Do you ever have a hard time living in the moment? Trust me you're not the only one. Often we tend to teach ourselves to never savor the good days or experiences we have but to worry about when this peak will plunge to an end which is not quality of life. Research showed that the ability to experience and savor positive moments is the thing that improves the ability to deal with distress. So, the ability to be able to point out the positives in a situation shows someone has that self efficiency. Also, research from Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, says that experiencing these positive feelings and emotions increases the chance of you achieving your goals not set you up for disappointment. Although it may seem like you're preparing yourself for potential challenges, all it does is cause that anxiety of "what if?" You will conquer those conquests whenever they come! Some ways to help worrying include: Focus on values, not goals! It's easy to fall in the hole of debating your worth by the achievements you have already reached.No more seeing your hard work as “luck." When you downplay your accomplishments and skills it makes you think there will always be a negative outcome and it makes you skip that power of self-efficacy or how capable you are to do something. Having that mindset that you have the capacity to shape your life and rely on yourself to conquer your emotions effectively. And as said before, Worrying will take away present joy. Learning to accept that you won’t always be prepared for potential challenges/battles will teach you to focus on what is happening now and get to those conquests when they come because you don’t even know if they are! There is always the option of putting some time into meditation, I know sounds like a waste of time but it seriously can help. This can improve your ability to live right in the moment and enjoy it. When our brains worry it makes our body tense and uneasy, meditation helps relieve that tension by quieting both our mind and body to relaxation. The way I stop the worrying from controlling my life is I keep myself busy. Exercise, draw, homework, go for a walk, and hanging out with friends may take those worrying thoughts to the dump. Help yourself out! Stop worrying. - Mariah Paddack
Proulx, N. (2019, October 25). Are You a Worrier? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/learning/are-you-a-worrier.html.
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Self-Harm. We are well aware that it happens. Maybe you've seen it in a movie or show. Perhaps you know someone whose self-harmed or have even done it yourself. The fact is we know about self-harm and have been turning our gaze away and avoiding it for far too long. If your awareness of the self-harm epidemic isn't mentioned above, self-harm is when someone cuts/burns themselves to relieve emotional pain or distress. Because many parents/guardians of teens and young adults that self-harm approach the matter with anger and misunderstanding, many of those who self-harm feel even more compelled to keep it a secret. About 1 in 5 adolescents have reported to have self-harmed at least once in their life. Keep in mind that that is solely reported data, and not nearly everyone who suffers as a result of self-injury is likely to report. Historically, when self-injury was almost unheard of. It was considered behavior only associated with victims of sexual abuse, the severely affected or impaired, or sufferers of major body alienation. This was even believed by doctors until it started to be prevalent among younger, wealthier generations (which was unforseen by specialists who treat it.) But most of the general population still doesn't really understand how self-harm became so prevalent from a neurological standpoint: the flood of neurological painkillers triggered by the brain to ease the pain of self-harm is comparable to that of a opiate habit (and can be just as addicting.) For some who engage in self-harm feel that the relief from psychological pain is worth the physical pain. For others, self-harm is comforting because it resembles some control; you might not be able to control what others do or say that might cause psychological, mental or emotional pain, but there is some control in initiating physical pain. What almost all studies/surveys have found is that everyone who self-injures does so for differing reasons. Before we get into how to treat self-injury, it's important to note that SELF-HARM IS NOT THE SAME AS A SUICIDE ATTEMPT. Although those who self-harm are twice as likely to commit suicide, habitual self-harm could have nothing to do with suicide at all. Diagnosing self-injury or any contributing mental illness is a difficult matter, and even more difficult to treat. In the psychiatric system, self-harm is considered a symptom of an underlying mental illness and isn't considered a valid as a stand-alone diagnosis. Because of this, it's extremely difficult to find psychologists or clinics that solely devoted to preventing self-harm. As of now, the only effective treatment for self-injury is specialized talk therapy, but the study of treatment is still very much in its infancy. All that's definitive in self-harm today is that we have a lot to learn, and a lot to improve on. If you or someone you know struggles with self-injury, here are some online resources: - Text CONNECT to 741741 for 24/7 support - This Crisis text line will connect you to a live and well-trained crisis counselor available to talk anytime about any crisis. - Self Harm Hotline: 1-800-366-8288 - Self-injury Foundation’s National Crisis Line: 1-800-334-HELP The link below lists some healthy alternatives to self-injury: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/cutting-and-self-harm.htm Stay kind, safe, and understanding. :) - Callie M Noah Rasmussen Cutting, burning, and other self-harming behaviors are becoming an increasing concern among the adolescent population, mostly young women. It is estimated that at least 1 in 5 adolescents engage in self-harm, but the numbers are likely much, much higher. Joan, a high school student from New York City, admitted to experiencing relief upon cutting, followed shortly by remorse. "I had this Popsicle stick and carved it into a sharp point and scratched myself", she says. "I'm not even sure where the idea came from. I just knew it was something people did. I remember crying a lot and thinking, Why did I just do that? I was kind of scared of myself...I would do it for five to 15 minutes, and afterward I didn't have that terrible feeling. I could go on with my day." Blue, another former self-harmer, believes that self-harm is on the rise due to glamorization in pop culture. "Nowadays a lot of younger girls especially are influenced by various media, where this whole self-harm thing is glamorized...I was hospitalized, and it was strange: A lot of other girls were impressed by my scars, like, 'How did you get those? I'm jealous.' It's disturbing, this gratification – like, people who I guess feel good or happy when they do it." "It used to be this kind of behavior was confined to the very severely impaired, people with histories of sexual abuse, with major body alienation," says Marlborough Mass. psychologist Barent Walsh. "Then, suddenly, it morphed into the general population, to the point where it was affecting successful kids with money. That's when the research funding started to flow, and we've gotten a better handle on what's happening." In a study of 800 adolescent patients, a team of doctors at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York discovered that adolescents who were provided with dialectical behavioral therapy spent less time on both suicide watch and hospital stays by two weeks on average compared to adolescents who were not treated with DBT. Whether your dealing with stress, sadness, anger, or overstimulation, self-harm is one of the most destructive forms of discipline one can receive. The fact that this mostly occurs among young women, a segment of the population long marginalized and objectified, makes this even more disturbing. I was browsing New York Times when I came across an article that made this come to my realization. I hope spreading the word of this study will increase the public attention of this issue as well as decrease any and all stigma associated with it. Carey, B. (2019, November 11). Getting a Handle on Self-Harm. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/health/self-harm-injury-cutting-psychology.html https://www.amazon.com/Skeleteen-Large-Bloody-Knife-Realistic/dp/B07J5VD9JC Have you ever found yourself not doing what you need to be doing? Even though you know there is something important that you should be doing, like studying for a final or writing an essay? I think everyone has procrastinated at least a few times in their lives. However, it turns out that procrastination is more than just a bad habit. It is a vicious cycle that many cannot escape. |
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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