Last week

The last week of classes... not much cause for celebration, considering I'm spending the duration of the summer taking more classes.

In Abnormal Psych this week, we were doing presentations. Public speaking is certainly not my forte, although I've gotten quite a bit of practice with it so far in college. My anxiety certainly doesn't help my feelings about public speaking, but I've coped well thus far. So I figured a quick 5 min talk about a topic in class would be no big deal, especially since I did a 45-min presentation by myself last semester. Well... I don't know WHAT the deal was, whether I was nervous for my job interview that I had after class, or what...but it was the most visibly/audibly nervous I have ever been. I think it's partly due to the fact that I don't feel comfortable in that class, but probably also because I had no visual - usually I have a Powerpoint to direct the audience's attention, but I didn't... and I could feel all eyes on me. Just when I thought I was perfecting my skills in this area... I realize I still have a lot more work to do to become comfortable with it.

Hygiene 101

Yesterday in class, someone did a presentation about OCD which led to a question about washing hands. Larry was wondering what percentage of people actually wash their hands after using the bathroom, and said it would be something to blog about. So I looked at some websites online and I'm having a hard time believing them. An article in the New York Times said a study was done where they surveyed people about this, and then had an observer track it as well. 91% of adults surveyed said they wash their hands after using the bathroom, but when the observer went into the bathroom, only 82% of the people actually washed their hands.

But really, if they SEE someone observing them to see if they're washing their hands, aren't they going to wash their hands? And were they even using soap? Almost every time I use a public restroom, I see women run their hands under the water then leave. GREAT IDEA, GENIUS - now your STILL DIRTY hands are dripping with water, and the water is now going to SPREAD those germs! Last I knew, water is not an antiseptic.
And come on, 91% of you do NOT wash your hands afterward, so don't even write that on a survey. I would say just in a public women's restroom alone, about 80% of women wash their hands, and maybe half of those actually use soap. Really. And I don't even want to think about the percentage of men, because that's even more disturbing than women not washing their hands (you do the math).

Even more gross - only 64% of men and 82% of women washed their hands after changing a baby's diaper. ...I don't even know how to respond to that.

Now to this I say... no wonder these people with OCD wash their hands so frequently. People are disgusting.

Week 7

In class on Tuesday we dissected the panic attack that I had last year. I happened to have it in the middle of class one day, so I was afraid to go to class for weeks afterward, fearing that it would happen again. Being one of the worst experiences I can remember having, I know now that it was a panic attack (at the time I thought it was something much, much worse), and having the class dissect it was actually really helpful. Larry talked about how to talk yourself through a situation like that, with questions like "What is the worst that can REALLY happen?" and "Oh, I'm just breathing too much per minute, I will slow down my breaths." Though that sort of thinking seems quite rational now, when I was actually in the situation, it seems much more irrational to think that way, because all you can think about is the pressure on your chest and the dizziness you feel, etc. One thing I know I need to work on in all aspects is the whole mind over matter concept. I sometimes let things turn into a huge production when they really don't need to be. I know that talking myself through those situations will be beneficial to my anxiety in general, and hope to start practicing this technique.

Week 5

I don't have much to say in my blog this week, as Tuesday I was sick and Thursday we had a test. I'm apprehensive as to what goes in my blog now, since it has apparently reached the hands of who knows how many people at this point. It's a little weird to think about it, but I know that's the point of Larry having us do these blogs in the first place. My roommate was mortified that she "let the secret out" about my blog because she thought I'd be upset, but really I don't care, it's just weird. The internet is just...weird.

Right before the test Larry briefly started to talk about somatoform disorders, which has always been an interesting topic to me, so I'm looking forward to the topics in our next several classes.

Week 3

This week in psych we've been concentrating on childhood disorders. Quite a bit of it has been review from other psychology and education classes, though it's still good information. I'm an elementary education major, so anything I can soak up about children is pertinent information that I will be able to use someday. I guess the main thing I've taken away from this week is that disorders do NOT manifest themselves in children the same way that they do in adults. There are different signs, symptoms, and even treatments. Learning the signs and symptoms has been valuable and I'm sure I will use this knowledge when I enter the classroom.

Look Me in the Eye Synopsis

John Elder Robison seems to have led a pretty interesting life thus far. He grew up mostly alone and pretty independent, lacking interaction with kids his age, while his family life was far from perfect. He pulled a lot of pranks that seemed to amuse no one but himself (for example, the “religious ritual” burning of the dummy in the woods). John Elder had savant-like abilities in electronics and other machine work, which set him even further apart when he was young but eventually brought him into a whole new world were he felt welcomed and accepted.

When John Elder finally finds out that Asperger’s is an actual condition, he asks if there’s a cure and his friend tells him it’s not a disease, it’s just the way he is. I don’t think John Elder actually think of himself as having a disease that needs a cure – he didn’t even know anything was specifically “wrong” with him until he was an adult. He actually seems to just accept himself as he is and knows he has to overcome a lot of adversity. He works harder than most people to function in social situations and daily interactions, but his work pays off and lets him live a mostly normal life. Rather, John Elder believes that society and the people around him just need to be a bit more accommodating and sympathetic to his differences.

One of the main difficulties John Elder has from the very beginning is how he comes across in social situations. He often just blurts out exactly what he’s thinking when it pertains to nothing the other person has said. This can be annoying and frustrating, especially to a child trying to carry on a conversation with him, which contributed to a lonely childhood for John Elder. He also doesn’t have much control over his facial expressions – there were two conversations in the book where he was told that someone had died, and he actually smiled. This comes across incredibly disturbing to someone who doesn’t understand John Elder. He isn’t happy that someone has died, he’s happy that he’s ok and the people that are close to him are ok.

Nicknames are a big part of John Elder’s interactions with others. I’m still beside myself that he called his mother “Slave” and his father “Stupid” and they actually put up with it. Some nicknames were awful, some weren’t so bad, and others made no sense at all. This is common for those with Asperger’s, and luckily it’s a trick that helps John Elder and (generally) doesn’t offend other people.

John Elder’s time in the school system seemed to be time wasted. The teachers didn’t know anything about Asperger’s and they labeled him as lazy and stupid, resulting in him receiving poor grades and lacking motivation and effort. He played pranks in the school, skipped school to spend time in the “music scene” where he felt more comfortable, and didn’t accomplish a whole lot. Eventually he was told to get his GED instead and ended up scoring very well. Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge that the faculty had did a disservice to John Elder, mostly in a social sense. School is a socialization institution, and socialization was one area where John Elder was struggling, because he could put together radios and TVs on his own with no trouble and had a pretty sharp mind.

I think the important thing with John Elder is that while he certainly faced a strong amount of adversity, he worked really hard to overcome it and now leads a successful life. He is happy, healthy, and right where he wants to be. It was a long road getting there, but he figured out a way to make everything work. He’s proud of the fact that he accomplished everything on his own – without medication, drugs, alcohol, or any other assistance – as well he should be. John Elder shows us that even diagnoses such as an autism spectrum disorder aren’t the “be all, end all” – a person can still have a happy and accomplished life, regardless of their struggles and circumstances.

Week 2

Today's discussion about ADHD was very familiar to me.

One of my best friends I've had since junior high, TJ, has struggled with ADHD his whole life. He was diagnosed with it at a young age and took the drug Concerta all through elementary school. He never told me why he stopped taking it, but instead he devised a plan in 7th grade with the school to actually have Mountain Dew throughout the day (one of the administrators kept it in her office for him) because the caffeine helped his attention but didn't have the side effects of a drug.

Through most of high school, he didn't do much to help his ADHD and this was a great disservice to his learning. He was in two of my classes senior year, and it sort of became my job to "monitor" him. The teachers in the school were so tired of telling him to be quiet and do his work for four years that they just stopped saying it and let him do what he wanted. He would interrupt me and everyone around him, he would not sit still in his seat, he would watch movies on his iPod "hidden" behind a reading book. I don't even know how we became such good friends, because every time I tried to have a conversation with him he would start shaking his leg or tapping the table or interrupt me to tell me about something I really didn't care about, or I could just tell that his mind was out in space going 90 miles an hour. I don't know how people could ignore this, but I took it upon myself to help him (or maybe boss him around a bit...). He began calling me Mom, and that became the running joke in our classes. I had to help him outside of class to supplement what he couldn't handle in the classroom.

TJ is such a smart kid and he just wasted years of school, fooling around and lacking patience and attention. He's at Castleton right now and recently said to me that he's doing really well in school this year because he's "finally applying himself". Well he is back using meds again, but only when he needs them (finals week, before an exam or paper, etc). I worry about him out on his own with no one helping him, but I guess that's just the Mom in me - he seems to be doing well now. I think it can be just as difficult to be close to someone with ADHD as it is to be the one with ADHD.

Week 1

Abnormal psych hits on a lot of subjects that I'm interested in, and so far seems like it'll be a pretty engaging class. Of all the topics in psychology, abnormal psych and mental disorders are things I have had the most experience with and enjoy seeking more information about.

Today in class we wrote down whether we thought disorders like ADD were over or under diagnosed. I have mixed feelings about this because I don't exactly know how many disorders actually go undetected, untreated, etc. But I do feel a lot of the times that they are over"diagnosed" on a daily basis, like when your roommate declares that he/she has ADD and can't do their homework, when really they just don't want to stop IMing or watching TV. Or when a girl verifies that a boy is bipolar because he isn't cooperating. I know I should be pleased that mental health issues are no longer taboo and unspoken as they once were, but I feel that we're going in the opposite extreme, treating them almost nonchalantly.