Break Homework ..

Over the break, I felt emotionally healthiest when I was hanging around groups of new people. It feels good to hang out with people you don’t usually. It made me feel refreshed. I felt like I was making a new beginning with all of these new friends. I also saw friends I hadn’t seen since summer of last year. To see them again reminded me of happy memories which we all shared at the summer camp we all worked at. I felt emotionally healthiest during this time because since I don’t always see these people, we all made sure we left having a good time, caught up in each other’s lives and we were actually interested in each other (not just acting). It’s nice to hang out with new people because I’m used to getting tired of people I see daily.

I felt I was least emotionally healthy when I was sitting at home thinking about certain emotions I have towards other people. I felt unlucky and sad. I know the feelings I want to feel, I just don’t want to end up hurting someone to feel that way. So instead, I chose to safely put the person before me and ignore my unlucky and sad feelings towards myself.

Usually I’m gaining feelings for people, losing feelings for people, or thinking about my feelings for people. I feel like those things affect my emotional health the most (the way I react with my surroundings) because that usually changes my perspective about everything and life in general. For example, when I’m gaining feelings for someone (in merely friendly ways) and I start to realize that I enjoy their company, I begin to pay more attention to them. I admire them, look up to them, and take interest in them. Usually after I take interest in them, I like to really think about their ways of thinking about things. This helps me both understand my thoughts and counter argue them. I feel like it expands my sense of thinking and broadens my views on anything and everything.
Maybe I can get out more and do things that make me happy with people I enjoy being with. Doing things like that I take pleasure in makes me feel like I benefit from it and it makes me feel like I’m not wasting my time. Maybe doing that will support my own emotional well-being.

As I spoke about today in class, I believe emotionally healthy is the idea of being in touch with your emotions and being able to both analyze/deconstruct those feelings. But, I think if you’re feeling “unhealthy” emotions (depression, anger, sadness, anxious, constantly nervous...Etc without a situational reason i.e. death, failing school, etc), than that is unhealthy. Being constantly happy doesn’t mean you’re necessarily “emotionally healthy” because you could be constantly happy due to the fact that you ignore your angry or depressing feelings. But, being happy because you are truly happy and there is no reason to be sad or mad or whatever it may be, and because you are constantly looking at the positive in life is to me, emotionally healthy.

The theories about the therapies we researched connect to my ideas about emotional health because I guess if you need help getting in touch with your inner feelings and you need help deconstructing and analyzing those feelings then so be it. At least you won’t be lost in your own thoughts and/or confused which ultimately causes frustration and you tend to ignore things that make you frustrated. All in all those feelings will add up, so if in general you can get someone to help you get to the bottom of your feelings than I think that its healthy either way. I also think that it’s good to have so many options about what kind of therapy to go into because like Ian mentioned in class before break, certain therapies might work better for certain people that are in various situations.

Humanistic Psychology

Basic Definition:

"Humanistic psychology is a school of psychology that emerged in the 1950s in reaction to both behaviorism and psychoanalysis. It is explicitly concerned with the human dimension of psychology and the human context for the development of psychological theory."

Source

Basic Summary:

“The humanistic approach has its roots in existentialist thought (see Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre). It is also sometimes understood within the context of the three different forces of psychology; behaviorism, psychoanalysis and humanism.”

Source

“During the 1950s, humanistic psychology began as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which dominated psychology at the time. Psychoanalysis was focused on understanding the unconscious motivations that drove behavior while behaviorism studied the conditioning processes that produced behavior. Humanist thinkers felt that both psychoanalysis and behaviorism were too pessimistic, either focusing on the most tragic of emotions or failing to take the role of personal choice into account.
Humanistic psychology was instead focused on each individual’s potential and stressed the importance of growth and self-actualization. The fundamental belief of humanistic psychology was that people are innately good, with mental and social problems resulting from deviations from this natural tendency.”

"Criticisms of Humanistic Psychology
• Often seen as too subjective; the importance of individual experience makes it difficult to objectively study and measure humanistic phenomena. How can we objectively tell if someone is self-actualized? The answer, of course, is that we cannot. We can only rely upon the individual's own assessment of their experience.
• Observations are unverifiable—there is no accurate way to measure or quantify these qualities.
Strong Points of Humanistic Psychology
• Emphasizes the role of the individual; humanistic psychology gives more credit to the individual in controlling and determining their state of mental health.
• Takes environmental influence into account; rather than focusing solely on our internal thoughts and desires, humanistic psychology also credits the environment's influence on our experiences.
• Humanistic psychology continues to influence therapy, education, healthcare, and other areas.
• Humanistic psychology helped remove some of the stigma attached to therapy, and made it more acceptable for normal, healthy individuals to explore their abilities and potential through therapy."

Source

"Humanistic psychologists believe that:
• An individual's behavior is primarily determined by his perception of the world around him.
• Individuals are not solely the product of their environment.
• Individuals are internally directed and motivated to fulfill their human potential."

Source

My reaction: Based on the 3 sources above, I feel like Humanistic psychology really practices the idea that people like identify with their surroundings. The interaction with their environment and people around them is what affects them the most. That there is some sort of meaning for us as individuals and in order to live our life to its fullest potential, we need to find that meaning and live by it.

Health Internet Research

1. What is the most common and reasonable explanation of being healthy?

“Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.”

Source

2. Why is it important to be healthy?

“Human beings are the most important assets of a nation. It is people who drive the world, it is we who make the world go round. The absence of health can make the world come to a standstill. Do I seem to be exaggerating? I am not. The absence of health can actually mean passivity, unhappiness and gloom. Would anyone like to live in a somber atmosphere? Would we be able to thrive in an unhealthy atmosphere? The true definition of health brings out the real essence of a healthy life. The concept of being healthy is a composition of different facets of life. It includes physical well-being, which can be brought about by a healthy diet and exercise; it constitutes the maintenance of health through proper precaution and cures for physical ailments. The conveniently ignored facet of being healthy is the mental well-being. One's happiness and positivism are highly influential in the maintenance of one's health.”

Source

3. Does spirituality affect your health?

“Offering additional social supports, such as religious outreach groups improving coping skills through prayer and a philosophy that all things have a purpose… In a 7-year study of senior citizens, religious involvement was associated with less physical disability and less depression. Death rates were lower than expected before an important religious holiday, which suggested to researchers that faith might have postponed death in these cases. Elderly people who regularly attended religious services had healthier immune systems than those who didn't. They were also more likely to have consistently lower blood pressure. Patients undergoing open-heart surgery who received strength and comfort from their religion were three times more likely to survive than those who had no religious ties.”

Source

4. How can you tell the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship?

"In a healthy relationship, you:
• Treat each other with respect
• Feel secure and comfortable
• Are not violent with each other
• Can resolve conflicts satisfactorily
• Enjoy the time you spend together
• Support one another
• Take interest in one another's lives: health, family, work, etc.
• Have privacy in the relationship
• Can trust each other
• Are each sexual by choice
• Communicate clearly and openly
• Have letters, phone calls, and e-mail that are your own
• Make healthy decisions about alcohol or other drugs
• Encourage other friendships
• Are honest about your past and present sexual activity if the relationship is intimate
• Know that most people in your life are happy about the relationship
• Have more good times in the relationship than bad
In an unhealthy relationship, one or both of you:
• Try to control or manipulate the other
• Make the other feel bad about her-/himself
• Ridicule or call names
• Dictate how the other dresses
• Do not make time for each other
• Criticize the other's friends
• Are afraid of the other's temper
• Discourage the other from being close with anyone else
• Ignore each other when one is speaking
• Are overly possessive or get jealous about ordinary behavior
• Criticize or support others in criticizing people with your gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or other personal attribute
• Control the other's money or other resources (e.g., car)
• Harm or threaten to harm children, family, pets, or objects of personal value
• Push, grab, hit, punch, or throw objects
• Use physical force or threats to prevent the other from leaving"

Source

5. Can someone be healthy and get no sleep?

"Just as a healthy diet and regular exercise are necessary and important for good health, so is sleep. Sleep deprivation can affect your overall health both mentally and physically. Although scientists are still trying to fully understand why we need sleep, it not only appears necessary for our nervous systems to function, but sleep is necessary for our very survival. Good sleep can help you fight disease, concentrate on work and allow you to feel ready to start your day. Sleeping does more than keep your mind clear, it also has an impact on your immune system. In fact, studies have shown that long-term sleep deprivation increases your risk of high blood pressure and diabetes. Sleep-related problems can also play a role in stroke, asthma, epilepsy and seizures.

Source

*Also gives more information about how much sleep you need and how to tell if you’re not getting enough sleep.

6. What is the worst state of being unhealthy? (What is the unhealthiest someone can be?)

“Here are the seven habits or the worst lifestyle and behavioral choices you can make:
• Smoke
• Eat Unhealthy Food
• Don’t Exercise
• Abuse alcohol
• Don’t Keep a Proper Hygiene
• Use Illicit Drugs
• Don’t Sleep Enough”

Source

7. What is a healthy diet?

“Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible – all which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and incorporating them in a way that works for you. Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Expand your range of healthy choices to include a wide variety of delicious foods. Learn to use guidelines and tips for creating and maintaining a satisfying, healthy diet.”

Source

*Website also gives tips on how to maintain a healthy diet.

8. Are diet pills that help you lose weight healthy?

“Many products to “detoxify” and “cleanse” contain herbal substances that can put you at risk, as these supplements are not tested nor regulated by the FDA. Plus, they might interact with other medications you are taking. Remember that you’re not usually consuming the herbal plant itself (as brewed in tea, for example), but an active ingredient extracted from the plant where there is no guarantee of safety, purity, or efficiency during this process, when contamination can occur.”

Source

9. Is obesity genetic?

“The truth is we all have the potential for genetic obesity if we eat the wrong foods. The U.S. ranks in the top 10 countries for percent of obese people. Does the American population suffer from genetic obesity? Far from it. The U.S. is the melting pot of the world, and has been for over 200 years. The American people are now a "Heinz 57" mix of hundreds of ethnic groups. The people in the U.S. don't share common genes. They share a common diet.” Though while reading on I learned many of us do have extra fat genes than others. This means we are more likely to gain weight thus we should probably be watching what we eat a lot more.

Source