Establishing Boundaries at Work

Establishing Boundaries at Work

Self-esteem is somewhat of an umbrella term for psychologists. The term covers much ground, with estimates stating that self-esteem remains fairly stable throughout the lifespan, but is lowered by depression. Also, self-esteem tends to go down in girls after age fourteen, according to some studies. Likewise, high self-esteem predicts selective attention towards positive stimuli. For example, in a study focusing on individuals with positive and negative self-images, those who thought better about themselves noticed more smiling faces than those who did not, who prevalently noticed judgemental and frowning faces. Thus, high self-esteem may act as a precursor to noticing acceptance towards oneself in others.

In truth, there is no such thing as an “intuitive boundary” of a sensory state. That most philosophers take such states as brain-bound is not an intuition, but a prejudice.” (István Aranyosi, The Peripheral Mind: Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System) Image: Elena.

Self-esteem may also be helpful in establishing boundaries in the workplace and in other areas of life. For instance, a person with high self-esteem may feel better about saying no to others, particularly when faced with unreasonable requests. Therefore, if a colleague wants you to do all the work instead of them, for example to do their job when you have your own tasks, duties and responsibilities, then it may be far better to be able and feel comfortable to say no. Self-confidence is a related term employed by psychologists, to refer to how confident one feels in one’s capabilities. To illustrate, being shy shows a lack of self-confidence.

Environmental Psychology

Environmental Psychology

The purpose of the present essay is to describe ecotherapy as it applies to ecopsychology. Ecopsychology is a novel, less discussed branch of psychology focusing on the interrelation between psychological mechanisms and the environment. Furthermore, ecotherapy comprises part of the ecopsychological realm. Thus, while not necessarily a therapy, and certainly distinct from more traditional and/or clinical therapies, such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), ecotherapeutical constructs may be used in an overall well-being sense.

Clearly, psychotherapeutic approaches vary in their use and effectiveness. For example, psychoanalysis, pioneered by psychoanalysis founding father, Sigmund Freud, remain only as an inspirational basis for psychology students, whereas today’s therapists employ approaches such as CBT, or debated methods, such as hypnotherapy. Indeed, CBT has been proven to be more effective in treating MDD (Major Depressive Disorder, also known as depression) in combination with medication, as compared to medication alone. In fact, mental health professionals argue that in the long run, this combination of treatments generates more long lasting results than antidepressants alone.

A road. Image © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

However, an important distinction must be made between psychologists and psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who completed a specialization in the field. Conversely, psychologists are not licensed to prescribe medication, and as a rule do not treat patients in any way, even though some people may find it very helpful to talk to psychologists. Another major contrast between the two professions, is that psychiatrists mainly concentrate on topics which would correspond most closely to abnormal or clinical psychology, while psychologists look at all aspects of the human mind and behaviour, including consumer relations (industrial psychology), human motivation (positive psychology), metacognition and thinking processes (cognitive psychology) , as well as, personality traits, communication and building friendships (social psychology) and so on.

In 1996, Howard Clinebell wrote a book on ecotherapy. Ecotherapy, an increasingly important subject in today’s world threatened by global warming, outlines an Earth-centred approach to human well-being. Parallels may be drawn with ancient cultures, when in order to be happy and well-rounded, it was believed that humans had to live in harmony with their environment. Nonetheless, in the modern concrete jungle, the balance has been lost, and ecotherapy may restore this balance (applied ecopsychology). Clinebell describes a three-fold approach to ecology as it benefits the human psyche.

An old village. Image: © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Ecotherapy may be viewed a set of theoretical, therapeutical applications based on nature, wildlife, the environment and humanity connectedness. Naturally, ecotherapy is of great interest to environmental psychology. Interestingly, psychology has seen a widely documented discussion called the nature vs. nurture debate. Consequently, behaviourists, such as B.F. Skinner, support the nurture and environmental arguments, while geneticists lend credence to the nature side. Nonetheless, and most importantly, there seems to be a consensus among modern psychologists that it is actually an interaction of genes and environment which is most justified. Thus, along these lines, it becomes fundamental to reconnect with the environment, paying particular attention to ecology.

Research findings aside, one needs not read an academic, peer-reviewed article to see how beneficial a walk through a national park may be. Indeed, spending time in the outdoors has countless beneficial effects, but as is usual with all human undertaking, safety and moderation are warranted concerns to keep in mind. Also, from a positive psychology perspective, keeping an open-mind, a positive attitude and avoiding both recklessness and overthinking appear to be healthy path to embark on. Therefore, the present paper briefly introduces ecotherapy as it applies to environmental psychology and ecopsychology.

Understanding

Understanding

Sensation, Perception and Interpretation

A common obstacle to communication and mutual understanding is misinterpretation. As simple as it may seem, even the same words may actually carry dissimilar meanings for different people. While attention has often been directed towards differences due to cultural, educational and generational backgrounds, this may fail to represent the whole picture. For example, simple associations and memories may carry diverse meanings for someone who usually eats red apples and likes them, versus somebody else who instinctively pictures the fruit as green, sour and unpleasant due to personal allergies.

Overthinking may be counterproductive. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

The saying goes that relationships are built on trust and communication, so at least in interpersonal and public relations, such issues are quite important. Advice on how to communicate better abounds, but with a lot of contradictions. Some maintain that one should always use first person pronouns “me, I” and avoid the “blame game” using the second person pronoun “you”. Conversely, others state the reverse, claiming that the “you view” makes the interlocutor feel that the conversation is focused on them, which in turn makes them feel appreciated, and thus more open and receptive to suggestions. Again, a potential argument may emerge that one may be uncomfortable being the center of attention, so the discussion is really a complicated one.

Nonetheless, aside from psychological, there are also neuroscientific factors to interpretation. In the brain, likewise, interpretation is no simple matter. In general, before something can be interpreted it has to pass the sensation and perception steps.

Young woman reflecting at dawn. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen. All rights reserved

Working Alongside Someone with a Mental Illness

Working Alongside Someone with a Mental Illness

The following essay is dedicated to working alongside persons with mental disorders. The paper covers mainly bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. According to statistics, 25% of people with schizophrenia are employed and, thus, functional in the workplace. However, things cannot be simple when a mental disorder is on the horizon. One of the most important statements to keep in mind, is that people with mental disorders can be helped, and do get better, and that under good circumstances, they can lead full, healthy and productive lives. Thus, it remains important to give each other chances, whether one has any illness or not.

From a particular viewpoint, it may seem that schizophrenia has no cure. Interestingly, compared to some other mental disorders diagnosed in the DSM, its prognosis may appear somewhat more fatalistic. Also, schizophrenia can be very hard for loved ones, as it is not a question of trying harder, of doing or abstaining from doing certain things, it is a question that schizophrenia is an illness. Yes, it can be controlled, yes medications help individuals, yes individuals can and do get better when treated by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, but people with schizophrenia do need and deserve help. And things need not be hopeless, there is always hope!

A girl with a mental illness. Image by Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Schizophrenia, the word itself, means a splitting of the mind. The disease does entail a significant cut off from reality as most people perceive it. People with the illness may appear trapped into their own reality, which is not only difficult to understand to friends and family, but also quite often slightly painful. Schizophrenia’s symptoms include but are not limited to, positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are given the name because they represent things that are there but should not be, such as delusions (false beliefs held despite all evidence to the contrary) and hallucinations (visual and auditory sensory perception in the absence of actual stimuli). Negative symptoms correspond to things lacking, which should be present, such as flat affect (absence of displayed emotions) and social withdrawal (poor social functioning).

By the same toke, Bipolar Disorder is a very debilitating illness. Also, the medication may make you gain weight because you continuously eat. Nevertheless, it is better to stay on the medication to have a normal, healthy and productive life, than worry about weight gain or weight loss. Life has many challenges, mental illness is one of them for some of us. Psychology students in undergraduate and other programs are often faced with mental illness in textbooks. The branch of psychology dealing with mental disorders is abnormal psychology. The diagnostic tool most widely used is the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual published by the APA, the American Psychiatric Association.

World of Thought

World of Thought

It was once thought, in the days before relativity, that light did propagate through a special medium that permeated all of space, called «the luminiferous aether ». But the famous Michelson-Morley experiment demonstrated that such an aether did not exist.

We sometimes hear of things that can travel faster than light. Something called “the speed of thought, is occasionally proffered. This is an exceptionally silly notion – especially since the speed of impulses through the neurons of or brains is about the same as the speed of a donkey cart. The human beings have been clever enough to devise relativity shows that we think well, but I do not think we can boast about thinking fast. The electrical impulses in modern computers do, however, travel at the speed of light.

The world of thought is divided roughly into two hemispheres. The right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is mainly responsible for pattern recognition, intuition, sensitivity, creative insights. The left hemisphere presides over rational, analytical and critical thinking. These are the dual strengths, the essential opposites, that characterise human thinking. Together, they provide the means both for generating ideas and for testing their validity. A continuous dialogue is going on between the two hemispheres, channeled through an immense bundle of nerves, the corpus callosum, the bridge between creativity and analysis, both of which are necessary to understand the world.

The brain is a very big place in a very small space. Image: Nuclei Brain Cells Neurons. Drawing © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

The information content of the human brain expressed in bits is probably comparable to the total number of connections among the neurons – about a hundred trillion, 10(14), bits. If written out in English, say, that information would fill some twenty million volumes, as many as in the world’s largest libraries. The equivalent of twenty million books is inside the heads of every one of us.

Most of the books in the brain are in the cerebral cortex. Down in the basement are the functions our remote ancestors mainly depended on – aggression, child-rearing, fear, sex, the willingness to follow leaders blindly. Or the higher brain functions, some – reading, writing, speaking – seem to be localized in particular places in the cerebral cortex. Memories, on the other hand, are stored redundantly in many locales. In such a thing as telepathy existed, one of its glories would be the opportunity for each of us to read the books in the cerebral cortices of our loved ones. But there is no compelling evidence for telepathy, and the communication of such information remains the task of artists and writers.

The brain does much more than recollect. It compares, analyses, synthesizes, generates abstractions. We must figure our much more than our genes can know. That is why the brain library is some ten thousand times larger than the gene library. Our passion for learning, evident in the behaviour of every toddler, is the proof of our survival.