implications of reinforcement theory as applied to the development of programmed instruction (Markle, 1969; Skinner, 1968)

1. Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) - answer (response) frames which expose the student to the subject in gradual steps

2. Require that the learner make a response for every frame and receive immediate feedback

3. Try to arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct and hence a positive reinforcement

4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with secondary reinforcers such as verbal praise, prizes and good grades.

Principles:

1. Behavior that is positively reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement is particularly effective.

2. Information should be presented in small amounts so that responses can be reinforced ("shaping").

3. Reinforcements will generalize across similar stimuli ("stimulus generalization") producing secondary conditioning.

B.F. Skinner

2006-07-03T16:47:00.000+08:00

B. F. Skinner
(1904 - 1990)
Psychologist

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born March 20, 1904, in the small Pennsylvania town of Susquehanna. His father was a lawyer, and his mother a strong and intelligent housewife. His upbringing was old-fashioned and hard-working.

Burrhus was an active, out-going boy who loved the outdoors and building things, and actually enjoyed school. His life was not without its tragedies, however. In particular, his brother died at the age of 16 of a cerebral aneurysm.

Burrhus received his BA in English from Hamilton College in upstate New York. He didn’t fit in very well, not enjoying the fraternity parties or the football games. He wrote for school paper, including articles critical of the school, the faculty, and even Phi Beta Kappa! To top it off, he was an atheist -- in a school that required daily chapel attendance.

He wanted to be a writer and did try, sending off poetry and short stories. When he graduated, he built a study in his parents’ attic to concentrate, but it just wasn’t working for him.

Ultimately, he resigned himself to writing newspaper articles on labor problems, and lived for a while in Greenwich Village in New York City as a “bohemian.” After some traveling, he decided to go back to school, this time at Harvard. He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and his doctorate in 1931, and stayed there to do research until 1936.

Also in that year, he moved to Minneapolis to teach at the University of Minnesota. There he met and soon married Yvonne Blue. They had two daughters, the second of which became famous as the first infant to be raised in one of Skinner’s inventions, the air crib. Although it was nothing more than a combination crib and playpen with glass sides and air conditioning, it looked too much like keeping a baby in an aquarium to catch on.

In 1945, he became the chairman of the psychology department at Indiana University. In 1948, he was invited to come to Harvard, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was a very active man, doing research and guiding hundreds of doctoral candidates as well as writing many books. While not successful as a writer of fiction and poetry, he became one of our best psychology writers, including the book Walden II, which is a fictional account of a community run by his behaviorist principles.

Skinner expressed no interest in understanding the human psyche. He was as strict a behaviorist as John Watson, and he sought only to determine how behavior is caused by external forces. He believed everything we do are shaped by our experience of punishment and reward. He believed that the "mind" (as opposed to the brain) and other such subjective phenomena were simply matters of language; they didn't really exist. Skinner was known for making audacious statements on this matter (and others), following in Watson's tradition of being provocative, controversial, and an excellent publicist of his ideas.

August 18, 1990, B. F. Skinner died of leukemia after becoming perhaps the most celebrated psychologist since Sigmund Freud.

Theory
B. F. Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning. The organism is in the process of “operating” on the environment, which in ordinary terms means it is bouncing around its world, doing what it does. During this “operating,” the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus, called a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. This special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant.

The Work of B.F Skinner
Before his death, B.F. Skinner was considered the most influential living psychologist. In the second half of the twentieth century he was the leading advocate for behaviourism.

Rats In Skinner Boxes
Skinner developed an experimental chamber to study learning in laboratory rats. He always called this an operant conditioning chamber, but others refer to it as a Skinner box. (An operant is a voluntary behaviour which a person or animal emits in response to its environment). The chamber included a lever, a metal bar attached to the front wall. Pressing the lever was the response studied in this chamber. Small pieces or pellets of food were presented in a food cup. The floor of the chamber consisted of metal rods through which electric shock could be applied to the feet of the animal.
Skinner performed many experiments with the operant conditioning chamber. He developed operational definitions of reinforcement, punishment, shaping and schedules of reinforcement.

Edward L. Thorndike

2006-07-02T16:46:00.000+08:00

Edward L. Thorndike

(1874-1949)
Psychologist

Education

Wesleyan University (BS, 1895)
Harvard University (MA, 1897) - Worked with William James
Columbia University (Ph.D., 1898) - Under James M. Cattell

Career

Assistant Professor of Pedagogy at Case Western Reserve University (1898)
Faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University (1899-1940)
President of American Psychological Association (1912)
2nd President of Psychometric Society
President of American Association for the Advancement of Science (1934)
William James Lecturer, Harvard University (1942-1943)

Major Contributions

During his 55-year career, he published about 500 books and articles on diverse as learning in fish, methods of statistical analysis and the elements of aesthetic quality in urban life.
Studied animal intelligence (known for his 'cats in a puzzle box' experiments on Trial and Error)
Applied animal to human educational experience; he was once the leader in this field.
Constructed a scale to measure children's handwriting (1910) and a table of word-frequency in English (1944).

Ideas and Interests
Thorndike's early studies with animal behavior led him to declare his Law of Effect.

The Law of Effect states that a) Responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction are strengthened; and b) Responses that are followed by discomfort are weakened. Thorndike's Law of Exercise continued this line of thought; a) Stimulus-response connections that are repeated are strengthened, and b) Stimulus -response connections that are not used are weakened. Thorndike later conducted research that provided evidence that the Law of Exercise lacked validity. Thorndike characterized the two most basic intelligences as Trial-and-Error and Stimulus-Response Association.

Thorndike and his students used objective measurements of intelligence on human subjects as early as 1903. By the time the United States entered WWI, Thorndike had developed methods for measuring a wide variety of abilities and achievements. During the 1920's he developed a test of intelligence that consisted of completion, arithmetic, vocabulary, and directions test, known as the CAVD. This instrument was intended to measure intellectual level on an absolute scale. The logic underlying the test predicted elements of test design that eventually became the foundation of modern intelligence tests.

Thorndike drew an important distinction among three broad classes of intellectual functioning. Standard intelligence tests measured only "abstract intelligence". Also important were "mechanical intelligence - the ability to visualize relationships among objects and understand how the physical world worked", and social intelligence - the ability to function successfully in interpersonal situations". Thorndike called for instruments to develop measures for these other types of intellect.

Thorndike developed psychological connectionism. He believed that through experience neural bonds or connections were formed between perceived stimuli and emitted responses; therefore, intellect facilitated the formation of the neural bonds. People of higher intellect could form more bonds and form them more easily than people of lower ability. The ability to form bonds was rooted in genetic potential through the genes' influence on the structure of the brain, but the content of intellect was a function of experience. Thorndike rejected the idea that a measure of intelligence independent of cultural background was possible.

Thorndike proposed that there were four general dimensions of abstract intelligence:

Altitude: the complexity or difficulty of tasks one can perform (most important)
Width: the variety of tasks of a give difficulty
Area: a function of width and altitude
Speed: the number of tasks one can complete in a given time .

His intellectual development of this multi-factored approach to intelligence contributed to a great debate with with Charles Spearman (Spearman proposed a single, general intelligence factor 'g') that encompassed twenty five years.

The Work Of Edward L. Thorndike
Cats In Puzzle Boxes
Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) being an early pioneer in conditioning research, studied the behaviour of cats in a chamber called the puzzle box. The cat was confined inside the chamber. A number of devices inside the chamber included rings, loops of wire, and panels. The cat's task was to learn to escape from the box. However, only by pulling a particular device could the cat escape. Since there were several devices, the task was difficult. The cat ususally escaped after a number of minutes.

As trials proceeded, the escape response occurred more quickly. The learning was gradual and orderly. Thorndike concluded that the cats did not use reasoning to solve this problem but rather slow trial-and-error learning. He stated this formally as the law of effect: responses followed by a satisfying state of affairs were gradually stamped in (developed) as habits; responses followed by an annoying state of affairs were gradually stamped out as habits(eliminated from the animal's behavioural repertoire).

Application Of Classical Conditioning

2006-07-01T16:46:00.000+08:00

An Application of Classical Conditioning: Systematic Desensitization
Systematic desensitization was developed by the therapist Joseph Wolpe as a treatment for phobia(irrational fear) in humans. Wolpe believed that such fears were learned through classical conditioning. Therefore, they could be treated with a classical conditioning method.

The treatment of phobia with classical conditioning has three phases:
1. construction of the fear hierarchy
2. relaxation training;
3. pairing of fearful thoughts with relaxation.

In step one, the client and the therapist develop a list of the client's fears. The list orders items from strongest fear to weakest fear. For example, a client with a fear of heights might create a list of 15 fearful situations, ranging from " strongest fear : falling down a mountain", to "weakest fear: walking down a slight incline".

In step two, the therapist instructs the client in techniques of deep relaxation. These techniques include muscle tension and relaxation, breathing exercises, and peaceful imagery.

Step three is the actual classical conditioning treatment. The client first uses the various techniques to become totally relaxed. Then the therapist asks the client, while relaxed, to imagine being in the situation at the bottom of the fear hierarchy. The idea is to pair the thought of the fear situation with relaxation. Since the item at the bottom of the fear hierarchy is used first, it is likely that the relaxation will overwhelm the fear. Once that item is conquered, the therapist and client proceed up the fear hierarchy, one item at a time. Research has demonstrated that systematic desensitization is an effective treatment for phobia.

Concepts Of Classical Conditioning

2006-06-30T16:43:00.000+08:00

Classical conditioning is Stimulus (S) elicits >Response (R) conditioning since the antecedent stimulus (singular) causes (elicits) the reflexive or involuntary response to occur. Classical conditioning starts with a reflex: an innate, involuntary behavior elicited or caused by an antecedent environmental event. For example, if air is blown into your eye, you blink. You have no voluntary or conscious control over whether the blink occurs or not.

The specific model for classical conditioning is:

Unconditioned Stimulus (US) elicits > Unconditioned Response (UR): a stimulus will naturally (without learning) elicit or bring about a relexive response
Neutral Stimulus (NS) ---> does not elicit the response of interest: this stimulus (sometimes called an orienting stimulus as it elicits an orienting response) is a neutral stimulus since it does not elicit the Unconditioned (or reflexive) Response.
The Neutral/Orientiing Stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with the Unconditioned/Natural Stimulus (US).
The NS is transformed into a Conditioned Stimulus (CS); that is, when the CS is presented by itself, it elicits or causes the CR (which is the same involuntary response as the UR; the name changes because it is elicited by a different stimulus. This is written CS elicits > CR.

In classical conditioning no new behaviors are learned. Instead, an association is developed (through pairing) between the NS and the US so that the animal / person responds to both events / stimuli (plural) in the same way; restated, after conditioning, both the US and the CS will elicit the same involuntary response (the person / animal learns to respond reflexively to a new stimulus).

Summary Of the Concepts:

Unconditioned Stimulus: a thing that can already elicit a response.
Unconditioned Response: a thing that is already elicited by a stimulus.
Unconditioned Relationship: an existing stimulus-response connection.
Conditioning Stimulus: a new stimulus we deliver the same time we give the old stimulus.
Conditioned Relationship: the new stimulus-response relationship we created by associating a new stimulus with an old response.

There are two key parts. First, we start with an existing relationship, Unconditioned Stimulus ---> Unconditioned Response. Second, we pair a new thing (Conditioning Stimulus) with the existing relationship, until the new thing has the power to elicit the old response.

Everyday Classical Conditioning

2006-06-29T16:42:00.000+08:00

Classical conditioning in everyday life is extremely common. In the area of classroom learning, classical conditioning primarily influences emotional behavior. Things that make us happy, sad, angry, etc. become associated with neutral stimuli that gain our attention. For example, if a particular academic subject or remembering a particular teacher produces emotional feelings in you, those emotions are probably a result of classical conditioning.

In addition, if you have pets and you feed them with canned food, what happens when you hit the can opener? Sure, the animals come running even if you are opening a can of green beans. They have associated the sound of the opener with their food.

Classical conditioning works with advertising too. For example, many beer ads prominently feature attractive young women wearing bikinis. The young women (Unconditioned Stimulus) naturally elicit a favorable, mildly aroused feeling (Unconditioned Response) in most men. The beer is simply associated with this effect. The same thing applies with the jingles and music that accompany many advertisements.

Perhaps the strongest application of classical conditioning involves emotion. Common experience and careful research both confirm that human emotion conditions very rapidly and easily. Particularly when the emotion is intensely felt or negative in direction, it will condition quickly.

Clearly, classical conditioning is a pervasive form of influence in our world. This is true because it is a natural feature of all humans and it is relatively simple and easy to accomplish.

Principles Of Classical Conditioning

2006-06-28T16:41:00.000+08:00

Before Conditioning
In order to have classical or respondent conditioning, there must exist a stimulus that will automatically or reflexively elicit a specific response. This stimulus is called the Unconditioned Stimulus or UCS because there is no learning involved in connecting the stimulus and response. There must also be a stimulus that will not elicit this specific response, but will elicit an orienting response. This stimulus is called a Neutral Stimulus or an Orienting Stimulus.

During Conditioning
During conditioning, the neutral stimulus will first be presented, followed by the unconditioned stimulus. Over time, the learner will develop an association between these two stimuli (i.e., will learn to make a connection between the two stimuli.)

After Conditioning
After conditioning, the previously neutral or orienting stimulus will elicit the response previously only elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. The stimulus is now called a conditioned stimulus because it will now elicit a different response as a result of conditioning or learning. The response is now called a conditioned response because it is elicited by a stimulus as a result of learning. The two responses, unconditioned and conditioned, look the same, but they are elicited by different stimuli and are therefore given different labels.

Facts About Observational Learning

2006-06-27T16:38:00.000+08:00

We learn best when we are having fun.

Observational learning, also called social learning theory, occurs when an observer's behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An observer's behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences--called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment-- of a model's behavior.

There are several guiding principles behind observational learning, or social learning theory:

The observer will imitate the model's behavior if the model possesses characteristics-- things such as talent, intelligence, power, good looks, or popularity--that the observer finds attractive or desirable.
The observer will react to the way the model is treated and mimic the model's behavior. When the model's behavior is rewarded, the observer is more likely to reproduce the rewarded behavior. When the model is punished, an example of vicarious punishment, the observer is less likely to reproduce the same behavior.
A distinction exists between an observer's "acquiring" a behavior and "performing" a behavior. Through observation, the observer can acquire the behavior without performing it. The observer may then later, in situations where there is an incentive to do so, display the behavior.
Learning by observation involves four separate processes: attention, retention, production and motivation.
- Attention: Observers cannot learn unless they pay attention to what's happening around them. This process is influenced by characteristics of the model, such as how much one likes or identifies with the model, and by characteristics of the observer, such as the observer's expectations or level of emotional arousal.
- Retention: Observers must not only recognize the observed behavior but also remember it at some later time. This process depends on the observer's ability to code or structure the information in an easily remembered form or to mentally or physically rehearse the model's actions.
- Production: Observers must be physically and/intellectually capable of producing the act. In many cases the observer possesses the necessary responses. But sometimes, reproducing the model's actions may involve skills the observer has not yet acquired. It is one thing to carefully watch a circus juggler, but it is quite another to go home and repeat those acts.
- Motivation: In general, observers will perform the act only if they have some motivation or reason to do so. The presence of reinforcement or punishment, either to the model or directly to the observer, becomes most important in this process.
Attention and retention account for acquisition or learning of a model's behavior; production and motivation control the performance.
Human development reflects the complex interaction of the person, the person's behavior, and the environment. The relationship between these elements is called reciprocal determinism. A person's cognitive abilities, physical characteristics, personality, beliefs, attitudes, and so on influence both his or her behavior and environment. These influences are reciprocal, however. A person's behavior can affect his feelings about himself and his attitudes and beliefs about others. Likewise, much of what a person knows comes from environmental resources such as television, parents, and books. Environment also affects behavior: what a person observes can powerfully influence what he does. But a person's behavior also contributes to his environment.

How Observational Learning Impacts Learning:

Curriculum-- Students must get a chance to observe and model the behavior that leads to a positive reinforcement.

Instruction-- Educators must encourage collaborative learning, since much of learning happens within important social and environmental contexts.

Assessment--A learned behavior often cannot be performed unless there is the right environment for it. Educators must provide the incentive and the supportive environment for the behavior to happen. Otherwise, assessment may not be accurate.

The greater our involvement the more we learn. Little of what we passively listen to is remembered.

Learning And Behaviour

2006-06-26T16:38:00.000+08:00

Psychologists have been interested in learning since the founding of the school of psychology called behaviourism by John B. Watson (1878-1958). The behaviourists thought that the proper subject matter for psychology was overt(observable) behaviour. They emphasized the objective, scientific study of the effect of experience on behaviour.

Learning is defined as a change in behaviour due to experience, when the behaviour change cannot be explained by instinct, maturation or temporary states of the organism. The key word in the definition of learning is experience. Instinct is excluded form the definition of learning. Instinctual behaviours are those that occur because of the inherited nature of an organism. Maturation is excluded from the definiton of learning . Matruational changes are those that develop from growth due to developmental processes. Temporary states are excluded from the definition of learning. Illness and drug-induced changes are examples of temporary states.

The history of learning theory spans most of the twentieth century. The early learning theorists worked in the behaviourist tradition. Hence, their learning research emphasized the scientific analysis of behaviour change as a result of experience. Much of the work was done in laboratories with non-human animals. In more recent times, learning theorists have applied their findings to human behaviour, and especially to the therapeutic treatment of people with psychological disorders.

The two basic(fundamental)examples of behaviour change as a result of experience are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. A third type of learning that explains human behaviour is observational learning, also known as modelling.

Emotional Intelligence

2006-06-25T16:34:00.000+08:00

The distinction between intelligence and knowledge in the area of cognition (ie IQ) is very clear, where generally, psychological research demonstrates that IQ is a reliable measure of cognitive capacity, and is stable over time. In the area of emotion (i.e. EQ) that distinction between intelligence and knowledge is murky. Current definitions of EQ are inconsistent about what it measures: some (such as bradberry and Greaves 2005) say that EQ is dynamic, it can be learned or increased; whereas others (such as Mayers) say that EQ is stable, and cannot be increased. Mayer's (2005a) is consistent with cognition-based definitions of intelligence and knowledge, stating that " emotional intelligence is unlikely to be any more easily raised than general intelligence", but "emotional knowledge can be increased. . . fairly easily." Under Mayer's definition, emotional knowledge would be the level of perception and assessment that an individual has of their emotions at any given moment in time.

Emotional intelligence, or EI is the ability to understand your own emotions and those of people around you. EI is often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient or EQ, describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.

The term "emotional intelligence" appears to have originated with Wayne Payne (1985), but was popularized by Daniel Goleman (1995). The leading research on the concept originated with Peter Salovey and John "Jack" Mayer starting in the late 1980s. In 1990, their seminal paper (199) defined the concept as an intelligence. Mayer and Salovey continue to research the concept. The term "emotional quotient" seems to have originated in an article by Keith Beasley (1987). There are numerous other assessments of emotional intelligence each advocating different models and measures.

The concept of emotional intelligence, developed by Daniel Goleman, means you have a self-awareness that enables you to recognise feelings and helps you manage your emotions.

On a personal level, it involves motivation and being able to focus on a goal rather than demanding instant gratification. A person with a high emotional intelligence is also capable of understanding the feelings of others. Culturally, they are better at handling relationships of every kind.

Just because someone is deemed 'intellectually' intelligent, it does not necessarily follow they are emotionally intelligent. Having a good memory, or good problem solving abilities, does not mean you are capable of dealing with emotions or motivating yourself.

Highly intelligent people may lack the social skills that are associated with high emotional intelligence. Savants, who show incredible intellectual abilities in narrow fields, are an extreme example of this: a mathematical genius may be unable to relate to people socially. However, high intellectual intelligence, combined with low emotional intelligence, is relatively rare and a person can be both intellectually and emotionally intelligent.

Does socialising make you clever?
Both emotional and intellectual problems are more easily resolved when in a good mood, which to some extent depends on emotional intelligence. Self-motivated students tend to do better in school exams.

The ability to interact well with others and having a good group of friends, means students are more likely to remain in education, whereas those with emotional difficulties tend to drop out.

On the negative side, low emotional intelligence can affect intellectual capabilities. Depression interferes with memory and concentration. Psychological tests show feelings of rejection can dramatically reduce IQ by about 25%. Rejection increased feelings of aggressiveness and reduced self-control.

It is this quality of self-control, rather than being impulsive, which is regarded as necessary to perform well in IQ tests. So a low emotional intelligence may limit intellectual performance.

Are You Born Brainy

2006-06-24T16:34:00.000+08:00

Intelligence and racism
Intelligence tests have been involved in the promotion of eugenics, the idea that you could control the human race by selective breeding. Francis Galton - one of the pioneers of intelligence tests - was also a founding member of the Eugenics Society in the UK. The belief that intelligence is biologically determined in the make-up of the brain, and therefore to some extent genetically determined, is widely accepted. But a number of researchers over the years have used this idea to advocate social change. Using intelligence as one of their factors, Hernstein and Murray's controversial book, The Bell Curve (1994) argued that differences in IQ scores between racial groups reflect innate biological differences.

Critics argue that the way intelligence is measured contains a high level of random variation and therefore it's impossible to generalise it all into one graph. However, belief in the Bell Curve and in the genetic, rather than social, basis for intelligence has unfortunately led to the propagation of many racist ideas.

Evidence to suggest social factors are important in 'intelligence' is strong. The US military tested recruits to assign rank and found that black applicants scored lower than whites. However, analysis of the recruits were found to be due to educational differences; black recruits scored very low until the 1950s, when an increase in score corresponded to improved educational standards for all.

Is Intelligence Genetics?
In spring 1998, Robert Plomin claimed to have discovered a gene linked with intelligence. More recently, the Human Genome Project is cautious when approaching areas implying racial differences since research actually shows greater genetic differences within races than between races.

However, not all individuals are endowed with the same intelligence and many believe this must have something to do with our genes and the way they interact with the environment. Identical twins are more likely to obtain the same score in an IQ test than twins from two separate eggs that have a different genetic make up.

It is important to remember that genes work by interacting with the environment, so social factors will also influence intelligence. Intelligence tests may be more of an assessment of social factors, such as your educational background. Black children adopted into white middle class families score significantly higher on average than those in working class families- implying a cultural slant to tests. It is impossible to devise questions without some cultural or gender bias; boys tend to do better in spatial tests whereas girls score higher on linguistic tests.