My Significant Life Event
Oneekah Henderson
Mr. Clinton Gortney
Lithonia Campus
Introduction to Psychology
October 28, 2014
Strayer University

My Significant Life Event
My life has been filled with lots of memories, not many from my childhood, some good some bad. I feel that these compilations of events have molded me into who I am and how I react to different situations. According to Settersten and Mayer (1997) (via psyplexus.com/mhr/life_events_psychiatry.html) “A life event is a significant occurrence involving a relatively abrupt change that may produce serious and long lasting effects.” For me that event was the day a man invaded my home and shot/paralyzed my husband in front of my 2yr pol son, while I was in the adjacent room.
My Biological Perspective
As I was in the living room I heard people talking in the kitchen, which wasn’t a surprise, I was watching a movie after getting the older children off to school. The sound of calm voices turned into tussling followed by a loud bang and my son screaming. As I jumped up, my son ran into the room and jumped into my arms crying. I immediately ran and jumped behind the sofa, pulling it back on us to hide. My hands were shaking as I tried to dial for help, only to get put on hold and sent to voicemail. As the man entered the room looking for my son, not knowing I was in the house as well, I began to shake profusely. I put my hand over his mouth whispering to be quiet, and he did. Unable to answer to 911 callback we remained still as the intruder walked out of the room. Luckily my trembling hands accidently set my ringer to silent. I quickly ran to the window to try and see the man leaving and then rushed to my husband’s side to assist him until emergency services arrived.
My Cognitive Perspective
That morning started off very relaxing, my husband was feeding the dogs and the older children were off to school. The sudden commotion threw my brain into survival mode. My son was screaming and even though I could not immediately see what was going on in the kitchen, I knew my husband would expect me to protect my son first and foremost. What was probably seconds seemed like a thousand minutes behind the sofa. Time stopped and my only concern was my little boy. I had to keep my composure so that he would calm down and be quiet while we hid. It worked, I held him so tight in fear that the man would find us and kill us. The frustration was immense trying to call for help unsuccessfully. My nervousness worked in my favor as 911 tried to call back. When he left, my son who sat quietly remained behind the sofa as I executed my next plan to get a description of the intruder and assess my husband’s injuries. I very frantically accomplished both tasks. I felt as if my world was crashing down on me as I looked at my husband on the kitchen floor unable to feel or move anything but his head and arms. Trying to remain strong for him, he ended up being my strength and calmed me until the EMS arrived. I remained with him until we arrived at the hospital and then I collapsed to the floor and was left in a state of shock, unable to cry and barely speak. As stated in “Introduction to Psychology” 3rd Custom Edition pg.161, Classic Conditioning is described as “A basic form of learning in which one stimulus comes to serve as a signal for the occurrence of a second stimulus. During classical conditioning organisms acquire information about the relations between various stimuli, not simple associations between them. In my opinion the result of this event caused classical conditioning. The sound of the gun shot replayed so many times in my head that now if I am anywhere, and hear loud bang, my pulse begins to race, I get extremely nervous and anxious and begin to relive that moment. I no longer attend firework celebrations or even enjoy a child playing with a balloon. During traumatic times some people tend to suppress memories. For me every detail of every moment of that Monday morning is still very fresh, very accurate, and vivid in my mind.
References
Introduction to Psychology Third Custom Edition. Taken from: Psychology: From Science to Practice, Second Edition by Robert A. Baron and Michael J. Kalsher (2008) (2005)
Settersten and Mayer (1997). Retrieved from http://psyplexus.com/mhr/life_events_/psychiatry.html