Wee!- Translation: Wii!

PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY STEVE LISS

I was going through my blog feeds and stumbled across a very interesting article from a lady that goes by McEwen. She is the mother of two austistic boys, as well as two normal children. Her blog was entitled "Get with the programme mother." It discusses the physical and emotional issues of raising autistic children. In this blog's case, potty training. Her article focues on how as a mother of both normal and autistic children, the emotional factors of understanding her autistic children can be trying. She tries to understand them, and always wonders if they will have the motivation to do certain things. She describes how she translates certain things so wrongly sometimes and it makes her seem like an impatient old bat. Her children both had issues potty training. They would seem like they got far and then would regress. She wants to do everything for them but knows that she mustn't or else it would reverse everything that she has worked for in achieving a new skill.

My cousin is autistic. He is around 7 years old now but I remember it took forever for him to start potty training. When he did start, it took him forever to get it right. My aunt and uncle were patient though, and they did pretty well in raising an austistic kid. Some of the things that McEwen was talking about though, with the mistranslations, I saw with my aunt and uncle. I can only imagine how discouraging it could be for any parent. Just as a bystander with my cousin, I witnessed a lot of the same things.

In the end of the article, McEwen tells how her son started saying " I need Wee!" She eventually got him into the bathroom and he got his trousers off, but then walked into the living room pointing at the t.v. He said again "I need Wee!" Translation: I need Wii... the video game. It is amazing how even autistic children are affected knowlingly by technology.

It's In The Genes!!

Image from www.boywonderkyle.com

Until recently, bipolar disorder was just another behavioral problem kids and adults had. According to an article written by Dr. Deb, called Genes and Bipolar Disorder on a study which can be referenced from Molecular Psychiatry, bipolar disorder may be in the genes.

I found this article to be quite intriguing because for one, this hasn't been a known disorder for very long. Secondly, the disorder has recently been thought to be triggered by a chemical disorder as found on Genesis Health. Dr. Deb goes to state, "The National Institute of Mental Health conducted the first genome-wide association study of bipolar disorder and discovered that not one specific gene appears to be necessary or sufficient for disease. Instead, several genes were shown to contribute to the risk of bipolar disorder." This seems to me like a breakthrough on mental health research.

My mom used to tell me all the time that she thought I had bipolar disorder. I would be sitting in her bedroom with her talking or watching t.v. and would just freak out and start saying I needed to move around or do something. Then, I would go work out for three hours in my room and be okay afterwards. It would usually put me in a weird mood if I didn't or couldn't do something. Mom would always tell me I needed to get medicated. She even thought it was a chemical imbalance.

So here we have two different "research projects on bipolar disorder." One says it's in the genes, one says it's a chemical imbalance. Who knows? Maybe it's both. Dr. Deb seems to support the "in the genes" method. She proves this by closing her blog with..."Maybe I should get Tom Cruise a subscription," in reference to the Molecular Psychiatry articles. From his latest actions as I am sure we have all seen in the media, he needs it.

The Cell-Phone Revolution

Picture courtesy of www.wirelessfundraiser.com

A recent post made by Dr. Deb entitled "Cell Phones and Pagers, Stop the Madness," completely caught my attention. First of all, the title itself made me reflect on ten years ago when cell phones and pagers didn't really exist. It was a pain in the rear end to get ahold of someone however, the age of the cell phone has began. Nowadays, it seems like noone can get by without one. The people that have one can't stay off of them. Pagers kind of wore out and aren't really used anymore; but cell phones haven't. You can't drive a single block without seeing three quarters of people paying more attention to who they are yacking at than the road.

In Dr. Deb's blog, there was a statement about research done that followed over 1,300 adults over a process of two years "found that those who consistently used a mobile phone or pager throughout the study period were more likely to report negative "spillover" between work and home life -- and, in turn, less satisfaction with their family life." This is a huge statement. However, I completely agree. Now it isn't just cell phones. It is also internet that is causing problems. They are all addictive. Myspace is a huge addictive internet site. I personally have an account on it, as well as do most of the people I know. They have to check it every day and spend hours on it. Those same people also carry a cell-phone everywhere they go and God forbid if someone can't get ahold of them. I again am a willing victim to this over-accessability. This brings me to a halting question from Dr. Deb: "What happened to quiet and stillness?"

When you think about it, what did happen to it? Dr. Deb believes that this over-accessibility has been caused by the availability of these technologies. She also believes that research being an example, along with her own personal thoughts, that this revolution is jeapordizing family life because of the constant "addiction" people of today have to cell phones, and ten years ago pagers. She also states her belief that it has taken away some of our values such as patience. It also in her opinion causes massive amounts of stress to the psyche and body for the burden over accessibility, because of the constant need of that "fix of gratification." I completely agree as I feel victim to this exact point myself that she is trying to make.

Today's revolution of cell phones boomed from pagers in just a 10 year time. I can't imagine how bad it is going to be in another 10 years. What are they going to come up with next?

The Garden of Emotion

Gary van Warmerdam does frequent podcasts as well as blog posting on emotions, self-awareness, and beliefs based on emotional impeccability. Just like most of us, he is a normal person, with normal feelings. I am not certain if he has a Ph D. in any matters involving psychology but, he is a source that has gained variable ranges of knowledge through self awareness. He has gained this knowledge through the help of a mentor.

One of his latest articles I found particularly interesting called Emotional Reactions involved a podcast as well as a blog. The focus of the article was based that any emotion that is derived from a reaction stems another emotion. I believe this to be true. This is actually a very important thing to realize. If you are sewing something and poke your finger you will be upset you poked your finger and maybe distressed because you are in pain. From there, because you are distressed, you may be cranky or short with people and become impatient and so you just continue to build on the negativity. "In this case you will then have an emotion about an emotion." Gary calls this an emotional garden. According to Gary, people want to seed positive emotions and be free from emotional suffering. In his experience, he has found that expecting the positive emotions to become immediately present just tend to lead to more negative emotions such as frustration and anger. By weeding out emotions without being aware of what he calls an "emotional field" that everyone has, you will be subject to a numbness of emotion. I believe this is true and it is interesting to me that a lot of people these days tend to weed out rather than confront their emotions.

My parents are a prime example. They have been divorced for a couple years and one is engaged, the other is remarried. Both of them have no idea how to handle each other emotionally other than by anger. As a result, my dad is content but still in love with my mom. My mom has had trouble emotionally dealing with any other suitor, including her new fiance'. Gary thinks "by becoming aware of this emotional field, you will be able to plant the deep roots that it takes to gain happiness and slowly rid your "self" of emotional distress." I am a firm believer in confronting your emotions. Some personal experiences have led me to use this practice but unlike him, while he uses a mentor, I use myself. I have learned to confront my emotions by myself and it has helped me in a positive way. My life has become more positive because of it. Because I can relate, I found this article to be interesting and I completely agree with Gary.

Like Yawning, Moods are Contagious

In a blog posted by psychologist Dr. Deb, she brings across a good point in he rarticle called "Contagiousness of moods," that you can find yourself in a mood based on your surrounding environment. For example, if you are around a lot of people that are in the worst mood, even if you walked in a happy individual, more than likely you are going to leave feeling just as crabby as the people that you were around and you may not even know why. Dr. Deb also emphasises an example from Orson Welles making a broadcast of "War of the Worlds" which sent listeners into a panic attack thinking that Earth was going to be blown to smitherenes by aliens. Dr. Deb states that people read subtle clues in body language which trigger responses in the people they come into contact with. I believe that this is true, and most people are unaware of these signals that may trigger them to feel a certain way.

Where self-awareness is concerned, I tend to find that most of the reactions that people inhibit are purely based on the subconscious. Even though some physical aspects of a situation may trigger certain responses, most of the responses that are going to come forth are conditioned responses. These are responses that have been learned over exposure to the same situation for a given amount of time. Dr. Deb seems to think that most moods are contagious. I will have to agree. If you put yourself in a negative situation, more likely you will lose sight of the lighter-hearted aspect of things. In order to realize that you have "caught a mood," you will have to do an internal check according to Dr. Deb, and evaluate the situation and the mood that you find yourself in. By becoming more aware of your surroundings and the factors that are triggering your positive or negative responses to the situations and the moods that you find yourself and others in, you will become more aware of your self and be able to recognize the contageniety of your mood.

It's Alive!!!

In the words of the doctor who created Frankenstein... IT'S ALIVE!!! Hopefully this blog works and we'll have a quick and fun semester.. one more closer to graduation!