Social Response

Chapter 11 - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Explanation of Topic

PTSD is a severe stress disorder that is suffered by people who have been predisposed to an event or situation in their lives that brings back fear or makes them highly uncomfortable when the situation, or one similar, arises. Man

y people suffer from issues such as sleep disorders, problems concentrating, nightmares, and anxiety, but PTSD is much more severe. People with PTSD actually “relive” the moments that cause the stress in their minds. They may actually feel like they are there. If this temporarily occurs, it is called acute stress disorder, but it becomes PTSD once it persists for over a month's period.

Relevance to My Life

A previous boyfriend of mine developed PTSD at a young age. When he was three, his mother failed to buckle him in his seat or put him in a child's chair. They had a car accident and he was flung head first through the car and into the windshield, busting his face open. He had many surgeries to repair the damage that was done. Although it did not always occur, there were moments, especially when riding in a car, that he would panic and have to pull over because he would be reminded of that moment and become terrified. It was not so severe, and did not happen often, but it has been something he's lived with for many years and grown out of it seems more and more, but he does experience these moments from time to time still today at age 21.

Chapter 13 - Altruism

Explanation of Topic

Altruism is defined as helping someone in trouble with no expectation of reward and often without fear for one's own safety. This type of behavior usually always results in someone feeling good about themselves. Some scientists have said that this occurs because we are more concerned about the better good for all than that of just ourselves, such as a male spider allowing the females spider to eat it, ensuring that their genes will be continued on. Still, though, there is no one answer for some of the extreme situations that have occurred.

Relevance in My Life

When my youngest brother was little, he jumped in the lake not realizing he did not have a flotation device on him still. At the time, he was too young to know how to swim on his own. I jumped in to save him ahead of anyone else in my family, even though I too was very young and not the greatest swimmer. I remember being underwater for a lot longer than I usually was able to. I continued to search despite my lack of air. Finally, I found him in the murky water and brought him to the surface. There, I struggled to hold us both above water at the same time and was beginning to also drown, but was able to hold on long enough to pass him off to someone that could get him out of the water. It was pure instinct that made me jump in, and pure adrenaline, I believe, that kept me underwater long enough to find him.

Chapter 14 - Specific Phobia

Explanation of Topic

A phobia can be defined as an irrational, persistent fear of something. This something might be an object or a situation or many involve social situations. A specific phobia is simply a fear with one clearly defined trigger, an object or situation, which causes great discomfort. Some examples of this, as given in the book, are a fear of dogs or a fear of being in small, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia). Some other phobias include trypanophobia, a fear of needles, odontophobia, a fear of dental work, hematophobia, a fear of blood, and acrophobia, a fear of heights.

Relevance in My Life

Although I might not quite label my case at such an extreme level as a phobia, I have always had an incredible fear of falling. Heights don't both me at all, but the thought of dropping does. The biggest encounter with this has been with roller coasters. Theme parks today cover the majority of their park with roller coasters, and it always seems that that is what everyone in the group wants to do. Not me. Never did I ever want to try a roller coaster. The very thought made me curl in a tight ball and grab on to something as tight as possible so that no one could attempt to drag me on. It is the one thing I would fight and pitch a fit over, and so, I never was included in parks since I never rode anything anyone else rode. This past summer, I got on my first roller coaster. I don't know how or why I did it, but as terrified as I was, I finally did it. I remember it being probably one of the scariest things I've ever done in my life as I stood in line and watched it fly past me. I almost had a panic attack in the seat when the level went down and I was officially strapped in for good. Now though, I have ridden about four different ones, and although I still am very scared, I can tolerate them, and in fact, I almost like them.

Conclusion

I encounter psychology everyday of my life, much more than I ever realized. Psychology is not just a common topic for those “on the edge of your seat” thrillers in the movies, and it's not just those in our society would are monitored due to the fact that they are mentally unstable, but rather each person thinks of their lives and how each person reacts to their environment. Psychology is in how we feel about ourselves, how we move, what decisions we make, our goals, our dream, our aspirations… it's all around us. Understanding psychology and how and why each individual reacts in different situations gives us each a better understanding of the world around us, as well as ourselves. We may just learn things about our own individual personalities that we never even knew existed, or why we do the things we do. Psychology is learning about who we are and what makes us each unique.