'Magic Mushrooms' Can Improve Psychological Health Long Term

Summary: The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits, according to new research from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The mushroom-derived hallucinogen, called psilocybin, is known to trigger transformative spiritual states, but at high doses it can also result in "bad trips" marked by terror and panic. The trick is to get the dose just right, which the Johns Hopkins researchers report having accomplished. In their study, the Hopkins scientists were able to reliably induce transcendental experiences in volunteers, which offered long-lasting psychological growth and helped people find peace in their lives — without the negative effects.

Critic: I found this to be very interesting.

Impact: They may use this to treat depression.

Reference: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/16/magic-mushrooms-can-improve-psychological-health-long-term/

Sociopaths

Resource: http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

A sociopath is person who has pretty much lost his care for anything, but if its bad enough, the sociopath won't even know that he or she is one. One of the traits of a sociopath is a grandiose sense of self. They are so important that they need or actually deserve things. Another aspect of a sociopath is an talent for lying. The person will feel no remorse for lying, its like his conscience or guilt doesn't exist. It would be difficult for this person to tell the truth on a regular basis. Also, adding on to the nonexistence of conscience, they don't feel anything and don't see people as people. People are considered opportunities or targets they can use for their own gain. This is because a deep seated rage rests with the person. They also have an incapacity for love, which leads us to shallow emotions. They have the wrong feeling to a certain scene like laughing at a funeral or getting angry because someone slightly bumped into them. These people also appear as unreliable or irresponsible. They put blame on others when it was obviously theirs to blame.

This article could possibly help someone get help since it is for the purpose of profiling a sociopath. It was interesting to see what a sociopath may be. This profile can help someone get help to a friend or someone really hurting other people to get help with their problem.

The Theories of Love

Resource:http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/a/theoriesoflove.htm

What is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt, no more! We have recognized that this is a song we have heard at some point. The topic today is love. Love can be a wonderful thing and make someone's life ten times brighter. I was surprised to see that there were theories on love. The first theory is Compassionate vs. Passionate Love. Passionate love is based around sexual attraction and intense emotions. Compassionate love is revolves around mutual respect, attachment, and trust. Passionate love will only stay connected for six to thirty months. Compassionate love is for marriage material and if Passionate love can progress to Compassionate love, then it can lead on to a life long relationship. Another theory is based on the color wheel. John Lee compared love to a color wheel. The explanation is that there are three primary colors and those colors can create other colors to complement it which can lead to limitless amounts of different ways to love. The third theory is Triangular Theory of Love. It is triangle which can have different combinations that lead to different types of relationships. The three sides or points represent intimacy, passions, and commitment. If a person has all these qualities in a relationship, it will be the most enduring type, but it is rare for this to occur.

Love is an interesting thing, and this article caught my eye. I believe it gave all the information necessary for the reader and it was a very interesting topic as well. Love as a science is one weird combo, but I don't doubt it. This article could help people understand what kind of love they have and may affect one's decision.

Dependent Personality Disorder

Resource: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001937/

DPD is a long term condition in which people will rely on others on an excessive level for their physical and emotional needs. DPD will usually occur during a childhood, but there are no real official causes. People with this condition will usually be very uncomfortable with making their own decisions. They also will feel very depressed to separation and loss. Also, someone will suffer great pain to stay in a relationship. Some symptoms may include avoidance of being alone, avoiding personal responsibility, being easily hurt by criticism, and focused on fears of being left alone. The best treatment of DPD is talk therapy. It is considered to be the best and allows for people to become more independent gradually.

This article gives the important information about the disorder. More could be put in and could cause more interest. I felt slightly bored reading through it. Although, this could be helpful to anyone who does have the disorder. It may lead them the right way to where they can get help or understand they have a problem.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Resource: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001926/

OCD is more common than most people may think. It is an anxiety disorder that causes people to have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, and obsessions that may push them to do something. The person will carry out obsessive behaviors that will dissolve their thoughts only for temporary relief. These activities they perform must be done or great stress would fall upon the person with OCD. Most of the time, OCD causes symptoms around the age of 30. There have been brain abnormalities found with people with OCD, but no real link can be officially said. Some symptoms of OCD are obsessions related around drugs or to mental illness, and it can also be obsessions that causes major distress or interfere with everyday life. An example is like reorganizing your shelf of action figures if any of them are touched. Treatment is through medication and therapy. Some medication are Celexa or Prozac. Although cognitive therapy has been shown with the greatest results with this disorder.

This page of information only gave the most common or notable basics of the disorder. This information may be enough to a curious man, but it need more information to consider it more useful. Also, the page could help someone who has OCD help to what they could possibly do next.

Could You Become a Dictator?

Could You Become a Dictator?

http://www.livescience.com/12843-dictator.html

Could an ordinary person turn into a dictator? Not overnight, but psychological studies indicate that power does have an effect on the psyche. Citing 5 different studies, the article states that if you get a taste of power, stop noticing or listening to others, believe you have control over random events and have confidence in your beliefs, you can become like a dictator.

Luckily, tyranny is not tolerated at Westwind.

The Psychology of Darth Vader

The Psychology of Darth Vader

http://www.livescience.com/10679-psychology-darth-vader-revealed.html

Psychiatrist Eric Bui says that Anakin Skywalker’s behavior in episodes two and three show traits of borderline personality disorder (BPD). There are nine criteria of borderline personality disorder, Skywalker met six and you only need to meet five to qualify as having the disorder. Anakin Skywalker shows that he is impulsive and that he has anger management issues, going back and forth between idolizing and hating the Jedi. Anakin also has abandonment issues, shown b his fear of losing his wife. Anakin has at least two dissociative episodes when he tries to distance himself from stressful events. The first dissociative episode is when Anakin murders a whole tribe of Tuskens when they killed his mother. Anakin’s second dissociative episode is when he goes on a killing spree through the young Jedi trainees. Also Anakin Skywalker has a huge identity crisis and joins the dark side, becoming Darth Vader. Anakin is a character that many teens can sympathize with because they have many of the same characteristics that are looked for when diagnosing BPD, which is why only adults can have BDP if teens could be diagnosed with it then most of them would be.

This can affect Star Wars fans everywhere, personally I now know a possible reason for why Anakin went psycho.