My Freudian Slip

This is a place that you can post anything that is related to human behavior, human sexuality, Freud, Pavlov, or just about anything related to the mind. That includes INFORMATIVE info about substances that alter behavior. Have fun and be creative.

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Location: Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines

Friday, September 23, 2005

Public Service Announcement



The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s mission is to provide immediate assistance to individuals in suicidal crisis by connecting them to the nearest available suicide prevention and mental health service provider through a toll-free telephone number: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). It is the only national suicide prevention and intervention telephone resource funded by the Federal Government. Find out more
What’s New
Hurricane Resources In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and in anticipation of Hurricane Rita, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline would like to pass on information and resources that may be useful to crisis center staff and members of the public who might be concerned about persons reside in the Gulf Coast region. This document includes summary information on Lifeline centers, as well as general information for the public. Find out More.
The Lifeline Media Outreach Toolkit Is Now Available Online!Spread the word that mental health problems are treatable and help is available. This comprehensive toolkit provides you with everything you need to conduct a promotional campaign throughout the year as well as during mental health events. The toolkit includes media outreach materials, marketing materials, and partnership development materials. Find out more
Lifeline Radio Public Service Announcements Inform your community about the Lifeline with these radio public service announcements (PSAs). Send these scripts to the public service director at your local radio stations so that they can inform their listeners. Find out more

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Anxiety Disorders


Everybody knows what it's like to feel anxious -- the butterflies in your stomach before a first date, the tension you feel when your boss is angry, and the way your heart pounds if you're in danger. Anxiety rouses you to action. It gears you up to face a threatening situation. It makes you study harder for that exam, and keeps you on your toes when you're making a speech. In general, it helps you cope.

But if you have an anxiety disorder, this normally helpful emotion can do just the opposite -- it can keep you from coping and can disrupt your daily life. There are several types of anxiety disorders, each with their own distinct features.

An anxiety disorder may make you feel anxious most of the time, without any apparent reason. Or the anxious feelings may be so uncomfortable that to avoid them you may stop some everyday activities. Or you may have occasional bouts of anxiety so intense they terrify and immobilize you.

Anxiety disorders are the most common of all the mental health disorders. Considered in the category of anxiety disorders are: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Phobia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Specific Phobia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Acute Stress Disorder. Anxiety disorders as a whole cost the United States between 42-46 billion dollars a year in direct and indirect healthcare costs, which is a third of the yearly total mental health bill of 148 billion dollars. In the United States, social phobia is the most common anxiety disorder with approximately 5.3 million people per year suffering from it.

Approximately 5.2 million people per year suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Estimates for panic disorder range between 3 to 6 million people per year, an anxiety disorder that twice as many women suffer from as men. Specific phobias affect more than 1 out of every 10 people with the prevalence for women being slightly higher than for men. Obsessive Compulsive disorder affects about every 2 to 3 people out of 100, with women and men being affected equally.

Many people still carry the misperception that anxiety disorders are a character flaw, a problem that happens because you are weak. They say, "Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps!" and "You just have a case of the nerves." Wishing the symptoms away does not work -- but there are treatments that can help. Anxiety disorders and panic attacks are not signs of a character flaw. Most importantly, feeling anxious is not your fault. It is a serious mood disorder, which affects a person's ability to function in every day activities. It affects one's work, one's family, and one's social life.

Today, much more is known about the causes and treatment of this mental health problem. We know that there are biological and psychological components to every anxiety disorder and that the best form of treatment is a combination of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy interventions. Depending upon the severity of the anxiety, medication is used in combination with psychotherapy. Contrary to the popular misconceptions about anxiety disorders today, it is not a purely biochemical or medical disorder.
There are as many potential causes of anxiety disorders as there are people who suffer from them. Family history and genetics play a part in the greater likelihood of someone getting an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Increased stress and inadequate coping mechanisms to deal with that stress may also contribute to anxiety. Anxiety symptoms can result from such a variety of factors including having had a traumatic experience, having to face major decisions in a one's life, or having developed a more fearful perspective on life. Anxiety caused by medications or substance or alcohol abuse is not typically recognized as an anxiety disorder.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Depression: Part III


In-Patient Treatment

TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT ANY INPATIENT TREATMENT PROGRAM

Sometimes mental health problems require hospitalization. This is a serious decision that should not be made without considering the following questions carefully:

1. Is an experienced medical doctor in charge?

2. Does the program provide a total treatment environment, including individual, group, and family therapy?

3. Is a fully qualified staff available, including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers?

4. Does the program use effective diagnostic and laboratory tests to help make correct diagnoses and to evaluate treatment?

5. Does the program provide for family sessions and counseling when necessary? If so, how many family sessions are there?

For child and adolescent hospital programs:

6. Does the program offer an accredited school and/or vocational training to prevent children and teens from falling behind in their schoolwork?

7. Are family members encouraged to visit?

8. Are support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous encouraged?

9. Does the program provide well-defined aftercare through individual or group therapy?

10. How much does the program cost? Will your insurance cover all or part of the treatment, and for how long will your insurance continue?

Depression:Part II


Treating Depression:

The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 80 to 90 percent of all depression can be treated. The first step is an accurate diagnosis. Along with a physical and lab tests to rule out causes such as reduced thyroid activity, a complete psychiatric history should be taken. And because depression and other major psychiatric problems are side effects of many medications, a good work-up will also include a review of the patient's medications and any illicit drug use.

Once a diagnosis is made, the basic medications used for depression today are:
Tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil, Tofranil, and Pamelor are prescribed for patients who are in despair, feeling helpless, and unable to feel pleasure.

Serotonin uptake inhibitors such as Prozac, Paxil, and Effexor, all prescribed for uncomplicated depression.

Monoamine Oxidase (mao) Inhibitors like Nardil and Parnate: These medications are usually used when depressive symptoms are accompanied by symptoms of an anxiety disorder.

Lithium: This is the most effective drug for manic depression. However, it can also be used to prevent recurring episodes of depression.

When one of these medications is prescribed, follow-up and continued medical supervision are critical. Blood tests and other metabolic studies are often performed on a regular basis to determine the effect of the drug on the patient. This can be a drawn-out process, because most drugs for depression don't relieve symptoms instantly. Often it takes four to six weeks for a medication to become effective.

Other forms of therapy for depression include interpersonal psychotherapy to help broken relationships, cognitive behavioral therapy to help reverse the patient's negative view of himself and the world, and traditional psychoanalysis. Electroconvulsive therapy--known as ECT or shock therapy--has been used effectively in patients who cannot tolerate the side effects of today's medications, who cannot wait for the medications to work, or who are unable to take drugs for other reasons. While controversial, ECT has proved to be a good treatment option.

Next: In-patient Treatment

Friday, September 16, 2005

Depression: Part I


Depression is not just "the blues." Depression is one of the most serious and common of all mental disorders. It is also one of the most treatable--provided the victim seeks treatment. At any time, more than nine million Americans may be suffering from depression. More than 15 percent of Americans are attacked by depression at some time in their lives.

While we've all felt sad at times, we usually get up, go to work, and try to overcome our general discouragement with life. But when these overwhelming feelings of sadness persist--even if for only a few weeks--you may be suffering from a clinical depression, which means you need some professional treatment. Besides a depressed mood or loss of pleasure, symptoms of clinical depression may include appetite and sleep changes, apathy, fatigue, hopelessness, guilt, loss of concentration, and thoughts of suicide.

There are two major kinds of depression: bipolar and unipolar. In bipolar depression, the patient rides a roller coaster of emotions from high to low, leading to the term "manic depression." Unipolar depression, also known as clinical or major depression, lacks bipolar's "highs."

Next: Treating Depression

The King of Neuroscience



V.S. Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and professor with the Psychology Department and the Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute. Ramachandran trained as a Physician and obtained an MD from Stanley Medical College and subsequently a PhD from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he was elected a senior Rouse Ball Scholar. Ramachandran's early research was on visual perception but he is best known for his work in Neurology.
He has received many honours and awards including a fellowship from All Souls College, Oxford, an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College, a Gold medal from the Australian National University, the Ariens Kappers Medal from the Royal Nederlands Academy of Sciences, for landmark contributions in neuroscience and the presidential lecture award from the American Academy of Neurology. He is also a fellow of the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla and a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. He was invited by the BBC to give the Reith lectures for 2003 ; and is the first physician/experimental psychologist to be given this honor since the series was begun by Bertrand Russel in 1949.
In 1995, he gave the Decade of the Brain Lecture at the 25th annual (Silver Jubilee) meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and more recently, the Inaugural keynote lecture at the Decade of the brain conference held by NIMH at the Library of Congress and a public lecture at the Getty museum in Los Angeles. He also gave the first Hans Lucas Teuber lecture at MIT, the D.O Hebb lecture at McGill, The Rudel-Moses lecture at Columbia, The Dorcas Cumming (inaugural keynote) lecture at Cold Spring Harbor, the Raymond Adams neurology grand rounds at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard, and the Jonas Salk memorial lecture, Salk Institute.
Ramachandran is a trustee for the San Diego museum of art and has lectured widely on art, visual perception and the brain. Ramachandran has published over 120 papers in scientific journals (including three invited review articles in the Scientific American), is Editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Human Behaviour and author of the critically acclaimed book "Phantoms in the Brain” that has been translated into eight languages and formed the basis for a two part series on Channel Four TV UK and a 1 hr PBS special in USA. His work is featured frequently in the major news media including BBC, and PBS and NEWSWEEK magazine recently named him a member of "The Century Club", one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century."
Recent News
1) Gave the 2003 BBC Reith lectures. (Reviews attached) – These lectures have now been published by BBC/Profile books “The Emerging Mind”
2) Elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (India)3) Awarded the Chancellors award for excellence in research, University of California
4) Invited to give the Rabindranath Tagore lecture (New Delhi, India)
copyright 2002 - all rights reserved

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Paris Hilton??


Histrionic Personality Disorder....People with this disorder have established a pattern of excessive drama, and drawing attention to themselves. The behavior is established in early adulthood. The condition is indicated by a combination of the following behaviors;

Must be the center of attention.
Displays inappropriate sexually provocative behavior.
Expressions of emotions that are shallow and unbelievable.
Come across as fakes and phonies.
Great emphasis on physical appearance to attract attention.
Theatrical, exaggerates, and uses speech that is vague and lacking in detail.
Easily swayed by others.
Considers friendships and relationships to be far more intimate than they are.
People with the condition do not generally appear for treatment unless the "wheels have fallen off", or the behavior is severely limiting their ability to operate in a self supporting way. Because they are so needy, they are reluctant to cut off the therapy since they have a captive audience.
Psychotherapy is the chosen route, generally on a one to one basis, since the group environment may just accentuate the behavior that creates the problem in the first place.
Establishing good rapport and trust is important, but avoiding a dependent situation with a needy patient is also important. Therapy should emphasize that the goal is not to cure, but rather to alleviate the worst elements of the behavior that is causing the problem.
Suicidal behavior is often present with this condition and threats should be taken seriously.
The gross exaggerations should be met with some skepticism, by attempting to take a histrionic presentment to it illogical conclusion, and involving the person in their own unrealistic fears, anxieties, and expectations.
Deep cognitive approaches are not particularly helpful since people with condition have little ability to examine unconscious motives to a extent that is helpful.
Rather, helping a client view interaction objectively with a view to alternative explanations for behavior and events can be effective. Exploring emotions can also be helpful.

Parkinson's Disease

This if for a great friend of mine who is battling from late stage Parkinson's Disease.

What is Parkinson's Disease?
Parkinson's disease (PD) belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders, which are the result of the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. The four primary symptoms of PD are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or impaired balance and coordination. As these symptoms become more pronounced, patients may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks. PD usually affects people over the age of 50. Early symptoms of PD are subtle and occur gradually. In some people the disease progresses more quickly than in others. As the disease progresses, the shaking, or tremor, which affects the majority of PD patients may begin to interfere with daily activities. Other symptoms may include depression and other emotional changes; difficulty in swallowing, chewing, and speaking; urinary problems or constipation; skin problems; and sleep disruptions. There are no blood or laboratory tests available to diagnose PD.
Is there any treatment?

At present, there is no cure for PD, but a variety of medications provide dramatic relief from the symptoms. Usually, patients are given levodopa combined with carbidopa. Carbidopa delays the conversion of levodopa into dopamine until it reaches the brain. Nerve cells can use levodopa to make dopamine and replenish the brain's dwindling supply. Although levodopa helps at least three-quarters of parkinsonian cases, not all symptoms respond equally to the drug. Bradykinesia and rigidity respond best, while tremor may be only marginally reduced. Problems with balance and other symptoms may not be alleviated at all. Anticholinergics may help control tremor and rigidity. Other drugs, such as bromocriptine, pergolide, pramipexole, and ropinirole, mimic the role of dopamine in the brain, causing the neurons to react as they would to dopamine. An antiviral drug, amantadine, also appears to reduce symptoms.
In some cases, surgery may be appropriate if the disease doesn't respond to drugs. A therapy called deep brain stimulation (DBS) has now been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In DBS, electrodes are implanted into the brain and connected to a small electrical device called a pulse generator that can be externally programmed. DBS can reduce the need for levodopa and related drugs, which in turn decreases the involuntary movements called dyskinesias that are a common side effect of levodopa. It also helps to alleviate fluctuations of symptoms and to reduce tremors, slowness of movements, and gait problems. DBS requires careful programming of the stimulator device in order to work correctly.
What is the prognosis?
PD is both chronic, meaning it persists over a long period of time, and progressive, meaning its symptoms grow worse over time. Although some people become severely disabled, others experience only minor motor disruptions. Tremor is the major symptom for some patients, while for others tremor is only a minor complaint and other symptoms are more troublesome. No one can predict which symptoms will affect an individual patient, and the intensity of the symptoms also varies from person to person.
What research is being done?
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) conducts PD research in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and also supports additional research through grants to major medical institutions across the country. Current research programs funded by the NINDS are using animal models to study how the disease progresses and to develop new drug therapies. Scientists looking for the cause of PD continue to search for possible environmental factors, such as toxins, that may trigger the disorder, and study genetic factors to determine how defective genes play a role. Other scientists are working to develop new protective drugs that can delay, prevent, or reverse the disease. More information about Parkinson's Disease research is available at
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/research/parkinsonsweb/index.htm

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Coping with the aftermath: a mental health perspective


The following is from the National Institute of Mental Health for those coping with this national tragedy. Godspeed to all...

Coping with Hurricane Katrina
Update from the DirectorThomas R. Insel, M.D.Director, NIMH
Managing the Aftermath
The initial response to a disaster like Hurricane Katrina rightly focuses on meeting the immediate material needs of survivors. As the nation addresses those needs, it must also prepare to meet the often acute emotional needs of both survivors and responders.
Relief workers can promote mental health by creating and sustaining an environment of safety, calm, connectedness to others, self-empowerment, and hopefulness. Workers should:
Help people meet basic needs for food and shelter, and obtain emergency medical attention
Provide repeated, simple, and accurate information on how to obtain these services
Listen to people who wish to share their stories and emotions and withhold judgment
Be friendly and compassionate even if people are being difficult
Provide accurate information about the disaster and the relief efforts
Help people contact friends or loved-ones
Keep families together; keep children with parents or other close relatives whenever possible
Give practical suggestions that steer people toward helping themselves
If you know that more help and services are on the way, remind people of this when they express fear or worry
We also know there are things to avoid doing, such as:
Forcing people to share their stories with you, especially very personal details (this may decrease calm in people who are not ready to share their experiences)
Telling people what you think they should be feeling, thinking, or doing now or how they should have acted earlier
Making promises that may not be kept (broken promises decrease hope)
Criticizing existing services or relief activities in front of people in need of these services (this may decrease hope or calm)
Looking to Recovery
It's very important to acknowledge that people often experience strong and unpleasant emotional and physical responses to disasters. Reactions may include combinations of hopelessness, helplessness, depression, sleeplessness, anxiousness, physical pain, confusion, fear, anger, grief, shock, guilt, mistrust of others, and loss of confidence in self or others. If these reactions last for more than a month, however, then a person may have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSD is a sometimes debilitating mental health disorder that typically develops in a small percentage of people after exposure to an event in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. People with PTSD may repeatedly re-experience a traumatic event through flashback episodes, nightmares, or frightening and intrusive thoughts, especially when something reminds them of the trauma.
PTSD is not a condition that is merely "in people's heads": we know from research that the biological response to danger or threats — the so-called "fight or flight" response — malfunctions in people with PTSD, leaving them unable to turn off the intense emotional and physical sensations. They feel they are in danger even after it has passed.
The good news is that researchers — supported by NIMH, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other agencies — have developed effective treatments for PTSD. These include medications and cognitive and behavioral psychosocial treatments — talk therapies that teach people to manage upsetting and unwanted thoughts as well as physical symptoms.
NIMH urges its constituents — researchers, mental health providers, advocates, and the general public — to consider how they can aid Hurricane Katrina survivors and responders.

A Moral Dilemna


What would you do?

Scenario...your loved has been dealing with the devastating consequences of Alzheimer's Disease which has almost completely robbed them of their cognitive functions, leaving them totally disabled and has driven you, their caregiver, to the end of your wits. Finally a new medicine is approved by the FDA which may improve the sufferer's cognition significally and even lengthen the life expectancy of your friend/family member. The down side of this is argued somewhat passionately and certainly understandably that this new Rx therapy only postpones the already inevitable.

Who should decide? The caregivers? The patient? The healthcare professionals? Should Advance Directives be used? Send me a comment with your perspectives.

In the meantime, I've got two exams today.

Continue to support the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. HELPNOW

Tuesday, September 13, 2005


News for the caregivers/patients of Alzheimer's Disease

Namenda (Memantine) is was approved in October 2003 by the FDA. It is the first Alzheimer drug of this type approved in the United States. Memantine is classified as a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. It is called a glutaminergic agent.
Uses for Namenda
*Namenda is a drug treatment approved for moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease.
*In those who respond to the drug, improvement is seen in cognitive and behavioral functions and in day to day living skills.
*Improvement, if it does occur, may be very small indeed
*The drug does not cure Alzheimer's disease
*It does not protect brain cells from further damage.
*There is no evidence that Namenda works long term.
*Improvements, if any, should be seen within a few weeks
How Namenda Works
Put in simple terms this drug seems to acts on another neurotransmitter (a transmitter of nerve messages) called glutamate. The drug shields the brain from overexposure to glutamate. Glutamate contributes to the death of brain cells in people with Alzheimer’s and Namenda has been shown to protect the neurons from its toxic effects.
What is Glutamate?
When researchers look at the brains of people with Alzheimer's they find that there is extensive loss of the NMDA receptor sites. Glutamate is a messenger chemical (a neurotransmitter) that is involved in storage, retrieval and processing of information. Glutamate triggers NMDA receptors that control the amount of calcium that passes into a nerve cell. It is this that allows information to be stored. When there is too much glutamate, too much calcium moves into the cell and memory functions are adversly affected.
Dosage
Namenda is produced by Merz and co., Germany. The recommended dosage starts at 5mg once a day. The dose is gradually increased to 10mgs twice a day. (Total dose 20mgs)
Side Effects
Most common side effects of this drug are dizziness, confusion, constipation, headaches and skin rash.
Less common side effects are fatigue, back pain, high blood pressure, insomnia, hallucinations, vomiting and shortness of breath.
There are no serious reported side effects.
Drug Interactions Interaction with amantadine, dextromethorphan and ketamine. May interfere with drug levels of diaretics, ulcer drugs and quinidine.
Medical Supervision
It is important that drugs to treat Alzheimer's are prescribed by specialists in dementia. The effectiveness needs to be regularly assessed, it is suggested, every 3 months. The drug can be used long term. It can be discontinued if there is no response
Cost Costs vary depending on the source of the drug.
The maker of this drug provides further information at www.namenda.com or by calling 1.877.2-NAMENDA (1.877.262.6363).

For more information on Alzheimer's click here

What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Worries, doubts, superstitious beliefs all are common in everyday life. However, when they become so excessive such as hours of hand washing or make no sense at all such as driving around and around the block to check that an accident didn't occur then a diagnosis of OCD is made. In OCD, it is as though the brain gets stuck on a particular thought or urge and just can't let go. People with OCD often say the symptoms feel like a case of mental hiccups that won't go away. OCD is a medical brain disorder that causes problems in information processing. It is not your fault or the result of a "weak" or unstable personality.

Before the arrival of modern medications and cognitive behavior therapy, OCD was generally thought to be untreatable. Most people with OCD continued to suffer, despite years of ineffective psychotherapy. Today, luckily, treatment can help most people with OCD. Although OCD is usually completely curable only in some individuals, most people achieve meaningful and long-term symptom relief with comprehensive treatment.

For more info click here

Monday, September 12, 2005

What do Psychologists say to each other when they meet?" "You're fine, how am I? "

How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, but the bulb will have to be ready to change.

When I first started college, the Dean came in and said "Good Morning" to all of us. When we echoed back to him, he responded "Ah, you're Freshmen."
He explained. "When you walk in and say good morning, and they say good morning back, it's Freshmen. When they put their newspapers down and open their books, it's Sophomores. When they look up so they can see the instructor over the tops of the newspapers, it's juniors. When they put their feet up on the desks and keep reading, it's seniors."
"When you walk in and say good morning, and they write it down, it's graduate students."

Roses are red/Violets are blue/I have MPD- And so do I

* Say the word "20" (Twenty), twenty times.... (twenty,twenty,twenty...so on)
20
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20.... are you done?
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-QUICK!!! NAME A VEGETABLE! don't think too hard. what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
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-Was it CARROTS? (freaky isn't it?)
* Adapted from a psychology course @ Columbia University...
DID IT WORK FOR YOU? if it didn't, you are one WEIRD guy...


Good Monday morning, though I haven't decided what's so good about it, yet. After racking my brain until about 2 am prepping for my exams, I found that no matter what I did, I just couldn't get to sleep. So, here I am posting this blog from my Work/Study job on campus and wishing to God Almighty that I didn't have a Chem class in 20 minutes...wait 18 minutes. Any wise words this morning???

You can check out my RSS feed for the latest from My Freudian Slip. Stay tuned, coming up in a few weeks I will begin airing a LIVE PODCAST at 8 pm Mon-Fri. My launch date is (hopefully!!) October 3rd, 2005.

In the meantime, you'll just have to hang out and read me here.

Have a wonderful Monday fellow bloggers-in-kind!

13 minutes to Chemistry!!!

Bye

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Schizophrenia...

According the US Surgeon's General Office, here are some of the causes of schizophrenia.
The onset and course of schizophrenia are most likely the result of an interaction between genetic and environmental influences.
Family, twin, and adoption studies support the role of genetic influences in schizophrenia. Immediate biological relatives of people with schizophrenia have about 10 times greater risk than that of the general population. Given prevalence estimates, this translates into a 5 to 10 percent lifetime risk for first-degree relatives (including children and siblings) and suggests a substantial genetic component to schizophrenia. What also bolsters a genetic role are findings that the identical twin of a person with schizophrenia is at greater risk than a sibling or fraternal twin, and that adoptive relatives do not share the increased risk of biological relatives (see Figure 4-3). However, in about 40 percent of identical twins in which one is diagnosed with schizophrenia, the other never meets the diagnostic criteria. The discordance among identical twins clearly indicates that environmental factors likely also play a role (DSM-IV).

For more
click here


Japan's new bone phone !!! Japanese telecom carriers, pioneers of internet-capable and picture-snapping handsets, have now come up with the world's first mobile phone that enables users to listen to calls inside their heads - by conducting sound through bone.

NEWS!!! From Medical News Today Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a discrete region of the monkey brain that processes pitch, the relative high and low points of sound, by recognizing a single musical note played by different instruments... click link for more info.


Just a quick update...for those of you not lucky enough to live in San Diego County, the weather is wonderful today. Not a cloud in the sky and a great chance to spend a Sunday afternoon with that special someone. As for me...a Sunday afternoon sweating over Chemistry, Algebra, and Abnormal Psychology textbooks, online studyguides, etc. Yes, it's coming up on the 4th week of classes which means TESTTIME!!! I'll be back later and let you know the results. Have a great Sunday and Godspeed to those in Houston's Astrodome. My thoughts are with you!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Sigmund Freud's Oedipus Complex

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)
Freud took up the study of medicine at Vienna; he eventually choose a specialty, neurology. While no evolutionist would argue with Freud's theory of the Universe
1 Freud's extended views have gotten us into some serious difficulty. He advanced the theory "that hysteria can be cured by making a patient recall painful memories under hypnosis." His colleagues frowned, and Freud changed over from neurology to psychopathology.
Freud was big on hypnosis, but it eventually took a second seat to another of his ideas, that of "free association." Freud placed much emphasis on infantile sexuality and emphasized that many of our problems in later life come from our relationships with our parents, the so-called Oedipus complex.2 The symptoms of neurosis, according to Freud, "are essentially substitute gratifications for unfulfilled sexual wishes." From Freud's teachings sprang a whole industry; which has milked, and continues to milk, most all of western society; as a sizable portion of the population goes about psychoanalyzing their fellows. This intrusive Freudian exercise, I might add, is carried out, mainly, at the expense of the hard working portion of the population who would hardly think they have any need for psychoanalysis themselves; nor, if they knew something of the subject, would they consider that anyone else needs it either, and certainly not at their expense.3 Some4 disagreed with Freud and his central emphasis on sexuality, but basically most practitioners of psychiatry today would agree with fundamental Freudian principles. Freud's work effected a profound revolution in man's attitude towards, and comprehension of, his mental processes, constituting after Copernicus and Darwin, a third blow to man's self-esteem.5
Now, from my opening volley, you may well get the impression that I am not a supporter of Freudian theory: and you would be mostly right. However, not everything that Freud did was wrong. As I have already stated Freud's Theory of the Universe seems to be right. He believed, -- unlike Plato, the dualist -- that there was just the one universe, that we have only the one existence; and not a duel one. On a more mundane level, certain of his other theories seem to have proven out right, for example, his theory of the stages of infantile sexual development. Likely, too, he was right in his proposition that a substantial part of man, his mind, exists in a state of unconsciousness.

"To use a familiar but helpful analogy, the mind is like an iceberg, with only a small proportion of it visible above the surface, but a vast hidden bulk exerting its influence on the rest. For the unconscious is dynamic in nature, that is, it actively exerts pressures and influences on what a person is and does. For instance, there are unconscious desires, which can cause someone to do things that he cannot explain rationally, to others or even to himself." (Leslie Stevenson.
6) Personality is a result of both the individual's heredity; and, in addition, his experience. Most, I imagine, would agree with this proposition, but I suppose there might to a number of persons prepared to debate as to what extent personality is governed by experience; personally, I do not think by much. Experience, undoubtedly, governs our actions; but personality changes, -- I believe they come about as a result of physical changes to the brain. Freud's theory of individual human character, his theory of psychoanalysis (the "talking cure," is, to my mind, akin to modern day witchcraft), starts from Josef Breuer's discovery7 that "traumatic" experiences could, although the events of the trauma may well be forgotten, exercise a baneful influence on a person's mental health.
Neurosis, according to Freud, comes about from the frustration of basic instincts, either because of external obstacles or because of internal mental imbalance. Another mental misadaption which Freud describes is repression with the most decisive repressions occurring in earlier childhood, usually of a sexual nature:
"In a situation of extreme mental conflict, where a person experiences an instinctual impulse which is sharply incompatible with the standards he feels he must adhere to, it is possible for him to put it out of consciousness, to flee from it, to pretend that it does not exist. So repression is one of the so-called "defence mechanisms," by which a person attempts to avoid inner conflicts. But it is essentially an escape, a pretence, a withdrawal from reality, and as such is doomed to failure. For what is repressed does not really disappear, but continues to exist in the unconscious portion of the mind. It retains all its instinctual energy, and exerts its influence by sending into consciousness a disguised substitute for itself - a neurotic symptom. Thus the person can find himself behaving in ways which he will admit are irrational, yet which he feels compelled to continue without knowing why. For by repressing something out of his consciousness he has given up effective control over it; he can neither get rid of the symptoms it is causing, nor voluntarily lift the repression and recall it to consciousness." (Leslie Stevenson.) Freud classified mental activity to exist at three levels: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is the centre of our primitive instincts; it is blind and ruthless and caters to the business of gratifying our desires and pleasures; the new born infant is the personification of the Id. The Ego develops out of the Id as the child grows. The Ego is not so inward seeking and recognizes that there does exist a world beyond; the Ego acts as censor to the Id, checking the primitive desires for immediate gratification, recognizing the larger picture, so to speak. Conflict between the Id and the Ego can result in a person having neuroses. The third state is the Superego. The Superego is the highest state at which we have arrived in our evolutionary "progress." The Superego is an overseer, our conscience; and, like the Id, is something of which we are not conscious. Though we are not aware of the struggle, according to Freudian theory, there exists a continuing battle between the Id and the Superego with the Ego in the center trying to keep them apart.
Freud came out with his first influential work, in 1900, The Interpretation of Dreams. In this work there is contained nearly all his fundamental observations and ideas. "Dreams," Freud said, "are invariably the product of a conflict ... [they help sleep] releasing tensions that come from unattainable wishes." It is, according to Freud, the Id which unleash our dreams; and their meanings are expressed in symbols that require "expert" interpretation. But it is not just from dreams that a trained psychoanalyst might take his or her clue: just everyday behaviour of the subject will be telling (to those in the know). For instance: to forget a name means that you unconsciously dislike the person; if a man misses his ride to work or school, its because he or she unconsciously dislikes going to school or work; or if a man forgets his house keys it is because he has an unhappy marriage (whether he thinks it or not). Such is the psycho-babble which has invaded our ranks.8
As far as I am concerned, Freudian theories are ready made excuses for every bad actor that comes along; his theories have created great problems for the social fabric. Now, my view of it might well be different if Freudian theory could some how be demonstrated: but it cannot be demonstrated. Scientific theory as may be found in the area of, say chemistry or physics, can be demonstrated; but not so when it comes to psychological theory. As one facetious critic has said (and I forget who): "For the layman, as Freud's theories spread, he emerged as the greatest killjoy in the history of human thought, transforming man's jokes and gentle pleasures into dreary and mysterious repressions, discovering hatreds at the root of love, malice at the heart of tenderness, incest in filial affections, guilt in generosity, and the repressed hatred of one's father as a normal human inheritance."


NOTES:
1 All phenomena are determined by the laws of physics and chemistry and that man is one of these phenomena, a product of evolution, subject to the same laws which apply to all matter of the universe.
2 Oedipus was a Greek mythological figure who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother.
3 Psychoanalysis being any and all therapy that "seeks to uncover ... repressions for what they are and replace them by acts of judgment."
4 Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was one.
5 See Stephen Jay Gould's An Urchin in the Storm, p. 214, for a development of Freud's "three great discontinuities."
6 Leslie Stevenson is, or was, a reader in logic and Metaphysics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland; and, I must say, that I found his little book, Seven Theories of Human Nature (1974) (Oxford University Press, 1987) a most useful work in the earlier stages of my study.
7 Breuer was a friend of Freud's in earlier times.
8 Another of Freud's works is Civilization and Its Discontents. This work, published in 1930, was a discussion about the conflicts between the demands of civilized society and the instincts implanted in every person.
December, 1997;Brushed Up: May, 2003.

Lucid Dreams Q & A

Q. What is lucid dreaming?
A. The term "lucid dreaming" refers to dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. The "lucid" part refers to the clarity of consciousness rather than the vividness of the dream. It generally happens when you realize during the course of a dream that you are dreaming, perhaps because something weird occurs. Most people who remember their dreams have experienced this at some time, often waking up immediately after the realization. However, it is possible to continue in the dream while remaining fully aware that you are dreaming.
Q. If you are lucid, can you control the dream?
A. Usually lucidity brings with it some degree of control over the course of the dream. How much control is possible varies from dream to dream and from dreamer to dreamer. Practice can apparently contribute to the ability to exert control over dream events. At the least, lucid dreamers can choose how they wish to respond to the events of the dream. For example, you can decide to face up to a frightening dream figure, knowing it cannot harm you, rather than to try to avoid the danger as you naturally would if you did not know it was a dream. Even this amount of control can transform the dream experience from one in which you are the helpless victim of frequently terrifying, frustrating, or maddening experiences to one in which you can dismiss for a while the cares and concerns of waking life. On the other hand, some people are able to achieve a level of mastery in their lucid dreaming where they can create any world, live any fantasy, and experience anything they can imagine!
Q. Does lucid dreaming interfere with the function of "normal" dreaming?
A. According to one way of thinking, lucid dreaming is normal dreaming. The brain and body are in the same physiological state during lucid dreaming as they are in during most ordinary non- lucid dreaming, that is, REM sleep. Dreaming is a result of the brain being active, at the same time as the sense organs of the body are turned off to the outside world. In this condition, typically during REM sleep, the mind creates experiences out of currently active thoughts, concerns, memories and fantasies. Knowing you are dreaming simply allows you to direct the dream along constructive or positive lines, like you direct your thoughts when you are awake. Furthermore, lucid dreams can be even more informative about yourself than non-lucid dreams, because you can observe the development of the dream out of your feelings and tendencies, while being aware that you are dreaming and that the dream is coming from you. The notion that dreams are unconscious processes that should remain so is false. Your waking consciousness is always present in your dreams. If it were not, you would not be able to remember dreams, because you can only remember an event you have consciously experienced. The added "consciousness" of lucid dreaming is nothing more than the awareness of being in the dream state.
Q. Does everybody dream?
A. Everybody dreams. All humans (indeed, all mammals) have REM sleep. Most dreams occur in REM sleep. This has been demonstrated by awakening people from different stages of sleep and asking if they were dreaming. In 85 percent of awakenings from REM sleep, people report having been dreaming. Dreams are rarely reported following awakening from other types of sleep (collectively called non-REM sleep). REM sleep alternates with non-REM sleep in 90 minute cycles throughout the night. In a typical 8 hour night, you will spend about an hour and a half total time in REM sleep, broken up into four or five "REM periods" ranging in length from 5 to 45 minutes. Most dreams are forgotten. Some people never recall dreams while others recall five or more each night. You can improve your ability to recall dreams. Good dream recall is necessary for learning lucid dreaming. There are two basic things to do to get started with developing dream recall. Begin a dream journal, in which you write everything you remember of your dreams, even the slightest fragments. You will remember the most if you record dreams right after you awaken from them. Before falling asleep each night, remind yourself that you want to awaken from, remember and record your dreams.
Q. Why would you want to have lucid dreams?
A. The laws of physics and society are repealed in dreams. The only limits are the reaches of your imagination. Much of the potential of dreams is wasted because people do not recognize that they are dreaming. When we are not lucid in a dream, we think and behave as if we are in waking reality. This can lead to pointless frustration, confusion and wasted energy, and in the worst case, terrifying nightmares. It is useless to try as we do to accomplish the tasks of waking life in dreams. Our misguided efforts to do so result in anxiety dreams of malfunctioning machinery, missed deadlines, forgotten exams, losing the way, and so on. Anxiety dreams and nightmares can be overcome through lucid dreaming, because if you know you are dreaming you have nothing to fear. Dream images cannot hurt you. Lucid dreams, in addition to helping you lead your dreams in satisfying directions, enjoy fantastic adventures, and overcome nightmares, can be valuable tools for success in your waking life. Lucid dreamers can deliberately employ the natural creative potential of dreams for problem solving and artistic inspiration. Athletes, performers, or anyone who gives presentations can prepare, practice and polish their performances while they sleep. This is only a taste of the variety of ways people have used lucid dreaming to expand their lives.
Q. How do you have lucid dreams?
A. There are several methods of inducing lucid dreams. The first step, regardless of method, is to develop your dream recall until you can remember at least one dream per night. Then, if you have a lucid dream you will remember it. You will also become very familiar with your dreams, making it easier learn to recognize them while they are happening. If you recall your dreams you can begin immediately with two simple techniques for stimulating lucid dreams. Lucid dreamers make a habit of "reality testing." This means investigating the environment to decide whether you are dreaming or awake. Ask yourself many times a day, "Could I be dreaming?" Then, test the stability of your current reality by reading some words, looking away and looking back while trying to will them to change. The instability of dreams is the easiest clue to use for distinguishing waking from dreaming. If the words change, you are dreaming. Taking naps is a way to greatly increase your chances of having lucid dreams. You have to sleep long enough in the nap to enter REM sleep. If you take the nap in the morning (after getting up earlier than usual), you are likely to enter REM sleep within a half-hour to an hour after you fall asleep. If you nap for 90 minutes to 2 hours you will have plenty of dreams and a higher probability of becoming lucid than in dreams you have during a normal night's sleep. Focus on your intention to recognize that you are dreaming as you fall asleep within the nap.
External cues to help people attain lucidity in dreams have been the focus of Dr. Stephen LaBerge's research and the Lucidity Institute's development efforts for several years. Using the results of laboratory studies, they have designed a portable device, called the DreamLight, for this purpose. It monitors sleep and when it detects REM sleep gives a cue -- a flashing light -- that enters the dream to remind the dreamer to become lucid. The light comes from a soft mask worn during sleep that also contains the sensing apparatus for determining when the sleeper is in REM sleep. A small custom computer connected to the mask by a cord decides when the wearer is in REM and when to flash the lights.
Q. Is there a way to prevent yourself from awakening right after becoming lucid?
A. At first, beginners may have difficulty remaining in the dream after they attain lucidity. This obstacle may prevent many people from realizing the value of lucid dreaming, because they have not experienced more than the flash of knowing they are dreaming, followed by immediate awakening. Two simple techniques can help you overcome this problem. The first is to remain calm in the dream. Becoming lucid is exciting, but expressing the excitement can awaken you. Suppress your feeling somewhat and turn your attention to the dream. If the dream shows signs of ending, such as the disappearance, loss of clarity or depth of the imagery, "spinning" can help bring the dream back. As soon as the dream starts to "fade," before you feel your real body in bed, spin your dream body like a top. That is, twirl around like a child trying to get dizzy (you probably will not get dizzy during dream spinning because your physical body is not spinning around). Remind yourself, "The next scene will be a dream." When you stop spinning, if it is not obvious that you are dreaming, do a reality test. Even if you think you are awake, you may be surprised to find that you are still dreaming!
Q. How can I find out more about lucid dreaming, or get involved in lucid dreaming research?
A. Contact the Lucidity Institute, an organization founded by lucid dreaming researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge to support research on lucid dreams and to help people learn to use them to enhance their lives. The Lucidity Institute's mission is to advance research on the nature and potentials of consciousness and to apply the results of this research to the enhancement of human health and well-being. The Lucidity Institute offers a membership society, whose quarterly newsletter, NightLight, discusses research and development in the field of lucid dreaming, and invites the participation of members in at-home experiments. Workshops and training programs are available periodically. The Institute sells books, tapes, scientific publications and the DreamLight.
Write or call:
The Lucidity InstituteP.O. Box 2364Stanford, CA 94309(415) 321-9969

DSM-IV TR

I'm looking for an affordable copy of the DSM-IV TR(new or used).

Friday, September 09, 2005

Refugees...

If there is one thing that has really angered me at the media outlets in this country is the repeated use of the term "refugee" to refer to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. These citizens are not refugees, but our brothers and sisters. They are Americans and their lives were completely uprooted by an "act of God". They need our help. www.redcross.org HELP NOW. My email is ddavisjr9710@student.palomar.edu I am here.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Freud

My Freudian SlipSigmund Freud, physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist and father of psychoanalysis, is generally recognised as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century. Working initially in close collaboration with Joseph Breuer, Freud elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system, the structural investigation of which is proper province of psychology. He articulated and refined the concepts of the unconscious, of infantile sexuality, of repression, and proposed a tri-partite account of the mind's structure, all as part of a radically new conceptual and therapeutic frame of reference for the understanding of human psychological development and the treatment of abnormal mental conditions. Notwithstanding the multiple manifestations of psychoanalysis as it exists today, it can in almost all fundamental respects be traced directly back to Freud's original work. Further, Freud's innovative treatment of human actions, dreams, and indeed of cultural artefacts as invariably possessing implicit symbolic significance has proven to be extraordinarily fecund, and has had massive implications for a wide variety of fields, including anthropology, semiotics, and artistic creativity and appreciation in addition to psychology. However, Freud's most important and frequently re-iterated claim, that with psychoanalysis he had invented a new science of the mind, remains the subject of much critical debate and controversy.


Positive Psych

Here's a conference about something positive, but not in a superficial 'positive psychology' way: The 1st Global Conference on Hope is an inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference which "aims to explore contemporary definitions, meanings and expressions of hope. In particular, it will seek to examine the individual, social, national and international contexts within which hope emerges as well as its counterpart, hopelessness."

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

pavlov's dog

My Freudian SlipPavlov’s Dogs

During the 1890s, Ivan Pavlov, A Russian psychologist, studied the secretory activity of digestion.

In a now classic experiment, Pavlov first performed a minor operation on a dog to relocate its salivary duct to the outside of its cheek, so that drops of saliva could be more easily measured. The dog, which was food deprived, was then harnessed in an apparatus to keep it steady in order to collect saliva.

Periodically, a bell was rang, followed shortly thereafter by meat being placed in the hungry dog's mouth. Meat causes a hungry dog to salivate, whereas rings have little effect. The dog's salivation to meat is an unconditioned reflex - it is in-born, in that dogs do not have to learn to salivate when food is placed in their mouths. Initially, the dog shows little responsiveness to the bell rings. Over time, however, the dog comes to salivate at the sounding of the bell rings alone. When this occurs, Pavlovian conditioning or classical conditioning has occurred, in that a new, or conditioned, reflex has developed. This confirmed Pavlov theory that the dog had associated the bell ringing with the food.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Schizophrenia

Any ideas on the etiology of Schizophrenia??

My Freudian Slip

My Freudian SlipJust an update...keep posting.

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