Nurture Vs. Nature

I saw the documentary about the John/Joan nurture vs. nature case years ago, which triggered more of an interest in psychology for me.

John Money was a psychologist at John's Hopkins University, one of a few hospitals in the U.S. that actually do sexual reassignment surgeries.

He referred to his famous "John/Joan" case as a huge success, therefore there were many sexual reassignments done in confidence of his one "successful" case. He lied. It was nothing but a failure and a horribly unforgivable crime. There would be a12-year program of social, mental and hormonal conditioning to make the transformation take hold in his psyche. The case was reported as an unqualified success, and he became one of the most famous (though anonymous) patients of modern medicine.

David Reimer was an identical twin, his brother Brian had no defects after his circumcision, though his life was a tragedy as well.

He convinced David Reimer's parents to put their son in an experiment. David Reimer was given a botched circumcision when he was 8 months old, which consequently destroyed his penis. Doctor Money convinced David's parents that it would be the best possible answer for young David.

Dr. Money was named "one of the greatest sex researchers of the century." He was credited for a lie. 
He claimed that your sexual identity was purely an environmental aspect, nurture not nature. He believed that babies were born neutral and you could essentially change their gender without any consequences.

In school, kindergarden the kids, even the teachers didn't treat him like the others. He was not feminine whatsoever. He wanted to play with tinkertoys with his twin brother and act like a rough n tough boy. (Not liking barbies does not mean you should be a boy, I hated barbies and make up and brushing my hair. Haha) He associated with being a boy much more than a girl. “It was like brainwashing,” he claimed. “I’d give just about anything to go to a hypnotist to black out my whole past. Because it’s torture. What they did to you in the body is sometimes not near as bad as what they did to you in the mind – with the psychological warfare in your head.” 

This all could have been put to a stop had their parents done something about it and let David be a boy as he wished, as he was supposed to be, as he was. You don't mess with nature. And you can't just choose your children's fate and sexual identity. It's just completely wrong.

I hate that these boys went through so much.

David's twin brother, Brian committed suicide when he was 36 years old. He had suffered from schizophrenia..
David did as well when he was 38 years old. His wife was going to leave him..



Dr. Money reportedly told Paidika, a Dutch journal of pedophilia, “If I were to see the case of a boy aged 10 or 12 who’s intensely attracted toward a man in his 20s or 30s, if the relationship is totally mutual, and the bonding is genuinely totally mutual, then I would not call it pathological in any way.”

This doctor was a sick and evil person that tortured this children psychologically.

This was a serious tragedy and deeply heart aching that some people can be so cruel to defenseless human beings.

Evil.

I gave myself a week off.. bad. Sorrrryyyyy. really. Not that anyone even reads this to begin with!
I'm done with school for a month!

So this post is inspired by the song "Evil" by Interpol.

The song is about  Rosemary West. The English serial killer.
The lyrics are creepy. I don't really know why I am so interested with serial killers, maybe it's the extremeness of it. How can people seriously get to that point in there?
Well, mental defect has a lot to do with it.
But also many other things play roles in it. Such as your whole surroundings.

Rosemary West was sexually abused by her father as a young teen. (Allegedly)
She got pregnant with Fred West's baby at 17. Fred West had already killed two people when they married.They had this whole sick prostitution ring in there home, where Rosemary's own father would frequent.. To see her. And Fred's young daughter. And other young girls that they would kidnap, torture and murder..

Now, these awful things don't always occur in the making of serial killers. For instance, Jeffrey Dahmer. He had a normal upbringing. Parents that cared about him. But he definitely had either social problems or psychological problems. Who goes and puts a dog head on a stake? He was also an alcoholic by his high school graduation. (Really it's crazy that he graduated)

But then there were many serial killers that were very intelligent. i.e. Ted Bundy. He actually personally knew the true crime writer Ann Rule. He killed over thirty five women. Trauma struck him by the abandonment of breaking up with his girlfriend. He had just learned of his true genealogy. He was under the impression that his mother was his sister, his real father unknown. I'm not trying to justify these revolting crimes, but there are reasons why these things happen. And there are proactive ways to react to them. Reach out to people that you see have a hard time making friends. Befriend people. Ted Bundy had no understandings of how to talk to people or how one became friends.

There are many ways to look at how you become the person you are.

You are a product of your environment. There's no one thing or person that is responsible.
It's everything.

Beauty

Good health is beautiful.

It is most of time in the eye of the beholder.

Studies show that majority of people find about the same features to be physically appealing.
Majority of these things are considered "healthy" attributions to people.

What kind of skin is beautiful? Healthy skin. Tan, healthy, smooth skin is universally most beautiful.

What kind of hair is beautiful? Healthy, long, strong hair.

What kind of women are most mostly attracted to? Young, (Child bearing years) hour-glass shaped healthy women. Because, (and it's not just Sir Mix-A-Lot according to my teacher) that women need to have wide hips to be able to birth these large babies.

I really don't understand the infatuation to women that look like sticks. I'm not a lesbian or anything, but it's just not appealing. So, many young women (and some older) are just obsessed with being a size zero. And to me that is just sad on their part. Because anorexia nervosa can cause infertility and just basically the shut down of all your organs. You have to have food to survive and have energy and live.

Your brain needs a lot of food to work properly. I can't remember how much food it actually uses, but it seems like I want to say 75% I'll get back to you on that.

But anyways, I know not everyone is attracted to the same things. But, majority rules in this case.

People like tall, dark and handsome (And healthy) people.

Think, if we were attracted to unhealthy features how long would the human race last?
We'd die off after about a hundred generations.

All of this talking (ranting) makes me think of Lady Godiva. I don't really know much about her except she was super pretty. Apparently she had extremely long hair and rode around on a horse naked?

That's weird if you ask me..

Maybe I should read the story.

Anyways,  I am sleepy. Finals tomorrow.

Sorry this isn't the greatest post ever.




Maybe this would be a good read.

Insanity

It is such a complicated legal term. Extremely hard to prove in a courtroom and less than 1% of cases that reach trial. 

In most states it refers to a person who cannot be held responsible for his or her actions, or is judged incompetent to manage his or her own affairs, because of mental illness.

Probably the most publicized case involving the insanity plea is Andrea Yates.


Andrea Yates had suffered from psychosis and postpartum depression, very badly one might say. She drowned all five of her children and calmly called her husband and told him he should come home. 


At first she was found guilty and sentenced her to life in prison. Then an appellate court overturned this conviction but was found guilty by reason of insanity. 


Her husband would not get her mental treatment. 


Can you imagine having horribly awful depression and on top of that be home all day long with five young children ages 7, 6, 4, 3, and a baby not even one years old yet. Four of them were boys. All in one house, being homeschooled by this poor woman that was struggling so much with no help whatsoever.


She now resides in an high-security mental health facility.


Don't get me wrong, I LOVE children. I see this as a horribly awful and completely heartbreaking story. But she was not right mentally and I can understand that. She seriously needed some sort of help. Her husband, in my opinion, should get most of the blame for not realizing that his wife needed help. Serious psychotherapy was in need here, and nothing happened. Nothing good. Her poor children, I can't imagine that kind of fear. Watching all of your siblings get drown and being the last one. How heart-renching. 


Pay attention to those around you. Help them help themselves by getting treatment if needed. Hopefully it could prevent an awful crime like this. 


I pray for her family, and her soul. May Andrea Yates find some way to forgive herself and get right with God.




Peace and Love.














These look really interesting.

Conformity!

I hate it!

So so so very much do I despise conformity.

Well, let's start this off.
What is conformity you may ask?

Freely doing what others are doing

(i.e., being a dumb copycat without a sense of individuality)

Yeah, there I said it. And that goes for all of those dumb little girls that buy UGG boots. Which are in fact, UGGly as crap.

and not cheap at all!

goodness, i wouldn't wear these if someone paid me to wear them.

uhhhhh

I mean c'mon kids, think for yourself. 

be the weirdo in your class that EVERYONE thinks is flying high as a kite. But really. You. Just. Have. An awesomely funny personality.

(ahem, ahem; ME)

but yeah, I did recently buy some boots.

But they were so so not even similar to these ugly mammer jammers. 

they were more similar to these, but brown.

and size 9 in women's.

AND ENOUGH WITH THESE DUMB GALOSHES ALREADY!

some are sorta cool looking and i actually wanted some

until every where i looked dumb little sorority girls were sportin' 'em.

they're not that comfy anywhozzle.

Anyways, back to my point.

It is much more common for people to copy other people.

Like in a situation such as... Say you just walked out of McDonald's and you see everyone running away screaming. The most logical thing to do would be run too, assuming there's like an army tank with some psycho in it i guess? Chances are, I'd get in my car and leave but yeahh..

It's vital for your survival in some situations to conform. 

Or in another scenario when a teacher asks the class as a whole what the answer to something is and the whole class says something different than what you have.

"What is 2+2 kids?" says Mr. Bob "Five!" says the whole class.

You think to yourself "Am I losing my mind? What the heck?"

You're most likely going to conform and say five so that you aren't an "outlier". Humans avoid confrontations at all cost. Therefor, you'll sound dumb on purpose just to not cause a ruckus.

Well, that's all I've got today.

I know this was messy and junk but so is my brain right now.

Dreams

I mean literal dreams, not hopes and junk.

Why are some so vivid and real?

How can some people always remember theirs and others not at all?

Are they somehow linked to deja vu?

I really love the story behind the band Neutral Milk Hotel's music… That's what inspired this. 

Jeff Mangum was living in his friends closet temporarily. This room was allegedly haunted. He kept having reoccurring dreams of Ann Frank. He fell in love with her, in his dreams. Totally not in a perverse way either. (Because he was in his twenties I'm sure and she was only fifteen when she died)

Most of his lyrics are about her and her family. 

Communist Daughter; Holland 1945; Oh, Comely; Ghost; Sailing Through(acoustic); My Dream Girl; Oh, Sister; Two Headed Boy

Those are closely related to her in my opinion.

Was Ann Frank haunting him?

Was Jeff Mangum on drugs?

Maybe both, maybe our "soul mates" don't always exist in the same time frames as each other. Maybe some souls were meant for a different time period. Some people get taken away before they should be.

I don't know really. I have so many wild and vivid dreams like every single night and I can always remember them really well.

OH! Have you ever had a dream about a stranger and then met them? Like before you knew them at all you had a dream about them. 

My mom did, and I probably have and don't remember it. 

I love dreaming though. It gives me something to think about and analyze all day. And it always reminds me of Jeff Mangum and his magnificence.

AMAZING MUSIC

listen to it.


<3

Lazy Heffer Me

So for today's post, I decided to cheat and just put up my paper that I finally wrote. 

I got some of these facts from msnbc.com

                                                    Mental Health Services For Children

                  Suicide is the third leading cause of death for fifteen to twenty four year olds according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. It's the sixth leading cause of death for five to fifteen year olds. This is completely ridiculous considering that there are services that can help children. Public schools have counselors, the problem is that you have to ask your parents first if you can talk to them. Most parents wouldn't agree to it because of the ridiculous stigma's that come with psychologists. In most other cases parents are just in denial that their child needs help, they think there is nothing wrong with them. Or in the very sad cases, the parents are the abusers and there is no way a parent would allow children to go rat them out to a professional. There is nothing but good that could come from a child being advised by a professional, that's why it should not be required to have consent from a parent or guardian to talk to a psychologist. I think that everyone needs mental help, even if you don't have any problems. Everyone could benefit from talking to a professional. It should be a mandatory thing in my opinion because think of how many serial killers and child molesters that could catch before there were any victims.

Every one out of five Americans have personality disorders, how many of those do you think actually get treatment considering how expensive seeing a psychologist is? My guess would be not nearly as many that should be seeking it. Many parents and family members don't know that there is a problem until it is too late and they have lost a loved one. That statistic is actually growing by the year. Ever since the heartbreaking case of the Tyler Clementi, the  Rutgers student that leaped to his death, more and more homosexuals have been committing suicide as a way of "showing the world that there should be a change." That poor soul was humiliated by his own roommate, a textbook definition of a bully. He had taken video of him having an intimate moment with another boy and put it on YouTube. These acts are very unacceptable, but the boy could have spoken to someone. There must be psychologists at his university, but when people are at a fragile state in there lives they aren't thinking clearly. He didn't want his family to know, or anyone for that matter.

That's not the only thing though, so many young girls develop poor body images as a result of media and bullies. Serious illnesses can form from these thoughts. The very well known diseases anorexia, bulimia and binge eating are so widespread is unbelievable how many people it effects. The longer these problems go untreated, the worse they will get. You can't just change the way that you see yourself over night and that's why children need help while they are young. It's not always enough though, everyone has free will and choose the life they want to live. Many people do not have the opportunity to talk to someone but people who have access to a therapist are more than likely better off than without. 

Mental problems can be very devastating to young people that do not have the knowledge of what is wrong with them. Some parents just don't pay attention to their children. Suppose there is a family where the parents are just consumed with drugs constantly and their child decides to run away. Being left to fend for themselves what do you think they will do for means to get by? More than likely they would turn to drugs dealing, or prostitution just to stay alive. It's a horribly vicious cycle that lots of get caught up in. If said child had a counselor to talk to, they could have somehow solved the issue by getting emancipated or put into someone else's care. There are plenty of answers to these problems, but no one to help. 

Parents should be more proactive about their children as well and know what signs to look for. Mental problems are just as important as physical problems and should be dealt with with the same kind of attention. Children can show signs of having problems at a young age as well. There have been plenty of cases of five year olds having schizophrenia and many others. Parents should be extra cautious if they have family predispositions to certain disorders. It's much more common to have problems if a parent has a problem as well. It is absolutely imperative that all children - especially those who seem to have problems with school or home life - get the professional help that they sincerely need to function in this world. It should be a free service that requires no parental consent.

DSM IV TR

yeah buddy

buy it

and be an awesome psychologist

Mafia Men

12-4-10

The little one and I put up the Christmas tree today and we had a blast.



So, I am mostly interested in criminal psychology. Most of the shows and movies I watch are prison related. I know, that's not really like something "professional" or anything. I do write my ideas of particular people like the very over rated Charles Manson and his family.

The Iceman, for one was a complete sociopath. He claimed to not care at all about his victims, because he didn't think about them. But he said if he thought about them, it would bother him. So I'm not really sure. Could just be talk.


I'm really having a blahish sorta day so this wont be a very long post...

Man oh man, it would be my biggest dream ever to be in the F.B.I. Just like agent Starling from Silence of the Lambs. What I would do to be able to get inside of a serial killer's head.

I've often thought about writing to someone like BTK or Richard Ramirez, but I'd have to get a P.O. Box.. Haha

But yeah, I'm cutting this short so I can finish writing my last paper! And study for finals and what not.

buhbye









These look kinda amazing!

Taking Responsibility

You know psychology is labeled a "fuzzy science" meaning that people are all different so there isn't quite one exact diagnosis for why people to what they do. Which makes it all that more interesting.

Do you ever find yourself wondering why some families have relatives that are addicts and some sing in the choir? You share 50% DNA with your sibling, if you have the same parents. It's amazing how some people that were raised in pretty much the same environment can be so incredibly different.

I know everyone wonders from time to time why do people do the things that they do.
It's the most common thought probably. Because this is not a perfect world and there just isn't a good enough explanation for some things.

Parents should not be blamed as often for having bad children, nor should they get as much credit for their successful children.

The reason why? It's not just how your parents treat you. Sure that is a huge factor in it, especially if you're around them a lot. But once you get older, you have the choice to pick your own friends and you choose what you do with your free time. Whether it's drug dealing in the slums or reading Ayn Rand. Life is all about choices. Your parents will not always be there to tell you not to do something because children know how to lie.

You are a product of your environment and the way that you perceive things to be.

Unless you were locked in the house all day long with nothing but your parents, you can't truly blame your parents completely. Even then, at some point you have to take responsibility for who you are and stand out. Take pride in what you are. Figure out who you want to be and what you want to do. You are your own person.

You can achieve anything that you set your mind to.

My new student seminar teacher said something to us in class that I think about every day, and I hope it effects you in the same manner.

"You become what you think about the most"
-James Conners


God Bless!






The same teacher recommended my class buy this book, it looks so interesting.

I'm gonna buy it asap, you should too!

12-3-10

12-3-10

I didn't make a post yesterday! I'm so mad at myself. I wanted to make this like a 365 project for  journalism, but I failed. Oh well, I'll make it up somehow.

So, yesterday I had my last math exam. Which was sorta stressful, and on the last problem i just doodled some crap down. *fingers crossed* I hope I pass! My final in there is one week from today, so I really need to study!

Right now I wanna go lay in the sun for a few minutes and warm up, my piggies are cold.


Now, for the next person I will be discussing of...

It's more like a psychological disorder.
That I know of many people that have it.

Hypochondria.

"People who believe that they are always sick."- This is my definition

"abnormal anxiety about one's health, esp. with an unwarranted fear that one has a serious disease."- and this is my computer's definition.


With that being said, I feel like I have my computer's definition of the disease. But I do not take so far as to complain constantly or go to the doctor. In fact, I don't go to the doctor unless I feel like death. Thank goodness I have been blessed with pretty good health. But whenever I get a pain I get paranoid that it's cancer or something. Haha. 


The extreme cases would be going to the doctor every week, and never finding something wrong with them. Case and point.
A three hundred pound five foot two woman, goes regularly to every doctor imaginable. Weekly and the only thing that the doctors will tell her is wrong with her is that she needs a psychologist and to lose weight.
Absolute and complete denial. "All of my problems are my dad's fault, and I just can't lose weight."

Well then you aren't going to get better then are you?

People will completely ignore the obvious things and try to find other ridiculous excuses.
I know I may sound mean, or something but if you aren't willing to help yourself there is no helping you.

There is no magic pill to cure your every little problem. Life is not pain-free and nothing is guaranteed.
Except death and taxes.

You get what you put into life. If you do nothing, you get nothing.

If you work your butt off, you get an butt load.
Unless your family is rich, then I don't know go ask someone with a rich family.
I personally am glad to have been brought up in a home that is middle class. I know that I have to pull my own weight and earn things for myself. If I want to survive in the world I have to take control of my life and get it going in the right direction.
You are the only person responsible for you and your life. Blaming your problems on other people or things that have happened to you in your life is nothing but an excuse for not being independent.
I sound like a hypocrite, because I don't have a for real job, but if I had to, I could.

Take responsibility for your own actions and face the music. Mommy and Daddy wont be there to pick you up and cradle you for the rest of your life. One day they will die and you'll have to carry on by yourself.

At the end of the day, it's just you and whatever your excuse is, you have to live with it.








This is what I got for my baby boy, and we just loooove it!

Do buy it for your babies!



















And this is a hi-larious movie!

With a GREAT soundtrack.
would be a great present ;)

Bueller... Bueller.... Bueller

12-1-10

My version of a crappy ferris bueler's day off

Well, I got to school early as always and it was raining a little bit. (I hate driving in the rain! But then I think everyone does.) My first class is new student seminar, which is pretty silly, but it's attendance only grade. Our final is a take home final! Actually he said he would email it to us. Haha! But that is top secret. 

Anyways, the crazy parts. I skipped my psychology class that day. (I know, i'm bad but that was my first absence in there this whole semester so it's cool.)

I skipped to hang out with my friend and ride the Jagtran and take pictures and be silly. Well we rode it all around campus for a while. Then we hopped off of it and went in the nursing college and discovered where einstein's bagels were hiding! I got a strawberry cream cheese muffin and my homie got a parfait. My muffin was just awful, so I chunked it once we got back on the jagtran. so we cruised all around the place. We spontaneously got off of the red jagtran and just waited there in the cold for the green one. But it never showed up. But instead the blue one did. And on there was this super mean and rude woman that told us to get out of the way. We proceeded in getting on the bus once the person got off of it. Then! A new bus driver took her place. A very nice old man that was making small talk with us. He asked us if we lived on campus and neither of us do, we live in the same neighborhood though. He then asked if we had heard about the awful airplane that had crashed near our houses. We were totally unaware of this. He then said that it was his friend that had in fact crashed his own personal plane and passed away in the wreck. When he said his name, my friend's jaw dropped and her eyes welled up. 

He was only thirty five years old. He was the co-owner of Kingdom Coach. He had been my friends Azalea Trail Maid leader. 

He was the only one to get hurt. But he was an accomplished and great man. It deeply saddens me to here of this tragedy. Airplanes are so scary. If humans were meant to fly, we would have wings…

What are the chances of finding out through the fourth bus driver that we encountered would tell us this? So slim. It was so shocking and upsetting.

And to make things worse, when we got off of the bus to go to our other classes, it was pouring down raining so bad. Neither of us had our umbrella's and I was wearing my pidelly ole Tom's. And even worse, I remembered I had left my headlights on. So I had to run alll the way across campus to my car then run allllll the way back to class. I was not a happy camper to say the least. I thought for sure I'd have pneumonia. I already had a cold, and now i was running around outside in the ice cold rain bare footed and only to being greeted by ice cold classrooms that were blaring the air conditioner.

Yeah Tuesday was a horrible, awful, no good, very bad day for this gal.

Count your blessings, remember your umbrella, and never get on and/or drive an airplane. 

R.I.P. Michael Scott Grantham

I didn't know you, but you were a good person.

I have this book and just love love love it. It has so many eerie things in it. 

Buy it!