...Spark, because I was intrigued to understand how physical activity could change my brain and all its neural circuits to live a long healthy life. One of my goals is to live well into old age with the people that I love and in good cognitive function. I read how important is to keep good mental activity by implementing the use of puzzles, word games, reading, writing, music, etc. But I had a vague understanding how my brain continued shaping its neurons with the combination of exercises. Moreover, by conditioning my body; my brain boost new perceptions on how to control external factors like stress and anxiety. To better understand the concepts, the book Spark, was written by John J. Ratey, MD, and professor of Psychiatry....
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...ease their pain and struggles. Antidepressants are drugs which were initially used for the treatment of depression, but knowingly proved to be effective for other types of diagnosis, such as anxiety. Divulging his own enduring fight with anxiety, Scott Stossel presents a moving and fascinating account of a condition that affects some 40 million Americans. Stossel offers a personal and reliable history of efforts by scientists, philosophers, family members and writers to understand anxiety and the toll it has on our souls. Revealing anxiety's myriad manifestations and the anguish it causes, he also surveys the countless psychotherapies, medications, and often outlandish treatments that have been developed to relieve it. Scott Stossel first saw a psychiatrist at age 10. Since then, he has tried 27 medications and many different kinds of therapy in an attempt to assuage his anxiety-related problems. This book is an account of his own experiences and the history of anxiety-related disorders that stretch back as far as Hippocrates in the fourth-century BC, and takes in Plato, Spinoza, Kierkegaard, Darwin, Freud, and many eminent 20th-century authorities on presenting this issue in present times. In Stossels book the reader schemes through the various concepts about the cause of extreme anxiety which often hypothesizes about innate inheritance of the tendency, and modeling based on the behavior of family members. Stossel keeps the audience involved as he associates his first-hand account...
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...Generalized Anxiety Disorder: What it is, how it works, and what treatments are available My mother is the only person who always understands how I’m feeling, and she knows just what to say to ease my suffering. As a kid it seemed like I was just a little more sensitive and cautious than the other kids, but either way I still would tend to feel like I didn’t belong some days. When I was fourteen I visited a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD); at the time I had no idea what the words she was saying to me even meant. That was the day that my mother revealed to me that she also suffers from GAD. It is difficult for people without anxiety disorders to understand how constant the anxious feelings really are and that they can escalate to become much more severe than any normal anxiety. I’ve been knowingly living with GAD for four years now and I have many questions about it that have yet to be answered. Considering my mother and I both suffer from this disorder, I want to know if it could possibly be genetic or if I was simple conditioned to it from observing her. I also am curious about what happens in the brain of someone who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder and how it causes the symptoms. Most importantly I want to find information on possible treatments that would not only allow me to deal with my anxiety in a way that will better my life, but also I need to know how I can help my mother because seeing her deal with this disorder and...
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...Time appeared to stand still as I waited in my seat. My turn was soon to come, and my hands were drenched in sweat. My mind was racing as I was so nervous about what my other students would think of my speech. I tried desperately to keep my paper from rattling while trying to remember it one last time, My heart dropped as I heard the dreadful words “next”. Now every nerve in my body seemed like a strained harp-string ready to snap at a touch.Every, and or any change in my behavior, and movement was being closely watched by my peers. The upset feeling started to cloud my thoughts, as I tried to scramble the next words to convey. This was one of the hardest things for me to do, but in my case, anxiety disorders happened to be more than limited concern or panic. Many often mistaken mental disorders for weakness or self-indulgence, and because of the serious interior functional impairment social phobia can cause, help is usually not amiable. For many people Infrequent anxiety happens to be a average part of their life, and may not go away. Basically, all phobias are anxiety disorders, clumped in the same catagory as post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder. Anxiety disorders are, essentially, based on fear(Winnerman6). Social Anxiety Disorder (social phobia) “is the world’s third biggest mental health care problem today”(Richards1). Despite the brief anxiety, people with social phobia are typically introverts, silent, and not in favor of being the life of the party(Stein...
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...Class : Psy / 240 Instructor : Kami Himes By Ronald Berry 1. Introduction Good morning , my name is Ronald Berry I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to interview me and hear my presentation . I have done many hours of research of this company , and must say your research techniques are the most accurate in the field of psychology . I have just graduated from the University of Phoenix , and I welcome the opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge in psychology . I will begin the first part of my presentation by explaining Schizophrenia treatments , area ‘ s of the brain affected , causal factors , associated symptoms , neural basis , and appropriate drug therapies . I have many months of studying drug abuse and anxiety . I have family members who are suffering from these illnesses , and I really want to make a difference in people , s life by spending my time to help make their daily behavior more acceptable ( Schizophrenia Information & Treatment Introduction ) . 2. Part: Schizophrenia A severe brain disorder which can interfere with normal brain function is Schizophrenia . Of all the disorders this one usually affects humans in their late childhood or early adulthood...
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...midbrain is associated with Panic Disorder pathophysiology. The midbrain volume increase may reflect Panic Disorder severity. III. Implications to Biological Psychology Biological Psychology is essentially concerned with the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying physiological events, in other words, the mind-body phenomenon. This study between the midbrain volume and patients with panic disorder yielded a significant result. At the onset of this study the extent to which the midbrain is associated with Panic Disorder pathophysiology is unclear, but after this study this case became free of cloud. Knowing that some recent studies already suggested that abnormalities of the cerebral cortex, limbic structures and brain stem regions are associated with Panic Disorder, it is merely in this study that the dorsal midbrain became associated with Panic Disorder pathophysiology. IV. Reflective Questions A. How am I beginning to think...
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...that there are many causes and many effects for drinking beverages that contain alcohol. One possible cause of alcohol abuse could be depression for one reason or another; however, the effects of alcohol abuse are liver damage, decrease of brain function, and the loss of a job. One effect of alcohol abuse is liver damage. Alcohol abuse causes cirrhosis of the liver, which shortens the life of a human being. Moreover, liver damage due to alcohol can lead to pain, suffering, and bitterness. For example, my best friend mother was an alcoholic; she abused it every day and all day at the age of forty, she was diagnosed with cirrhosis of her liver. Not only did she experience much pain, but she also spent the rest of her life angry and mad at everything and everyone. If it was not for her alcohol abuse, then she would have lived longer and possibly been happier. Alcohol abuse also causes severe damage in the neurons, so it causes alterations in the body movements, loss of appetite, and depression. There are other effects in the body like gastritis’s. All these physical consequences could cause death if you drink alcohol in mass quantities. Another effect of alcohol abuse is the decrease of brain function. The effects of alcohol can impact brain function. Alcohol can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks and, as...
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...network of friends and family. My wife and I would go out almost every night to trendy restaurants and dance clubs with friends. In my spare time, I would visit residents at the local senior center. It was a different story behind the scenes: Starting in my early twenties, I began to suffer mild panic attacks and unpleasant cycles of thought. I worried constantly that I was on the verge of being laid off work, or dying of cancer, or that my spouse was being unfaithful. My fears and panic attacks kept me at home afraid to go out in public and caused me to fight with my friends and family. The fiasco My first major anxiety attack occurred when I was going through a particularly stressful time at work. I started to have a panic attack. I was paralyzed with fear, I couldn’t catch my breath and I thought I was going to die. Although the episode lasted only a few minutes it seemed like an eternity. I was so embarrassed afterwards because I knew that my co-workers now knew something was wrong with me. It was the company nurse who sent me to the hospital emergency room with an imagined heart attack (where doctors unable to find anything sent me home). It was at this point I too thought there was something seriously wrong. I didn’t want to go back to work; I was afraid, I could have another attack and decided to go see if the doctor could help me. The Doctor visit I went to see the doctor I told him about the fiasco at work I told the doctor that my Panic attacks are extremely frightening...
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...forebrain is the anterior and largest part of the brain. This part of the brain functions to control sensory, and motor function, cognitive function, reproductive function, eating, sleeping, emotion display, and helps to regulate temperature. The hindbrain is the part of the brain that helps to coordinate posture, motor activity, balance, and sleep patterns, and helps to regulate essential but unconscious functions like breathing, and blood circulation. The limbic system is essential in the regulation of motor activity and emotional expression. Schizophrenia has a strong genetic component. Patients, who have an immediate family member such as a parent or sibling, have a higher chance of developing schizophrenia. Other factors that have been believed to contribute to schizophrenia, like high levels of stress during pregnancy, traumatic injury, toxins, infections, and autoimmune reactions. Symptoms of schizophrenia include: * Bizarre delusions- delusions of being controlled by an outside source * Inappropriate- failure to react appropriately to emotional events. * Hallucinations-imaginary voices controlling behavior. * Incoherent thoughts-illogical thinking or peculiar ideas. * Odd behavior-talking in rhymes, long periods of not moving or catatonia The neural basis of schizophrenia is that in normal patients the brain has a built in regulator that responds to outside, and allows the brain to separate these stimuli. This gives people the...
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...identify the specific brain pathology associated with various disorders, their diagnosis usually rests entirely on the patients symptoms. The diagnosis is guided by the DSM-IV-TR (the current edition of the Diagnostic and statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Associations. I will be discussing the following psychiatric disorders Schizophrenia, Anxiety Disorders, Affective (emotional) disorders, Anxiety Disorders and Tourette syndrome. These disorders are all very important and are treatable. Most people can live happy and healthy lives if treatments are followed by a doctor. The major difficulty in studying and treating schizophrenia is accurately defining it (Heinrichs, 2005; Kreuger & Markon, 2006). Its symptoms are complex and diverse; they overlap greatly with those of other psychiatric disorders and frequently change during the progression of the disorder. Also, various neurological disorders have complex partial epilepsy; have symptoms that might suggest a diagnosis of schizophrenia. In recognition of the fact that the current definition of schizophrenia likely includes several different brain diseases some experts prefer to use the plural form to refer to this disorder: the schizophrenias (Wong & Van Tol, 2003). At this time, no one knows exactly what causes Schizophrenia or why this condition affects some people and not others. Studies show that Schizophrenia may be caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain that causes messages in...
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...psychiatrists called it the “penicillin for the soul.” In 1985 the United States Drug Enforcement Administration banned the drug. A lot of psychiatrists and therapists in the 1970s and 1980s believed its psychedelic way of effecting the brain made it easier for patients to deal with their problems. Ecstasy is usually taken orally or in a tablet form. A normal dose of ecstasy is 100-125 mg. MDMA can affect the brain by affecting the chemical messengers we have which make never cells in the brain able to communicate with one another. Tests on animals prove that it can cause very high damage to your nervous system, it also raises the bodies temperature. Many MDMA users experience what the drug does in just an hour or so. These symptoms include: mental stimulation, emotional warmth, empathy towards other people, a general state of well being, and a decreased feeling of anxiety. It cost a little as .25 or .50 cents to manufacture it in Europe, but it is selling on the streets for $40.00. One tablet can cost as much as $30.00. Some long term and short term effects of “Adam”, which is a street name for MDMA. Some effects can be anxiety and paranoia, chills or sweating, teeth chattering, muscle craps or nausea, blurred vision. After effects can be anxiety and very deep depression. The worst affect ecstasy can cause, is death. No dose is really appropriate of this drug considering its affects and the illegality of it. The fully name of MDMA is methylendeioxyamphetamine. Some of the popular...
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...The horror of mental illness is something that I personally deal with every day. Although I do not suffer from schizophrenia like John Nash, I do suffer from anxiety. I do not have delusions, but I have intense thoughts, worries, and other emotions over unnecessary things. Anxiety is basically your body’s way of feeling like it is in danger when it really isn’t. Part of my brain perceives the feeling of anxiety while the other part knows that there is no real danger to me, that it is just anxiety, and that is also a living nightmare at times. Throughout the movie, John realized that his delusions are not real; he still perceives them but no longer believes that they are real. Similarly, before I was diagnosed with OCD, I did not understand what the anxiety was making me feel like. Now, I still feel the same anxiety, but I know that what my anxiety makes me think is not true....
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...I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks that I can only sort of control. I try and get enough sleep, do yoga, take meds, the whole thing. But still, my brain gets ahead of me and wants to do a pity spiral dance of disaster and worry and I can’t really stop it. It’s a handicap in a sense, where I want to be working or going out with friends or doing laundry but instead I’m curled up in bed with the lights off waiting for my benzos to kick in. (Pretty, pretty.) Sometimes people tell me it will help my anxiety to “be grateful.” That’s one piece of advice I get a lot. If I were more grateful, I wouldn’t be so anxious. I’m only anxious because I lack perspective. Because I need to take the time to look outside myself and my own problems. If I were...
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...The mental illness I chose to write about is one that my mom suffers from which would be panic disorder. A panic disorder is a form of an anxiety disorder. The history of anxiety disorders dates back before medical records were recorded. In the sixteenth century, anxiety was known as hysteria. Professional had different opinions on the cause of this disorder, for example, witchcraft, had to do with the uterus until men were found to have the same condition, the person is a hypochondriac, and demons were entering the body. In the eighteenth century panic disorder was known as the “nervous illness." Today we know that panic attacks are a sudden urge of overwhelming fear and anxiety. There are many myths that surround panic attacks such as it is all in one’s head, it is not a real illness, make one face the fear head on, a sign that one is going insane. Other myths include that one will be on medication for the rest of their life, cause internal damage as a heart attack would, there is no treatment, and it is as an excuse. These types of rumors or beliefs can cause one to not seek professional help. Past treatments for anxiety in eighteen seventies were to refrain from exercise as anxiety was considered to be nervous exhaustion and it was straining the nervous system. Other harsher treatments were strychnine, arsenic, and quinine. For severe cases, a hot white iron was applied to the spine. In the year nineteen twenty, exposure to the fear, and radionics was used. It...
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...three months ago I lost my part time job at a local company and had to go through alot to overcome the feelings.the reason was that I had put alot of efforts and expectations on the same and did not forsee the fateful event happening.It was the only source of income and could provide vital experience for me to face the world once am out there.It is because I like being independent and not so much of a dependant that I chose to wor and the result of the loss was dire.I was emotionally and mentally disturbed as I had many plans and had many projects to handle depending on the prospects of the job.the idea was to develop skills of leadership, management and entrepreneurship.I could not put myself together afeter the ordeal and had to seek the services of a psychologist to relieve my stress.It took me one an dhalf months to get over it. The Brain Responds to Stress When you see a risk, your cerebrum bounced energetically to equip you to battle the danger or to run from it. This is known as the battle or flight reaction. Your mind advises your body to get prepared by: • increasing your heart rate and circulatory strain • slowing down your digestive techniques • decreasing blood stream to your furthest points and expanding it to your real muscles • increasing creation of adrenaline • increasing creation of cortisol Cortisol is utilized by your body actually when you are not in an upsetting circumstance however it is known as the anxiety hormone as a result of its...
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