Author: Alyssa Sloane

I have always associated OCD with wanting to keep everything clean and in order until I really found out that it is way broader than that. OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, is the persistence of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urge to engage in senseless rituals (compulsions) that cause distress. OCD ranges from person to person and the symptoms can be extremely different depending on the person.

My cousin has OCD, as well as one of my very close friend from home. They don’t constantly shower or wash their hands, but they both repeat constant actions throughout their day that others do not. My cousin, Sam, is constantly checking things. She will look if her straightener is on, even though in her mind she KNOWS she turned it off, she checks the lock on her door, she checks her families locations, etc. These all associate with harm or danger that she fears can happen to herself or the people she loves. My friend from home, Gianna, refuses to throw anything she gets away. She thinks that she might need something for future purposes and won’t be able to ever find it or use it if its thrown away. This causes her to keep everything and hoard things in her room.

Being around people who have OCD, I have realized that OCD can create people to develop really bad anxiety. This is because their mind is always somewhere else thinking about the future and what will happen. Anxiety is feelings of excessive or unrealistic fearfulness for future events.

While OCD can be treated with medication, or something called ERP, or Exposure and Response Prevention therapy. This is when you voluntarily expose yourself to the source of your fears over and over again, without acting out any compulsions to stop your fear.

Another useful link to look into OCD is below: https://www.everydayhealth.com/anxiety-disorders/experts-common-obessions-and-compulsions.aspx

 

While studying in college, I find cramming information into my brain is the least effective method when trying to do well for an exam. Elaborative Rehearsal is when you transfer information from Short Term Memory into Long Term Memory by making the information meaningful. Some people have used acronyms or phrases to remember information. I on the other hand, put words into songs to make sure I remember the information I need.

In eighth grade, I had a music teacher who was absolutely crazy. Everything was sang to the classroom by a song, she never was able to just speak. One of our lessons was “The African Song”. This song had every single African country in it. At first I was like “how the heck am I going to learn every country in Africa?”. After two weeks of singing the song, with repetition and putting it to a beat, I actually knew every country in Africa. To this day, I still sing it and remember all the words. “Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, Eritrea, Sudan, Burundi…”.

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1426&bih=673&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNRp9gODVITIgb9vGqgwHHC-4BA2zA%3A1571240356193&sa=1&ei=pDmnXfmwC8vU5gKzmKH4AQ&q=acronyms&oq=acronyms&gs_l=img.3…38535.38535..38794…0.0..0.0.0…….0….1..gws-wiz-img.mrwyoXqWasw&ved=0ahUKEwj5kqa6jqHlAhVLqlkKHTNMCB8Q4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=thQD_ByjGFOwGM:

Along with songs, acronyms are a way to remember information needed. We all grew up remembering the colors of the rainbow by saying ROY G BIV. We use acronyms every day when we text people, because this is something just stuck in our brains.

Instead of cramming words and information into my brain, I now use songs and acronyms because doing this helps the information store better in long Term Memory which helps when you need it for exams, etc. Using these tools makes the information you are learning personally meaningful and by relating it to prior knowledge, it will lead to overall stronger Long Term Memory. Make a song for your next exam and I promise you will thank me later!

The Peripheral Nervous System is the sensory and motor neurons that connect the Central Nervous System to the rest of the body. Within the Peripheral Nervous System contains the Autonomic Nervous System which then breaks into two more parts; the Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic Nervous System. The Sympathetic Nervous System activates what is often called “fight or flight”. This stimulates the nerves (opposed to the Parasympathetic Nervous System) and is out of our control.

When your body gets ready to deal with the stress it will endure, you may experience your heart racing, hands sweating and pupils become dilated. This is what is referred to as fight or flight. Your body knows it is enduring fear, stress or excitement.

In the picture above, you see symptoms of the fight or flight response to the left. On the right, it explains the process of what is happening inside the Central Nervous System.

I think the idea of the Central Nervous System is so interesting. Most people think when you’re stressed or angry your body may shut down, which is not the case. Our bodies are meant to put all our energy into making you more alert in response to danger or stress.

A time I experienced this “fight or flight” was this summer while I lived in Center City, Philadelphia. I was walking back from my parking garage to my apartment building late after work one night. I saw a homeless man (which was normal in Center City) asking for money but I politely ignored him and kept walking. I then heard him call me rude names and start chasing after me with a knife. My heart immediately felt like it was beating out of my chest, I was sweating from every pore of my body and I started sprinting towards the police at the corner of Broad and Chestnut Street where they always stand. Thankfully the homeless man stopped once he saw I was heading towards the police but this was a time my body was experiencing intense fear and stress going into fight or flight mode.

Here is a YouTube link to help more about this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2GywoS77qc.

Venho, Niina. “PART 1: Fight or Flight Response.” Moodmetric Is a Tool for       Preventive Stress Management, 15 Aug. 2019,                https://www.moodmetric.com/fight-flight-response/.