Rhode Island Psychological Association explains the connection between mental health and daily life as, "When we are free of depression, anxiety, excessive stress and worry, addictions, and other psychological problems, we are more able to live our lives to the fullest". In the previous unit we explored nutrition and how to better one's physical health, and with the last unit we turned to an equally important unit. While one may be in excellent physical shape, their mental state may be unhealthy and pose a major concern. This unit was certainly more emotional and feelings-oriented than our nutrition unit, but it ultimately led to some important discoveries and new perspectives. Throughout our mental health unit we have delved into the causes of mental health disorders, the characteristics of the different diseases, and how to ultimately combat them.
One step in our Romeo and Juliet DNA lab.
Speakers from "Project Success" and Dr.Stringaris from the "Understanding Depression in Teens" webinar both concur that most common mental health disorders stem from environmental causes, or from genetics. In order to more fully understand genetics, we studied DNA, and got to interact directly with the nucleic acid in our Romeo and Juliet DNA lab. In this experiment we extracted the deoxyribonucleic acid directly from the nucleus of the cells extracted from the cheek tissue within different suspects. We came to understand that each person has a different genetic code, based on the ordering and amount of nitrogenous base pairs within their chromosomes. Because each person has a different genetic makeup, some are more prone to experiencing mental health disorders than others. The environmental causes are the more predictable causes, such as the loss of a loved one, bullying, or a traumatic event. This was seen firsthand in our "circles" where students shared the stressful events in their lives that were still affecting them mentally today. Whatever the cause, the mental disorder that develops is an issue to be treated just as seriously as a physical issue, and can be combated.
Many mental health issues are commonly addressed, such as depression and anxiety. Yet others can be forgotten, such as post traumatic stress and eating disorders. We explored all different types of disorders, learning that Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder, are all potentially life threatening diseases, that involve an unhealthy intake of food. Substance Abuse also occurs from a lack of control in the amount of substances consumed. PTSD is experienced by 50% of veterans, according to Sebastian Junger in a Ted Talk, yet it may be the problem of our society rather than the soldiers. Our nation is isolated and lacks the tight bonds that could prevent PTSD, and perhaps even disorders such as depression. Stringaris claims that adolescents with major depression are up to 30 times more likely to die of suicide, and this is closely supported by research Project Success presented to us. We witnessed one character admit that she would rather commit suicide than face an event that appeared traumatic to her, in our reenactment of Romeo and Juliet Act IV. Clearly our nation is struggling mentally, not just physically as we learned in the nutrition unit. The question now is, how exactly do we prevent these mental disorders from occuring?
Romeo and Juliet Reenactment Act IV
Sticky notes with kind messages displayed at an elementary school, and the virtual bulletin board.
The brain of each person reacts slightly differently to different amounts of trauma and stress, being that our genetic code causes each person's brain to vary in structure. If one can overcome the trauma they experience, without letting it linger in their minds for an extended amount of time, they might avoid depression. Others can provide comfort to their minds through meditation or yoga. We had the opportunity to try this approach, which involved clearing the mind and letting yourself totally relax. Different disorders require different approaches for treatment, such as with substance abuse. Here the mind becomes so addicted that other brains need to intervene, which is exactly what happens in Alcohol Anonymous, a program we learned about early on into our unit. Some people require something to totally take their mind off of their issues, which can be found through developing a passion. We got to explore our passions and share them, which can often be a solace or a getaway like the meditation. In one project I created a campaign in an elementary school to spread kindness, which in something that can be underrated in terms of mental health. Jennielynn Holme, of Catholic Charities, explains that in instances such as homelessness, a smile can make the person feel connected and prevent the isolation that tends to occur. The project involved spreading hundreds of kind sticky notes throughout the halls, and having the students create their own. In addition, I created an online bulletin board for people to spread their kindness, which is a therapy in itself. Whatever the disorder might be, there is a healthy way to turn it around, and we learned a lot of important ways within these last two months.
Our core mixes in fun activities,
like this science challenge,
to balance our stress levels
with the plethora of assignments
we are dealing with.
Psychologist Kelly McGonigal taught us through a Ted Talk that the way one views stress can affect their mental health, and ultimately their whole well being. Similarly, a few weeks ago I heard an analogy about how stress is like holding a glass of water - you are unaffected by the weight of the glass unless you hold on to it for too long. We all need to remember to set down that glass before it paralyzes us, and I think that is something very relevant to the current topic. Life can get chaotic, especially as a highschooler, and it is important to find a way of letting go of any stresses before they become larger than they need to be and create the mental disorders most common for people our age - depression and anxiety. This unit has allowed me to develop empathy towards people going through mental disorders such as PTSD, eating disorders, and substance abuse, but most of all I think I can say it showed us, the most sensitive group to anxiety and depression, how to avoid holding on to that glass that can really just be set down.
"Useful Psychology Information: Importance of Mental Health." Rhode Island Psychological Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.
In the previous post I mentioned that NEW core should adapt the STEM type competitions, and today we did just that. In our groups we had half an hour to make the safest, tallest, and longest water slide that we could, for a little lego man to travel through. Most groups went straight to cardboard, making ramp-like structures, that provided great length and height. We decided to do something that would be more water proof, and turned towards plastic cups. The little lego man travelled well through our chain-like structure, however he unfortunately got a tiny bit stuck during the actual test run. Still, I think our water slide was the most unique!
Every two years the 11/12 STEM core puts together a STEM Design Day, where members of the 9/10 cores are mentored by STEM students in a project day. I had the opportunity to compete on one of the teams for NEW core in a day of competition at the Sonoma County Jet Center. We would be designing a project of some sort that could safely travel from a 20 ft high balloon to a distance away on the ground. In addition, we would have to create some mechanism for releasing the device from where it was latched onto the balloon, from the ground.
We had two teams competing for NEW, and like every other team we began by brainstorming and figuring out all the different guidelines. We laid out all our supplies and tried to think of an idea that would get our project safely as far as possible. Keeping it safe was a necessity, as there was an egg inside that could not be broken. We went through a couple different ideas, but ultimately decided that a glider type object would be most capable of travelling a fair distance. The only issue would be how we could get it moving forward initially. One member of my group wanted to have a sling shot type thing, although some other members and I were very reluctant. Attaching the slingshot to the glider would not be an option, considering the force exerted by the slingshot to the glider would also be exerted in the opposite direction, not causing any forward momentum. Having the slingshot attached to the balloon would be very difficult because the rubber band would need to be positioned in a way that it would not run into the balloon or string. Additionally, a slingshot would require our glider to be exceptionally small, not allowing much room to secure the egg.
Finally we ditched this idea, and decided on a much simpler and less problematic approach. We would have a hanging platform that the plane would be hooked to, and a simple pull of a string from the ground, would unhook the plane and allow it to move forward.
That just left the structure of the glider. We knew we wanted to merge the ideas of a kite and a plane, so we created the base of a plane using various wooden sticks, and used a plastic like material over the frame, leaving it limp enough that it would catch air. The egg was held securely in styrofoam and positioned at the base of the plane.
The main issues we faced was the unequal distribution of weight. Several times we had to take apart the structure to reposition where the egg was. With it too far forward, the plane would fly nose-down and lose the opportunity to move forward. With it too far back, the plane would go through a series of back flips, ultimately ending up with a negative distance. We added some close-line clips and corks in a variety of places to help even out the weight, and finally we got it as good as we could. During one of our test runs we managed to cover 12 feet, which was pretty good in comparison to the other projects, like the other NEW team who ended up in the unfortunate situation seen below.
Overall it was a very interesting experience, and I really liked the unique version of the egg drop. I think we wasted a fair amount of time on the slingshot idea, which could have been focused more on the development of the glider. However, it was still a neat opportunity that is certainly something NEW core could replicate in the future, regarding group competitions for STEM-like projects.
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is one form of anxiety that we briefly skimmed over when a few speakers came to our class. We constantly think that this disorder is a problem veterans face because they are having trouble getting over such horrific events. However, Sebastian Junger explains in a Ted Talk that the problem might not be the vets, but the rest of society instead.
Only 10% on the military is involved in combat, yet strangley 50% of veterans claim to have PTSD. Clearly a large amount of veterans are facing struggles other than what is seen in war. Junger suggests that making the transition from a tightly-knit troop to an isolated society is what can cause depression in the veterans. Several studies reported our nation as being the most isolated, making our depression rates the highest. Frankly, when veterans return, there is not the same relationships and unification as there is in their troops. No one around them understands what they have gone through, and there is not the constant feeling of being in a tribe. This changes during time periods when the whole country is involved in the war. For example, after 9-11 PTSD and suicide rates declined significantly. Everyone was reveling in the tragedy together, and returning veterans were not facing such a difficult transition into isolation.
It is interesting how the solution to treat PTSD is virtually the same as that regarding substance abuse, depression and several other disorders - we as a community need to prevent such isolation from occurring, and create a more unified population.
A webinar is exactly what you would predict it to be...a seminar on the web. We were introduced to this different type of presentation with the topic of depression, meaning that we listened to a webinar about depression. More specifically, the webinar was about depression in teens and young people, which clearly has the potential to relate to students of our age.
Dr.Stringaris, the presenter, definted depression as: "Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure."
There were a few different symptoms mentioned, all pretty similar to what we had learned in previous depression presentations. However, it is always interesting to compare different people's definitions of a disorder to gain further understanding.
After explaining more about what depression is, and how to diagnose, he went on the share some statistics. Here are some two that are pretty concerning:
Adolescents with major depression are up to 30 times more likely to die of suicide
In its severe form, it affects about 9% of adolescents
With that Stringaris explained the main reasons for depression: genes and environment. 30-50% of the liability to depression is due to genetic factors, meaning that because of the genetic buildup to a person, they might be more susceptible to become depressed from a certain thing than another person with different genes. The environment aspect is essentially the same as that in our last presentation from the on-campus therapists - life events, stressful situations, alcohol abuse, deaths of loved ones, etc. can all cause depression.
One major concept to understand is that those with depression have a negativity bias, meaning that they miss the positive and cannot hope to see the good in situations. In other words, they gain a pessimistic mindset and consider everything in their lives to be negative. This is not the fault of the person affected, as their brains are actually affected to create this negative aura. One way to determine if someone is overwhelmed in this negativity bias, is if they rarely smile and just generally seem constantly unhappy.
Then there is the motivation and reward processing part of depression. Those who are depressed tend to not receive the same feeling of achievement and joy in success, as those unaffected. This can lead to people not even putting in the effort to achieve something in the first place, given that they do not feel the same emotions in success. Without this effort the person affected may become lackadaisical and overall fail to put in effort for a variety of different tasks. On the reverse side, if one has a damaged reward system within their brain, depression may be caused for all the same reasons.
The webinar had a slides presentation with audio over it, and lasted about an hour.
It is essential that depression is identified right away, because if not the subject might consider overdosing, personal harm, or even suicide. Each of these have the potential to lead to serious harm, and therefore being diagnoses straightaway is necessary. Stringaris explains that this may be difficult, because one might be so focused on the irritability or lack of effort given by the subject, and not link it to depression. If the subject is unwilling to discuss the matter, then it is best to diagnose them based on the definition mentioned at the beginning...if the subject is exhibiting the general symptoms of depression, then they are most likely depressed. Diagnosis should also address presence of manic symptoms and underlying medical causes. In any case of uncertainty, a risk assessment is very important to determine if they are considering suicide or self-harm.
Ending the webinar, Stringaris listed some different medications that can help with suicide to restore the mind to its original, healthy state.
Reflecting on this webinar, I do not think it was the most effective way to take in all this information because it was frankly rather dry. We had heard much of it all previously, which allowed the accumulation of information to come a bit easier, but nonetheless it was not great. Perhaps it would have been better with a speaker with a more easily understood accent, or who spoke with more inflection, or who provided more interesting media. Still, it was interesting to explore a different form of online presentations to come to this conclusion that I prefer other types of learning.
To explore eating disorders, we were divided into groups of three where each of us researched a different type. We then shared our findings through discussions. The different eating disorders that we focused on are as follows:
Anorexia Nervosa:
Anorexia Nervosa is a very serious illness based on the obsession with a low body weight. Those affected appear very thin, however a doctor may not recognize the illness because the body's exterior is not affected so much as the interior. Almost every organ is negatively affected due to anorexia, and that is because the person is not receiving proper nutrition. Those who are anorexic are generally very worried about being "fat" and resort to dramatically decreasing their eating. This can result in an overall weakness all throughout the body, with brittle bones, dehydration, muscle loss, low blood pressure, etc. The difference between anorexia and dieting is that dieting involves changing the foods one consumes in order to grow healthier, whereas anorexia involves self-starvation and is completely unhealthy. Anorexia most often occurs in adolescent girls, and 90-95% of those affected are girls/women.
Bulimia Nervosa:
Bulimia is a very serious and potentially life threatening disorder, which involves self-induced vomiting after binge eating. Affects 1-2% of young adult woman, and 80% of people with Bulimia are women. One major sign is when people frequently go to the restroom right after eating, and obviously if they are always making themselves vomit. This can cause inflammation of the esophagus, increased chances of heart-attacks, malnourished body, etc.
Binge Eating Disorder:
A disorder characterized by often eating large quantities of food, generally in order to comfort oneself. Those affected cannot control their intake, and generally feel very ashamed during/after the act. There are serious potential health concerns, as eating too much is just as unhealthy as not eating at all. Often those suffering from the disorder binge in secret, because of the shame they are experiencing. One can recognize another is experiencing the disorder if large quantities of food suddenly disappear, or if someone is setting aside time for binge eating. Binge eating can cause obesity, however someone of a small body mass can still be suffering from this disorder.
