Author: Olivia Himmelstein

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is defined as a psychological disorder that is diagnosed when an individual continuously experiences distressing or frightening thoughts as engaging in obsessions or compulsions. Many people believe OCD is considered to be a stage, although it is a crippling lifelong disorder. Individuals who experience OCD causes them to do things over and over again. However, like many people, we do in fact have these behaviors at some point in our lives but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have OCD.

Obsessions, being reoccurring distressed thoughts tend to cause anxiety. For instance, the common themes of obsession can range from the fear of corruption, needing things in a specific order, and undesirable thoughts. These obsessions are not everyday life problems but once occurring, it becomes almost impossible to control.

Compulsions are behaviors that cause the individual to do things over and over again. The goal of compulsions is to try to prevent or reduce an individuals distress or negative out comes. However, in many instances, this may only offer a temporary relief from anxiety. Common themes of compulsions can range from cleaning, having a strict routine, or even demanding reassurance.

OCD causes the brain to get stuck on a particular thought or urge. Around the age of nine I began going to overnight camp. I made a numerous amount of friends and there was nowhere I loved being more than at camp. Being in a bunk with the same fifteen girls for six years caused me to notice common differences about everyone. For instance, one of my best friends always felt the need to color coordinate her clothing while folding it. Specifically, she felt the desire to organize her clothing cubbies in rainbow order and wouldn’t let them be otherwise. One day, I asked if I could borrow her red shirt and she allowed me to. We walked over to her cubbies and she handed me the shirt. By the end of the day, I went to refold the shirt and put it back in her cubbies however I placed it into the orange section. Quickly, before I could even turn around, she ripped the shirt out of the cubbies, yelled at me, and told me I could only place red shirts in the red section.  This to my friend, was one of the worst possible things to happen to her. She had become extremely upset and needed a coping mechanism to calm herself down. This obsession was quickly addressed in the hope of being able to help her and relieve her anxiety stemming from this OCD.

Encoding Information

Memory encoding is a crucial first step to creating a new memory. It is the process of getting information into our memory for storage. This allows information to be converted and stored in the brain forever. There are three different types of memory encoding: visual, semantic, and acoustic encoding. The process of visual encoding begins when a visual image is transformed from understanding the idea to an object. This type of information is temporarily stored in iconic memory, then moved to long-term memory for storage. Semantic encoding however is extremely different. It involves the use of sensory input that has a specific meaning or can be applied to a context. It is a specific type of encoding which the meaning of something (a word, phrase, picture, etc.) is encoded rather than to the sound or vision of it. However, acoustic encoding is the use of auditory or hearing to create memories. It occurs when one is able to understand the auditory aspect of an object or experience. It is although aided by the phonological loop. This is a process where sounds are rehearsed over and over in your head.

We use encoding everyday of our lives, most times going completely unnoticed.  Visual encoding converts information to an object to better understand it. I use visual encoding constantly without even noticing. For example, when I was in psychology class in high school, there were multiple words that were posted on the board shown for a few seconds. Each word had a different font, capitalized letters, different color, etc. When my teacher first asked us to write down the differences between the words, as well as the words, I blanked. This is because the information was encoded visually, meaning it was very sudden and had the potential to be forgotten easily. I frequently also use semantic encoding, which pertains to meaning. It refers to a portion of long-term memory that processes ideas that are not drawn from personal experience. A specific time I used my semantic memory was in history class. My teacher had chosen five students at random to stand in front of the class and say the capitals of countries. This was basic knowledge I learned from growing up that I had acquired over a long period of time. Acoustic encoding however is also found all throughout my day, especially during school. During Spanish class, my teacher would create us songs as ways to remember the Spanish alphabet. She would create a rhythm, or acoustic ending. The attention of the sounds would cause me to even recite the alphabet as a form of memorizing and studying. Each of these ways to encode information we all consistently use every day.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that controls and regulates the internal organs without any conscious effort by the organism. The autonomic nervous system is comprised of  two opposite sets of nerves, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Both of which are responsible for the involuntary functions of the human body. Although I will be discussing the parasympathetic nervous system.

The parasympathetic nervous system works in opposition to the sympathetic nervous system, alerting the rest and digest responses. These responses fix the energy that was reduced in the previous sympathetic activity. Some of these responses can include digesting food, crying, or salivating.

The parasympathetic nerves emerge in the middle of the spinal column extending to the central nervous system. The axons of this system are long and extend throughout the rest of the body. Since these nerves originate in the spinal column, it does not typically require conscious thought to create a reaction. Without the parasympathetic nervous system, the monitoring and regulation of everyday body processes would be impossible. It plays a vital role in maintaining both mental and physical health by helping the body to calm down from stress  reactions, decreasing blood pressure, and altering energy from other body processes to indicate flight or flight response.

The parasympathetic nervous system is something we react to everyday. Sometimes our stress is caused by something psychological. It could even be from anxious feelings from an upcoming deadline or trying to get to work during a busy rush hour. Disregarding the cause of the stress, high levels of anxiety also cause the human body to release stress hormones. These hormones result in changes that range from a pounding heart, quickening of breathing, and sweating. All of the body’s combined reactions to stress are known as the fight or flight response. In my life, I suffer from stress daily. Whether it be something small like talking to new people or even something big like taking an exam, stress floods my entire world. However, knowing how to manage this stress is something I have been able to excel with.

I took my first ever college exam 2 days ago. I started studying a week before the exam and even stayed up late the night before to make sure I knew everything as perfect as I could. When I woke up the next morning, I was sweating and shaking. My hands were clammy and I felt the knot in my stomach grow tighter and tighter as each minute passed by. Once I arrived at my classroom I was shaking but I knew I had to calm myself down in order to do well on my exam. I stood outside, took a drink of water, a deep breathe, and stepped inside. By doing this, I was demonstrating the rest and digest, parasympathetic nervous system. This system teaches us to calm down from stress. I was able to relax myself as well as understand everything would go well. From being able to relax, I was able to excel better on my exam and this technique helps me grow as a person in everyday life.