Lavender + Pumpkin ∏

Tantalizing slices of everything psychology. Hello and thanks for stopping by. I graduated in December 2018 with a doctorate in clinical psychology. In addition to health psychology, I love using data to help people better understand themselves, climbing, eco-friendly living, alternative medicine, the outdoors. I hope to connect my various passions and make interesting conversations in the field more accessible. 

[psichologystudent]

Heavy

*Trigger warning*

I don’t usually put these kinds of things out here. The purpose isn’t to gain sympathy or support as much as it is to document a moment of realization/growth in my own life that I hope can offer a sense of solidarity to someone else. 

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you realized things aren’t as they seem? I had one of those recently that impacted everything I thought I knew. I guess I should start by telling you a bit about myself. I’m that stereotypical child who survived boatloads of every kind of trauma imaginable, got away from the dysfunction, grew up, and got a doctorate in psychology. Oh wait, that’s not stereotypical? 

Even though I look like I’m coping better than most, there are times when every day is a struggle. Days when I don’t leave the house because the thought of doing so leaves me paralyzingly anxious and overwhelmed. Days when the self-critical voice in my head (yes, clearly internalized parental criticism) is so loud I can’t see past it. Days of depression, feeling sad for no clearly identifiable reason, and of course, a lifelong habit of questioning my existence. I struggle with maintaining healthy relationships and asserting boundaries appropriately. These things have gotten better over the years, but damn, it’s been hard-won progress. 

Here’s the thing — if you ran into me on the street, you’d never know. I easily pass as just another confident, intelligent, athletic, adventurous, and passionate millennial. If you got to know me a little better, the trauma might seep out occasionally. That’s the exception. 

I spent about a year going to three different therapists. When I told one that I was depressed, he was adamant that he could see no evidence for that as I arrived to appointments with perfect makeup and hair. He refused to budge even after I explained I was simply trying conforming to my workplace dress code. Then, when I mustered the courage to talk about my persistent body image issues, he responded by telling me he found me attractive and would refrain from saying more lest I felt uncomfortable. LOL. Another therapist suggested wine for my anxiety. By the time I entered treatment with the last one, someone who actually had experience treating people with trauma, I tried for as long as possible to hide my graduate psychology training, thinking it would make a difference. It didn’t. I still looked far too put together to be falling apart.

There are a few people who have expressed their surprise that my siblings and I are relatively successful adults who have integrated into society appropriately, and aren’t prostituting and drug addicted. Whew, glad I exceeded someone’s expectation for once in my life.

When you’re a child, you see your parents as fundamentally good, regardless of the quality of their parenting. This results from a few factors. For one, at a young age, individuation and distinguishing the self from parental figures continues to be an ongoing process. You can’t see someone as bad when that person is experienced as a part of yourself, so you align with the abusive parent and adopt their view of you as your own. Secondly, the emotional cost of viewing someone you depend on for your very survival is high, so abused children with no escape begin to develop sophisticated cognitive defenses. Mine were in the form of intellectualization, denial, and splitting — more on this later.

Parents function as a child’s barometer for what is normal and what constitutes a dangerous situation. A broken barometer in the form of a dysfunctional parent-child relationship provides an inaccurate reading. That child grows up with a skewed understanding of what to expect in their adult relationships, and their relationships with men and women often mirror respective relationships with their father and mother.

For a REALLY long time, I saw my father as the “bad” remorseless abusive parent. I cut him out of my life completely when I was 22. I just couldn’t handle going to grad school full-time and dealing with his continued control and mind games. After that came his calls to my school hoping to gain access to my address, threats to show up at my home and campus, and communication with my professors through my LinkedIn. 

Conversely, my mother seemed full of remorse and guilt about the way she’d raised her children. She wrote me several letters full of apologies and emotional baggage that she’d send during important occasions like holidays and birthdays. In hindsight, it was merely another way of taking something that was mine for herself. She’s still got a minor child at home. She’s still married to my father. He’s still abusive. And yes, I have gotten child protective services involved on multiple occasions. 

A few weeks ago, I was on the verge of a big move across the country--one that would likely preclude any in-person conversations with my mother for a while. I decided to confront her with a few questions about my childhood. One in particular that I’d been thinking about for a while. “Do you remember the time I told you that I’d just tried to kill myself, and you said ‘okay’ and walked away?” Without missing a beat she responded calmly, coldly even. “No, but I remember that time you tried to kill someone and almost ended up in prison.” 

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. 

(Spoiler alert: I’ve never tried to kill anyone other than myself, and I’ve never been arrested.) 

I remember the feelings that washed over me. Shock. Disbelief. Frustration with her lack of emotion. A disorienting sense of betrayal. The best way I can describe how it felt physically is those movie scenes where someone’s locked in a soundproof glass box, and they’re banging against the box but no one hears them. It was a sensation of banging my head against thick glass that rippled through my body. 

It finally made sense--the reason she was okay with continuing to choose an abusive man over her children. She didn’t even remember my childhood for what it was--for what she had made it. Our stories about the same events were different. She couldn’t remember emotionally abandoning her child at one of the most painful and dark times of my life--but she remembered something horrible about me that never happened. And she was not about to validate a reality--my reality--that she’d help shape. 

During that same conversation, I opened up about some of the struggles my siblings and I continue to experience to this day because of the way we grew up. Her response to that? “Well, I guess leaving didn’t help you, then.” I talked about the lifelong effects of trauma (which has long been an academic and clinical interest), only to be blown off again. “I just don’t let it affect me.” I’m so glad that’s a conscious decision for you, Mom. How abuse affects you really isn’t that much of a choice when you’re 5 years old. What hit me the hardest was that as much as my childhood sucked, if she could have done anything to change it, she wouldn’t have. The evidence for this continues with my youngest sibling still at home.

Experiences are not always a choice. Healing is a choice. But let me preface that by saying that coping skills don’t equal true healing. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve got all the coping skills. I’m still in the process of healing, but even that won’t completely erase the impact of what I survived. The body remembers and so does the mind.  

Endnote: If you’re a parent reading this and it speaks to you in some way, PLEASE seek out help. If not for yourself, then for the sake of preventing my story from one day being your child’s. If you’re a survivor of childhood trauma, know that it does get better--and it is worth working with a competent trauma-informed therapist--not all are like mine.   

Resources:  National Suicide Prevention Hotline [phone]

National Domestic Violence Hotline  [phone]

[psichologystudent]

Maternal Mental Illness

Read this compelling personal account on PS Mag, one of my favorite sites for opinion and social science research. She’s a climber, too.  

[psichologystudent]

Devious Double Standards

I’m studying for comprehensive exams and I’m bored. It’s too hot to go for a run, so the next logical decision was to sip my coffee and write about something that makes me angry. I hope you enjoy :)

As a woman in academia, I see a lot of sexism. Some of it is more subtle because it is accepted as normal and left unquestioned, and some of it is just blatantly in-your-face there. Example: more of our female faculty than male faculty are married and have children. However, we held an event run by the female professors for women on “maintaining work/life balance.” Why do we emphasize balancing personal and professional responsibilities as a woman’s problem? Second example: when I successfully got difficult and selectively nonverbal patients to cooperate with assessment while at a training site, I was informed that the only reason they talked to me was that I was “young and female.” Yup, it had nothing at all to do with my clinical skills or the fact that I’ve been receiving training in psychology for the past eight years. Why is this okay? Isn’t psychology the one place where you’d expect women to have equality in the workplace?  

We have achieved significant strides in improving quality of life and social standards for women. However, contrary to the delusions of some that sexism isn’t real and that the status we have attained is sufficient, I argue that much work lies in our future.  

I read some interesting research lately on the conflict women face in achieving a perception of competence versus one of popularity. Dressing conservatively and in less-than-sexual clothes conveys an image of competence and friendship, but at the cost of losing socially rewarding “attention.” So what are we to do? Appear competent and undesirable, or desirable and stupid? When will society accept the idea of the sexy, competent woman, where sexuality and desirableness do not exclude intelligence, and where worth isn’t inherently linked to positive evaluation by men?

[psichologystudent]

Categories and Crises

Being human gets old sometimes. I mean, exhaustingly old. I am a firm believer in agency, and the idea that we are in control of our destinies inasmuch as we have the ability to create meaning. But at the end of the day, even if that day has been a meaningful one (and perhaps even more so because it has), I still question whether this has any meaning behind the temporal.

We call belief in religion that provides unseen answers to these questions ‘faith,’ and we label questioning the tangible, as well as these intangible answers ‘doubt.’ We love categories, because this makes it easier to more quickly identify and exclude those unlike us. Labels make assigning blame so much easier. And it’s all because we so desperately want answers for the existence of pain.

Sitting with pain is difficult. Regardless of how well-developed your emotion regulation and coping skills are, if you work in the mental health field you will have at least the occasional day where you are acutely aware of the heaviness of the struggle. 

One of my favorite quotes about what it means to be a psychologist comes from Maslow, who opined that struggling with the questions is more of the essence of the work we do, rather than having the answers. I agree, I do. Yet this is every bit as mind-numbingly paralyzing as finding the answers–or pretending to.

I don’t know why I don’t have chronic, paranoid schizophrenia, or why I wasn’t born into an extremist Islamic family. I don’t understand why I was gifted, by some quirk of the universe, with the ability to ask these questions, when others struggle with waking up in the morning and knowing what day it is.

I don’t have the answers. And sometimes knowing what questions to ask makes it even more agonizing.

[psichologystudent]

Progress

Hello, lovely readers. I’m going to interrupt my trauma series for a minute. The book my second post was supposed to cover needed to be returned to the library, so while I wait for my Amazon order to come in, I will bore motivate you with a blurb on rock climbing/fitness and goal-setting in general.

I get frustrated easily. People who don’t know me well might be surprised to hear that, because all of my pursuits, including my hobbies, are pretty intense and require a good deal of frustration tolerance. Feeling frustrated frequently and being able to regulate it are two separate things, but now I have just begun to annoy myself with semantics. I have been climbing for almost three years, and it has definitely become a way of life, and not just in the sense of being yet another cross training workout. It has changed the way I see the world and approach problems in all areas of life. At present, my biggest gripe is being stuck at 5.10 for the past 1.5 years or so. Granted, I have taken several months off to recover from surgery/injuries, etc., but I feel that I should be well ahead of where I am now. Today I had time for about a 45 minute workout, and judiciously distributed this between laps on the wall, core work, and a yoga cool down. I know it was a good workout because I couldn’t feel my forearms when I was finished. It’s now an hour later and they still feel weird.

While I was taking a water break, I was approached by a newcomer who said she’d been climbing for two days. “You are amazing,” she gushed. “You made that green route look so easy. I tried to climb it and couldn’t.” Hello, ego boost (lol). The route in question was likely a 5.8 and I’d probably climbed it at least five times since it had been set. She asked me to demonstrate a boulder problem and I found myself giving her advice that I myself was given three years ago. I caught myself contemplating the concept of progress and how I quantify that, because obviously I have been progressing. (Isn't metacognition just great?) I climb things now that once would have been impossible. I see individual holds differently, as well as things outside the climbing gym (like buildings with crimpy features, but that’s a story for a different day).

I think my problem is the inability to be satisfied combined with the need for constant stimulation afforded by new challenges. In some ways this is beneficial. My hobbies are fairly diverse and I have broad knowledge across various fields of study, although I still invent nonexistent areas of the brain on tests. The workout related injuries I suffer are far fewer in number and much less severe, because I cross train like crazy. I tell my clients that progress is perfection, but don’t automatically apply that to myself—it’s a constant, conscious effort. My expectation is instant mastery, although I know that’s not the way it works. I’m learning to be satisfied with small goals that represent some sort of positive movement, like cooking balanced meals instead of eating out, or a solid workout, even if it didn’t involve sending my latest project. Comparison is futile, when it involves a self-berating cycle of dissatisfaction. On the other hand, comparison from week to week can prove useful in gauging progress. Things like flexibility, body composition, inflammation levels, and even mental tenacity vary within short time frames, and significantly impact fitness.

A balance between self-efficacy and self-improvement is key. Research demonstrates that climbers who possess a greater sense of self-efficacy take more risks (Lewellyn, 2008). Of course, risks are an integral part of improving. Self-efficacy is not the same thing as complacency or satisfaction with an already attained goal. In fact, an older study found that 90% of elite climbers see their skills as still developing (Robinson, 1985).

I suppose the point is to keep trying while acknowledging progress. You’ll get there eventually, and so will I.

References

Lewellyn, D. J., & Sanchez, X. (2008). Individual differences and risk taking in rock climbing. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9(4), 413-426.

Robinson, D. W. (1985). Stress seeking: Selected behavioral characteristics of elite rock climbers. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7, 400-404.

[psichologystudent]

Distress Tolerance and Trauma-Informed Care

I remember being really sensitive as a child. I had a pet Eastern box turtle that ate live insects, and there were definitely tears on my part when it was time to feed him. Never mind that slugs and crickets were probably pretty low on most people’s list of priorities. It didn’t end with bugs - I would also imagine the emotional lives of inanimate objects. (In case you’re wondering, my vivid imagination has definitely become an asset, especially in working with people with severe mental illness.) When you’re that sensitive to the environment, somewhere along the way, you develop coping strategies of one sort or another to manage all of the stressors and input that come from others and yourself. 

As a fixer by nature, I prefer problem-focused coping. I have always been capable and resourceful--something of a MacGyver-esque survivalist. Should the zombie apocalypse happen, I would undoubtedly be among the last to go. It was not until the second year of my doctoral psychology program that I began to more fully realize how these characteristics fit together to impact my clinical work. Particularly, I found sitting mindfully with clients who were in pain difficult and uncomfortable. I wanted to take the pain away. Reflecting back on these experiences, I’m wondering how much of this urge resulted from the need to reduce my own vicariously felt distress. I knew that people didn’t need rescuing, but I didn’t know what this meant in terms of remaining emotionally present and resisting the pull to offer solutions. (As a side note, there is a HUGE difference between teaching coping skills and trying to fix the client’s problems, but coping work with insufficient space to process can also create barriers.) 

If there’s anything working in the mental health field has taught me, it’s that people are incredibly resourceful, strong, and resilient. Even what we label as maladaptive coping skills are often creative means of surviving impossibly difficult situations. Many times, clients (and people in general) lack this knowledge about themselves. They overlook their own power and beauty simply because no one has ever reflected this “self” back to them. There is a tremendous healing power in simply being a witness to the existence of a soul, especially for people who have experienced significant interpersonal trauma. Survivors may not even recognize the trauma they have experienced for what it is. When they are allowed appropriate space to process the trauma, the realization dawns: this was real. It was painful. In some ways, it still hurts. But I survived. I’m still here. One of my favorite quotes that is especially descriptive of this particular aspect of psychotherapy comes from Catherine de Hueck Doherty: “With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing, because listening to your brothers and sisters until they have said the last words in their hearts is healing and consoling. Someone once said that it is possible to listen a person’s soul into existence.”

In doing a cursory lit review, I found quite a bit of research on vicarious trauma in clinicians, but a surprising lack of research on teaching distress tolerance or addressing the distressing feelings that can surface over the course of working with people who have experienced trauma. It is assumed that people come to graduate psychology programs and the profession already well-prepared to handle these stressors. However, the body of research on the prevalence and extent of vicarious trauma, even among seasoned professionals, suggests that this is an activity that needs to be mindfully taught and practiced rather than one that occurs effortlessly. 

I’m wondering if in some ways the unspoken expectations of our profession reiterate the shame and stigma many of our clients experience, whether this materializes as the need to “have it all together” or the belief that silence equals strength. In being open amongst ourselves (and even appropriately with clients) about our own vulnerability, we can emphasize the humanness of this work. It is neither our position as paragons of mental health nor being privy to extraordinary insight that gives us the ability to work effectively with people so much as it is an ability to be deeply honest with ourselves. It is virtually impossible to provide an authentic holding place in the absence of self-awareness and self-honesty. Honesty about the way experiences impact us, as well as our ability to shape that impact and participate in the dance is crucial to trauma work. It is this ability to engage in metacognitive “outside perspective” that embodies the actual product of therapy, and creates the space necessary for tolerating distress.  *This part 1 of a 3 part series on trauma. The next few posts will be a bit more research focused in discussing individual and organizational coping strategies, as well as psychoneuroimmunology and chronic illness.

[psichologystudent]

Three Questions Men Will Never Hear and Why it Matters

My last real hike was in Toronto, while I was in town for the APA convention. I was determined to balance time spent listening to talks on cognitive impairment with workouts and time outdoors, and prepped for this well in advance of the trip. I researched places to hike, and managed to fit triathlon and backpacking gear in my 42 liter Osprey, along with conference clothes.

I ended up at Scarborough Bluffs, a lovely little park consisting of clay cliff-like formations overlooking a beach. This was no ordinary walk in the park; my rock climbing skills were definitely put to use. After summiting a particularly challenging section, I stopped to catch my breath and take a few pictures. That’s when I heard a man’s voice call out, “Bet you fell several times trying to make it up that hill.” “Actually, not even once,” I said, feeling rather triumphant that this was the case. “Well, we have nothing more to say, except that we like your butt.” I was close enough to see them now. “That’s disgusting,” I shot back, somehow maintaining enough presence of mind for a coherent response, in my slightly oxygen-deprived state. “You should keep thoughts like that to yourselves.”

“What is wrong with you? We weren’t trying to be disrespectful!” By this time, I was heading back down the trail, both furious that they had the audacity to talk to me that way, and a little worried that they might try to follow me and continue the harassment. In that moment, one thing became clear. Regardless of my education, accomplishments, and social status, the unavoidable reality remains that as a female, I will always be expected to fail in some capacity in which men generally succeed. Others, particularly men, will perceive me as an object. My physical appearance will be used to calculate my worth.

En route to New York, I was stranded at Pearson International for what seemed like an eternity. After finally getting on the plane to LaGuardia, I talked with my ex-military, pilot seat mate about hiking, rock climbing, and my outdoor adventures. It fit the bill for a nonthreatening and somewhat surfacy topic that my exhausted brain could discuss with a stranger while exerting little effort. “That’s awesome that you’re so adventurous, but do you cook?” He winked and nudged me with his elbow. “Of course I cook,” I retorted, my usual snarkiness exacerbated by travel-induced fatigue. “I have to eat somehow, right?”

The next week I went to pick up my car from the shop where it had been waiting for the third rotor change in 2 months (I know, it’s been eventful around here). The shop guys somehow thought it would be appropriate to ask me if I had plans to get married and have kids. How that was related to my car problems I’m still not sure. I said no. Nonetheless, they told me I’d find a nice guy one day. “Nice guy? Hmm. Isn’t that an oxymoron?” I feigned confusion. Girls aren’t supposed to know what they want. The guys laughed. I have always been a mouthy one.

I can hear it already--the comments. I’m exaggerating, right? Oh, maybe they were just trying to be friendly. Be more assertive. Set better boundaries. Wear a burlap sack. Relax. Conveniently, my expensive education has provided me with the resources to use research to back up my internal reactions (not that I SHOULD have to do that, but it is definitely nice that I can).

Research supports the idea that a masculine identity correlates with positive evaluation of people that fit into traditional male and female gender roles (Glick, Wilkerson, & Cuffe, 2015). Interestingly, this particular study found that participants with a masculine identity generally did not negatively evaluate people in nontraditional gender roles. However, people who conform to socially expected norms are on the receiving end of more favorable attitudes. Nothing unexpected here. The problem, however, is that countersterotypicality actually increases the harassment some women experience (Leskinen, Rabelo, & Cortina, 2015). The authors further noted that professional success often rests on what is considered a stereotypically masculine presentation, which produces a problematic glass ceiling effect when masculine attributes become targets for aggression and harassment. This inherent sexism affects intimate relationships as well. For example, people who violate expected gender roles in relationships (e.g., a wife who holds a higher-status position as compared to her husband) face greater dislike (Hettinger, Hutchinson, & Bosson, 2014).

Still don’t see a problem? Did you know that mere exposure to sexist humor heightens the tendency to engage in coercive sexual behavior (Thomae & Viki, 2013)? The impact of sexism also extends beyond relationships and work environments to affect physical health and well-being. Exposure to sexism actually increases women’s risk for cardiovascular disease (Salomon, Burgess, & Bosson, 2015). It is no secret that discrimination, including sexism, also negatively impacts psychological well-being (Schmitt, Branscombe, Postmes, & Garcia, 2014). Does the receiving party’s internal reaction play a role in the impact of sexism (Salomon et al.)? Yes, and this represents a point appropriate for clinical intervention. However, perpetrators should not be excused of their behavior. Any durable social change requires that we first recognize and label sexism as the stigmatizing evil that it is, while working to educate our children and rehabilitate perpetrators.    

References

Glick, P., Wilkerson, M., & Cuffe, M. (2015). Masculine identity, ambivalent sexism, and attitudes toward gender subtypes: Favoring masculine men and feminine women. Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000228

Hettinger, V. E., Hutchinson, D. M., & Bosson, J. K. (2014). Influence of professional status on perceptions of romantic relationship dynamics. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 15(4), 470-480.

Leskinen, E. A., Rabelo, V. C., & Cortina, L. M. (2015). Gender stereotyping and harassment: A “catch-22” for women in the workplace. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 21(2), 192-204.

Salomon K., Burgess, K. D., & Bosson, J. K. (2015). Flash fire and slow burn: Women’s cardiovascular reactivity and over following hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(2), 469-479.

Schmitt, M. T., Branscombe, N. R., Postmes, T., & Garcia, A. (2014). The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 921-948.

Thomae, M., & Viki, G. T. (2013). Why did the woman cross the road? The effect of sexist humor on men’s rape proclivity. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 7(3), 50-269.

[psichologystudent]

People exposed to wobbly furniture place higher value on stable people

It's true, according to this study from APS's flagship journal Psychological Science that examined how sitting in wobbly chairs by wobbly tables affected participants' perceptions of celebrity and personal relationships. Couldn't they have found better ways to exploit undergraduate psychology students looking for extra credit?

[psichologystudent]

Move over, IPIP and WPT

Facebook profiles predict job performance and academic performance better than tests of personality and cognitive ability, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Although the researcher in me wonders if Facebook would still explain more variance in scores if the MMPI and WAIS were used, this study's findings are no surprise.

[psichologystudent]

Similarities in regional brain activation patterns in maltreated children and soldiers

Scientists at the University College London found that both maltreated children and soldiers who experienced violent combat demonstrated increased activity in the insula and anterior amygdala in response to viewing pictures of angry faces, evidenced by fMRI. Dr. Eamon McCrory, lead investigator, stated that follow-up research should investigate factors leading to resilience for trauma victims. "We want to know much more about those mechanisms that help some children become resilient." 

[psichologystudent]

Creativity

What is creativity? How do we operationally define it? Art by animals may challenge existing definitions traditionally applied to humans. 

[psichologystudent]

Soul Care

Did you know the Chinese word for psychology can be translated as 'the study of the innermost parts of the heart'? As psychology students, we focus on cognition and behavior, while forgetting that realistically, we are dealing with souls. Gordon Allport (1950), made the bold claim that "Love is incomparably the greatest psychotherapeutic agent....something that professional psychiatry cannot of itself create, focus, or release" (p. 90). The brain responds to neurotransmitters – the soul responds to love.

In reflection, I end with the statement of philosophy of Regent’s psychology program (undergraduate and graduate):

Our efforts stem from two central passages of Scripture, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself," (Matthew 22:37-39); and "Love each other as I have loved you," (John 15:12). The methods and purposes of counseling and psychology are always to be held against these Biblical standards.

Refererences

Allport, G. W. (1950). The individual and his religion. New York: Macmillon.

[psichologystudent]

Moral judgment and the right temporal parietal junction

My research on empathy led to yet another beautiful rabbit trail. In this video, MIT cognitive neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe discusses the role of the right temporal parietal junction (RTPJ) and its role in moral judgment. During her brief presentation, Saxe uses excerpts of interviews with children who were given a 'moral puzzle' to demonstrate the impact of developmental differences on the RTPJ's functioning. In addition, Saxe discusses how temporarily interrupting the RTPJ's function via transcranial magnetic stimulation modulates moral judgment. Watch this. Saxe is interesting, insightful, and also very hilarious - in a nerdy sort of way :)

[psichologystudent]

I'm back...and it's senior year

I've neglected this blog for so long...but I'm back, mostly because I'm avoiding writing a paper on my attachment style. So, just for fun, here are a few thoughts:

I don't understand why undergrad Counseling Skills is only offered online. I'm not going to be a chatroom psychologist!

I'm loving Human Sexuality...and at this point in my undergrad coursework, I've gotten over writing papers about myself--and getting graded on my analysis. Ask. Me. Anything. No, really...

I like Freud. He was really weird. The man was also a master of observation. I just don't like any of his conclusions.

I had to observe a room for Nonverbal Communication. No, TWO rooms. I sat there for hours and they didn't do a thing!

Tomorrow's my birthday. Except for the fact that I can't pull all-nighters anymore, I don't feel a day over 18.

[psichologystudent]

This week in neuroscience

Researchers from Weil Cornell Medical College and Yale University have recently published studies related to a major component of neurotransmitter release: synaptic vesicles. The first study, published in the journal Nature, found that neurons vary in the speed of remanufacturing synaptic vesicles used to store neurotransmitters, and thus also varying in speed of neurotransmission. This rate of variation was as much as four times faster or slower even among neurons using the same neurotransmitter. A related study published in Neuron found that synaptic vesicle retrieval is significantly impaired in the absence of both dynamin 1 and 3 (a kind of hydrolase enzyme). However, retrieval still occurs, pointing to both the plasticity of neurons and the possible role of another form of dynamin (dynamin 2) in vesicle retrieval. Another study by researchers at UCSD found that perhaps inaccurately named noncoding RNA, or RNA that does not contain protein blueprints, plays a part in the development of neurological disorders. This is accomplished when the intron regulates a gene through promotion or suppression. Most RNA (and thus DNA) material is noncoding, and the function of such genetic material is still relatively unknown. Do introns promise the next big breakthrough for neuroscience? Time will tell. Perhaps my favorite study of the week, neurophysicists from UCLA found a relationship between the body’s speed of movement and the intensity of gamma rhythm in the hippocampus, an area involved in learning and memory. In other words, as research subjects ran faster, activity increased in the hippocampus. Although running mice and not humans were used in this study, let’s hope the results are generalizable across the species. At the least, this study helps substantiate my claim that I write my best papers on the run. Finally, for all of you drinkers of caffeinated coffee, there is good news. Caffeinated coffee appears to slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease. An interaction between caffeine and an unknown ingredient in coffee increases blood levels of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor or GCSF, a blood growth factor used to treat patients with low white blood cell counts. GCSF also stimulates neurogenesis, differentiation of neurons, and neuroplasticity, while acting as a strong anti-apoptotic agent in the nervous system. Interesting, eh? Of course, the biggest question now is the identity of caffeine’s mystery buddy.

[psichologystudent]

An opinionated student of BS (in psychology), silicon dioxide, and the placebo effect

“You’re not allowed to have an opinion until you have a PhD.” It was Spring semester 2009, and I sat there in my first ever psychology class, stunned at the words that had just come out of my professor’s mouth. A diehard fan of the Vail model at the time, I was also a little upset he didn’t include the PsyD. He probably should have told the class that we could think whatever we chose, but no one would listen to us without the proper credentials. I have since seen several examples of what he was implying. In many ways, the people who manage and conduct research today define our knowledge of the world.  Outside of our own experiences, all the knowledge we will ever have comes from people who do the research and write the books. Credentials have become synonymous with truth—and they’re used as a marketing tool. For example, consider clinical significance. Clinical significance is often restated as “clinically proven" in product ads. In fact, the packaging of the toothpaste I’m using now is decorated with these words, although no studies or descriptions of the ‘proof’ are provided. So what on earth does 'clinically proven' mean? Well, to average consumers, 'clinically proven' means that science has established that a product works, which translates into the product working for them. In reality, 'clinically proven' indicates that a product was shown to have beneficial effects in a certain sample of people, and those effects were supposedly greater than the placebo effect. What consumers don’t usually consider is that there is nearly always, if not always a placebo effect, and that effect itself can represent a significant difference when compared with no treatment. Although I will not expatiate (GRE word) here, there are a few books I would recommend that cover the psychopharmacology angle of clinical significance, scientific evidence, and the placebo effect. These books are The Heroic Client, Side Effects, and Blaming the Brain, a book that factored into my decision to pursue a career in psychology instead of psychiatry. My issues with abused credentials and sloppy science also involve other areas of life. Besides psychology, one of my lifelong passions is alternative medicine. I grew up learning to read every ingredient before buying a new product, and the latest alternative health trends were already being practiced in my house before they hit the stores and got press in popular health magazines. While I don't have a degree in the stuff, friends and family apparently trust my research, frequently presenting the ingredient section of their vitamin bottles and asking for my seal of approval. I was recently asked to evaluate a Formula 1 shake product from the company Herbalife. In the United States, FDA regulations require industries to list ingredients in order of predominance by weight. Of the 53 ingredients listed in Herbalife’s Formula 1 shake, silicon dioxide was #18 on the list. Ingredients #5 and #6 were artificial French vanilla flavor and guar gum, which is a filler. Basically, there is more plant-based filler, flavoring, and SAND by weight than vitamins in this product, which is selling for $32.50 per 750 gram bottle on Amazon. In their FAQ, Herbalife stated that “We believe that science has to be at the foundation of all of our products….Three clinical studies have been completed that show the effectiveness of Formula 1 protein shake….” Now that’s some expensive clinically significant sand. Additionally, a separate but related issue involves considering whether or not a product that achieves a desired result is actually beneficial. The bottom line? If you have a PhD, great. Use it to empower others while recognizing your limits. For now, the rest of us will continue to exercise socially and personally responsible consumerism by critically evaluating the science behind your claims. And we will develop an opinion. An educated opinion.

[psichologystudent]

When the blind lead the blind

I've been using the very helpful flashcards on Dictionary.com to study for the GRE. This advert bugs me every time I see it on the site. How smart are you? Not very, if you think a test for red-green color blindness is a test of intelligence.