This I Believe: The Path That Led Into Psychology

"A public dialogue about belief—one essay at a time” is the motto of This I Believe, a website which acts as a median for those who want their ideas to be heard through writing. This site served as an inspiration for this week’s post because it brings about different points about similar ideas, which relates to my major because psychologists base their findings through writing. “To point to the common meeting grounds of beliefs, which is the essence of brotherhood and the floor of our civilization,” as journalist Edward R. Murrow states is also another way to understand the site. The work on this site is mainly personal recollections and experiences on various subjects that include addiction, discrimination, and good/evil. Although these are very interesting topics, by following the format of thisibelieve.org, I will focus this post on how the field of psychology became an interest and a part of my life.

In the world of psychology there is an abundance of great minds that have produced most of the theories and useful information we know today. For example, Sigmund Freud a man whose name cannot be overlooked because of contributions like, The Interpretation of Dreams—a book that concentrates on the deeper meaning of dreams. He believed that “all humans are endowed with an unconscious in which potent sexual and aggressive drives, and defenses against them, struggle for supremacy, as it were, behind a person's back.” Ivan Pavlov, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904 “in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged.” He dedicated his extensive career to researching the human brain; he then revealed through his research the basic laws governing the functioning of the cortex of the great hemispheres. Another contributor to our knowledge was Jean Piaget he found interest in researching the question, “how does knowledge grow?”

During my middle school years I came across Memories, Dreams, Reflections, a book containing a good amount of information and facts about a famous psychologist and his work in the field, Carl G. Jung. As I read through it there was a particular quote that caught m eye. It read, “anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to abandon exact science, put away his scholar's gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart through the world. There in the horrors of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling-hells, in the salons of the elegant, the Stock Exchanges, socialist meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic sects, through love and hate, through the experience of passion in every form in his own body, he would reap richer stores of knowledge than text-books a foot thick could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick with a real knowledge of the human soul.” After reading this, a feeling of astonishment rushed through my body. It was one of the first times I had heard about psychology and I started to research more about it. Carl Jung can be credited with opening my eyes and introducing me to his world of the mind.

The most inspirational psychologist is none other than Carl Gustav Jung. His contributions, like defining Psyche as “the totality of all mental processes”, to the field might seem a bit peculiar; however his work on the theory of the duality of man has proven he belongs among the best. Carl Jung’s work ethic and way of approaching his job—like considering himself a scientist—add to his greatness. These factors have sparked my willingness to declare myself a psychology major and inspired me to pursue a career in psychology. At about the same time I encountered the book, there was a program on the PBS network on human behavior that documented Carl Jung’s lifelong work and the various theories he proposed. The theory of the duality of man, where a person is seen calm and easygoing until an outside force interferes with their pathway, causing problems and enables them to react with force. This theory really caused me to look into possibly making psychology the branch of science that I could see myself engaging in. The duality of man theory proposes that humans have their individual personalities and ways of going about life. However, Jung believed that every human also has an unconscious personality that acts somewhat like an opposite. This unconscious self exposes itself during times of need, in matters of life or death, and when backs are against the wall. The mind works in miraculous ways.

As time went on and as I grew older, my respect for the work done in the psychological sphere also grew and a particular instance added to my fascination. One of my mother’s relatives suffers from a case of schizophrenia and the first time I observed him, the experience put me in a phase of thought. I would think to myself and ask how a human being can possibly be acting in such a way and what caused a person to suffer from this. From that point on I had my mind set as to what I wished to accomplish; I wanted to help individuals suffering from a mental illness. Much like Carl Jung contributed to the improvement of humans, I want to be able to reach out to the sick individuals and understand them because the majority of society looks down upon them. Through ideas, discussions, and observations I was pulled toward a path of interest that I hope to follow for years to come.

Intermittent Explosive Disorder: An Actual Disorder or Just a Temperament Problem?

A study founded by the National Institute of Mental Health proved that five to seven percent, about 16 million Americans, of the nationally representative sample had intermittent explosive disorder. Intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. After the outburst the patient might feel genuine regret and embarrassment. This disorder is more common in men that in women and it affects more people than thought. Women have reported that the symptoms seem to increase during their premenstrual cycle. Since men seem to be more affected by it they have a history of traffic accidents, sexual impulsivity and they also develop an extreme sensitivity to alcohol. It shares similarities of some of its symptoms with Alzheimer’s disease, Anti Social Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. This disorder raises a sort of controversy among clinicians because they believe it is a symptom to other diagnoses rather than its own disorder.

A severe disorder might be undertaken like Dr. Emil Coccaro (pictured), chairman of the psychiatry at the University of Chicago’s medical school, states, “people think its bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know...is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this.” The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in the study, the average age of onset was 14. A factor that has to be carefully watched is that people should not automatically diagnose themselves with this disorder just because they experience any of the symptoms mentioned previously. Even thought the intermittent explosive disorder has been included in the manual psychiatrists use to diagnose mental illness for several decades, they still react with admiration to it because of the many affected. As said by Ronald Kessler, “it is news to a lot of people even who are specialists in mental health services that such a large proportion of the population has these clinically significant anger attacks.”

Patients are often treated with psychological treatment along with medication treatment, and it is often very helpful to base their psychological treatment on addiction-based models. Studies suggest that patients with intermittent explosive disorders respond to treatment with antidepressants such as tricyclic antidepressants and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and mood stabilizers such as lithium, carbamazepine, and divalproex. Patients left unattended and those given no medication can display behavior that can result in extreme catastrophe. For example, David Edward Attias, a student from the University of California Santa Barbara, forced his car towards a crowd of students and triumphantly killed four of them. Victims who witnessed this crime described Attias as an insane person. He was often referred to as “crazy Dave” or “tweaker” by people in his dormitory. After he left the scene of the crime he went directly to a female student’s dormitory confessed he was a virgin and demanded she had sex with him. Instances like these call for immediate detection and treatment for the disorder so that tragedy can be avoided and innocent people would not be harmed.

Intermittent explosive disorder is unknown among many and their ignorance may lead them to leave it unattended. As new victims are affected, an effort should be made to inform people about this severe disorder that lingers amongst society. This will be beneficial in the near future because we never know when we might encounter a person that is affected by it in any public location. Both the victims and patients are at risk and without the information needed to learn about its danger, nothing can be done to keep it from spreading. Although intermittent explosive disorder contains many of the symptoms attributed to other mental illnesses, there should still be further research and studies done to provide the public with more useful information, treatments, and medications to contain it.