By: Lauren Dawes We all know being lonely can be bad for your health, but did you know spending time with yourself can be really good for you? Having time to yourself improves your relationships, boosts creativity and confidence and helps to regulate your emotions. Our minds are designed to engage in the world around us, even when we’re alone we find a way to focus on the outside world. Most restful things our bodies do are done solo and our bodies crave time alone. Sometimes we don’t even realize when we need time alone to feel better.
Enjoying alone time doesn’t correlate to being an introvert or an extrovert, everyone can benefit from alone time. Time alone helps us to discover new ideas without the influence of anyone else. Making the choice to be alone can also help to develop who you are, help you develop your sense of self and show you what your true interests are. Teens are less self-conscious when they are alone and it can help them to re-evaluate “filler” relationships. “Filler” relationships are friendships that you keep only because you’d rather do something than do nothing by yourself even if it’s with people that you don’t enjoy being around. People often mix up spending time alone with a negative feeling of loneliness. We should appreciate the time by ourselves which would prevent us from thinking that it’s a negative thing to be alone. People often forget that solitude can be a choice. Worrying too much about other people watching us can stop us from doing things that make us happy. Some people think being alone and being able to just think about anything can sometimes feel intimidating. You may feel like you have no one else to rely on when you’re by yourself. Studies have shown that when you’re by yourself the lack of stimuli can make you feel uncomfortable. A psychologist at the University of Virginia, Timothy Wilson, did a study with the results finding that doing something is better than doing nothing for most people. He found that most people aren’t comfortable in their own heads. The study revealed that most people would rather be doing something than to be doing nothing, even if that something is hurting themselves. One quarter of the women, and two-thirds of the men who participated in the study preferred to subject themselves to an electric shock instead of doing nothing and spending time alone! People don’t want to sit alone with their thoughts, many participants would rather listen to music, or use their phone. The study asked participants to be alone for 6-15 minutes. When in a room without their electronics or books, etc, they had to entertain themselves with their thoughts. Participants found it difficult to concentrate and their minds wandered. Many people stated they would rather do an unpleasant activity than nothing at all. This study concluded that smartphones might play a part in people's desire to always have something to do. People don’t like to disengage from the world and be alone. Being alone and being lonely are two very different things. Taking time for yourself to think, to rest your mind and do nothing, can be very healthy for all other aspects of your life. Some people find it very difficult to spend time alone. We live in a world where many things are competing for our attention, but sometimes we have to turn off all of the electronics and noise and pay attention to our own needs and thoughts. Higgs, M. M. (2019, October 29). Why You Should Find Time to Be Alone With Yourself. Retrieved November 20, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/smarter-living/the-benefits-of-being-alone.html. Image: https://www.google.com/search?q=spending+time+alone&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_jcrFlIPmAhUPJt8KHcEGA8EQ_AUoAXoECBAQAw&biw=1366&bih=581#imgrc=_
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By Lauren Kelly As a student at Yarmouth High School, sports play a big role in our lives. Sports also have a huge impact on us and teach us many things, such as discipline and teamwork. Have you ever wondered what effect sports have on those with childhood trauma such as physical abuse or emotional neglect? Molly Easterlin, a pediatrician, asked herself that question. As a child Molly Easrerlin played soccer, tennis, and did track. When she saw many kids with trauma she wondered if sports could help improve their lives. Many that experience childhood trauma are likely to have at least one Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs are caused by traumatic events and contribute to social or physical problems that can range from obesity to chronic depression. 50% of people have had at least one ACE. For her experiment, Molly Easterlin analyzed data from 9668 teens that were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and about 5,000 teens reported at least one ACE. She first assessed the teens in 1994-1995, from 7th to 12th graders, and asked whether they planned to or already do participate in team sports. She assessed them a second time fourteen years later and asked whether they received a diagnosis for depression or anxiety. She even tested for symptoms in case he/she were not diagnosed. She then compared the results to those that did not participate in athletics and found that they were not as protected from depression or anxiety than those that did participate. However, Molly Easterlin found that it was stronger for males and concluded that at the time of initial data collection female sports were not as well funded. Christina Bethell is a professor at Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University said that this was a useful study but additional factors should be considered. She states that the children with a more emotional connection with family may increase a person’s well-being. She also states the Molly Easterlin did not distinguish between those with one ACE and those with multiple ACEs and that those with more could be more affected. Female sports are still not as well funded as males. From 2013 to 2014, girl sports received $17,933.67 while boys sports received $46,815.93. Many children sports teams use “pay to play.” By using pay to play, requires fees to play which limits lower-income kids that play and is used in many ways. Pay to play is allowed in 49 states. Sports are very important to Yarmouth especially. Almost every student participates in a sport. Teens are even more at risk of developing depression or anxiety now then they were at the time of the experiment. Almost half of the population has an ACE which is a big number of people. As a student at Yarmouth, we are not very introduced to students that have these mentally illnesses. And it makes one wonder is it because of the amount of students that participate in athletics? Neilson, S. (2019, May 29). Playing Teen Sports May Protect From Some Damages Of Childhood Trauma. Retrieved June 4, 2019, from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53739/playing-teen-sports-may-protect-from-some-damages-of-childhoo https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53739/playing-teen-sports-may-protect-from-some-damages-of-childhood-trauma https://bigredhawks.com/9805/sports/girls-vs-boys-sports-funding/ https://thegamehaus.com/applying-team-sports-real-world/2016/12/10/ Post By Caroline TenHoor Self-love is a much sought after concept. Many insecure people see it as a goal for themselves, others need therapy to achieve loving themselves. Others feel it necessary to change aspects of themselves to enjoy who they are. However, there is a far opposite end of the spectrum of insecurity- a rarely talked about issue, but a crucial one nonetheless. Is too much self love an issue in today's world? In the society of this day and age, there has been a much-needed increase in acceptance. No matter who you choose to be or what you want to look like, there is a community of people who will respect that, for good or bad. Most would see this as a good thing: repressed communities having a voice, equality being strived for, and people being accepted regardless of identity or appearance. According to Dr. Jean Twenge and critic Dr. Jeffrey Arnett, however, this is a bad thing for today’s young people. There is a growing population of people becoming helplessly self- absorbed to a point of having no compassion for others. Like Narcissus himself, falling helplessly in love with his own reflection, with the platform of social media to further breed self-entitlement, many teens and young adults are developing Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). This is a disorder which is found most commonly in men, and characterized by extremely exaggerated feelings of self importance, the craving for others’ admiration, and an obvious lack of empathy. As Dr. Twenge says, “In a nationally representative sample of 35,000 people, three times as many Americans in their 20s (compared to those in their 60s) experiences narcissistic personality disorder”. This disorder is still rather uncommon- however, the personality trait of narcissism is massively popular, and makes a more strong appearance in cultures that value individualism and self-love. Sound familiar? While the US’ emphasis on being yourself seems wonderful on the outside, it has become a breeding ground for people to develop narcissistic traits. Dr. Twenge and Dr. Arnett have been working with data from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a short test that measures narcissism, to prove links between extreme narcissism and social media and the influencers that populate it, as well as using generational differences to determine root causes to increasing self- centrism in today's youth. As a high school student with a presence on social media, it is easy to see and identify people who think themselves above everyone else. I see less of an issue in this school, due likely to small town attitudes and an overall indifference to being popular, but before I moved to Yarmouth, things were different. Even in middle school, life was a popularity contest. If you didn't have at least 25 people at your birthday party, you were not cool. If you didn't "date" someone before the fifth grade, you were lame. If you didn't post snapchat selfies in middle school, and especially if they didn't get many likes, you were shunned. In areas like that, where being cookie cutter popular clones of one another was the expectation, narcissism grows. I'm sure you, reader, can identify one person (if not dozens more) you've known that thinks they're above everyone else. Social media influencers known to edit their photos so they get more likes? A person too cool to hang out with some of your friends? Someone you see constantly taking photos of themselves and making themselves into the center of attention? As narcissism is slowly becoming the norm, and the sides of the self love/ self hatred spectrum are growing ever distant from each other, it may be time for America to discover a lesson in humility. References (in APA)
A Back and Forth About Narcissism. (2013, August 05). Retrieved May 24, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/a-back-and-forth-about-narcissism Quenqua, D. (2013, August 05). Seeing Narcissists Everywhere. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/seeing-narcissists-everywhere.html action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer (2016, February 23). Retrieved May 30, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJLy3hX1E8 Image Link to the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/a-back-and-forth-about-narcissism |
Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
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