After so many days of clouds and rain, we finally had a sunny day here in Providence!
Well, today in class we watched the movie "A Beautiful Mind" in class. It's about John Nash, who developed schizophrenia while studying at Princeton University. As Mercedes said, he starts believing he is encoding messages for the government and must protect himself against the Russian spies. I think watching this movie really helped understand what people with this disorder go through everyday. I watched this movie during my foundations class when I was a freshman, but when I watched it again this time, more aspects of the movie made sense. I never really knew about this disorder, so after reading The Quiet Room and listening to Dr. J's lectures about it, I seemed to understand so much more about everything - his movements and his hallucinations.
After finishing lunch, I got straight to work on my week's reading reflection paper. We were supposed to write a 2-page paper about our reading and I found this fairly easy since we've talked about the book so much. It was actually a bit hard to limit what I was going to write about.
In addition to writing my paper, I also read the study I mentioned earlier The Power of Conformity since my group will be planning out our presentation tomorrow during lunch. I found the study very interesting. Basically, one must have seven "participants" who were actually allies of the experimenter and one actual participant. The subjects would be shown one card with a single line and another card with three lines of different lengths. Each person would then be asked to identify which out of the three lines is the same length as the standard line. Everyone answers in a line with the actual participant at the end of the line. For the first two trials, everyone will give the same, obvious answer. However, during the next trial, the first participants will choose the wrong line in order to see how the last person will answer. Surprisingly, to me anyways, around 75% went along with the group's wrong answer! I can't wait to talk to my group and find out how we are going to present out topic in our 25-minute time slot.
Now, I'm going to try to read a bit for my homework since I know this will be an extremely busy weekend. And I can't wait!
Showing posts with label schizophrenia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schizophrenia. Show all posts
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Oh, What "A Beautiful Mind"
First of all, I have to clarify what I said in my last blogs about my admiration for Steven, Lori's brother. I do not admire him for bailing out, I admire that he was the only one who took the initiative to try to understand the psychology behind schizophrenia so he could help his sister. I admire him for at least trying although he did not go through with it all the way but that is because his sister, Lori, did not want him to see the horror that goes on inside the psychiatric hospital. Steven, himself, could not stand to see people suffer. There is so much more to the book. I highly recommend it. It is called "The Quiet Room" by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett for those who are interested in reading it. I would love to talk about the book but there is so much information packed inside that I cannot condense it all into one blog.
Now, get ready for my day! I woke up later than usual, 8: 40 or so. Then I found out that I have to do laundry soon because my clothes are piling up on the floor-in my closet. While looking through my clothes, I regretted not bringing more sweaters and pants because it is really cold here, except for the sunshine that we have today. Then I looked at the weather to determine the weather for the rest of the week. After that, I washed up and got dressed to go eat breakfast. I am starting to get tired of the variety for breakfast but breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I ate a bagel and some potato wedges. Afterward, we walked to class and this time, we had to go to a different classroom than the one we are usually in. This is because we were going to watch a movie called "A Beautiful Mind," and Dr.J suggested that room 106 was more suitable for movie watching. Therefore we sat down anxious for the secrets of the movie to unravel as the professor pushed the release button for the curtains to come gradually down, shading the windows from the rising sunlight. This took about 30 seconds or so and I watched in amazement and wonder what else is there in this room that I have never seen before. Then the projector screen came tumbling down and stopped. It was a really big projector screen, bigger than the ones we have at school. Then we waited for him to dim the lights and turn on the movie.
The movie started out with a guy name John Nash who is in his freshmen year at Princeton University through a special scholarship (something something Carnegie Scholarship). Then he meets his roommate Charles, who stumbled into the room drunk and disoriented while John was busy studying. Then it shows how John is always busy studying and trying to solve these problems that I found to be really intricate and difficult. There was a scene when John wanted to kill himself by banging his head on the window and then his roommate tried to stop him. His roommate then pushed the window with such an incredible amount of force that it flew out the window and crashed on the ground by the luscious green grass while two students were walking by. John and Charles started laughing hysterically as the two students looked up in confusion. After he graduated from Princeton University after resolving Adam Smith's theory, he became a professor. He was well-respected and liked on and off campus. Then on a visit to the Pentagon, he met a mysterious man who calls himself Parcher. Parcher asked John to work for the government as an undercover agent and they implanted a secret code on his arm which requires a black light to see it. John's job is to decode the mysterious message of the Soviet Union. And so the movie goes on about how he is a great professor and well known throughout. He finally finds a woman who he likes and eventually marries her and start their own family. However, one night, John gets paranoid and his rage is set off so his wife calls the doctor and they take him in the hospital. John accuses them as the Soviet Union who have discovered his secret and are planning to take him away.
The problem in this picture is that John was hallucinating. Records show that he never had a roommate name Charles nor did he ever work for the government as a spy. His wife had called him and signed him into the psychiatric hospital because he was schizophrenic. They had to explain to him that he was schizophrenic and all of this is just a delusion. John tried to show them proof that he actually works for the government by digging into his arm where he had "seen" them implant the numbers to keep track of him but it was not there. Therefore he had to take medication to help his hallucinations go away. Basically the movie goes on from there. He finally gets better but he never did stop seeing things. He learned to control them and eventually was able to live an almost normal life. After he got a bit better, he started working at Princeton, doing his work in the library. He raised his status from a worker in the library to a well-known and respected professor. John even received a Nobel prize and to this day, he still walks to campus.
The movie ended at 12:38 but class was not suppose to end until 1:00. So Dr.J decided to tell us more about John Nash. He mentioned that the real John Nash's life was not as smooth as portrayed in the movie. Instead, his wife divorced him and he started experimenting with his sexuality. Then we got out of class at 12:45, 15 minutes earlier than usual. We dreaded walking down the flight of stairs although it was a flight of stairs less than usual. Then we trudged downhill to the Verney Woolley where we slid our Brown identification card to open the door and walked on the blue mat to the interior of the cafeteria. Then we went through another round of sliding our cards to get lunch. Today, I was deciding between pasta and burgers. I was trying to be a vegetarian for day but I could not resist the burgers so I went to make my burger.
First I took the bun and split it in between the cut. After that, I picked up the juiciest looking burger on the tray and settled it on top of the bottom bun. Then I used the plastic black tongs to pick up two pieces of lettuce and gently laid it on top of the burger. I examined the cheese to see if it was American or Kraft singles but I failed at that. I picked it up anyways and decided I should of put the cheese on before the lettuce and so I remade my burger. The tomatoes were screaming my name but I did not know if I was craving tomatoes or not but I decided I wanted to be healthy so I slid two slices of pre-cut tomatoes onto my pile. Then I cuddled up my burger by placing the top bun over it after squeezing ketchup on it. And so we went to eat outside because it was a nice bright sunny day. It feels so good to walk out and feel the warm breeze sweeping over me.
Then I decided to work on my final reaction paper for class. I spent a good hour contemplating about what to write because Dr.J had asked for it to be less than two pages and to reflect on the book. It was extremely difficult to narrow down the topics that I wanted to discuss so I spent a good 25 minutes thinking about the main topics of the book. Finally, I decided that I will mainly focus on the affect Lori's schizophrenia had on her family as a whole instead of just Lori. Then I finished typing up my paper by 6:03 and started walking to the dining hall with Courtney. While walking past the Maddock Alumni building, a random stranger walking past by hollered out "Hey you guys! Did you find out that Michael Jackson died?" Then everywhere around us, we heard talk about his death. People walked around in denial that the "king of pop" is longer no more.
After dinner, we went back up to the lounge where we studied for a bit and I sent my final reaction paper in to Dr.J. I then decided what shall I blog about and here I am to blog about my exciting day. The best part of today was probably watching the movie. I learned so much from it and by the end of the movie, I decided I want to meet John Nash. When I finally figured out what I wanted to blog about, I walked down the five flights of stairs and into to my room I entered. So here I am blogging.
Now that I reflect on my day, I found out that I had quite some time on my hands. I had finished my reading early started on my reaction paper right away. I am really adjusting to the college life. I predict that in the future, I would be walking long distances and climbing up to 55 steps on the stairs. Oh well, it will be a great daily workout.
Since I do not want to be burdened with homework and a 83 page of reading, I shall start reading now.
Now, get ready for my day! I woke up later than usual, 8: 40 or so. Then I found out that I have to do laundry soon because my clothes are piling up on the floor-in my closet. While looking through my clothes, I regretted not bringing more sweaters and pants because it is really cold here, except for the sunshine that we have today. Then I looked at the weather to determine the weather for the rest of the week. After that, I washed up and got dressed to go eat breakfast. I am starting to get tired of the variety for breakfast but breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I ate a bagel and some potato wedges. Afterward, we walked to class and this time, we had to go to a different classroom than the one we are usually in. This is because we were going to watch a movie called "A Beautiful Mind," and Dr.J suggested that room 106 was more suitable for movie watching. Therefore we sat down anxious for the secrets of the movie to unravel as the professor pushed the release button for the curtains to come gradually down, shading the windows from the rising sunlight. This took about 30 seconds or so and I watched in amazement and wonder what else is there in this room that I have never seen before. Then the projector screen came tumbling down and stopped. It was a really big projector screen, bigger than the ones we have at school. Then we waited for him to dim the lights and turn on the movie.
The movie started out with a guy name John Nash who is in his freshmen year at Princeton University through a special scholarship (something something Carnegie Scholarship). Then he meets his roommate Charles, who stumbled into the room drunk and disoriented while John was busy studying. Then it shows how John is always busy studying and trying to solve these problems that I found to be really intricate and difficult. There was a scene when John wanted to kill himself by banging his head on the window and then his roommate tried to stop him. His roommate then pushed the window with such an incredible amount of force that it flew out the window and crashed on the ground by the luscious green grass while two students were walking by. John and Charles started laughing hysterically as the two students looked up in confusion. After he graduated from Princeton University after resolving Adam Smith's theory, he became a professor. He was well-respected and liked on and off campus. Then on a visit to the Pentagon, he met a mysterious man who calls himself Parcher. Parcher asked John to work for the government as an undercover agent and they implanted a secret code on his arm which requires a black light to see it. John's job is to decode the mysterious message of the Soviet Union. And so the movie goes on about how he is a great professor and well known throughout. He finally finds a woman who he likes and eventually marries her and start their own family. However, one night, John gets paranoid and his rage is set off so his wife calls the doctor and they take him in the hospital. John accuses them as the Soviet Union who have discovered his secret and are planning to take him away.
The problem in this picture is that John was hallucinating. Records show that he never had a roommate name Charles nor did he ever work for the government as a spy. His wife had called him and signed him into the psychiatric hospital because he was schizophrenic. They had to explain to him that he was schizophrenic and all of this is just a delusion. John tried to show them proof that he actually works for the government by digging into his arm where he had "seen" them implant the numbers to keep track of him but it was not there. Therefore he had to take medication to help his hallucinations go away. Basically the movie goes on from there. He finally gets better but he never did stop seeing things. He learned to control them and eventually was able to live an almost normal life. After he got a bit better, he started working at Princeton, doing his work in the library. He raised his status from a worker in the library to a well-known and respected professor. John even received a Nobel prize and to this day, he still walks to campus.
The movie ended at 12:38 but class was not suppose to end until 1:00. So Dr.J decided to tell us more about John Nash. He mentioned that the real John Nash's life was not as smooth as portrayed in the movie. Instead, his wife divorced him and he started experimenting with his sexuality. Then we got out of class at 12:45, 15 minutes earlier than usual. We dreaded walking down the flight of stairs although it was a flight of stairs less than usual. Then we trudged downhill to the Verney Woolley where we slid our Brown identification card to open the door and walked on the blue mat to the interior of the cafeteria. Then we went through another round of sliding our cards to get lunch. Today, I was deciding between pasta and burgers. I was trying to be a vegetarian for day but I could not resist the burgers so I went to make my burger.
First I took the bun and split it in between the cut. After that, I picked up the juiciest looking burger on the tray and settled it on top of the bottom bun. Then I used the plastic black tongs to pick up two pieces of lettuce and gently laid it on top of the burger. I examined the cheese to see if it was American or Kraft singles but I failed at that. I picked it up anyways and decided I should of put the cheese on before the lettuce and so I remade my burger. The tomatoes were screaming my name but I did not know if I was craving tomatoes or not but I decided I wanted to be healthy so I slid two slices of pre-cut tomatoes onto my pile. Then I cuddled up my burger by placing the top bun over it after squeezing ketchup on it. And so we went to eat outside because it was a nice bright sunny day. It feels so good to walk out and feel the warm breeze sweeping over me.
Then I decided to work on my final reaction paper for class. I spent a good hour contemplating about what to write because Dr.J had asked for it to be less than two pages and to reflect on the book. It was extremely difficult to narrow down the topics that I wanted to discuss so I spent a good 25 minutes thinking about the main topics of the book. Finally, I decided that I will mainly focus on the affect Lori's schizophrenia had on her family as a whole instead of just Lori. Then I finished typing up my paper by 6:03 and started walking to the dining hall with Courtney. While walking past the Maddock Alumni building, a random stranger walking past by hollered out "Hey you guys! Did you find out that Michael Jackson died?" Then everywhere around us, we heard talk about his death. People walked around in denial that the "king of pop" is longer no more.
After dinner, we went back up to the lounge where we studied for a bit and I sent my final reaction paper in to Dr.J. I then decided what shall I blog about and here I am to blog about my exciting day. The best part of today was probably watching the movie. I learned so much from it and by the end of the movie, I decided I want to meet John Nash. When I finally figured out what I wanted to blog about, I walked down the five flights of stairs and into to my room I entered. So here I am blogging.
Now that I reflect on my day, I found out that I had quite some time on my hands. I had finished my reading early started on my reaction paper right away. I am really adjusting to the college life. I predict that in the future, I would be walking long distances and climbing up to 55 steps on the stairs. Oh well, it will be a great daily workout.
Since I do not want to be burdened with homework and a 83 page of reading, I shall start reading now.
A Beautiful Mind
Today in class we watched an interesting movie on a very smart man named John Nash. He developed schizophrenia soon after graduate school, he was extremely intelligent so it was really depressing. I feel that he handled the illness a whole lot better than Lori from the book handled her situation, but that's probably because her situation was far worse. That's pretty much all we did in class, we moved to a really nice room to watch movies and our professor explained our up coming projects a little bit more. Then we were off to lunch.
We did not do much after lunch besides laundry and a lot of walking back and forth. I spent most of the night working on my homework and bonding with my roommate. I'm really excited to go to Boston again on Saturday, I can't wait to actually finish our tour at Harvard and explore MIT. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.
We did not do much after lunch besides laundry and a lot of walking back and forth. I spent most of the night working on my homework and bonding with my roommate. I'm really excited to go to Boston again on Saturday, I can't wait to actually finish our tour at Harvard and explore MIT. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
This was the movie that the Introduction to Psychology class saw today. This movie was based on the true story of John Nash whom developed schizophrenia at the age of thirty. It was a very beautiful movie that showed Nash's life before, during, and after his major stage of schizophrenia. He was a very smart man whom did not like wasting time in class and learning something everyone already new, instead he focused his time in developing new theories. Later in his life because of the schizophrenia he believed he was working under over for the U.S. government to help with preventing attacks from the Soviet Union. In the end his wife finds him behaving weirdly and his schizophrenia is unfolded . He fought through it a went back to his normal life that he went on to winning a Nobel prize. It was a real tear jerker at the end with his happy ending. It was a very interesting film to watch because we got to see a different development of schizophrenia from the one in the book I was reading the Quiet Room.Also yesterday I attended a college Q&A for girls with Courtney and Meuy.I asked a couple of questions and they were thoroughly answered. I learned why the RA s had chosen to come to Brown and most of them said because of the open curriculum. Also they shared with us how they went about the transition from high school to college. they agreed that everyone learned to manage time and classes at there own pace. and that the part of the transition was that one has to realize you can not be part of every class and every activity. Learning to manage classes and activities is a part of college experience. I found all the answers very helpful and informative.If I have time later this week I will attend a different college session.
Mercedes Montelongo
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What a Long Day
The day started off as usual, I usually get up with my roommate Jagdeep even though her class is an hour before mine. She's really cool and I think we get along very well. After getting ready, I decided to do some extra reading on my project on the topic, Just how are you intelligent? I find it very interesting, and I like the thought that not everything has to be based off of SAT scores or testing; different people are smart in their own unique ways. Anyways, right after I went to meet Courtney and Meuy up by their dorms, where we proceeded out of the dorms to the quad to meet Cynthia and Karen. Unfortunately Cynthia woke up late, and really rushed down the stairs, but she was right on time. We continued our walk to the cafeteria and had a delightful breakfast.
In class we talked more about the disease that we were assigned reading on. The book is called "The Quiet Room" and it's about a young woman who developed schizophrenia in her late teens. It's intriguing to see how the illness affects her and her family. I especially see that she isn't improving much because no cares enough to help her cope with the disease, they all just pressure her to get rid of the voices. Not only did we learn about schizophrenia, we also touched on research methods and learning. For example most people are motivated to do good in school for the grade, praise, parent's approval etc. But other do it out of the pure motivation and determination they have inside.
After class, we had lunch with our friends and immediately started working on our homework. After homework we went to CVS and the gym. Time flew by really quick and next thing we knew, we were off to dinner. After dinner we did the usual which is more homework and blogging. You can really see the continuing cycles starting to take place. That's all for today!
In class we talked more about the disease that we were assigned reading on. The book is called "The Quiet Room" and it's about a young woman who developed schizophrenia in her late teens. It's intriguing to see how the illness affects her and her family. I especially see that she isn't improving much because no cares enough to help her cope with the disease, they all just pressure her to get rid of the voices. Not only did we learn about schizophrenia, we also touched on research methods and learning. For example most people are motivated to do good in school for the grade, praise, parent's approval etc. But other do it out of the pure motivation and determination they have inside.
After class, we had lunch with our friends and immediately started working on our homework. After homework we went to CVS and the gym. Time flew by really quick and next thing we knew, we were off to dinner. After dinner we did the usual which is more homework and blogging. You can really see the continuing cycles starting to take place. That's all for today!
My Day to the T.
Good evening, kind parents, students, sponsors and all. I am brimming with excitement, so much that I cannot contain. I MUST share my day with you.
Schizophrenia scares me because it is very much like Lori is two people. One moment, she would be calm and subdued but the next moment, she can be crazy and uncalled for. I don’t understand how someone’s mood can swing so easily and sporadically. Trying to imagine myself in her shoes was scary; she has no control. She doesn’t even know that she doesn’t have control and she thinks that she has to follow what the voices tell her to do. She doesn’t think that anything is wrong, she doesn’t believe that she has an illness until the very end. She doesn’t feel like she doesn’t have any choice; she feels like she HAS to mutilate herself, she feels like she HAS to insult other people, she feels like she HAS to commit suicide. This scares me because she’s in denial. Everybody is in denial, once in a while. Does that mean that reality is subjective? What is reality? If reality is subjective, what makes it REAL? Because there is no doubt that the Voices are real to Lori but at the same time, there is no doubt that the Voices are not real. If reality is subjective, who makes the standards for normal? And real?
We were suppose to finish the book today. We all sat around discussing Lori and her life. What would happen if we were like that? What would that be like? It was interesting conversation. After a while, we decided to go to the gym again. The Olney-Margolies Athletic Center was a far walk but we worked out hard. We went into the facility and some of the girls settled on the bikes while some of us ran around the indoor track. After running for 26 minutes, I made my way up 9 steps, into the weight room. I began lifting weights to workout my triceps.
Here I am now, blogging to you devoted readers. I truly hope to receive feedback and comments. It's amazing to know that you all are amazed by the days that we have, and it is only our duty to give back to you who have devoted so much time to our success. I hope tomorrow will be as eventful as today was. More to come later.
I woke up today at a cool 9:04, to a loud text from Gina Saechao. I realized that I had forgotten to set my alarm the previous night, having woken up on top of a book that I was suppose to read. Disheveled and disoriented, I ran from my room to the bathroom in a quick 7 seconds. I brushed my teeth and I sprinted down a total of 45 steps to the Keeney Quad to meet my fellow classmates. However, when I arrived, I realized that another girl that was also suppose to meet us had not gotten there either and I did not feel as bad for waking up late. We walked slowly but surely towards the Verney-Wolley. We walked up, heaving our tired bodies, turning right on Cushing Street. We finally arrived at the Verney-Wolley, and we "tail-gated" some students into the building because we did not want to pull our ID cards out of our purses. We walked through the second set of doors and walked past the kind ID-checker. He slid our IDs through the card-reader and admitted us into the buffet area.
This morning, I was torn between making a waffle which is right next to the sodas or making a bagel, which was on the other side of the building. I settled for a raisin bagel, lightly toasted. I picked up a container of cream cheese and found a seat. The conversation this morning was all about the class we were about to go to and the homework we were suppose to do the previous night. It was all very interesting. After eating my bagel, we gathered all of our belongings and walked slowly towards the Smith building. The weather was beautifully grey today and while we walked, we wondered if the weather would be better tomorrow or the next day.
We finally arrived in room 201 and walked into a room full of intelligent students. The teacher looked at us expectantly and nodded for us to take our seats. We were on time, but everyone else had been 10 minutes early, which encouraged us to decide to wake up earlier tomorrow. We took our seats; I sat next to Courtney and a girl named Karen. She was really nice. The teacher started to lecture about schizophrenia which is the disease that the girl Lori has in the book that we're reading.
Schizophrenia literally means "split mind." The symptoms of schizophrenia are psychosis, hallucinations and hearing voices. The "positive" symptoms (symptoms that ADD things to the patient) are delusions, heightened sensations, neologisms, disorganization, inappropriate feelings, repetitiveness, paranoia, rambling and rhyming of words. The "negative" symptoms (symptoms that TAKE AWAY from the patient) are the loss of feelings, hygiene, motivation, and fluid movement. There is a prodromal phase, which is the beginning phase of schizophrenia. This involves withdrawal from the real world, not showing real feelings, and saying weird things. The next phase is the active phase. This involves the schizophrenic symptoms that I discussed above. Schizophrenia is both inherited and biological, stimulated by environment. It is caused by too much dopamine in the brain, and medication is used to reduce it. However, when too much medication is used and dopamine levels drop too low, Parkinson's disease may be contracted. Treatment to schizophrenia involve major tranquilizers that does not make people feel good; they cause muscle tremors and dystonia in addition to making you feel super groggy. Newer medication has been found to be effective but one of the major side effects is weight-gain.
This discussion was very interesting to me. As I glanced around, I saw that everyone was taking notes. Normally, this would not be the case. In the classroom environments that I am use to, I see people with disinterested faces. However, today, I saw that everyone was interested and actively participating. It made me feel as if this is the way it is suppose to be.
After the lecture about schizophrenia, we broke into our discussion groups. I walked down 17 stairs to the floor that was one below the one we were on and walked into the discussion room. We talked mainly about the book we were reading and we tried to relate the book to the lecture we had just listened to. It was all very interesting, my TA had passed back the papers that we had written to her last night with her comments. She says that we are improving, which makes me feel like I am improving.
At 12:08, we walked back up the stairs (another 17 steps) to room 201. We talked about the way certain people learn. It was interesting because it helped me identify the way I really learn and the way I can help myself learn better.
At 12:46, we walked back out of the Smith building and we hung around deciding what to do. We ate lunch at the Verney-Wolley. Today, I had a salad, along with a little macaroni and cheese. It was some good food and I'm glad we didn't have to pay for it. We walked towards the dorms, and decided to read more. We ran upstairs to the Poland lounge which was a total of 45 steps. It was a workout, in itself. We each chose our seats like we usually did and we sat around. We read more about Lori and her schizophrenic mind.
Schizophrenia scares me because it is very much like Lori is two people. One moment, she would be calm and subdued but the next moment, she can be crazy and uncalled for. I don’t understand how someone’s mood can swing so easily and sporadically. Trying to imagine myself in her shoes was scary; she has no control. She doesn’t even know that she doesn’t have control and she thinks that she has to follow what the voices tell her to do. She doesn’t think that anything is wrong, she doesn’t believe that she has an illness until the very end. She doesn’t feel like she doesn’t have any choice; she feels like she HAS to mutilate herself, she feels like she HAS to insult other people, she feels like she HAS to commit suicide. This scares me because she’s in denial. Everybody is in denial, once in a while. Does that mean that reality is subjective? What is reality? If reality is subjective, what makes it REAL? Because there is no doubt that the Voices are real to Lori but at the same time, there is no doubt that the Voices are not real. If reality is subjective, who makes the standards for normal? And real?
We were suppose to finish the book today. We all sat around discussing Lori and her life. What would happen if we were like that? What would that be like? It was interesting conversation. After a while, we decided to go to the gym again. The Olney-Margolies Athletic Center was a far walk but we worked out hard. We went into the facility and some of the girls settled on the bikes while some of us ran around the indoor track. After running for 26 minutes, I made my way up 9 steps, into the weight room. I began lifting weights to workout my triceps.
We left at 5:13 and we made our way to the Verney-Wolley. After eating chips and dip, which they had served before, we walked back to the dorms to shower and to continue studying. We arrived in the Poland lounge again and read for a couple of hours before deciding to call it quits.
Here I am now, blogging to you devoted readers. I truly hope to receive feedback and comments. It's amazing to know that you all are amazed by the days that we have, and it is only our duty to give back to you who have devoted so much time to our success. I hope tomorrow will be as eventful as today was. More to come later.
Schizo- what? Schizophrenia.
My morning was like the past two mornings. I woke up at 8:15 and got ready by 8:50. Then we (the four females taking the Intro to Psychology class and a friend we met) met up by the quad at 9. After that we walked all the way to the V-Dub where we act our daily breakfast. By 9:45, we were already in class - 15 minutes early. That should put a smile on our professor's face, right?
Then Dr.J started his lecture about schizophrenia. You may be thinking schizo-what? Schizophrenia. It is a mental illness that usually attacks those in their late adolescence or early adulthood. The signs and symptoms vary from one to another because there are various levels of schizophrenia. However, psychologists have narrowed the category of symptoms and signs down to five major ones: delusions, hallucinations, bizarre speech, disorganized speech, and negative symptoms.
So in the book we are reading, "The Quiet Room," the author, Lori was diagnosed with schizophrenia. It shows her life as a schizophrenic and gives the readers a glimpse into the life of a schizophrenic. She hears voices all the time that seem to take full control over her actions. Lori believes that the voices are real but it is not. People tried to throw logic at her and inform her that the voices are imaginary and that she should not listen to them. Then she started hallucinating about stuff that never happened, but according to Lori, it seems real. Finally, through clorazine, Lori is able to rehabilitate her life but never fully back to her old life.
Our professor then told us about his experiences working in a psychiatric hospital. He have met people like Lori and he told us how certain they were that they were not ill. He told us he helped a guy who believed he was Jesus Christ, reborn. That is crazy! But that made me realize the true meaning of the reason I took this class. Of course I decided upon this class because I want to know about human behavior, but I want to put my knowledge of it to good use. Maybe I might major in psychology after all and help people like Lori. Obviously I was taken aback by her life when I first started reading it, but then I tried to put myself in her shoe. How might I have reacted? Would I have listened to the voices? My views have changed.
Now, I am left with a ton of questions. I want to find out more about schizophrenia such as the biological theories and neurology to it. When and how was it first discovered? Since schizophrenic experience the illness differently, is it possible that schizophrenia can be short term? If so, then how many of our population may have it? Since there are so many questions, I should do some research. Who knows, I may become a psychiatrist one day.
Well that is all for now while Courtney, Mercedes, and I prepare to go to the "College Q&A" meeting we have scheduled for the girls on our floor. I am sure we will gain a lot of useful information from it. So long for now.
Then Dr.J started his lecture about schizophrenia. You may be thinking schizo-what? Schizophrenia. It is a mental illness that usually attacks those in their late adolescence or early adulthood. The signs and symptoms vary from one to another because there are various levels of schizophrenia. However, psychologists have narrowed the category of symptoms and signs down to five major ones: delusions, hallucinations, bizarre speech, disorganized speech, and negative symptoms.
So in the book we are reading, "The Quiet Room," the author, Lori was diagnosed with schizophrenia. It shows her life as a schizophrenic and gives the readers a glimpse into the life of a schizophrenic. She hears voices all the time that seem to take full control over her actions. Lori believes that the voices are real but it is not. People tried to throw logic at her and inform her that the voices are imaginary and that she should not listen to them. Then she started hallucinating about stuff that never happened, but according to Lori, it seems real. Finally, through clorazine, Lori is able to rehabilitate her life but never fully back to her old life.
Our professor then told us about his experiences working in a psychiatric hospital. He have met people like Lori and he told us how certain they were that they were not ill. He told us he helped a guy who believed he was Jesus Christ, reborn. That is crazy! But that made me realize the true meaning of the reason I took this class. Of course I decided upon this class because I want to know about human behavior, but I want to put my knowledge of it to good use. Maybe I might major in psychology after all and help people like Lori. Obviously I was taken aback by her life when I first started reading it, but then I tried to put myself in her shoe. How might I have reacted? Would I have listened to the voices? My views have changed.
Now, I am left with a ton of questions. I want to find out more about schizophrenia such as the biological theories and neurology to it. When and how was it first discovered? Since schizophrenic experience the illness differently, is it possible that schizophrenia can be short term? If so, then how many of our population may have it? Since there are so many questions, I should do some research. Who knows, I may become a psychiatrist one day.
Well that is all for now while Courtney, Mercedes, and I prepare to go to the "College Q&A" meeting we have scheduled for the girls on our floor. I am sure we will gain a lot of useful information from it. So long for now.
Work load
Well I have had a real look into what a real college class is actually like. My introduction to psychology and human behavior class has been reading a book called the quiet room which is a memoir about a girl who grew up with schizophrenia. we have had to read it for homework (about 100 pages a day) and have had to email our teacher's assistants our feedback on what we think about the book so far.
As for me I find the book to be so interesting because the book gives the reader an inside look into what it is like to live with this illness. The character in this book goes through life here voices whom command her to kill her self and she hallucinates as well. We have class discussions in class about what we thought on the reading we did which is really fun an interesting because we hear what everyone thinks about the book and everyone is on the same page.
So far I have enjoyed my class and when i am not in class or doing my work I am having meetings with my floor mates and my RA (ROOM ASSISTANT).Also tomorrow in class we will watching the movie A Beautiful Mind and then discussing the psychological aspect of it on Friday.
Later,
Mercedes
Psychology, a possible major?
I walked to class ready for what Dr.J had to throw at me. I found the lectures interesting. I really like Dr.J's way of teaching. Today, we learned about how to structure an experiment. I actually did not know how much work and thought was needed to construct a good case study but now I know. I really appreciate how he really listens to all our opinions which may revolutionize the original idea.
Then we split into our groups to discuss a research topic and my group, the "Sexy Pandas," decided to do our research on the various types of intelligence. We figured that the IQ tests are not necessarily relative to measuring the intelligence of a person. People are smart at different subjects. For example, a person may have a high IQ but may not be doing so well in school or horrible in music. One test should not determine the limit of a person's intelligence. I am really excited to research more on my own and as a group because this is exactly what I believe. I believe there are more than one definition for intelligence. It just so happens that people ultimately associate the intelligence of someone through certain tests. I think that tests are not very accurate.
I am now done with my talk about class. Now it is time to talk about homework. We are reading a book called "The Quiet Room" by Lori Schiller. It is about this female who suffers from schizophrenia. The book is very eccentric but interesting because I am reading from different perspectives. I found out that it not only affect the person diagnosed with it but it is affecting her family as well. After reading a major part of the book, I now have a different view. It made me feel grateful for the life I have even though it may not be perfect but then again, what is perfect? No one can be perfect. The imperfections is what makes a person unique and not banal.
The main character's younger brother, Steven, decided to study psychology in college because he wanted to find a cure for his sister. He is an inspiration to me even though later on, he did drop the subject. He really reached out to me because he cared so much for her that he had decided to devote his life trying to help his sister. After that, I wanted to major in psychology but that desire only lasted a while. It is still in the back of my mind because I really enjoy this book. I want to help people who have mental illnesses. Maybe it is because I knew people who had fell into the spectrum of mental disorders and I witness their life. Therefore, I am considering psychology as a potential major.
I will see how the class goes and then finally decide if psychology is the subject for me. So far, I really enjoy and I hope to learn more.
Then we split into our groups to discuss a research topic and my group, the "Sexy Pandas," decided to do our research on the various types of intelligence. We figured that the IQ tests are not necessarily relative to measuring the intelligence of a person. People are smart at different subjects. For example, a person may have a high IQ but may not be doing so well in school or horrible in music. One test should not determine the limit of a person's intelligence. I am really excited to research more on my own and as a group because this is exactly what I believe. I believe there are more than one definition for intelligence. It just so happens that people ultimately associate the intelligence of someone through certain tests. I think that tests are not very accurate.
I am now done with my talk about class. Now it is time to talk about homework. We are reading a book called "The Quiet Room" by Lori Schiller. It is about this female who suffers from schizophrenia. The book is very eccentric but interesting because I am reading from different perspectives. I found out that it not only affect the person diagnosed with it but it is affecting her family as well. After reading a major part of the book, I now have a different view. It made me feel grateful for the life I have even though it may not be perfect but then again, what is perfect? No one can be perfect. The imperfections is what makes a person unique and not banal.
The main character's younger brother, Steven, decided to study psychology in college because he wanted to find a cure for his sister. He is an inspiration to me even though later on, he did drop the subject. He really reached out to me because he cared so much for her that he had decided to devote his life trying to help his sister. After that, I wanted to major in psychology but that desire only lasted a while. It is still in the back of my mind because I really enjoy this book. I want to help people who have mental illnesses. Maybe it is because I knew people who had fell into the spectrum of mental disorders and I witness their life. Therefore, I am considering psychology as a potential major.
I will see how the class goes and then finally decide if psychology is the subject for me. So far, I really enjoy and I hope to learn more.
Day 2.
Well, I can't believe I finished my second day here at Brown! I just wanted to elaborate more on what we did in class since I finally finished my homework.
For the first hour, Dr. Johnston (Dr. J) lectured the class about how to make an experiment. His procedure was:
1. start with an observation
2. decide what you want to manipulate
3. choose your subjects
4. decide what you are going to measure
5. design a standardized procedure
I felt this was definitely a helpful lecture since it is necessary to fully understand what is needed to make a successful experiment. I learned there are so many factors to consider when making an experiment that it is often impossible to prove a certain hypothesis.
We then split into our discussion groups where we talked about our reading of Lori Schiller's The Quiet Room. Although the book took me a couple hours to read, I actually enjoyed it. It's about the changes in the lives of Schiller and of her friends and family after she began hearing the Voices, which constantly tormented her. It was great to hear the comments of my peers about how they felt about the reaction of Schiller's family (especially her mother and father) to her schizophrenia.
After discussing the memoir, we split into our smaller group (mine is the Crazy Lions) to pick our influential study topic. With this topic, we must create a Power Point presentation for the class. My group picked The Power of Conformity because it's about social pressures and we felt most people in class could relate to this topic since we are all in high school and probably feeling the same pressures. I'll be meeting with my group on Friday and I will definitely tell you how our presentation next Wednesday goes.
Once we finished picking our topics, we read an article of the effect of texting on teenagers and were asked to create an experiment using what we learned from lecture. My group decided to see if there was a connection between texting parents and independence. Our hypothesis was that students who don't text their parents (as they would text friends) are likely to be more independent than those who do.
Besides the academic part, I just wanted to touch on my living situation at Brown. This was the first time I've ever had to live with a roommate and I'm actually loving it! I admit I was scared about what my roommate would be like and all these questions would come up like Will we get along? Will she like me? Will we hate each other? Thankfully, I have a wonderful roommate, Kim, from LA. I think we get along and it's nice to hear what it's like at home and compare.
Well, I have to get going since I want to get a head start on the reading tomorrow. Until next time!
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