Justine's Blog

In class, we have  been discussing the different types of schizophrenia. Before hitting this topic, I had always found the movie “A Beautiful Mind” to be fascinating. John Nash was a true paranoid schizophrenic who was a complete genius. Its so sad the struggles he had to go through during his claim to fame. I couldn’t imagine being told that your best friend doesn’t exist. Its like taking a childs blanquet from them and never letting them seeing it again. It really does torment the individual because they don’t know what is real and what is not. Medicines today have really helped with schizophrenia, but people still go through hallucinations and delusions. Hopefully one day it can be completely cured!

This woman before paranoid schizophrenia had a normal life. She was able to study in college with out any issues. When she turned 28, she began showing signs of the illness. For instance, she thought their were people who were going to attack the church she went to. When she told her husband, he sent her to a psych ward were she was put on many different types of medication. She said she wasn’t able to work for over ten years because of all the different drugs the doctors were putting her on. You can tell she is very upset over the change in her life which occured so abruptly. Her husband didn’t help her any at all because he stopped caring about her. She does admit that she felt she was a bit crazy, but she wasn’t completely sure at first that she was mentally ill. She never understood why the doctors never let her do anything like go to the bathroom or wear glasses. There were voices that occured in her head which is a symptom of this disorder. In the end, this woman had help with medication and treatment.

In class, we discussed different anxiety disorders that people can have in society. One disorder in particular that I found quite interesting was panic disorder. It is associated with long intense fear that something will occur. On Friday, I am really glad that no one had the fear that bombs would explode because it seemed like a bomb exploded in the school van. When i set off the fire extinguisher, it was like a big cloud of white dust went everywhere. If someone possessed a panic disorder, they might have had a heart attack from the sudden explosion. They most likely would have not been able to breath. Mr. Myers out of anyone probably had the closest experience to pure panic.

Picture One- The first picture shows a man dressed up in the right hand side of the painting. The background is just a little gray color. She calls herself Abi and the man shows that he is along.

Picture Two- This painting depicts a fairytale scene with white acrylic paint. It represents the mysterious part of Noble’s life.

Picture Three- The third picture represents a pudding filled soccer game which many colors and details which is much different then the other paintings. Bonny is supposedly the identity that painted this which is the caretaker of Kim’s daughter.

Picture Four-The fourth painting is of a young woman who has phrases painted in different spots. Dawn is the identity that represents this painting and she doesn’t completely understand DID.

Picture Five- In the fifth picture, Kim is a young teenage girl by the name of Judy. Her paintings normally are very sad and show loss. It shows that in this perspective the girl is very lonely.

Picture Six-Karen draws a picture of a black background with a gold streak in the middle. Karen was the first personality to explain DID to Kim’s younger daughter. She is a very smart person who understands the idea of multiple identities.

Picture Seven- This personality is one of the strange ones because Kim takes on a male persona. His name is Ken whose paintings are very distinct and different than the others.

Picture Eight- This painting has very specific details and is painted in black and gold. Key tells us that this personality knows Kabbalah symbols and who knows what other foreign languages.

Picture Nine- This personality is one of a child by the name of Mimi. All the paintings that are made are in a child perspective.

Picture Ten- Missy is a woman who does not like to communicate with others. In her painting, she has depicted a person hanging. This is a very morbid scene with colors used like red and black.

Picture Eleven- Patricia is Kim’s most dominant personality which is the identity that takes care of her daughter. Her paintings are normally of a very calm scene and landscape.

Picture Twelve- Ria’s paintings are very disturbing. She is a very graphic painter which should not be shown to younger people.

Picture Thirteen- Suzy uses acrylic paint to portray a mother with her child. The painting is very forceful and shows that she wants people to notice the painting.

Picture Fourteen- Unknown is an alter that has not been giving a name. She too paints pictures that are very disturbing with acrylic paint.

All these paintings show the different sides of Kim when she takes on the different states. It is sad when she paints disturbing or sad paintings because I’m sure her life is just like those people. The one that bothered me that most was when she took on a male personality. I really don’t know how this would effect her, but I’m sure it is a drastic change.

In class, we have been really getting deep into the emotions and how they effect us. I really found interesting just the simple idea of how a person’s emotions can completely change how you think of them. For example, if i was a boss in a job interview and a person walked in all melancholy I might be a little hesitant on think of asking them back to have a job. On the other hand, if a person came all eager and happy to be there they will definately leave an impression on me. I feel like I remember happier people more then I do sad people. The funny thing though is that we as people like to see people suffer rather then excel. I feel its to different ideas with the idea of wanting someone to happy compared to your own success. Of course I want to beat everyone else, but I would never want to hurt someone’s feelings to get to that spot. I feel it just isn’t humane to either physically hurt someone or emotionally. It all comes down to your emotional stability as well.

Analyze the benefit of sadness.

As our society has caused many people to face times of struggles which can become be very hard to overcome. With these problems comes the emotion of sadness which some may say is just a reason to say your depressed. This excusation is wrong because sadness is a natural emotion that effects the well being of an individual. Without some stages of sadness, a person’s happiness may also be effected because cycles of the human body are very normal. Society has began looking at sadness in extreme ways. A person can show signs of sadness but this doesn’t mean they are depressed. Depression has to come with fatigue or loss of appetite which then can be helped with medicine. People have to learn that a person can be sad for awhile and that it is a natural process that everyone will go through. It should not be worried about unless the signs are not normal. In my opinion, a good cry every now and then couldn’t harm anyone!

In class this week, we started talking about expressed emotion. The fact that most of our nonverbal communication is what expresses how we feel is very interesting. Most people know when I’m happy or upset because my face always shows my emotions so well. I sometimes wish this wasn’t the case because bad situations just get worst when people are alway asking what is wrong. Would there be a way to diminsh the way you express your emotion? Is there a possiblity that I won’t show all my emotions? It is a big question that I have been thinking about. I enjoy smiling and laughing, but I don’t like the fact of crying in front of people. I have always heard my grandma say better in then out, but does it always have to be that way?

Can you think of situations in which you would like to change the way you feel, and create a simple plan for doing so?

When it comes to fast pitch, this year I have come to find that I am more uptight than I have ever been. I feel that I must impress everyone because I’m the senior who supposedly knows everything and should be the best. I am trying so hard that it has gotten to the point that I’m screwing up because I’m making myself nervous. My batting average has been pretty decent, but I have noticed that I’m so pressured to hit the ball that I’m having issues actually focusing. In turn, this nervousness effects my fielding which playing first base makes me the last resort for getting the out. I have come to the conclusion that I things need to change drastically.

My game plan is to start enjoying my last year playing softball because next year I will not have the same time to be with teammates and coaches. I have decided that I will just relax when it comes to batting and enjoy what I’m doing. The whole idea of getting uptight is out the door as of today. I am just going to have fun for the rest of year because thats the reason why I play softbal in the first place.

In class, we have been discussing the development of language. We started discussing the formation of words for babies. I know from past experience that I have never really felt comfortable around babies because I have never been around younger children. I especially was kind of freaked out about the idea that they follow your mouth. I know they are trying to learn from you and form words, but do they really have to follow your mouth with those big eyes of yours. Thankfully I have been able to adapt more and more to babies, but they still make me uncomfortable because they are so fragile and I do not like the idea that they can’t talk yet. I guess though I would rather take a silent baby then a screaming one year old.

Analyze how the horrible situation of Genie could help psychologists uncover some mysteries of language and intelligence.  Also, evaluate the information psychologists gained from Genie’s situation.

This sad story did have a couple positive outcomes for psychologists which can help understand the development of language and intelligence. Eric Lenneberg in 1967 said that a child will develop all their speaking skills between the ages of two to puberty. This would be called the critical period for intelligence. In Genies case, she had already hit puberty when she was sent to research faculities. Scientists discovered by interaction from adults Genie finally picked up on simple phrases. This would show us that people can still gain a level of intelligence even after the critical period. It may not be a complete change, but Genie’s intelligence level increased of the many years of therapy. This situation helped researchers focus on the ability to learn after puberty. If it wasn’t for this terrible situation, I guess researchers would never have came to the realization that the ability to speak can be picked up at any age in Genie’s case it was age thirteen. This case could lead to further investigation on the brain and how it adapts to situations where no human contact is ever made in a person.