The last one!

This is a very long academic year, not only for the duration it is very long also, because we had to do a lot of class works and tests. This year we had seven subjects every semester, because we had English such as obligatory subject during the two terms. Personally I liked much more the first term because the subjects was more interesting and in my opinion the subjects of the first term was more productive. The subjects of the first term were psychological systems and theories, social psychology, psychopathology, neurophysiology, develop psychology, English III and statistics II. And during the second term we have cognitive neuroscience, develop psychology II, social psychology II, introduction to the psychological evaluation, psychiatry, English IV and qualitative methodology.

During this year I think that my academic performance was good, despite this semester I had troubles with a subject because I didn’t understand the content of the class, but this doesn’t matter anymore because I understand the content now.

I’m going to start for the subjects of first term. The subject I like the most was statistics II because the numbers relaxed me; I guess you are asking now why chose this career if I like so much the numbers, well that have an explication, it is because I don’t like the math and equations and all of that, I like read but in this career we read a lot and I bored of that, so the numbers relax me and makes me think in other things different to the books and letters, it is my favorite subject also because I had a excellent an grade. Psychopathology and psychiatry was other of my favorite subjects because the mental disorders and the personality disorders like me a lot, and my marks in those subjects were very good.

Usually I have good grades in the test and works, but obviously not always because in the university that it is not rare, all of us have bad or regular grades sometimes.

The others subject like me too, and in my opinion I had a good academic performance in all of them, I really study a lot for all the subjects and that is reflected in the most of my grades and class works, I think that I am a very good student, but for that I don’t have a life!. Well the second semester is almost over, and I think that my academic performance was only regular in this term, because it was a very strange term and some subjects I really don’t like. So, the other year I will have better grades, I promise!.

Thanks for all Teacher Alvaro, the class was very good...=D.

challenges in psychology!

In psychology always are challenges, in all the areas and approaches. The most important challenges in the discipline are doing research about discover the cure for the different psychopathologies, such as the schizophrenia, personality disorders or depression. Also it is necessary doing more research about the different pathologies because it is important do more discoveries about the mental illness, because it is necessary improve the quality of life of the persons who have a mental disorder.

For that psychology needs more technology in the research area and more studies about the that topic, such as the studies in course of the behavioral psychology about a test for discover the depression in children, this investigation it is very important because give to the psychologist the opportunity of detect the depression earlier and use the appropriate treatment for the child.

I think that an important challenge in psychology is develop more technology, such as a very specific scanner of the brain, for study the neurons in detail and how it connects. Also it is important develop a method for study the interaction of the neurons with other neurons and how they form circuits and systems, and how that systems produce the emotions and behavior in the humans. Because the knowledge about that is very little and it is necessary for the discipline and for a better life of humanity.

This technology gives to the psychology the possibility of cure some personality disorders, schizophrenia or depression, because in the neurons connections are all the information about the person and her/his behavior. The social matter can be help to persons with psychopathologies or intellectual deficits, regenerate more neurons(neurogenesis) or create new connections between the neurons, and with that change her/his personality and in some cases cure the mental illness, in that way psychology research can improve the quality of life of the patients.

The education in psychology is very important because permit to the discipline transfer the knowledge and permit to the new generations improve the old investigations, and also it is important improve the education in the universities about the psychology because it is a challenge in the discipline produce better professionals for doing better research and therapies.

My free time!!

The activities I enjoy the most when I have some free time are going out with my friends, watching TV and using my notebook. I really enjoy doing that, because doing those things relaxes me.

The activity I enjoy the most is going out with my friends in La Serena, we go to the center of the city or go to the mall. I go out with my friends when I can travel to La Serena, usually when I don’t have any tests or a class works. on some holidays I travel to La Serena and go out with my friends since the morning, we have lunch in the mall and stay there all afternoon, only talking and laughing. Sometimes I go to my friend’s house, well me and the rest of my friends. And we buy some food and drinks and stay there talking all night long.

Going out with my friends isn’t a frequent activity for me because I can’t travel to La Serena all the time. So here in Santiago the activity I enjoy the most is watching TV in my apartment, sometimes with my mother and sometimes alone. I can watch TV when I have some free time for me, without any tests or something like that. I had a lot of time to watch TV at the beginning of the term, because we did nothing in the university. I like watching some series like Buffy or charmed, also I like seeing movies and documentaries on Discovery Channel.

And the third one is the activity I do the most, but I don’t like much, in comparison with watching TV or going out with my friends. I use my notebook all day because I have to do a lot of class works; I use my computer to listen to music, watch some videos in youtube or read histories in some forums. Obviously I do that alone, usually when I study or do some class work. When I get bored I use my computer to entertain me. To the end of the term when I have more things to do for the university is when I waste much more time in the computer, because it is bored study all day.

IMPROVING MY FACULTY FACILITIES

I like my faculty, the faculty installations and recourses, for example here in FACSO we have two computer classrooms, one cafeteria, two places for photocopies and very cheap, we have a library and a elevator. However we need more facilities and we need to improve a lot of things. The first thing that the faculty need to improve is the library because the students need more books and magazines about psychology, sociology, anthropology and education. It is necessary a bigger cafeteria because, in FACSO are a lot of students and a lot of student come here to eat, so usually the cafeteria is full. And finally we need a neuroscience laboratory because in psychology it is necessary for the investigations in brain and behaviour.

The first steps to dealing with this situation is doing the different written projects and send them to the attendant of every situation, such as the attendant of laboratories in the university.

If the project is accepted, it is necessary a person how manage the money and use them for the right things. And the last steps are doing the new installations and buy more books. Only if the project is accepted the situation is resolve.

Exist a lot of benefits if the projects are accepted such as new books with updated information. With the neuroscience laboratory we’ll have access to the new technologies in neuroscience and do research in that, and with a bigger cafeteria we’ll have more space for eat.

I recommend to the faculty worry more for the research and implement more laboratories.

Music in my life!!

Evanescence - Call me when you're sober

I love music, but not all kind of music. I like the symphonic and gothic metal, groups like Nightwish, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Epica and more. I like the gothic rock too, it is different to the gothic metal because is more light and the letters are different. In this category there are groups such as Evanescence (my favourite group) and the Rasmus. Finally, I like one more style of music, well it is not a style is only a group of pop/rock. I like this group so much. It is a group called t.A.T.u.

The music is very important for me because it always relaxes me. The music calms me dawn when I’m angry or sad; it is quite a therapy for me. I like reading the lyrics of the song too, it is very interesting for me to know and understand what the musicians say. Especially with Evanescence because the lead singer Amy Lee wrote all the songs and in the lyrics are her feelings and thoughts, they are very beautiful lyrics.

How many hours per day? I really don’t know exactly, but I think that they are a lot when I have time, and not so much when I have other things to do. I try to listen to music all day, when I read, study or when I do nothing.

I think that the music is good for health because in some therapies the people use some music for relaxation. I use for that reason too. Also the classical music, for example, Beethoven or Mozart is used for pregnant women to estimulate their babies before the birth.

Links:

Evanescence- BRING ME TO LIFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ORuIBjjBU&feature=channel

Within temptation - ANGELS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK9qfVQ4Z04

Epica - THE PHANTOM AGONY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCyFLH5fFhc

t.A.T.u. - All ABOUT US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ZFyzhfgbI

Nightwish - NEMO (exelent video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO4LyKd-Hws

See a psychiatrist? Are you mad?

This article is about an anti psychiatric called Richard Bentall. This man has written a lot of books about psychiatry and the bad practices of this area. For example in one of him books discuss serious questions about the treatment of mental illness.

Bentall said that one sing of sanity in this society is the ability to deal with disagreements, it is a critic to the other professionals of mental illness how discuss all the time about his theories and doesn’t worries for the people who needs them.

Bentall’s thesis is that, the psychiatric and all the mental illness’s investigators search advances in the brain understanding and try to discover the better drug for the treatment. But the psychiatric do nothing for the human welfare.

Besides Bentall add the problem of diagnostic categories, he said that what are conventionally called psychiatric “symptoms” should be named “complaints”. An explanation for that critic is the notion of heritability, a theory about genetics bases of mental illness.

We know that Bentall is an anti psychiatrist, but want to do a distinction about being "anti-psychiatrist" and "anti-psychiatry", a common error in medicine. In spite of Bentall is not agreeing with the drugs treatment he recognizes that there are occasions where drugs are the only way for treat the mental disorder. He is open-minded about drug therapy, but it is not used as a panacea or a substitute for treatments that may produce happier outcomes. Also he is not agreeing with the alternative remedies.

The solution is using the interpersonal relationships like a concomitant treatment for the mental illness, not use only the drugs. He said that psychotherapy can help, because a person, unlike a drug, can learn to listen to other person.


Link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/21/doctoring-the-mind-richard-bentall

My favorite food!

I really like to eat, I like all the food especially the dishes that my mother prepare. But my favorite food is the “Pastel de papa”, the sweet one, because in some countries and also in other cities of Chile the “Pastel de papa” is salty, I don’t like that one.

I don’t know what is the especial flavor of the “pastel de papa”, may be is the raisins with my mother made the pastel, or the crushed potato give to the dish a texture and a taste very sweet.

Me, cook, that will never happen, I don’t know cook anything. Even the eggs look bad when I prepare it. So I never cook for my friends anything. Also the “Pastel de papa” is a very difficult dish to prepare.

I eat my favorite dish only when I go to La Serena, because I only like the “pastel de papa” that she does. I tested others but I don’t like. I eat this dish only with my family, but I really enjoy it the moment, also the “pastel de papa” is the favorite dish of my mother so we are very happy when eat them.
I like eat “pastel de papa” with soda and after lucuma ice cream. Is the perfect combination for a dinner.

I think that the pastel de papa is a food for all the year and we can prepare it in any moment, but the “pastel de papa” is a traditional food of Chile so during the country celebrities in September we can eat this dish.