life of schizts

We all know of the various psychiatric disorders. Some are more obvious than others and some are more tolerable than others. Taking various psychology courses, i've learned that there are so many factors that play into these disorders. Whether is has to do with biological or even environmental factors. For example,  recently i was reading more about the schizophrenia disorder. It is one of the disorders that i have not personally encountered, but i have come to learn that it can be one that is difficult to deal with.  I would imagine that its hard to see one of your loves one going through this disorder because it is a disorder that not only affects the lifestyle of the person suffering from it, but also the people who take care of them.
Even though men are more susceptible to suffer from it compared to women, it usually tends develops in the person 20s. Imagine being 20 something and finding out you are diagnosed with schizophrenia? These are the highlight years of your life. Years where you graduate from college, get married, and start a family. If a person with schizophrenia has difficulty getting a simple point across i imagine how hard it would be to accomplish all three.

Like i mentioned before, since i personally haven't met someone who suffers from this disorder i can't say that they can't accomplish many normal things in their life. I just imagine that it must be a bit tougher. I've heard that this particular disorder might have something to do with genetics and all honesty, i am not surprised. Being a pre-med student and everything, i am well aware of how certain small mutations in someones gene can cause a tremendous effect. It has been shown that those who suffer from schizophrenia have multiple microdeletions or microduplications.
I'm sure these genes are affected in way that can manipulate the brain and make a person visualize or see things that aren't really there. This is exactly what happens to a person with schizophrenia. The scary thing is that you have to keep an eye out on those who suffer from this. They become a danger to themselves as well as others. 

 In my opinion, i believe that the effect is mostly biological than environmental. For instance, the video

below is a video of a child who suffers from schizophrenia. This child, janie, seemed to show signs from an early age. Its unbelievable to see the measures  the parents have to take to keep her and their other child safe. This looks stressful and seems really hard to deal with. But then again when its your child, you will do anything. The other girl, Rebecca, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia showed really bad signs when she tried to kill herself. Its so sad :/ and she feels like she has to inorder to get rid of an hallucination she calls "the man".
If environmental played a huge role, then you wouldn't see schizophrenia in children. Although, yes it is rare, but it basically proves that biological has a bigger effect. 

My daughter is long gone

Im sure we have all been in situations where a traumatic event has left us feeling helpless or feeling that our world is about to fall apart. Its not easy to try to shake this off and pull yourself together. Some may take a few days or weeks to recover, while others may take months or even years.
 I can't say i've lived a whole lot because im only 21 right, but i can say that having traveled to like 15 + different countries and there hasnt been one person who i've met who has not  felt some sort of vulnerability  at some point in their lives. Difficult situations that occurs in our lives is what makes us i guess you can say....human.
Having a father who is a physician i have come across many of his patients who confuse depression with being fatigued, sick, or lack of motivation. I've heard many of their stories. There were some that  if they had ask me for advice i would tell them exactly what they should do, and then there were some  that i wouldn't know what to say and then realizing how lucky i was. I remember this one lady who had just suffered a loss of a daughter. This little girl was about 7 years old and had past away due to cancer. I remember that when i first starting talking to the lady, she was talking about her daughter as if she was still alive. She was talking about how her daughter loved to dance and was obsess with Hanna Montana and how they drove to Houston to see one of her concerts. It wasn't until towards the end of the conversation events didn't seem to coordinate and she confessed that her daughter had died. A couple of minutes had past and i began talking to her husband and he started telling me that his wife is extremely depressed but didn't want to admit it. He was the one who actually came to see my dad and was hoping that if he took her with him, my dad could convince her to take some type of antidepressants. Apparently for the past 6 months she hadn't really been doing much and he himself had even walked in on her trying to take her life. There was more details into the story, but it might be to personal to talk about it right now.

 Depression is a common disorder.  If you met someone who was suffering from depression, how would approach this situation and what advice would you give them?

There are many different ways to treat it. For example there are people who go on antidepressants. I've heard of others who started exercising or taking some sort of mediation classes and that helped them. In my opinion, I think that the best approach is to talk to them. Sometimes what we need is a strong support system and someone to listen to us. Keeping our problems bottled up doesn't help anyone. Before directly seeking medication, its best to find other alternatives. Although I do have to admit that medications do work pretty fast, we have to remember that with any medication there also are side affects that come along with it. What if the side affects become more last-longing than the depression itself? Something to think about right!?

Below is a video of case study of a patient dealing with depression. The source of the depression varies for different people. My advice is to start doing something you love or to do something you've always wanted to do but never got the chance to do. Something that felt was similar in most depressive patients was that i don't think they felt they we're loved or felt that they had any purpose on this earth. That they couldnt survive if they didnt have that one thing they loved. ( most of the time that one thing they loved was taken away from them which is what lead to the depression in the first place).
If you know some who is depressed make sure they find some kind of help. You might just save a life!

A Terrified Gasp for Air

Have you ever had an episode of an intense fear that seems grow deep inside of you and  your heart begins to pound so rapidly as if it was about to jump right out of your chest?

I remember growing up I had friend who had that same exact feeling repeatedly. There were several instances where during class you would hear him trying loudly to gasp for air and turn extremely red. You could see the terrified look on his face and the teachers would have to take him outside of the classroom so he could calm down. I remember being as confused  as everyone else in class and no one even dared to ask what was going on with him. ( I'm sure he was pretty embarrassed himself). These same incidents reoccured over and over again for a couple of years. I then moved away and several years went by and the other day I bumped into him. I finally had the courage to ask to him what was going on. He explained to me that he was suffering from panic disorder. He was having repeated panic attacks and told me that it usually happened out of no where but would definitely occur when the class got really loud all of a sudden. He said couldn't help it and left like an outcast because of it. I felt pretty bad because i knew the rest of the kids felt he was a little weird and top it off he just always looked so fragile. He said that what scared him the most was the fact that he knew he could just get a panic attack hated that he couldnt control it. He eventually sought professional help and now he doesnt have to worry about it anymore.

Below is an animated video that talks about panic disorders and what exactly it is. Here Dylan talks about his own experience and explains that this disorder limited him from doing the things he love, like skateboarding. After seeing a psychiatrist, he was assisted to better cope with this condition.

Scared Stiff

I am going to start off by being completely honest, I LOVE TO SLEEP! Unfortunately, being a college student I don't  get to enjoy it as much as i would like to, but trust me if i could sleep all day i would.  Although most people may see this as being lazy and unproductive, I tend to see it as a biological necessity. Sleeping is the time where our body regenerates and helps save energy. It helps us conserve energy for inefficient times. When you have 3 exams one after another, trust me sleep is extremely necessary!

Nevertheless, i have heard of some stories where there are people who are scared of falling asleep. I have a friend who about a year ago called me telling me a horrible experience she had and i didn't believe her. It wasn't until i met several people who experienced the same thing did i begin to question it and started researching more about it.

My friend called me and began telling me how she woke up at the middle of the night and was scared to fall back to sleep. Apparently, she woke up and saw a black shadow in her room. It moved across the room and my friend had the desire to scream but said she couldn't. She said that she wasn't able to move at all and the only thing that did were her eyes. Scared stiff, (literally!) she frantically tried again to move her body. She said that when she realized that no matter what she did she couldn't move, she closed and squeezed her eyes shut. She said that when she reopened them the image was gone and she could move. People say that it was the "devil sitting on them."

When i began researching this, the closet thing that could explain it was Sleep Paralysis.
Sleep paralysis is when you feel conscious but you are unable to move. It can occur one of two times. Either when your falling asleep or wen you are waking up. The chances of sleep paralysis reoccurring more than once is very uncommon.

Above is a video of a doctor who explains what sleep paralysis exactly is. Then it follows by having people talk about their sleep paralysis experience. Its a scary thing! Especially when i've heard of people seeing this same black shadow. Which was probably why it took a while for me to believe it since ghost obviously dont exist. Sleep paralysis happens to alot of people and if you know of someone who has gone through a similar experience let them know that their arent alone. I just hope to god that i dont experience this. I like to sleep! Nevertheless, it good to learn about it and educate others. Continuous Sleep paralysis can even cause Narcolepsy another sleeping disorder. I have mentioned in my previous blogs how important our brain is. The more i learn about it is proves me right. We all sleep and it good to learn about situations where it might go wrong.

Intersex: should parents decide on specific gender?

This past week, I was struggling to answer one toughest questions i've ever been asked.

If i had a child that was born as intersex and was responsible in choosing to have genital surgery , which gender would I prefer?

Automatically the first thing I thought was, "well duh, a girl!" ( I've always wanted a little mini me)
But for some reason i hesitated and answered that i didn't know.
Going to college and studying about the human anatomy and its biological functions it has taught me that our body is extremely complex and that there are plenty of ways where things can go wrong. A lot of times this tends to move away from whats considered to be "normal" and we try to fix this problem and make it as normal as possible, like intersex for example. How do you chose what gender is suited best for a baby?
Although i cannot hesitate and admit that i've ALWAYS wanted a girl. And knowing how i am, i don't know if i will ever be satisfied without having one. But, I also know that i believe that its a 50/50 chance and the only person who can decide is God. I don't feel adequately capable of deciding that. I can wish and pray to have a girl soo bad, but when the baby is born the gender of the baby is what it is. Answering the question the now, i would say that i wouldn't decide anything. Im aware If you are born as an intersex there are alot of imbalance hormones and possibly extra genital parts that come into play. I also know that if i hypothetically decided to choose a specific gender this can possibly affect my child psychologically in many different way. What if he/she didn't feel like they were that specific sex that you choose, but felt they could relate more of the opposite sex, what do you do then? I'd feel extremely guilty. The best thing to do is just wait till my child is older and then they can decide for themselves. I mean its there body and they're going to be the one living with what gender they are. In my opinion, they should be the one to choose for themselves. The only exception to this is if their genitals parts were interfering with they're everyday necessity and it was crucial to decide.

Below is a video about a girl who was born as an intersex. She never had surgery and felt that it was the best thing to be able to decide for herself as she got older.

For the longest time, doctors felt it was necessary for parents to decide on a surgery. They felt this was beneficial for the child to have surgery as babies because it psychologically better to do it when compared to later on in their lives. Recently, a controversy has risen as more and more people believe it is unethical to do so and for those who have undergone the surgery now feel like it has actually affected them more psychologically by doing so.

Are Pheromones real?

When I hear the word pheromone the first picture that comes to mind are small honey bees that are attracted and ready to mate with the queen bee's chemical scent. I remember this from my organic chemistry class because my professor made us learn the structure and reaction for that chemical :/ .
Pheromones are chemicals that are secreted for a social response of the same species. There are about 10 different types of pheromones known to date:
1) Aggregation
2) Alarm
3) Epideictic
4) Releaser
5) Signal
6) Primer
7) Territorial
8) Trail
9) Information
10) sex

All of which are usually evident in animals, especially insects!
Human pheromones, on the other hand, aren't so obvious. There was an article that I came across called Pheromones in humans: Myth or Reality? and it talked about the six different areas of our body that glands are heavily concentrated in and how it correlates with the response of pheromones. Most people believe that human pheromones is closely related to body odor and to be honest I somewhat believe that it can be true. I remember watching a documentary on discovery channel's 'Science of Sex Appeal' awhile back and what i thought was interesting was how a person's voice or even a man's sweat can cause some sort sexual attraction. I don't know about people, but when I saw those ladies go from jar to jar to smell the sweaty t-shirts, I couldn't understand how they didn't get grossed out. EWWW!
Although the main research on human pheromones are their auxiliary steroids, vaginal aliphatic, acids and stimulators of vomernasal organ.
What i also thought was interesting how our menstrual cycle becomes in synced when you put several females under one household. When i first heard about it a couple years ago i didn't believe it. But I have noticed that over the years my mother and I have been in synced multiple times. Even this past summer, when I was doing research in San Antonio, Tx my roommate and I began to become synced as well. I've seen her almost everyday since then at school and our synched cycle remains. I thought that was a bit interesting. Although, still today there are some debate about whether or not this phenomenon is valid. I couldn't find a good video that talked about it, but i found an article, Menstrual synchrony, that talks about the evidence that has been found for it and some who are against this idea. I thought it was interesting read and hope that in a couple decades we can determine whether or not pheromones do control this!

An Alzheimer's road to citizenship

Memory is a valuable asset. This is how we begin to process our ideas, store them and recall them later on for usage. There are different types of memories, but what i want to focus on is what happens when our memories disappear.

My grandmother suffers from early onset Alzheimer Disease. She was diagnosed about a year ago and has been learning to deal with it ever since. With time the disease has progressed and is slowly having more trouble remembering many things. About a week or so ago she had an appointment to receive her US citizenship. ( For those of you that don't know, during this appointment you are required to fill several paperwork and are interviewed and based on your responses they decided whether or not you can receive your citizenship.) My grandmother has been traveling in and out of the country for almost 50 years. But she felt that the country where she bared her three children was the one country she fell in love with and was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life. Thank god she was granted this great opportunity! Well a week ago both  my aunt and my grandfather accompanied her to the meeting and according to them there were several responses that she answered wrong to. For example, they would ask her where she lived and she told them that she lived in a different city from where she lives now. Then they asked where the statue of liberty was located and she responded Washington D.C. Since the government is obviously involved, they make sure to do an extensive background check on every person applying for citizenship. Well apparently there was an incident that occurred 40 some years ago and they asked my grandmother about the incident. My grandmother argued that it never occurred and kept insisting on it. My grandfather had to let them know that because of her illness they are somethings that she doesn't remember, but confirmed that the information they had about it was correct. 

Even though there were some questions that she didnt know the answers to, they let her recieve her citizenship.

Alzheimer Disease is a form of dementia that can affect memory, behavior, and thinking.  It is an incurable disease but can be sustained by taking drugs. Recently, Chicago Tribune had an article that talked about a recent experimental drug that have decreased memory decline in two patients. 

The video above goes into more detail about how Alzhiemer Disease come about and what occurs in the brain. This is useful in understanding what exactly it is and now i can finally relate it to my grandmother. I also heard that this disease was hereditary, and im hoping to learn about it now as much as i can because if i begin to suffer from it in the future i'll make sure to find a way to prepare myself for a lifestyle that is beneficial to me!