Paranoid Schizophrenia

 

This is what the world has come to. The poor Trix rabbit never got his trix cereal and the darn kids drove him insane. The trix rabbit is now diagnose with paranoid schizophrenia. Shame on you kids, I hope you are happy with yourselves.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard to,,,

• think clearly
• tell the difference between what is real and what is not
• have normal emotional responses
• act normally in social situations

Mental researchers are not quit sure what is the exact cause towards schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a very complex illness.

Children are likely to get this mental disorder and in my opinion I think it is the most creepy and horrible thing ever. Childhood Schizophrenia is rare and very hard to detect from autism. A specific type of schizophrenia that I would like to go more into detail is called Paranoid Schizophrenia. This mental illness is one of the most common types. Paranoid schizophrenia is the presence of hallucinations or prominent delusional thoughts about persecution or conspiracy. People with any type of schizophrenia have similar symptoms, but paranoid has a couple of exceptions like

• Anxiety
• Anger or arguing
• False beliefs that others are trying to harm you or your loved ones

To close things off, I like to entertain you fellow bloggers with a story about a little girl who suffers with paranoid schizophrenia. Rebecca Stancil, 9, has been battling hallucinations for years. This is where it gets a little creepy and scary. My heart goes out to this family. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.

Am I Manic?

Roughly this times blog will be very vague being that we only read one section of the following chapter on mood disorders. I feel the need to talk about a specific type of mood disorder known as mania.
People with bipolar disorder, manic-depressive disorder, alternate between two kinds of symptoms; depression and its opposite, mania. Mania is an abnormally elevated mood, arousal and energy levels. Mania is classified as a bipolar I disorder. The list below are some warning signs  of mania.

• mood changes
• increased energy
• speech disruptions
• impaired judgement
• hypersexuality
• changes in thought patterns
• psychosis ( paranoia, hallucinations, delusions)

A person with this mood disorder is going to go through a period of depression and these periods are called episodes. A manic episode is characterized by period of time where an elevated, expansive or notably irritable mood is present, lasting for at least one week.

Is there treatment for this severe bipolar disorder? The answer is yes. Pharmacological intervention or medications is the best treatment for this type of disorder.

• lithium
• Anticonvulsants
• Calcium Channel Blockers
• Antipsychotics
• Benzodiazepines- central nervous system depressants

Before I sign off i thought my bloggers could do something a little interesting and fun. Below, I have posted a link to take "Am I Manic?" quiz. This is not a diagnosis. Its is only to get an idea and maybe you might want to get yourself check out. Personally I took the quiz and my score was slightly high. I scored a 39 and my results were mild/serve manic depressive...sooo I am a little worried! I had no idea. Take the quiz and let me know what your results were.

http://psychcentral.com/maniaquiz.htm

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder for Teens

We can all agree that today's teen stress out as much as adults do. Some might even assume that some teens and college students stress more than an average adult. Is this something we should be concerned about? Yes,  Researchers have found that stress can be harmful to the human body; the immune system and there are many stress disorder. The specific type of stress disorder that I will be blogging about is Post-traumatic stress disorder, more specifically in teens.

Post-traumatic stress occurs in people who have endured terrifying experiences, such as a life-threatening attack or watching someone get killed. Many researcher put an emphasis on PTSD with adults. I think that we should evaluate and put an emphasis on lives of children and teens that suffer under this stress disorder. 

http://www.anxietybc.com/parent/post.php

I like to share a personal story that happened to a close friend of mine. Names will not be mentioned. About 2 years ago my close friend was driving to the golf course for practice with a teammate and her boyfriend. She heard a usual sound with her car and decided to pull in a parking lot on the side of the road she was on. She on a street where there was no shoulder. I am assuming, you know what comes next. A person coming for the other side crashed into backseat and she lost her boyfriend that day. She was with that whole night, all the way from the ride in the helicopter to end of the night when the doctors pronounced him dead. 

Everyday she lives with the guilt of having fault in the dead of a loved one. She cried every night and to this day she is afraid to even drive. I have been told that once she sits in the passengers seat, flashbacks of that tragic accidents just plays over and over in her head. I know she suffers dearly and misses her first love everyday. She cries in the middle of night and there are times when she does not even sleep. She is living an unhealthy lifestyle, but she refuses to seek help.

My reason for sharing a story like this, for the thought, of how is one supposed to deal with something like this. Is she ever going to be normal again? Now I used a friend's story as an example but now lets look at the big picture. Children and teens having to see a murder, having to see their father physically abuse their mother or vice versa, a rape, or any other type a life threatening fatal accident. It's tough and saddening to have tp see someone so young to have to go through so much pain. How does one cope?

I have posted a video about 2 psychologist that have some very good basic information on PTSD for teens. Check it out!

A Sleepwalker's Curse

Learning about sleep disorder was very interesting. One sleep disorder, in particular, that I found the most intriguing was sleepwalking. Sleepwalking usually involves more than just walking during sleep; it is a series of complex behaviors that are carried out while sleeping, the most obvious of which is walking. Also, it is safe to note that waking up a sleep walker is not dangerous. You actually could cause more harm than to not wake the person. Here I have listed the causes, symptoms and treatment of sleepwalking.

Causes

• Sleep deprivation

• Stress

The Curse or Symptoms

• Sleeptalking

• Little or no memory of the event

• Difficulty arousing the sleepwalker during an episode

• Inappropriate behavior such as urinating in closets (more common in children)

• Screaming (when sleepwalking occurs in conjunction with sleep terrors)

• Violent attacks on the person trying to awaken the sleepwalker

Treatment

Can this sleepwalking curse be lifted? According to an article I found by the Nation Sleep Foundation, there is no specific  treatment for this disorder. The best thing for one to do is improve one's sleep hygiene. An apology goes out to those who sleepwalk, since there is not a steady treatment for now sleepwalking is your cross to bare.

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-related-problems/sleepwalking

In conclusion to this blog, for those who are unfamiliar with sleep, I have posted a rather funny video to give you an idea what to expect from a sleepwalker. Well, being the video is hollywood based, it might a little exaggerated. Enjoy!

Making a Mr. Right List

Single ladies this blog is for you! Don't give up just yet, your prince charming is still out there waiting for you. Basically, in today's blog I will be discussing my opinion on the topic "what men and women seek in a mate". According to our books, men tend to seek for a younger partner only because younger woman are more likely to remain fertile. In this case, men can have more children and high status of power by keeping their name going through future generation. That's a typical male. Ain't I right ladies, let me hear an Amen! 

As for woman, we tend to seek and prefer a partner who will be a good provider.   Men, listen to this because plenty of men get this wrong, we want good providers. We are not gold diggers or just want a rich man for his money. The book does a good job in explaining, why woman seek a good provider because during child birth a woman needs someone to take care of her while the woman takes care of the baby. I do not see anything wrong in this concept. I just see justice because going through birth looks like going through hell to me. 

Nowadays, there are plenty of single people out there and it is becoming hard to meet to people. I am assuming that is why we have a plenty of online dating and now many relationships begin through online dating. In my opinion, single people have to rely on online dating because what they seek in a partner is too demanding or they are describing themselves. I do not believe in Mr. Perfect, but I believe there is a Mr. Right. In the video I posted a relationship expert, Janie Lacy explains how to go about finding your Mr. Right. I thought is was interesting because she states that many people will make a list and she will come to find that people tend to put desires that are extreme as sometimes impossible. The most interesting criteria I thought she said was to list things that would be nice to have in a partner but they would be deal breakers or keep all your options open and do not be picky. 

Currently, I am new to the dating and at the moment unavailable. Did I use the Mr. Right list? No, but I did in some sense evaluate my partner before I decided to more forward. When I came across the Mr. Right list I thought this was a good way for those singles, who are still keeping their look out for that special someone, to approach the dating world. 

My Mr. Right List

• Tall
• Preferably Stocky/athletic
• prefers outdoor activities (Golf is a must)
• must have a good sense of humor ( I enjoy laughter)
• Goal oriented and Well Rounded
• Family Man
• Most importantly, must be a Dog Lover!

What is your Mr. Right List or Mrs Right List? Leave some comments, love to know what you all expect in a partner. Thanks.

Ashlyn Blocker

Today's blog is going to be a little different than my previous blogs. In this weeks chapters, we learned about the important aspect to pain. We learned about pain stimuli, sensitization of pain, and importance on placebos and so on. One, concept that intrigued me was the section of relieving pain. Sure, one can relieve pain through certain pain relievers or medication, but finding out that there are people out there that do feel pain all, that is entertaining and scary at the same time. Being insensitive to pain is dangerous. 

In our book, biological psychology, we were briefly informed about a little boy in Pakistan, who would street perform about his abilities to feel no pain. I instantly became obsessed with this kind of disorder and need to know more. I began research on diseases and disorder that led to feeling no pain. It was at that moment when I came across this very special little girl. She has an amazing story and I am going to share it with you. Her name is Ashlyn Blocker and I dedicate this blog to her.

Ashlyn was born with a rare disease called congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA). CIPA is an extremely rare inherited disorder of the nervous system which prevents the sensation of pain, heat, cold, or any real nerve-related sensations. An estimate of less than 100 people in the united states have this rare disorder. Ashlyn was diagnosed with this disorder after a family visit to the eye doctor. She was giving a painful dye in the eye and everybody freaked that she didn't even flinch. Her parents share that Ashlyn's toddler years were the worst and the most terrifying. She would constantly bite herself, bruise herself and even burn herself. Now, at the age of 12, Ashlyn is still diagnosed with the same disorder but is doing all that is necessary to keep herself under control. She still thinks and take on life as if she was just as ordinary as any other normal child. Best of all, about this little girl, her and her family started this camp where other families who are dealing with similar issues get together and have a campout. They all state that its nice to be around people who know exactly what they are going through. It's one of those "its nice to know we are not alone moments."

I know I wrote brief about Ashlyn but don't worry if you want to learn more I have attached her article and a video on her. Check it out and be inspired by someone who is just as amazing as you are.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-07-06/news/32569673_1_ashlyn-rare-disorder-abc-news

The 6th Leading Cause of Death: ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE!

Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that worsens over time. This disease affects memory, thinking and behavior. Dementia is a loss of brain function by a cause of disease. You are more likely to get Alzheimer's when you are older. one thing that I found interesting though were a couple of facts in an article that I search up on the web. It stated that being female puts you at risk for getting the disease. Also, having high blood pressure and having a history of head trauma are risk factors for Alzheimer's.

Enough about that, I want to share with you a quick little personal story about Alzheimer's. I lost my great-grandfather to Alzheimer's. He got the disease primarily because of old age. He lived to be 86. When his nurse gave us the news, she said he did have much time left in him and we had the 'option' to spend the day with him. She didn't recommend spending a day with my great-grandpa become he wouldn't remember any of us and we would only confuse him and probably scare him. I did like that she gave an "option". My great-grandpa is family and there is no disease in the world that can take that away. Anyway, my family spent the day with him. We took him out and bought him new clothes and at  the end of day, once everyone said their good byes, he waves me over to him and whispers to me "good bye little ashley" Then he goes in the deepest of sleeps. That moment was beautiful and I knew that i was special to my great-grandpa because he remembered me out of everyone else.

My great-grandpa's alzheimer's just sort of snuck up on us. We didn't think anything like this would happen. Coming from mexican and hispanic heritage we have that stereotypical idea of Alzheimer's being  a white man disease, so you can just imagine how surprised we were to get the news. I think this is very important to mention because not a lot of people know the true facts about Alzheimer's. We automatically assume its a disease for the elderly. Not a lot of people know that Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States! This is interesting and insane. Check out this video on facts about Alzheimer's disease.