what is going on??? the reality of schizophrenia.

First of all i have to start by saying that schizophrenia to me personally, is one of the scariest disorders that I've heard about. I mean really, hearing voices and being in a state of mind where you see and hear things that are unreasonable and cant even make sense to anyone besides the person who is going through this SCARY, needless to say, disorder.
I cant imagine being so scared of having someone telling me to hurt myself or others to the point where its not reasonable anymore that i would rather try to end my life then continue with that agony. That is exactly how people with schizophrenia feel at times.
Schizophrenia affects men and women equally. It occurs at similar rates in all ethnic groups around the world. Symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions usually start between ages 16 and 30. Men tend to experience symptoms a little earlier than women. Most of the time, people do not get schizophrenia after age 45. Schizophrenia rarely occurs in children, but awareness of childhood-onset schizophrenia is increasing.
Schizophrenia consists of a person having delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior, and the weak or absence signs of emotion, speech, and socialization. This disorder affects about 1% of people only. The diagnosis is not an easy task and its not easy to diagnose, because some of the characteristics of schizophrenia are ones that are seen in other disorders and of course, schizophrenia is not exactly figured out as to how someone ends up having this disorder. is it genetically inherited or does the environment or other influences affect how one obtains this disorder? this has not been 100% figured out yet, because many hypothesis are being explained, but none are 100% sure.
Because the causes of schizophrenia are still unknown, treatments focus on eliminating the symptoms of the disease. Treatments include anti-psychotic medications and various psychosocial treatments. Treatment helps relieve many symptoms of schizophrenia, but most people who have the disorder cope with symptoms throughout their lives. However, many people with schizophrenia can lead rewarding and meaningful lives in their communities.
Anti-psychotic medications have been available since the mid-1950's. The older types are called conventional or "typical" anti-psychotics. In the 1990's, new anti-psychotic medications were developed. These new medications are called second generation, or "atypical" anti-psychotics.
The outlook for people with schizophrenia continues to improve. Although there is no cure, treatments that work well are available. Many people with schizophrenia improve enough to lead independent, satisfying lives.

How effective are the tecniques used to treat depression?

First of all let me start by saying that people who experience depression, should be able to know what kind of depression they are suffering from, meaning is it mild or chronic depression? Knowing this information can actually help you figure out what kind of treatment is best for you. 
Two of the most effective techniques used to treat depression are the use of antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy. other techniques include are the electroconvulsive therapy, altered sleep patterns, and exercise.
Antidepressant drugs that are used include:

• Tricyclics operate by blocking the transporter proteins that reabsorb serotonin, dopamine, and nor epinephrine into the presynaptic neuron after their release.
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRI)-  selectively inhibit the reuptake of serotonin.
• Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors(SNRI)- block reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine.
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI)-block an enzyme that breaks down catecholamines and serotonin. 
• Atypical antidepressants- miscellaneous group with diverse effects.

Antidepressants alter synaptic activity, but their effects on behavior require at least 2 weeks. The different drugs affects different neurotransmitters, but appear to be equally effective.
Antidepressant drugs are ineffective for many people. For people with mild to moderate depression, antidepressants are not significantly more effective than placebos.
Psychotherapy is about as effective as antidepressant drugs for patients with all levels of severity. Psychotherapy is more likely than anti psychotic drugs to produce long-lasting benefits that prevent or delay a relapse after the end of treatment.
Electroconvulsive therapy(ECT) is a treatmnt through an electrically induced seizure. Electroconvulsive therapy is quick and most patients awaken calmly without remembering it. ECT is used only with informed consent and its usually for people dealing with severe depression who have not responded to antidepressant drugs. its applied every other day for about 2 weeks and they give the patient muscle relaxants and anesthetics to minimize discomfort. the only side effect may be memory loss that can last up to several months not forever, if the limit to the right hemisphere is reduced.
After ECT has relieved depression a way to prevent a relapse is to  use the drugs, psychotherapy, or periodic ECT treatments.
Lastly if you ge enough rest and excercise you save energy or release removing excess of stress that at times may be the cause of depression.
Altogether what i want to state is that after knowing how severe or mild your depression is you can find a way to fix that problem. Don't feel like you are stuck and there is no way out, because there is, you just have to find what best helps you out.

What are the signs of PTSD?

Have you or someone close to you ever gone through a traumatic experience that is still affecting that person today. Well those emotions and that stress that's been accumulating from the experience, can be of great concern because that my friend, can be considered as post traumatic stress disorder commonly known as PTSD, shell shock, or combat stress.

What exactly is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs in some people who have endured terrifying experiences, such as a life-threatening attack or watching someone get killed. There symptoms usually last more than a month and you have frequent distressing flashbacks and nightmares and some noises may startle you and bring back memories of the experience.

Sometimes these symptoms don’t surface for months or years after the event or returning from deployment. They may also come and go. If these problems won’t go away or are getting worse—or you feel like they are disrupting your daily life—you may have PTSD.

What are the signs of PTSD you may ask, well the list isn't short, but if you seem to be experiencing some of these factors, you should really have someone help you out:

• Feeling upset by things that remind you of what happened
• Having nightmares, vivid memories, or flashbacks of the event that make you feel like it’s happening all over again
• Feeling emotionally cut off from others
• Feeling numb or losing interest in things you used to care about
• Becoming depressed
• Thinking that you are always in danger
• Feeling anxious, jittery, or irritated
• Experiencing a sense of panic that something bad is about to happen
• Having difficulty sleeping
• Having trouble keeping your mind on one thing
• Having a hard time relating to and getting along with your spouse, family, or friends

 It’s not just the symptoms of PTSD but also how you may react to them that can disrupt your life. You may:

• Frequently avoid places or things that remind you of what happened
• Consistent drinking or use of drugs to numb your feelings
• Consider harming yourself or others
• Start working all the time to occupy your mind
• Pull away from other people and become isolated

Two types of treatment have been shown to be effective for treating PTSD: counseling and medication. Professional counseling can help you understand your thoughts and discover ways to cope with your feelings. Medications, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are used to help you feel less worried or sad.
Your close friends and family may be the first to notice that you’re having a tough time. Turn to them when you are ready to talk. It can be helpful to share what you’re experiencing, and they may be able to provide support and help you find treatment that is right for you.

sleep,sleep...zzz

We all need sleep, that's something our body needs to rest and revitalize our minds. One of sleep's original function is to save energy. Animals for example may be efficient at certain times of the day, some are more efficient at night while for others would be during the day. So sleep conserves energy during the inefficient time.
People who don't get enough sleep have trouble concentrating and become more vulnerable to illness, especially mental illnesses, for example stress and depression.We decrease the amount of sleep we get as we get older, so we should learn to manage our sleep time correctly. Infants usually get 16-17 hours of sleep as babies, children get 11-13 hours, as adolescents we get about 9 hours of sleep and as adults the average is about 8 hours although some people can go through the day with just 3 hours of sleep.
Sleep also plays an important role for memory. One way for sleep to strengthen memory is by wedding out the less successful connections. That means that by weakening synapses during sleep emphasizes the ones that were strengthened during wakefulness. With new knowledge and information we need to store this information, but if we had stored all the information we've ever learned our brain wouldn't be able to sustain much new information, so that's why some of that information needs to be removed and new one processed in.
Our health is a major importance when we are talking about the amount of sleep we get. The less sleep we get the more prone we are to getting sick. Depression and stress are some of the main health risks that one can face. We react to sleep deprivation as if we were ill. With more prolonged sleep deprivation,people report dizziness, tremors, and hallucinations.
clearly, we need to sleep, not only for our health, but so that we can be able to function properly.

what men and women seek in a mate

Typically when we seek out for someone that we want, we look for someone who is healthy, intelligent, honest, physically attractive and someone that is like themselves. However, women have other interest that we pay attention to. For example, we want someone that will be a good provider, we want someone that has a commitment and wont leave as soon as a problem arises or something unplanned comes into the picture. Men want a woman who has a life of her own and is self sufficient and who can contribute towards their growth and make the relationship stronger. We don't want to leave all the responsibility for the men, but we want to know that we can count on them to know how committed he really is, after all a relationship consists of two people not just one.

Another interesting fact is that a women is also much more likely to reject a man because of his smell.  A reason is that the odor relates to the gene that controls the immune system and if his odor is similar to hers then this may not work. Not only do we relate the smell to the immune system, but we want someone whose hygiene is well taken care of. Its a way to be presentable all the time. 

one thing that both men and women have in common while seeking out for a mate, is that we both want someone that can be there for us, we want a friend who we can be ourselves with and share him or her what we want or may be going through. A woman can be her man's best friend with whom he can share his problems and hope to get positive solutions, and we hope we get this from a man as well.

Men and women are looking for a woman who is fun to be with, who can enjoy various leisure activities and share his interests. A relationship need not be serious; it should be an enjoyable experience so that you look forward to build it long term.

 So overall men typically look for this in a woman:

• A trusting partner
• Someone on same mental wavelength
• Fun and enjoyment
• Independent and confident woman
• a friend
• a woman with feminine sensuality
• physical attraction  Women in the other hand look for this in a man:
• ambitious
• reliable
• intelligent
• physical attraction
  
  

Hurt feelings=Social Pain

Social pain is the experience of pain as a result of interpersonal rejection or loss, such as rejection from a social group, bullying, or the loss of a loved one. Research now shows that social pain results from the activation of certain components in physical pain systems. Hurt feelings do resemble physical pain in important regards.
Sometimes we complain about a broken heart, or hurt feelings and other people don't know what you are talking about. They don't know who you feel and cant understand you. People think that when they hear someone say this, they are talking about feelings, not physical pain. Needless to say, when someone tells you that their feelings are hurt, they really have a sort of physical pain. Literally! This happens when there's an increase in cingulate cortex which responds to the emotional aspect of pain
However, by taking pain relievers like Tylenol, you can actually help that pain that you may be going through. Don't exaggerate on the self medicating thing or other things can end up happening to you and your body. Its always best to talk to a doctor just in case because things can always go out of hand and it may become into something more serious.
The next time someone says you've hurt their feelings, just tell them to quit complaining and take a Tylenol! :)
Facts about pain in  general :
1. Pain is not just physical. It is emotional too. Chronic pain affects you emotionally just as much as it affects you physically. It is very stressful and that is why you will feel frustration and anger. Pain can lead to a drastic increase in stress level and conversely, a lot of stress can increase the pain.

2. It is a fact that women feel more pain than men. If you compare a woman’s lifestyle to a man’s, you will see the difference. A woman undergoes so much changes and conditions throughout her lifetime such as menstruation, pregnancy, delivery, migraines, etc. Recent studies have also showed that the pain women experience is more intense than that which men experience. Studies were carried out on animals and it was shown that females needed twice the amount of pain relief given to males.

Nightmare called Alzheimer

I am one of those lucky people that have never had someone important go through the horrible nightmare of Alzheimer. I would think that not knowing who you are or who the people that surround you are must be a nightmare that you just wish you would wake up from.
I like many am in love with the movie The Notebook,the story of how Noah helps Allie the love of his life remember her old life when she is suffering from Alzheimer. So as we saw in the movie, not only does the person who is suffering from this disease the one who suffers, but their families also suffer through it all.
Alzheimer's disease slowly damages, and then destroys, a person’s memory, judgment, reasoning skills, personality, autonomy, and bodily functions. It's a serious and scary condition.
It’s normal to sometimes forget things, but as we age, it often takes longer to learn new skills or remember words, names, or where we left our glasses. Of course, this does not mean an individual has dementia. In fact, scientists have found that healthy older adults perform just as well as their young counterparts on complex and learning tests—if given extra time to complete.
However, there’s a difference between occasional forgetfulness and behavior that may be cause for concern. Not recognizing a familiar face, trouble performing common tasks (such as using the telephone or driving home); or being unable to comprehend or recall recent information are all red flags that need to be checked by a medical professional.
Also known as late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, AD is primarily a disease of the elderly. The first noticeable symptoms can occur as early as age 60.
When AD runs in families, it’s called familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD).
AD sometimes can affect people as young as 30. This type of AD is called early-onset AD. It is rare and affects less than one out of every 1,000 people with AD.
The underlying cause or causes of AD, and specific risk factors, remain unclear. Yet experts believe AD is likely due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Lifestyle choices, such as diet, exercise, and staying mentally active like learning new skills, also are factors.
About 5.3 million Americans have AD, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). That number will only climb as the elderly population rises.
AD is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the fifth leading in Americans age 65 and older. Worldwide, approximately 24 million people have AD.
Like i said, Alzheimers Disease(AD) is something scary and it doesn't only affect the person with it, but everyone that's around him.

Ups and downs with depression

Depression is a serious disorder that many people suffer everyday and everywhere. I've known friends and family members that have gone through this horrible disorder, and let me tell you that its so hard to see the suffer and not be able to help, because although one tries most of the strength must come from the person that's suffering this battle.
It literally becomes an internal battle that you have to defeat, because otherwise it will just take over your life. Luckily, there's treatment for this, like psychotherapy,  antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Some people will recover after they've had any of the treatments, however it will depend on the patient. Some patients suffer from mild to moderate depression, while others suffer from a severe form of depression. The degree to how the treatment will work depends on the severity of the disorder. People who suffer from mild to moderate depression will get better with a placebo or an antidepressant drug and they don't necessarily need the therapy, but for those who suffer from severe depression will get better with the help of the medications and the therapy. With the elecroconvulsive therapy(ECT) there are two side effects, one being memory loss and the other serious drawback would be a high risk of relapsing into another episode of depression within a few months.
In my opinion i believe that therapy is the best treatment to take, although some antidepressant work while some are in fact just placebos. I think its all in our mind when it comes to the placebo drug, if after raking it for a while we believe that its working, that's because our mind is set to think that way, were bringing positivity into our thinking that's why it works.
Overall depression is a major disorder that we have to look out for within the ones we love because it can turn into something dangerous and  sometimes its hard to get out of.

In the video above, the psychologist goes into more explicit detail about what depression is and how it starts to develop in the brain, he names some of the types of symptoms a person can get and what disorders can a person with depression end up getting.

What is a stroke????

A stroke is a condition in which the brain cells suddenly die because of a lack of oxygen. This can be caused by an obstruction in the blood flow, or the rupture of an artery that feeds the brain. The patient may suddenly lose the ability to speak, there may be memory problems, or one side of the body can become paralyzed.

The two main types of stroke include ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.

• Ischemic stroke accounts for about three-quarters of all strokes and occurs when a blood clot, or thrombus, forms that blocks blood flow to part of the brain. If a blood clot forms somewhere in the body and breaks off to become free-floating, it is called an embolus. This wandering clot may be carried through the bloodstream to the brain where it can cause ischemic stroke.
  
• A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel on the brain's surface ruptures and fills the space between the brain and skull with blood (subarachnoid hemorrhage) or when a defective artery in the brain bursts and fills the surrounding tissue with blood (cerebral hemorrhage).

Both types of stroke result in a lack of blood flow to the brain and a buildup of blood that puts too much pressure on the brain.

The outcome after a stroke depends on where the stroke occurs and how much of the brain is affected. Smaller strokes may result in minor problems, such as weakness in an arm or leg. Larger strokes may lead to paralysis or death. Many stroke patients are left with weakness on one side of the body, difficulty speaking, incontinence, and bladder problems.
Here are some facts that i found about who gets  a stroke, its interesting that just based on your culture group you may be at risk of having a stroke. It doenst necessarily maen that you will get a stroke just because you smoke or because you are hispanic, no it just means theres a higher chance because thats what statistcs show and because its more common amongst people who have any of these things.

Anyone can suffer from stroke. Although many risk factors for stroke are out of our control, several can be kept in line through proper nutrition and medical care. Risk factors for stroke include the following:

• Over age 55
• Male
• African American, Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander
• A family history of stroke
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Smoking cigarettes
• Diabetes
• Obesity and overweight
• Cardiovascular disease
• A previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• High levels of homocysteine (an amino acid in blood)
• Birth control use or other hormone therapy
• Cocaine use
• Heavy use of alcohol - researchers from the University of Lille Nord de France, Lille, France, reported in the journal Neurology that heavy regular drinkers have a considerably higher risk of stroke early in life compared to others.
• Men from divorced families have a higher chance of suffering a stroke than those from families which are still intact

ADDICTION!!!

People with an addiction do not have control over what they are doing, taking or using. Their addiction may reach a point at which it is harmful. Addictions do not only include physical things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but may include virtually anything, such abstract things as gambling to seemingly harmless products, such as chocolate - in other words, addiction may refer to a substance dependence (e.g. drug addiction) or behavioral addiction (e.g. gambling addiction).
Addiction to drugs, food, shopping, social networks, etc..etc. People everyday are experiencing a type of addiction; however regardless of what the addiction may be, the seriousness to this is that an addiction to something exists.
The most typical addiction problem that we see out there is the addiction to drugs. Yes, drug addiction constitutes the most common addiction in the world. The worst part of it is that people die everyday from this and children not only adults take part of this.
Addiction to food is another harmful thing because this is slowly killing people. We are facing the problem of obesity and nowadays people take their health for granted and indulge in all the fast food eating that it can eventually become a habit that at one point you don't see the addiction that you are facing.
Who doesn't love to shop, play video games or like to check their Facebook or Twitter? I cant lie and say that i don't enjoy this things, because i do, however i don't consider myself addicted to any of these things.
So next time have a reality check and see if you consider yourself addicted to any of these things.

What a system!!!

The nervous system is the pathways that the brain uses to send information through out the body. The nervous system is needed to relay messages to the brain and back to different parts in the body. If the nervous system becomes disabled in any way, a person would lose a lot of its normal bodily functions.
The major organs of the nervous system are the spinal cord and the brain. They are the transmitters and both are needed in healthy condition to operate our nervous system efficiently.
The nervous system is composed of two parts: 
The central nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.
The peripheral nervous system consisting of all the neurons in the body, other than those in the brain and spinal cord. It is a vital component of the human body, which helps in sensing and movement. The smooth functioning of the five senses - touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell, is attributed to it.

There are some fats about the nercvous system that we didnt know about like:

• The brain weighs approximately 3lbs
• A man's spinal cord is a bundle of nerve tissue that is about 17.7 inches long, an average woman's spinal chord is 16.9 inches long
• In humans, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, while the left side of the brain controls the right side of he body
• At a given point of time, only four percent of the cells in the brain are active, the rest are kept in reserve.
• In a child developing inside the womb, neurons grow at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute.
• By the time of its birth, the baby's brains consists of around 10 million nerve cells.
• The weight of the brain in average adult males is 1375 grams, while in females it is 1275 grams and as we grow older the brain loses a gram each year
• At a given point of time, only four percent of the cells in the brain are active, the rest are kept in reserve. 

Its interesting how much we don't know about how our nervous system works and the interesting facts but here's some facts and some background information to educate us more about this topic.

1.3 The Use of Animals in Research

Animal research has been a controversial topic for so long already that it’s difficult to support either side of the controversy, as they both have well thought of points that help to reason their claims

On one side, we have abolitionists who are against animal research as they believe that animals should have rights just like we do. They have a perspective whereby animals are no longer regarded as things to be owned and used.  On the other side, we have the scientists who are doing all these tests and research to improve our lives. They aren’t harming animals for fun or just because they want to, no they are doing this to help human beings by finding cures or improving our daily supplies like beauty products or medication. Yeah, they are harming innocent creatures that can’t talk or do something to make them stop, but they are the closest things we have to test on besides humans.

I have to say that I support this idea to some degrees because I do believe in gaining knowledge to figure things out for treatments and for other things but at the same time it’s not right to treat animals with  such cruelty when they do not deserve it. Yes we are fighting to survive and we are harming others in the process, but that's the only way that we can help others, it’s just how we are improving in life. 

Like I said, this topic has it pros and cons but at the end it’s something that has been going on for many years and it will still probably go on for many more...We really won’t ever be able to stop this, but we however can slow things down by figuring other ways in which we can gain the information and knowledge that we are obtaining from doing this experiments. We are evolving and just like technology is taking over many things, we may as well figure out how to use this in our advantage and stop animal cruelty once and for all.