Phuture Psychologist?

This past Wednesday I took a trip down to Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. They offered potential freshman a chance to attend classes and get to know the school. I have to say that my favorite class to sit in on was Psychology: Development and Growth. Previous to my trip, I was intimidated by college to say the least. I expected everyone, both teachers and students, to be extremely smart. The teacher for Psychology was such a character. She was an elderly lady who really got into what she was doing. At the beginning of the class, she handed out a sheet of questions to everyone, including me. The questions were about “bonding” between a child and their parent(s) and I could actually answer them, correctly that is. We spoke about ways a child, directly after birth, must immediately have contact with their mother to begin a proper relationship. Animals were also a topic of the day regarding how they are more physically capable at birth than humans, just as we talked about in AP Psych. Attending this class made me realize that psychology is a topic I really enjoy learning about. Who knows, I may possibly want to study it in college.

Shhhh...Secret

We recently read about the three main types of parenting styles for class. We even spent most of class discussing what type of parents we have and stories relating to them. In the Myers book, one of the parenting styles was authoritarian. These parents impose rules and expect obedience from their child. In the complete opposite direction are the permissive parents, who are easy on their children and give few demands. Then there are the parents who are, “just right”; the authoritative, who set rules, but give reasoning; have demands, but welcome responses. Three parenting styles seem like a decent amount; one too strict, one too soft, and one just right, kind of like Goldy Locks and the three bears. However, I researched more parenting types online and found a sight that says there are four, not three. After reading the text online I realized that this “extra” type makes sense as well. The fourth style is neglectful to their children. They are called “uninvolved parents”. Few commands are given along with little communication. On the website, they also include the impact this parenting style has in the children, which I found somewhat obvious. Actually, in a personal connection, I can relate my parents to their types, both being generally authoritative. My sister and I go on a trip to Atlanta every summer to visit old friends and family. Before we left, my dad, who was staying home, told us not to get in a car with our friends who just started driving. Not obeying his rule, we drove off to the movies in the back seat of my friend’s car. On the way back to her house, we were randomly pulled over by three police. It was around midnight when we finally go home. My mom was also in Atlanta at my aunt’s house and we told her what happened. We explained everything to her. She wasn’t upset but told us not to tell our dad. He still doesn’t know to this day...

http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/parenting-style.htm

Ice Ice Bloggie

Usually after I go through the lunch line, I sit down and eat lunch. The past few days I set my tray down and got my backpack, which I guess was unusual in the sense that I don’t normally do that. About the rubber band on my wrist, nobody noticed. I’m freezing most of the time so I always had on a long sleeve shirt that covered the band. Even if I were a drug addict with “tracks”, I could easily cover them up, well, at least in the winter. Otherwise in the summer the tracks would be obvious. The only time when people may have been suspicious was when I said I didn’t even want a drink with my dinner.  The only ice that I had access to was at home. My family did not know anything about my addiction, either because I am good at covering up or they saw the ice and didn’t really care that I used it. Either way, being an addict will change many things in a person’s life, and I know I would never want to be reliant on an addiction.

Ice Cube Anonymous (ICA)

Well, the ice cube addiction has officially ended. I personally think we should have tried following the challenge for longer than two days. The exercise really was a great way to see what addicts must go through everyday. I would have to be secretive, sneaky and somewhat peculiar on a daily basis. Following the 48 hour ice cube addiction was quite difficult at times. The days that we only had the addiction for half a day were easy. I really think we should have changed the days of the addiction because two full, consecutive days would have probably been more difficult than splitting them up. Also, having the Kiddie Clinic right after school stopped me from drinking any beverages, even when I was feeling extremely thirsty. Even if I could satisfy my addiction, there’s no way I could let the little girls see me with ice cubes! I guess it was kind of unusual for someone to not even want a beverage at dinner. That probably made me a bit suspicious. Drinking ANYTHING was always on my mind. I can see how an addict would have a tough time in situation where they can’t have their “fix”. There was no way my parents were even questioning me. They were always in a separate room when I opened the freezer.  In the sneaky way that I accessed my “drug”, I can see how some parents may not even know their child has an addiction. When I got home I decided to confess my addiction to my mom. I told her that it’s really hard for me to say this and she waited for me to explain myself. She asked me what my addiction was and I said “Ice Cubes”. As soon as I told her she scolded me and said I better not be chewing on them, they will ruin my teeth! I laughed hysterically, knowing she had no idea what I was talking about. Anyway, I overcame my ice cube addition. Drinking with ice is not something I want to do when it’s a mere zero degrees outside.

I am Brooke Weiland, and I am no longer addicted to ice cubes.

ICA (Ice Cube Anonymous)

Ice Lesson Log (ILL) cough, cough

Day One:

Drink 1- My first beverage was a nice, hot cup of tea, well, hot in the sense that it had ice in it as well. The ice was easy to get to since it was right in my freezer already. No one in my family even noticed that I used ice. It’s easy so far.

Drink 2- With dinner I had a cup of water with one ice cube in it. I usually just drink lukewarm tap water so the ice cube made the water a bit colder than usual. My family, once again, didn’t even notice.

Drink 3- Before bed, I had one more glass of water with an ice cube and was satisfied. I slept soundly with no needs for something to drink in the middle of the night.

Day Two:

Drink One- Last night, I filled my bottle of water up and put a single ice cube in it, knowing it would melt overnight. I did this because I knew the next morning (this morning) I would probably forget. Throughout the day I sipped on it. After school I had to stay after for dance because we had a kiddie clinic. This was going to be a challenge. I had a little bit of water left and survived on that at dinner. I thought maybe they would provide ice for us with our soda but they didn’t.

Drink Two- As soon as I got home from dance I had a delicious, hot glass of milk. I know, weird right? I went to sleep shortly after drinking my milk and was quenched the rest of the night.

Day Three:

Drink Once: Once again, I filled my water bottle up and put an ice cube in it. I drank some throughout the morning and finished it at lunch. Sadly enough, I was not able to sustain the ice cube addiction challenge. I had an enormous coughing attach during fourth hour and knew the only solution was water. Between coughs, I asked to go to the bubbler and quickly gulped the water down. I filled my water bottle up and felt ashamed of myself that I couldn’t finish the challenge properly. Ugh, I hate being “ILL”.

Light of Life

Today I read about near-death experiences in the David Myers book. As soon as I was done reading it, I knew I needed to post a blog. The introductory paragraph was what really grabbed by attention. It speaks of a man who just encountered a near-death experience and what happened after that. As I was reading, I realized that this is exactly how I told my story. After being medically taken out of a coma, I told my family of what I saw. There was a tunnel I went through, one with a light at the end. While in a coma, I would see and hear all the friends and family surrounding me just as the man in the story. Unlike this man, however, I imagined myself as a baby, reborn. I could see my own body, in the form of a baby of course, as an observer from a distance. Everything was calm and serene, time stood still. Soon I reunited with my own body and lived through my near-death experience. 

"[The light] showed me that God is love. By spreading love, you make God stronger. By making God stronger, He can, in return, help you. He told me your love has to be unconditional. That is the only rule he really has."

- Anonymous

Righty Tighty, Lefty Lossey

My family often refers to Uncle Kevin as an unusual accountant. He is fun loving, a jokester, and a complete kid at heart. Accountants, in my mom’s definition, are serious, unsociable people. She often refers to them as very left brained. Therefore, I associated the accountants’ personality with being left brained. The test that I found online included 50 questions to decide whether I am right or left brained. The results? 53% left brained and 47% right. This can’t be right. I’m not mainly left brained, am I? The results are however very close, so I’ll consider myself as both. Then I thought of the saying "Righty tighty, left loosey", which is used for screwing bolts and jars the correct way. Even though there is of course no connection between the brain and bolts, the saying is actually the opposite for the brain. Left brained people are said to be uptight and rule stricken; not foot loose. That means right brained people are more laid back and calm; not tightly wound. This connection just interested me. The test site also included information on being left brained as well. It states that left brained people are critical thinkers who use logic in everyday life. I guess that’s me. It also states that I receive information best through concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems. There is no way that is me. I believe I learn information better visually than through formulas and systems. Being a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge. Nuh uh, never could I be any of those. Maybe I answered a few questions wrong.

testcafe.com

Just Keep Swimming

We can remember our mom’s phone number, which page the math homework was on, our own address, and our friend’s birthdays. We are astonishing creatures. Even though these tasks appear everyday, they really are amazing. Reading about the brain this past week really captivated me. How could an organ hold all the information? In Myer’s book, we read about certain parts of the brain that hold memories, both long-term and short-term. 
I know my little sister would kill me if she found out I was talking about her, but as I was reading I automatically thought of her. She has had short-term memory for the past two years when we had our car accident. I feel as if I will be relating a lot of topics back to the accident, I apologize in advance if and when it becomes boring. Anyway, I decided to read up a bit more on short-term memory. I found this site (at the end of my post) that taught me more information about short-term memory. The front of the brain, called the pre-frontal lobe, is what holds information for short periods of time, such as person’s phone number. I know it’s gory to imagine, but I find myself thinking back to the day of the accident trying to remember what I saw. So far I remember nothing, but a man that we met at the Ronald McDonald House told me that he was in a accident ten years ago and is just starting to remember. I truthfully don’t want to remember seeing my sister's face as the car turned violently. Because of the short-term, that must mean that she hit her frontal lobe, most likely on the seat in front of her. Just thinking of it makes me cringe. Her memory has definitely improved over the last few years. It feels like it was just yesterday it happened. Right after the accident her memory was so bad that we answered her question and just a short minute later she would ask it again...the brain really is an amazing organ.


http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_07/d_07_cr/d_07_cr_tra/d_07_cr_tra.html


"I suffer from short-term memory loss. It runs in the family... At least I think it does... Where are they?"
-Dori (Finding Nemo)

Morpheus Morphine

           In Greek mythology, the god of dreams and sleep goes by the name of Morpheus. Derived from that name is the drug morphine. The drug is associated with the god because it causes the body to ease, in a sleeplike mode. Pain is dulled from perception centers in the brain, which are in contact with the drug. In personal experience, the drug eased the pain after a tragic car accident. When the nurse told me she was giving me more morphine, I replied “Oh, good”. At the time, I didn’t even know what morphine was. I just knew it made me feel better. Being on morphine relieved my pain and also made me a bit loopy.

            A group of drugs called narcotic pain relievers is what makes up morphine. In order to take this drug, a previous treatment of similar opioid pain medication must be taken before. Morphine may be taken as an injection or orally. The oral drug comes as both a powder and tablet; however, both the powder and tablet are one-third to one-sixth the potency of the injected drug. People suffering from asthma, liver or kidney disease, underactive thyroid, curvature of the spine, head injury, brain tumor, epilepsy, seizure disorder, low blood pressure, gallbladder disease, Addison’s disease, urine problems, mental illness or pregnant are not advised to take this drug.

            Short-term effects include impaired mental process, euphoria, drowsiness, lethargy, and blurred vision. Patients may also suffer from insomnia as well as hallucinations and nightmares. These effects should be acknowledged and recorded. As a long term-effect, morphine can easily become extremely addictive. Once the drug is no longer needed, doses must be reduced gradually to prevent addiction. An overdose of the drug would most likely lead to death. When used properly, morphine is a helpful drug in the medical field but becomes lethal when misused.


drugs.com
medic8.com