Paul B's blog

Cocaine addiction is a serious mental health issue that affects both individuals and their communities. For the individual, chronic cocaine use often causes irritability, restlessness, anxiousness, paranoia, and psychosis. Additional peripheral health problems may also develop such as heart attack or stroke, which may result in sudden death.[1] Societies also suffer from an individual’s addiction. Diverse studies have

 

A recent survey has reported that 64% of teens have tried illicit drugs by the age of 18 (1). Some of these kids will develop a profoundly devastating drug addiction while others will not. This phenomenon has lead researchers to ask why. Why are some individuals, who experiment with drugs, more susceptible to drug addiction while others do not? By addressing this question, researchers hope to develop better preventative measures as well as better treatment for drug dependent individuals.

Manic Depression and Creativity – A Book Review

Paul Bloch

Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, is a mental disorder, which is characterized by a cyclic shift in moods between mania and depression. Manic symptoms include hyperactivity, inflated self-esteem, high risk activity, decrease need for sleep, distractibility, and flight of ideas (a rapid, uncontrolled flow of thoughts). Depression is characterized by dysphoria, loss of interest or pleasure in usual pastimes, decreased energy, decrease appetite, and suicidal thoughts (1). It is hard to imagine how one would be able to function regularly with such debilitating symptoms.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatment – A New Approach to Treating Psychiatric Disorders?

Paul Bloch

I have noticed that some students seem as though they are in better moods whenever spring comes. When I asked them why their mood is uplifted during the change in season, they reply that they just love the warmth and brightness. This led me to investigate correlations between good weather and mood. My research led me to one fascinating disorder: seasonal affected disorder (SAD). Patients with seasonal affective disorder suffer depression during the fall and winter seasons but become functional again when the season changes to spring/summer.

In class we discussed how language is most easily learned during the early stages of one’s life. We resolved that this is because the I-function is not utilized. In fact, utilizing the I-function to concentrate on speaking a foreign language actually hinders oneself from becoming fluent. We established that the most effective way to learn a new language is to abandon the I-function and immerse oneself into a situation where only that specific language is spoken. This paradox has been of interest to many, and it has provoked several questions. Is learning a language mutually exclusive to the I-function? Is language itself independent of the I-funtion?