Schizophrenic Inspiration

The history of schizophrenia is a dark and haunting one, as it has been with many other mental disorders. People who suffered from schizophrenia were accused of being possessed by demons and were put away, due to fear. It's dictionary definition reads, "Schizophrenia, also called dementia praecox- a severe mental disorder characterized by some, but not necessarily all, of the following features: emotional blunting, intellectual deterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and hallucinations." While further researching this topic, I began to think of what positive aspects this stereotypically life destroying illness could possess. Creativity is something abstract, yet beautiful, which individuals seem to appreciate no matter what. People suffering from mental disorders such as schizophrenia, DID and Bipolar Disorder have been known to have episodes of great creativity and many have created amazing works of art during those episodes. 

Louis Wain was an English artist born in the year 1860 and whose life seemed to be a recipe for artistic success. He was born with a cleft palate and his parents were directed by their physician to not allow young Louis to enter school until the age of 10. That alone caused many difficulties for him. Four of his sisters never married, which was rare in those times. His youngest sister was determined insane and was admitted into an asylum. His life seemed very dramatic and different, which seemed like great inspiration for his artistic passion. He married and when his wife became ill they took in a cat who comforted her. He would teach the cat, who they named Peter, many tricks to lift his wife's spirits. He also began to paint Peter and various other cats doing human activities. After his wife's death he published his cat paintings. 

Throughout his artistic career, his paintings show the progression of his mental disorder. While at the beginning, his cat paintings seemed completely normal, they soon became completely erratic and abstract. His cat no longer a cat, but a magnificently colored pattern. He was known to be misunderstood many times, due to his incomprehensible speech. His schizophrenia became so severe that he even began to feel weary of even his sisters. His delusions worsened and he began to walk the streets at night and would also rearrange the furniture while the rest of the family slept. His family could no longer care for him and he was sent to a mental hospital in Tooting in South London, England where he remained for the rest of his life until his death in 1939. Some may say that his disorder may have been completely negative, since it caused him his family and his career, but I believe his condition made his art special. It wasn't simply creativity, it was true talent and inspiration. It is unfair to think though that his inspiration had to come from such a mentally debilitating disorder.

 His work still remains an abstract wonder sought out by collectors. Wain may have been affected by his schizophrenia, but as some may agree, it only made his works of art that much more intriguing.

Bipolar Disorder: Not just a pop song

 

We have all, at one point, heard Katy Perry's song "Hot N Cold", where she talks about a past love, which evidently did not work out due to his drastic change in moods and thoughts. The term bipolar is now used when referring to someone who simply cannot make up their mind. Bipolar disorder is a form of depression and it entails much more than just moods and thoughts and it affects a person's entire life, not just one aspect of it. Bipolar disorder is one of those special psychological disorders which affects both genders equally and which also affects every race alike. About 5.7 million people in the US currently suffer from such disorder. Bipolar disorder is characterized by it's two completely separate poles, mania and depression. An individual suffering from bipolar disorder may seem perfectly happy and extremely creative and confident for a period of time and then become severely depressed and full of extreme sadness for another period.

When thinking of the manic episodes of Bipolar Disorder we may think that the person is super happy and jumping off the walls with joy, but that is not at all the entire truth. Mania is characterized by restless activity, excitement, laughter, self-confidence, rambling speech, and loss of inhibitions. The definition of mania shows just how dangerous manic episodes are. The outward portrayal of mania may cause people to lose their jobs and may hurt their relationships with others. When an individual talks about their manic episodes they refer to them as "a mind running wild". They have many different thoughts and ideas running through their head and they need to focus on what they want to say in order to get a particular point across. It must be difficult to concentrate when you have constant thoughts fighting for your attention. Another dangerous characteristic of Bipolar Disorder is reckless behavior. There are various levels of severity. One side of the spectrum refers to either violent actions or extremely risky activities, such as drunk driving, bungee jumping, or sky diving. The other side of the spectrum includes activities such as going on shopping sprees and spending money that you don't have. These people claim they know the negative consequences to their actions, but their minds keep telling them they need this certain stimulus or item.

 

 

The video above explains the importance in getting the proper medications and also talks about forming a close connection with psychiatrists, who can regulate the episodes brought on by an individuals bipolar disorder. There are treatments available, but when dealing with bipolar disorder a medical professional has to decide which medication is right for each patient. It is very important to identify which episode these individuals are suffering at the moment. Manic episodes require different types of medication as compared to depressive episodes. Lithium and certain anticonvulsant medications are also very common when treating bipolar disorder. Constant sleeping schedules have also been known to help with bipolar symptoms.

 



Bipolar disorder is so much more than not being able to decide on something. There is so much emotional pain and sometimes even physical pain accompanying bipolar disorder. It affects the individual themselves and everyone around them. It is a dangerous disorder which needs to be closely monitored by a specialist. Individuals who believe they are suffering from bipolar disorder should seek help and figure out what is wrong and what they need to do to alleviate some of the pain. There are also many physiological changes that occur when suffering from bipolar disorder, such as the elevation of anxiety, which triggers the "fight or flight" response, which prepares the body physically to either run from a situation or fight. The elongated presence of such a response is not healthy for our bodies and affects us in many ways. This is one of the many reasons why people should seek help and should learn what works to control them personally.

Silent Killer

Stress, in our modern world, is something we just can’t seem to avoid. It seems to come from everywhere and it occurs at various levels of severity. Our body is built to withstand high levels of stress, but despite that strength, there is a limit to how much stress can be received without periods of restoration in between. There are two types of stressors, major and minor, which overtime can lead to many physical and emotional problems. The first would be the minor stressors, which we have termed “daily-hassles”, because they are those irritating events that occur every day at moments we would rather them not. If you are stuck in traffic and are most likely going to be late  for work, if your pet decides to go to the bathroom on your clean floor, and when you think of all the things you have to do today, those are all daily-hassles. The important piece of information to note is that these minor stressors are not only for that particular day. They don't all fade away when we go to sleep at night and get a fresh start in the morning; in reality it carries over and continues the next day. The effects of these minor stressors are something we should not take lightly. We need to realize that the accumulation of every minor event can lead to an actual problem in the future. The second would be the major stressors, which are more commonly known as “major life events”. They don’t occur very often, but have such intense effects that they are equivalent to multiple accumulated minor stressors. These major life events include the death of a family member, unexpected tragedy, the sudden loss of a job, amongst many others. It may seem like there is a big difference between major and minor stressors, but in reality they are both dangerous and will eventually harm our bodies physically.

The following clip explains what stress is and what physical illnesses it causes. The video shows some of the effects which also include concentration and decision making. Long term stress can cause insomnia, sleep apnea, headaches, constipation, upset stomach, high blood pressure, chest pain and even a heart attack.

 

Knowing that stress is so dangerous and hurtful may make us want to prevent any future damage. There are many techniques people can use to help reduce the effects of stress.You can begin by simply breathing deeply. It is physiologically impossible to be stressed while breathing deeply. Other techniques are meditation, calm activities such as walking, knitting, swimming, or reading, a massage, petting your cat or dog, and simply thinking positive thoughts. It is very important to begin to think of the negativity stress causes and start a plan to prevent it or reduce it. It may seem like a difficult or time consuming thing to do, but isn't our life worth it?

From Earth and Beyond

Sleep is an extremely important part of our life. Humans spend approximately a third of their lives sleeping. There are many theories which attempt to define why sleep is so important, but we have yet to find an exact answer. Without even looking at the research, one can simply feel how important it is to sleep. Sleep deprivation has various levels, but the reality is that no matter how sleep deprived you are, your body reacts differently to situations. It doesn’t matter if they are small decisions or drastically important decisions, sleep –or the lack of- can deeply influence your response. Not getting the adequate sleep one requires can make us feel like we are on pilot mode, like we are not completely in control; our body is just doing what it feels it has to. This may be dangerous in certain situations, especially to those in certain occupations such as firefighters, police officers, physicians, and astronauts. Before we go on, it is important to know the background behind sleep and its biological source.

What can be done in situations where your environment is not in synchrony with your circadian rhythm? The answer to this question is important for people who work night shifts and who are required to stay awake and alert during the night. It would also help individuals who for a certain reason are not exposed to the proper external stimuli –such as sunlight- which is important in maintaining synchrony. Astronauts are affected by this, due to their long periods living in the darkness of space. Much research has gone into facilitating the sleep patterns and maintaining the psychological health of astronauts. Their work demands great focus and precision, which are two factors affected by sleep. By using the known information about sleep and the circadian rhythm of humans, why not attempt to predict the wakeful and most alert periods to guarantee  proper work? That is exactly what Elizabeth Klerman, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital has done. “Elizabeth Klerman uses finely designed mathematical models to predict performance and alertness in flight control staff”. Dougherty (HMS) With her research in lighting and its influence on sleep, she has successfully inverted many astronauts’ physiological schedules to prepare them for specific sleep-wake schedules in space. Their research has declared the eye as a very important contributor and blue light as a more influential color. Her collection of information is very interesting and helpful to many. Her findings also apply to shift workers. Many have to work during the night and sleep during the day, completely reversing their circadian rhythm, but it can be accomplished. There are certain techniques which can be used, such as light therapy.

 

Sleep is necessary and it is through our 24 hour day span that our internal body determines when it occurs. External stimuli strongly influences as well, but light is the biggest contributor. We need to maintain our health and by keeping up with sleep we will also be helping our decision making process. It seems quite easy to state "keep up with sleep", but when transferred to the real world it is difficult to accomplish. There are many expectations and they sometimes can't all be done before the day is over. That is when we begin to sleep late and therefore throw off our circadian rhythm. But we are creatures who adapt fairly easily and we can readjust the rhythm a bit. It is in drastic situations when resetting the circadian rhythm would be absolutely necessary.

Ambiguity: Who should Choose?

Gender identity is the personal identification and categorization of an individual’s particular gender. In western society, the normative ideology regarding gender is determined through the two sexes; female and male. Socialization processes are very important in teaching the proper expression of gender characteristics. We have all been assigned to a particular gender. This assignment took place whilst still in the womb. The particular appearance of an individual’s genitalia then leads to the gender assignment. Every person is aware of what is proper to wear, how one should act, and what is acceptable for each gender. These behaviors and beliefs have been reinforced since infancy and therefore remain throughout the life course and will eventually be taught to the next generation.

But what if the appearance of an individual’s genitalia is completely ambiguous? What if the most important factor used to differentiate amongst females and males is not present? What should be done if someone looks to be both male and female? The condition of having intermediate and atypical combinations of physical features of both sexes is defined as intersex. The statistics shows that 1 in every 1,500 infants will be born with genitalia that will not be easily classified. The following clip shows an intersex individuals story and their views on what should be done to "correct" intersex infants' ambiguous genitals. It also shows two surgeons with two very different views and experiences with the intersex community.  

 

It is interesting to hear the woman in this video talk about what her gender identity is. She mentions she is a female, but a different variety of female. Is it possible for western societies to accept variations in our two strictly defined genders? Difficult to tell. We all see the discrimination and negative views many have on homosexual individuals, but this seems to be something completely different; and it is. An intersex individual has not chosen to have both genital structures, they for whatever reason were simply born that way. Why should they be discriminated against or looked down upon when their condition was a mere mutation? 

What is done after an infant is determined to have ambiguous genitals has changed in the last years. In early years most doctors would suggest that all babies have surgeries which would convert them into full females. The problem is that many individuals suffered malpractice and were literally mutilated and deeply suffered long-terms effects. Others were hormonally of one sex, but due to surgery were physically female. Having emotional and hormonal similarities with physical genitalia can have detrimental effects. Many stories have been shared and we can see different views, such is the case in a NY Times article about an intersex individual name Chase.

There are many new guidelines which protect intersex babies and their families. But it is the children and their futures which should be the main priority. Many people can have different opinions, but I believe whatever is done should be for the benefit of the children. In my opinion people born with ambiguous genitalia should be allowed to choose for themselves later in life when they are aware of what it means and what it will entail. During their development parents should listen to their children and ask them what they want and how they feel. In a situation so delicate and sensitive this may be the only way to go about innocent children's lives. 

It is a controversial topic, like many others are. But when society is so apposed to changing their views it becomes even more difficult. Everyone should attempt to sympathize with intersex individuals and maybe in the future they may be fully accepted as they are with no necessary tweaks or  adjustments.


Link between Mind & Body: Social Pain

A great debate will, with the passing of time, strengthen its opposing sides and become more and more controversial. Such is the case with the Mind-Body connection. Many believe in the mind’s many characteristics, even though no physical presentation has ever really been determined. Others are not at all convinced and would rather do away with the concept of the mind completely. Feelings and emotions are one characteristic of the mind. One feels emotions and certain biological responses occur. But just how close is the connection between mind and body? Experiments have been replicated to show just how close the link is.

A relatively new study shows the close connection between emotional pain and physical pain. Physical pain can be tracked to its responding point in the human brain. Any type of pain, despite the level of severity, causes the activation of specific parts key in determining physical distress. What many were curious to find was what areas were activated in result to emotional distress. After conducting various experiments it was interesting to see that both physical and emotional pain activated the same brain region.

They tested emotional pain by using individuals who had recently suffered a non-planned breakup in their relationship and they also used a method of social rejection. If you have ever felt left out of a group or situation, you understand it is followed by anger possibly, but also a high level of emotional pain –feelings hurt, in other words-. Social pain, as it is called, has the exact same effect as when suffering from physical pain.

The experimenters not only searched MRI images for the activated brain region, they also tested the effects of the famous pain-relieving drug acetaminophen, Tylenol, on “emotional” pain. Some were given Tylenol before being exposed to emotionally distressful situations ,while others were given a placebo. Those who had in fact taken the actual medication reported less cases of "hurt" feelings, thus proving Tylenol's effect on not only physical pain, but also emotional.

 

 

This experiment shows the link between body and mind, the physical and the emotional. It's close relation narrows the gap between those on opposing sides. It gives hope that our mind is real and that it is closely in synchronization with our biology. The only drawback to this finding would be that of any medicated drug; are there side effects, is it safe for long term use, is it causing a chemical imbalance worse than the emotional pain it sought out to alleviate? There are many questions to be answered before we get completely comfortable with the idea of a miracle drug used to treat a broken heart. We need to also take into consideration the current removal of Tylenol in major retail stores and also the lawsuits involving Tylenol. There is much useful information, but there is still much more to research and many issues to resolve.

Anterograde Amnesia

 For the most part, when thinking of amnesia, one usually thinks of getting hit on the head so hard all memory is wiped clear. The reality is that there are various factors that can cause amnesia. Memory is stored in different parts of the brain. Specific parts of the brain are responsible for different types of memory. If a particular part is damaged, the function that part was in charge of may severely suffer or seize to properly work completely.

 

Amnesia is a very dangerous disorder. Depending on its severity it can damage people's social and professional lives. Anterograde amnesia is a form of amnesia which is characterized by the inability to transfer short-term memory into long-term memory. People with anterograde amnesia are able to remember  most of their past memories, but have great difficulty remembering new information post incident. The detrimental characteristic accompanying anterograde amnesia is that a person will only be aware and remember information and events in their immediate attention-span. Everything beyond -or after the person becomes distracted- is completely erased from consciousness and is as if it never happened. The more casual term used when referring to anterograde amnesia is short-term memory loss.

It takes much patience and tender care from loved ones to help individuals with anterograde amnesia overcome the fear and depression which accompany such amnesia. In the following clip we will see a man named Clive Wearing who has about a thirty second memory. When listening to him comment on the feeling he gets when "coming back into consciousness" from a blank sleep he terms as death, you can't help but feel bad and truly empathize with what he must feel.

 

In this more recent video Clive's wife explains what his everyday life is like. It must be a bit strange or simply very pleasant to have your husband hug you and express their love as if they hadn't seen you in so long. There are many hardships involved when dealing and living with a person with amnesia. The video mentions that Clive has even lost the memory connecting various foods with their particular flavor. It is all so difficult, yet Clive is lucky to have someone who cares for him and helps him so much.

It was interesting to see the many causes of amnesia. The most common would be a traumatic brain injury causing damage to important memory parts, psychological disorder or severe shock, certain types of drugs, herpes virus type I when left untreated, and alcohol intoxication to the point of unconsciousness. People, especially those prone to binge drinking, should be very careful with the amount of alcohol consumed and in the length of the time while consuming. We should all protect our bodies and think of the many consequences which may impact our lives and make us completely dependent on our loved ones.