Author: aza6557

One lecture that stood out to me most was anxiety/mood disorders. We had recently just discussed this, and I was a little confused at first, but I realized how common it was and how many people had it around me.  Anxiety could be a feeling of fearfulness excessively which can come from future events and the worry of them approaching. It can also come from current environmental stimuli that can trigger a fear when you are unfamiliar with it. There are two different type of disorders that we learned about, Generalized anxiety disorder where you experience fearfulness but aren’t able to identify or avoid the causes of those feelings. Lastly, we learned about panic disorders which can be minutes-long and include feelings of terror, chest pains, choking, etc. Anxiety plays a huge part in both disorders and can be very detrimental in someone’s everyday life.

I realized how much this could impact someone life especially when I looked back at my past couple of years and realized times that I have experienced it myself. I was diagnosed with vasovagal syncarpy. This causes me to pass out when my blood pressure randomly drops. It causes me to develop an excessive fear. I had passed out in one of my classrooms because I just thought I was getting lightheaded, but I ended up with a concussion. Now whenever I get this feeling, I start to freak out and stress because I’m scared it’s going to happen to me again.  I go into a panic because I am worried that I am going to get hurt again and I tend to get stressed out when I am driving because I fear I will pass out.

This example demonstrates how this excessive amount of fear can cause panic in your mind and create the feeling of anxiety. I am still very unfamiliar with what causes this because it happens randomly and not every single time I am lightheaded I will pass out. This causes a panic within my mind and effects my everyday lifestyle as this constant fear is in the back of my mind. This demonstrates a real-life example to what we are learning in class supporting the cause of excessive fear leading to a panic disorder.

Reference:

“Anxiety Disorders.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 4 May 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961.

A topic that was discussed in class was the schemas that we experience in our lives. This could be known as a mental concept that organizes information. Everyone has experienced their own schemas which is why I find it so interesting. There could be schemas around many things such as cats, dogs, buying ice cream and love. This is only a few that were named in class but after further research I discovered so much more. In the article, “Understanding Their Role in Psychology and Development”, states the different types of schemas, “these categories include, role schemas, event schemas, self- schemas and person schemas”.  I think one that stook out to me most was person schemas. The definition that was stated in the article was that “these involve assumptions about certain types of people or groups; stereotypes stem from this kind of schema”(para 12). I really connected to this because throughout all my school years there was always “groups” that people were categorized in. It started in elementary school when everyone was just finding their friend groups and then gradually increased through middle school and high school. When coming into school when you are younger you are witnessing certain groups forming and picking out what is similar about them such as if they are good at sports, smart, tall, short, etc. It is all judged based on what you see on the outside and not the inside. It was also very biased on popularity and who had the most friends. It was all put into your head when you are younger and are just creating these different friend groups. This also can go on to affect your self-schemas. In the article, its defined as, “this revolves around our perception about ourselves which greatly influences our behavior. If you consider yourself as a health- conscious person for example, you’ll be likely engaged more in exercise and healthy habits”(para 11). I could have not agreed with this statement more as your mindset can influence how you feel about yourself and how you look at others. Stepping into my first years of school I always had low self-esteem and didn’t think the best about my looks. This put me into the mindset of being more active and taking care of how I looked. This put me into the schema that I needed to be involved in the “sports/athletic group”. This continued to grow into my future years and got me more involved in sports and after school clubs. This is all a part of the cognitive processes because it creates at schema to enable a quicker process to your judgement and decisions. It even has continued on to college because now I make sure I attend the gym and get involved because those were the people that seemed to be the most successful when growing up.  This all demonstrates how our thoughts and behavior patterns that help us and the world around us. But it also demonstrates how it important is because it forms who you are as a person and is essential for our cognitive functioning.

Liuba. “Types of Schemas: Understanding Their Role in Psychology and Development.” A Simplified Psychology Guide, 18 Sept. 2023, psychology.tips/types-of-schemas/. Accessed 14 Mar. 2024.