Monthly Archives: July 2019

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch. 15 1st Impression Post: Mental Health Treatment

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

The textbook lists 4 techniques for mental health treatments. The techniques are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, and Cognitive. I think psychodynamic therapy would be the most helpful for me. I believe its the therapy I had while I was seeing therapist monthly while at school. It helps people with their current symptoms by focusing on themes across important relationships, including childhood experiences, and the therapist relationship.

I think its the most helpful type of therapy for me because I tend to forget or suppress the past which my therapist helped me realize. I don’t think about my childhood because it wasn’t too great. I had/have authoritarian parents so there wasn’t much I cared to remember.

Its astonishing for me to look back at my childhood after taking this class. Especially after learning about the parenting styles and the effects they have on children. I turned out almost exactly how the textbook said I would from being raised by Tiger Parents.

This type of therapy helped me realize why I was shy, had low self esteem, had a lack of social competence, have anxiety, and occasionally struggle with self control. This type of therapy helped me figure out why I am the way I am by digging into my past. All it took was a therapist to give me slight hints and let me put the pieces together to get a mental breakthrough.

I feel being able to have a “eureka” moment when you discover a self-truth is one of the greatest feelings you can have. What I don’t like about psychodynamic therapy is the possibility of taking a long time to reach a mental breakthrough. I feel like many people don’t realize how much their upbringing affects who they are. This is why I believe psychodynamic therapy is the best mental health treatment.

I believe the second best type of therapy is humanistic because it tackles many basic psychological problems. I picture this therapy where the therapist has to work with a delicate patient. The patient lacks self-awareness and empathy. The patient can’t understand the effects their decisions cause and they use heuristics to make their decisions. I feel like patients requiring this therapy use the the phrase “what if” a lot of the time. I don’t like this therapy because it seems like it could a very long time for the patient to experience a breakthrough if the patient doesn’t put full effort into the treatment.

I think the third most effective therapy is cognitive therapy. I ranked it third because if someone talked to me like the therapist did in the textbook, I might lose full composure. Its hard for me to imagine someone who can’t narrow down the significant aspects of their life. I find it hard to picture someone who can’t articulate on their feelings about an event or occurrence.

I find it hard to emphasize with these people because I choose to interact with optimistic people. My friends and I might’ve had a bad day but we could all get together to play some online video games and feed off each other’s positive vibes. I feel like if I hung around Negative Nancy’s all day, I might become one. These people just might need a new friend group.

What I don’t like about this therapy is if the patient can’t learn to elaborate on their feelings with particular events, they will have to go to therapy for a long time.

The least effective therapy I feel is behavior therapy. I think this because its based on classical conditioning. I feel like I have a bias towards it because I think of Pavlov’s dog. Then I think of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon uses chocolates to condition Penny to do what Sheldon sees as correct behavior. I see this type of therapy as artificial with no higher level thought processes involved so I couldn’t see this treatment having a lasting effect on a patient.

Ch.14 1st Impression Post: Mental Illness

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

This video really opened my eyes to Schizophrenia. I was never very sure what exactly what Schizophrenia was. I always pictured the voices in the victim’s heads be more like whispers and sound like the victim’s actual voice. I never really thought of the voices being loud, emotional tones, or convincing enough to the point where the victim let the voices control their behavior. I thought the voices for the victims were more annoying than convincing and the victim would surrender to the voices’ demands so they would stop speaking.

I didn’t think the hallucinations were so subtle to the point where they were realistic like when the pizza box said “poizon” instead of pizza. I thought video portrayed the voices of the victim to be parents or significant role models of the victim.

I always thought of traditional superhero villains when I thought of Schizophrenia. The Joker from Batman movies and cartoons comes to mind first. Then a video game character from Call of Duty, Alex Mason, also strikes my memory.

I always thought the Joker had schizophrenia because of his complex and dark personality. He always had schemes where’d he plan them to where they were organized, dark, and dramatic. I think one of the main pieces of the Joker’s persona which made me think he was Schizophrenic was his scary clown theme. Another reason why I thought he was Schizophrenic was because when he had the opportunity to kill Batman, he wouldn’t do it. The movies made this very apparent to the point where there wasn’t a doubt Batman survived just so they could keep making movies. I think the Joker like committing crimes and causing tyranny but he wouldn’t enjoy it as much if Batman was dead. It looked like the Joker enjoyed causing chaos like a sport and he enjoyed the challenging competition which Batman provided. The Joker’s thinking process was so unnatural which is why I believe he is a pop culture symbol for Schizophrenia.

The video wouldn’t any help to categorizing the Joker as a Schizophrenic. However, the list of symptoms defines the Joker as a victim of Schizophrenia. We know from the The Dark Knight, the Joker’s father suffered from it because his solution to making a sad young son happy was to carve the his face so the marks resembled a permanent smile. This means Schizophrenia was in the Joker’s genes. Then the dark thoughts and agitated body movement the Joker had in the movies confirmed he was a Schizophrenic.

The second portrayal of Schizophrenia I know comes from a video game character. Alex Mason from the Call of Duty had a different way the Schizophrenia manifested itself. He was on a mission to kill Castro but only ended assassinating Castro’s body double. He was captured by the Russians. One of the Russian generals brainwashed him. The general implanted numbers into Mason’s head. The Russians planned to Mason release back to the United States. When Mason got back to the US, he would use the numbers he was brainwashed with to activate Russian sleeper agents. The sleeper agents would then release a toxic and deadly gas called Nova 6. Even after the Russians’ plans were stopped, Mason continued to see and hear the numbers. They would still instruct him to do certain things.

Due to the voices in Mason’s head instructing to conduct certain actions and the hallucinations of numbers is why Alex Mason another pop culture symbol of Schizophrenia. Mason fits the video’s description of Schizophrenia very well because both characters had voices in their heads and hallucinations.

This assignment was definitely an eye opener to what Schizophrenia really is. I had no idea hallucinations could be so subtle before watching the video. I feel like I’ll have an easier time putting myself in Schizophrenic’s shoes if a situation occurs where I have to interact with a victim after completing this assignment.

Ch. 12 1st Impression Post: Social

--Original published at Rickster's Psychology Blog

I can remember a couple times where cognitive dissonance may have changed my beliefs. I believe it happens more than people think. I experienced cognitive dissonance when I first started weed whacking my home when I was a freshman in high school.

I refused to use safety glasses or goggles when I first weed whacked. I didn’t enjoy wearing any protection because I wasn’t used to wearing glasses. They always felt weird on my face. They always fogged up or impaired my vision from sweating on hot summer days. I didn’t wear ear protection either because earbuds become uncomfortable after sweating and I’d rather be able to hear when my weed whacker when the gas tank was approaching empty. I knew it was a safety hazard but I believed if I always whacked the weeds at a certain angle, projectiles would never hit me in the face s0 I would never need to use safety glasses. I continued this behavior for a few years.

My beliefs completely changed I got my first job as a groundskeeper at a local country club. My first day, I walked into the groundskeepers’ quarters. I noticed a man wearing an eye patch. Instead of being awkward and staring at it for the whole summer, I asked my older coworker what happened to his eye.

He said he was weed whacking around the boundaries of the country club. He wasn’t wearing any eye or ear protection. He ended hit a piece of rusted metal from a barb wire fence which removed years beforehand. This piece of metal went straight through his cornea and blinded him in his left eye for life.

He was unable to make to any sort of lawsuit or receive any compensation for the accident. This was because he removed his eye protection. He also seemed part deaf. It was probably from working around loud equipment for so long.

After talking to him, I always wear eye, and ear protection when weed whacking and working with loud equipment at all times. I even wear jeans and sometimes sleeves when weed whacking now.

Another instance which reinforced my neediness for eye protection is from a story my dad told me. He nearly blew my mind when he said he was welding an exhaust pipe without eye protection. I could see people not use eye protection while weed whacking but I could never fathom someone welding without a welders mask. My dad ended up having a liquid hot piece of metal fall off the exhaust pipe and hit him in the eye. He went to the emergency room even though he thought the debris was out of his eye.

The doctors told him the aluminum was so hot it was in liquid form. The reason why he thought it was gone because the metal melted into his eye. He vision in that eye was bad at first and he recovered. However, he will never be able to see out as well out his right eye again because the metal is still there. He can’t go through an MRI machine because the magnetism involved with the machine would cause the metal to erupt out of his eye.

After hearing those 2 stories from 2 different people and from hearing absolute horror stories from safety meetings, I will never hesitate to use eye protection for any semi-hazardous job I’ll have.

These 2 instances were very rare and serious but I would never want something similar to those 2 occurrences to happen to me. I rely heavily on my eyesight and hearing to play Call of Duty at a professional level so I would never jeopardize my hobby and possibly a career because I didn’t use proper safety precautions to do landscaping work.