Blog 10

Reading chapter 16, I realized the majority of it was review for me. Working in healthcare facilities I've had the opportunity to work with many hospice patients. Even though we are technically supposed to treat every residents the same, hospice patients always received more attention. Why wouldn't they? Some one who is dying should be getting the best possible care and what ever they desire. Although it is a sad time, I enjoyed being in the position to help and care for someone in their last days. I definitely agree with grief process that was explained in this chapter. After losing several close family members myself, I have to say, everybody deals with death differently and in their own way. Just because someone doesn't express their emotions as much as others, doesn't mean they are grieving any less. What I thought was most interesting and had very little knowledge about was the section about the different types of Euthanasia. It puts on perspective on life and how at any moment things could happen to you or a loved one. Would I make the right decision for them? Even though I'm not elderly, after reading this section I really need to compose a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions for my children's sake and my own.

Blog 9

While reading the article "As good as it gets," I was not at all surprised that other countries such as the Netherlands have better health coverage and actually care what happens to the elders. All Dutch citizens have government insurance for medical conditions and nursing home care; 45 million Americans have no health insurance at all. I think the US should have an "old age pension" at 65 as well, whether you've worked all your life or not every persons deserves to enjoy their golden years and not have to worry about paying bills. I feel so sorry for the older people I see still working especially when it's actual labor work. 14 percent of Americans 65 or older, about 4.8 million people in all, are still on the job where as most European workers retire at age 60 or so, taking advantage of pension generosity. I definitely agree with the European attitude, "we're all in this together and sooner or later we're all going to become older and need some help." Of coarse then we have the US's attitude which is, "we're all rugged individualists and we're going to take care of ourselves,not others." Working in healthcare, I always noticed the residents in facilities are typically Caucasian. It made me think that most Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans, "take care of their own." Meaning, instead of putting their family member in a nursing home, they keep them at home and take care of them as long as they can. The Netherlands, like most developed countries, want to help people maintain their independence and avoid going into nursing homes as long as possible by receiving subsidize home visits by health professionals. Although the US is 30 to 50 percent more expensive regarding drugs, hospitals and physicians, the heath status is about the same. The Europeans have lower cost related to medical expenses but the waiting time seems to be the tradeoff. Like much of Europe and Canada the Netherlands is short of hospital beds and medical staff.

Blog 8

While reading "Is There Love After Baby?" I thought this is something I would find useful since I have have a 10 month old and am currently in a relationship. I remember hearing the top two reasons that couple's divorce is a birth of a child and the death of a child. With that being said, the fact that parents must struggle to keep their their marriage alive once they become parents, came to no surprise. According to recent demographic studies, more than 40 percent of children born to two parents can expect to live in a singe-parent family by the time they are 18. After learning that half of marriages end after having children, it's no wonder some couples remain "child free." Almost all parents in the studies done in this article say they joyful parts outweigh the difficult ones. Being a mother I have to agree, even though sometimes it's tough and exhausting, I couldn't imagine my life without my children. In my relationship, I can relate to the statement of, "Both partners have to make major adjustments of time and energy as individuals at a time when they are getting less sleep and fewer opportunities to be together." That is something both of us struggle with as I think most parents do. Also, I find myself having less patience with things that didn't seem annoying before. We both tend to focus our frustration on each other. A lot of it boils down to " time becomes their most precious commodity." This particular line stood out to me because spontaneity no longer exists like it did when you were a twosome and makes it difficult to keep your intimate relationship alive. For couple's who thought that having a baby was going to bring them closer together, this is especially confusing and disappointing. Studies of emotional distress in new parents suggest that women and possibly men are more vulnerable to depression in the early months after having a child. Important things new parents or expectant couples can do to reduce the strain and enjoy becoming a family are: Share expectations, Give your self regular "check ups", Make time to talk to each other, Negotiate an agenda, Adopt an experimental attitude, Don't ignore sex and intimacy, Talk with a friend or co-worker, and finally, find the delicate balance. On the positive side, becoming a family provides a challenge that for some men and women leads to growth as individuals, as couples, and as parents. For couples who work to maintain or improve the quality of their marriage, having a baby can lead to a revitalized relationship.

Blog 7

While reading "Should we stay together for the kids?" I found all the different stories very interesting and it put a different perspective on how I personally feel about this topic. My parents got divorced when I was about 12. Now as an adult my mother admitted, "If I could go back and find anyway to save that marriage, I do it." Just like what Denyse's mother stated in the article. I suppose I never realized the lasting affects it had on me when choosing men and having relationships until I read this article especially relating to Joanne's story. The fear of "abandonment" is something I feel most women have dealing with a divorce or having been through their parents divorce. According to Wallerstein, the belief common in children of divorce, that marriage is either a fairy tale or nothing. " I don't believe in the fairy tale. I hope it exists, but I really don't believe it does," is something that stood out to me because I have said that myself and to this day still believe it. Wallerstein makes it clear that divorce screws kids up. Experts feel he overstates the case. That divorce may screw them up for a long time and put them at risk for everything from drug abuse to a loveless, solitary old age is more disturbing and more debatable. Although growing up in a divorced family elevates the risk of all certain problems, it by no means dooms children to having a terrible life. I liked how this article referred to America's children of divorce as an unfinished business is a way of life, for adults is a conclusion, but for children it's the beginning of uncertainty. It's sad but true, a million new divorce cases occur every year and it will impact every child differently. Blankenhorn states, "If the question is, if unhappily married parents stay together for the sake of their kids, will that decision benefit their children?, the answer is yes." I do not agree with that. Being in a unhealthy relationship is far more destructive for your child then living happily apart. Especially if the are exposed to behavior that can impact the way the treat people and teaching them what is right from wrong. How can a child thrive and be happy when clearly the parents are unhappy? Like Coontz states, "things only get worse and fester, and eventually, five years down the road , they end up getting divorced anyway, after years of contempt for each other and outside affairs." Why put you children through that dysfunction and unnecessary drama? Children of divorce suffer depression, learning difficulties and other psychological problems more frequently than those of intact families. That makes me wonder, don't children who live in dysfunctional unhappy intact families suffer from those same issues?

Blog 6

While reading the article "Inside The Teen Brain," it was interesting to learn more about why teens make poor, impulsive decisions and have drastic mood swings. When I was a teenager, I did a lot stupid things and made poor choices. After reading this article and learning how a teenage brain functions and everything thing that affects it, my irresponsible behavior seems to make more sense. Also, having a better understanding of the teen brain, prepares me for when my kids reach that age. Until the past decade, neuroscientists believed the brain was fully developed by the time a child reached puberty. It turns out that it's not fully developed in most people until their early 20's. Different regions of the brain are developing on different timetables, the last part of the brain to mature is in charge or making sound judgement and calming unruly emotions. According to researchers, new experiences for teens, especially those with a "frisson" of danger or the thrill of the new, tap into a teenager's so-called reward system. This is a set of neurons that link emotional centers to many other parts of the brain and that can produce feelings of intense pleasure. This is the same set of neurons that are affected by certain illicit drugs that release dopamine, one of the brains chemicals or neurotransmitters that are responsible for arousal and motivation. At the same time, other research has shown that levels of another neurotransmitter, serotonin, appear to decline temporarily in most adolescents, making them more likely to act impulsively. This explains a lot of why I was so irresponsible as a teen. Now as an adult, I look back and can't believe some of the reckless and dangerous things I did. In other words, I did things that made me "feel good," regardless of the consequence. Another fascinating thing was the "pruning," or "use or lose it" system for ensuring that the brain nourishes only the neurons and synapses that are useful. The excess of synapses means the young adolescent can't easily keep track of multiple thoughts, and it can't gain instant access to critical memories and emotions that allow adults to make judicious decisions. In relation to that information, a line that stood out to me was, "Good judgement is learned, but you can't learn if you don't have the necessary hardware." (Yurgelun-Todd.) As a mother of two young boys, I don't necessarily look forward to the teenage years, especially after everything I put my mother through. But one thing I need remember as parent is, Teens literally think differently than adults, so their baffling behavior may reflect cluelessness, not stubborness. (Roberta Hotinski)

Blog 5

While reading chapter 7 in the book, the section about Child maltreatment stood out to me most. Reading the first paragraph about the abuse to a 7 year old boy named Max made me sick to my stomach. How can anyone treat a child, let alone their flesh and blood that way? Unfortunately, child abuse and maltreatment happens everyday and seems to be increasing. I've always used or heard the terms child abuse and neglect, but never heard the term "Child Maltreatment" until reading this chapter. Child maltreatment comes in many forms: Physical Abuse, involving assault that leads to injuries including cuts, welts, bruises, and s broken bones. Sexual abuse, involving fondling, intercourse, or other sexual behaviors. Psychological abuse, involving ridicule, rejection, or humiliation. Neglect, in which children do not receive adequate food, clothing or medical care. The disturbing fact is that the frequency of child maltreatment is difficult to estimate because so many cases go unreported. According to the US Department of Health and Human Service (2008), approximately 1 million children annually suffer from maltreatment or neglect. About 60% are neglected, 15% are abused physically, 10% are abused sexually, and 10% are maltreated psychologically. Being a mother, these statistics are heart breaking to me. It's sad that the rate of child maltreatment is so high in the US especially since in many countries in Europe and Asia, have strong cultural prohibitions against physical punishment. In Sweden spanking is against the law. Therefore, countries that do not condone physical punishment tend to have lower rates of child maltreatment than the United States. (U.S. Department of State 2002) I found it interesting to learn that poverty is a social condition that seems to foster maltreatment. I feel like it's always been a stereotype that if you are poor you probably aren't that great of a parent or abuse your child but for different reasons than expected. When parents worry about whether they can buy groceries or pay rent, they are more likely to punish their children physically instead of making the extra effort to reason with them. Another particularly interesting thing I learned from reading this chapter was ego resilience. It denotes children's ability to respond adaptively and resourcefully to new situations and serves and as a protective factor. If I had unlimited funds and time, I would definitely put it towards Child Protective Services. I see too many stories on the news about CPS involved cases where the child ends up getting badly injured or dies. I feel like there should be more investigation and follow up with each case, and more consequences and treatment for the parents involved.

Blog 4

While reading "Medicating Young Minds," I was comparing Andrea's story to my 7 year old son. I received a call from his teacher recently regarding his decrease in academics. She stated he is distracted, doesn't complete his work, and appears to not understand the work they do in class. I know my son understands his work because he has no difficulty at home with his homework. All I could think was; he is just like his dad. ADD is the perfect description of his dad. He is so distracted all the time, full of energy but when it comes to multitasking or anything that has to with listening/concentrating that becomes difficult for him and frustrating for me. As my son get's older, he is taking on more traits of his father's personality and it is becoming a concern. Now I'm meeting with a educational team to figure out a "good plan" for my son. My fear is that I don't know what I would do if he were to be diagnosed with ADD, ADHD. Medication or no medication? According to a Mayo Clinic study, children between 5 and 19 have at least a 7.5% chance of being found to have ADHD, which amounts to nearly 5 million kids. Other children are receiving diagnoses and medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder, social-anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, pathological impulsiveness, sleeplessness, and phobias. I worried in past my son may have a little bit of OCD because even his kindergarten teachers would tell me that he was a "perfectionist." He would get extremely upset if he messed up his work and obsessively erase and rewrite it until it was perfect in his eyes. As he gets older, the perfectionism seems to decrease and the distraction and other typical "ADD" behavior seem to increase. As of right now, I don't think I could put my 7 year old on ADHD medication. A line that stood out to me regarding medicating kids is, "When then health of a child's mind is on the line, getting it wrong is something no parent wants." The risks of not treating a ADHD are frightening and therefore puts parents in a difficult situation. The child could result is dropping out of school, substance abuse and trouble with the law according to studies. So what is the right decision when it comes to your child? I was really surprised and saddened when reading about how 10% of all American kids may suffer from some mental illness and twice that many may have exhibited symptoms of depression. According to a study by professor Julie Zito of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, "use of antidepressants among children and teens increased threefold between 1987-1996, and continues to climb." That brings me to my question of- are these children being properly diagnosed? Is medication such as Ritalin and antidepressants an easy fix? I'm not opposed to medication by any means, only if it is needed for the appropriate disease in order to maintain quality of life. But personally I feel doctors sometimes use medication first before exploring other options as well as providing further testing in order to get an accurate diagnosis. With that in mind, I really liked the line summing up the conclusion in this story. "Perhaps the most powerful medicine a suffering child needs is the educated instincts of a well-informed parent-one who has taken the time to study up on all the pharmaceutical and non pharmaceutical options and pick the right ones."

Blog 3

I really enjoyed reading the article, "What's The Difference Between Boys And Girls." Being a mother of two boys and the only female in my home, I could relate to the authors comparison of living in a Toy's R Us warehouse. My house also is filled with toys guns, swords, and action figures. The line about the boy biting his toast into a shape of gun reminded me of my 7 year old. When my son isn't playing with a gun, he is making one out of Legos, or anything else that could somewhat resemble a gun. I've always wondered why little boys have that natural instinct to like guns and pretend to shoot people? I didn't introduce toy guns until he was about 4. I'm not a big gun person, and was hesitant when his dad wanted to get him a BB gun for his birthday. But of coarse, I gave in and he is more responsible when shooting his gun then I gave him credit for. I thought the Barbie vs Godzilla effect was interesting. My son has never asked for a "gender inappropriate" toy, but he definitely has played with "girl" toys when he has had a play date at a girl's house. I never thought anything of it or tried to discourage him from playing with them. I just assumed he was interested in playing with them because they're different. They're new toys that he never would see or get a chance to play with at home. I do remember one time he came out of the room with his friend who was a girl, they both were wearing princess dresses. He was about 5 years old I think. I looked at my friend and just smiled; trying to hold in our laughter we told them they looked great! It's not a big deal at that age, I honestly don't think it means anything if a boy plays with girl toys or a girl plays with boy toys. I knew males had higher testosterone levels than females, I didn't realize males produced 7 to 10 times more testosterone. Also, the other interesting thing I learned was higher testosterone levels are responsible and almost predictable for competitiveness. So does that mean my son's testosterone levels are shooting up before each soccer game? His personality changes quite a bit, and he becomes this focused, aggressive, competitive little boy when he is out on the field. When reading about girls having sharper hearing than boys, I wasn't surprised. I didn't realize it was because of the tiny hair cells that register sound waves and vibrate more forcefully. I always thought it was more of a gender or personality trait and not actually hearing involved. I always tell my boyfriend and son they have "selective hearing," which I still believe is partly true. Although my son is a play in the mud--ride my quad--shoot my gun kind of boy, he has always been sensitive, caring, sweet, and cuddly. Both my boys are momma's boys, even though my oldest would never admit it. After reading about this article it explains that there is a whole range of personalities that don't fall into any of the obvious stereotypes. "The complex of genes and hormones and neurotransmitters and internal chemistry that may influence our behaviors varies from person to person and is designed to flexible." A particular line that stood out to me was, "Any stereotypes we impose on our children--and, by extension, adults--are purely cultural, not biological. We tend to associate little boys with being noisy and rambunctious and "emotionally tough." According to science, it is the exact opposite, they need a lot of emotional support, affection, and one-on-one attention.

Blog 2

As a parent, I really enjoyed reading the article "Sense of Self." It's quiet intriguing how your little one's personalities develop in becoming who they are and who they can become later on in life. During my second pregnancy, I found out I was having another boy. Immediately, I knew he was going to be the exact opposite of my first son Dylan. My second son Dominic, never stopped bouncing around and kicking me, compared to my first son who barely moved around at all. Dominic is only 9 months now but even so, my prediction was right! After having two children I strongly agree that personality is present at birth. Dylan has always been shy, as where Dominic appears more outgoing already even at such an early age. After reading about Kagen's research, it has become more clear that Dylan has inherited to be more "inhibited" and Dominic to be more "low reactive." I was surprised to learn that shyness has a strong genetic component but even more so, that a significant genetic influence has been found for traits such as novelty seeking, a violent temper, and a a predisposition toward addiction. I have always been shy and introverted. My kid's dad is the exact opposite, very outgoing and extroverted. Learning about personality genes and personality traits, is it safe to say Dylan received more of my genes and Dominic more of his dad's? That brings me to the next topic I found interesting more related to nature vs nurture. I have always strongly believed that a child's environment, (especially starting at infancy) and the kind of parenting they receive reflects on the person they become. As genes do influence personality, they do not set a child fate for their personality. We tend to enter the world with our personality "volumes" set to different pitches, but where we end up along the spectrum from grumpy to cheerful or shy to aggressive depends at least in part on our early environment. "Very few traits seem to be pure gene or pure environment, but there are oodles and oodles of gene-environment interactions." According to the new NAS report, early gene-en-viroment interactions can set the tone for how a child adapts to challenges throughout life, but, "this early trajectory is by no means chiseled in stone." In the past couple years I've noticed my son Dylan has slowly but surely become less shy, and more outgoing. With that being said, I'm starting to wonder, are kids "locked" into a genetic personality destiny right from birth? How much does the environmental factor come into play, and isn't every child a different situation? A specific line that stood out to me was, "that if parents provide extra nurturing and a gentle but firm guiding hand in new or upsetting situations, by the age of 4 most previously inhibited children overcome their "innate" shyness." This statement does seem to correlate with my parenting and appears to apply with my oldest son. In conclusion, I am anxious and excited to watch as my boy's unique personalities as they continue to grow and change in the upcoming years.

Reflection Blog 1

I found the article "The Identity Dance" the most interesting. While reading about how DNA and life experience mold our personality, it made me think. How it can be turned on and off, or go up and down by other genes, also involving the ups and downs of everyday life, was something that stood out to me. It's something I suppose I never put much thought into, or knew anything more than the basic concept of it. Studies show that now depression is a combination of specific genes and stressful triggers; simply having the gene will not send most people into despair. With scientists rapidly discovering genes linked to illnesses such as cancer and birth defects, they now are also finding genes with traits such as sexual preference, aggression, and mental illnesses. I personally think people in society today are misinformed about depression and mental illnesses. It seems like the amount of people who suffer from one or both continue to increase. Shouldn't there be a way to catch the these specific genes and make these people aware, so possibly an illness can be detected early and treated properly? Although we can't predict the circumstances and triggers in our life that could potentially cause a mental illness, I wonder if more people knew they carried these specific genes, if the number of diagnoses in adulthood would decrease. I've worked with so many patients who suffer from various types of mental illnesses. For most of them, their quality of life is diminished by being overly medicated. Sadly, with the exception of counseling, their isn't much else for treating and maintaining most mental illnesses. Since scientists can't find a gene that directly causes mental illness, depression or any other mood disorder; If I had unlimited funds to research more on something specifically, it would be on mental illness or depression. I can personally relate to depression and anxiety and have suffered from both since a young age. After reading this information, I know realize it was really apparent I was depressed after a traumatic event in my life occurred. Learning about how low serotonin levels are a major factor in human anxiety was helpful and useful to me in understanding more of why I suffer from anxiety. Also, the serotonin transporter gene (which produces a protein that ferries serotonin between brain cells), was extremely informative. I was unaware there was short and long version and that people who carry at least one copy of the short version of this gene were more likely to have an anxiety disorder. The statistics proven on the short gene related to depression, were fascinating. Forty-three percent of people who carried the short gene who experienced four or more tumultuous events became clinically depressed. Also, people who have the short gene who experienced no stressful events also became depressed at the average rate as the general population. While only seventeen percent of the long gene people who endured four or more stressful events wound up depressed. With that in mind, does the nature vs nurture theory play a part in causing/preventing mental illness, depression, and anxiety? If you carry certain genes to make you susceptible to specific diseases/illness, are environmental factors enough to change anything or be prevented? A specific paragraph I especially liked at the end of this article is: The new science of nature and nurture isn't as straightforward as the DNA-is-destiny mantra, but it is more accurate. People have a really hard time understanding the probabilistic nature of how genes impact traits like depression" (Kenneth Kendler, director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealths University.)