Posted on 10 February 2017 - 07:18 PM

What is your point of view on Depression being a mental disorder?

Last edited on 10 February 2017 - 07:27 PM by Jinxful

It can be. As fas as I know there are two ways Depression can occur:

Biological:

A chemical called melatonin is produced by your brain which acts as a reward. For example if you win a game on badlion, or eat enjoyable food, this is then released as a result, which then makes you feel good. A lot of depressed people sometimes do not produce as much of this, and therefore are more likely to feel down. This is why people who have a perfect life can still suffer from depression. The absence of thie feel good chemical being produced causes negative emotions

Environmental:

This is obvious. A traumatic event, or losing a loved one can obviously trigger someone into lacking self worth, having negative emotions, and suffering from depression. There are numerous things which could cause this obviously.

This is out of my knowledge so if I have gotten anything wrong please correct me.

Posted on 10 February 2017 - 08:24 PM

What makes us find things adorable? Like a cat???

Posted on 10 February 2017 - 09:46 PM

Am I retarded?

Last edited on 11 February 2017 - 01:27 AM by lmBlitz

Does it affect your health to lie? If so, why?

Why do we forget our dreams?

Will street smarts or book smarts get you farther in life? What are their pros as cons?

Why do we cry?

Posted on 11 February 2017 - 08:00 AM

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Posted on 11 February 2017 - 01:05 PM

There is a science to this and it's rooted in evolutionary biology. For some time now, great minds have been thinking about why we humans have a tendency to find the youngest members of our own species - and even members of other species sometimes - heartbreaking adorable. They've come to a general consensus that it is in our nature to find things cute. But why?

First, we should probably establish what makes things cute. That's just what Austrian biologist and ethologist (someone who studies animal behavior) Konrad Lorenz did in the middle of the last century. When he wasn't working as a Nazi psychologist at German concentration camps in WWII studying people of various combinations of races to determine their fitness for reproduction, Lorenz was dedicating himself to the study of what makes things cute. What he came up with is the kinderschema, the set of traits that we identify as cute and adorable.

They are, as described by the founder of the field of human ethology Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfedlt, another Austrian and successor to Lorenz's cuteness research: "(a) large head relative to body size, rounded head; (b) large, protruding forehead; © large eyes relative to face, eyes below midline of head; (d) rounded, protruding cheeks; (e) rounded body shape; and (f) soft, elastic body surfaces."

So what the ethologists essentially did was study the features of babies and toddlers, compiled them into a brief description and slapped a German word on it. This doesn't seem too hard. But the pursuit of the ethologists and evolutionary biologists who took up the task of investigating cuteness didn't stop at simply identifying what traits are cute - the obvious question of why we find these traits cute remains to be answered.

The prevailing theory is that it is because we are hardwired to do so (or that we learn pretty much automatically the first time we encounter something with these traits). According to the concepts of evolutionary biology , which took up the mantle for explaining cuteness, our reaction when present with something we find cute - a protective, non-sexual (for most people) and disarmed attraction - is rooted in the need for human infants to be cared for by human adults. Unlike the very young of some other species, which can care for themselves shortly or immediately after birth, human babies need attention in order to survive and thrive: they must be fed, physically protected and held, among other things that parents do for their children.

Parents are not the only ones who can care for babies, any human could, and so we are all hardwired to respond in a similar fashion to human babies in case even the chosen childless among us end up in some sort of situational comedy and find ourselves in charge of caring with a distant relative's baby or come across one in a ditch. We won't pass on taking care of the helpless child in these situations in part because we find them cute. This helps further the species.

So babies are born with the traits that we find cute, or else we've adapted to find cute the traits that babies possess. Humans are born with their eyes already the size they will be when they are adults, so big eyes relative to face, check. Babies' brains are already nearly fully grown as well which makes their heads are enormous, so big heads, check. Their limbs are small and flabby and they lack coordination; small rounded body, check. Big cheeks, check. And so on. These traits may last in some form or fashion into about the tween years, when kids no longer need the kind of adult supervision they once did and exit the stage of cuteness.

Interestingly, the people who manufacture cute, like animators, have figured out that they can apply the principles of kinderschema to make their creations more attractive to humans. In a very interesting essay, evolutionary biologist and all-around genius Stephen Jay Gould maps the transformation of Mickey Mouse from a hard-nosed, flinty-eyed adult mouse who's something of a jerk into a soft, big-eyed cute mascot beloved by all. Disney isn't alone; there's everything from Kewpie dolls and Betty Boop to anime and manga. Pretty much every animator who has ever created a sympathetic character has drawn its eyes big and low on its face.

Adding cute human traits to animal characters in order to make them more likeable is not simply anthropomorphism, though. In real life, the human affinity for kinderschema is so pronounced that it frequently spills over to members of other species. Because they too display many of the traits as human children (some even have the added cute trait of being fuzzy!), animals can also appear achingly cute to us too. That accounts for why we keep some animals as pets and use others for work, and why we couldn't imagine eating some animals but are totally cool with eating others, like pescatarianism for example.

So there you have it, that's why we think things are cute: They share similar traits to human babies and children and we are probably hardwired to respond to things with those traits in a protective manner. Plus, they're just cute.

Posted on 11 February 2017 - 01:13 PM

Clinical Depression is often said to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, and this is what most drug treatments are based on. Certainly in many cases, there is a reduction in the amount of certain neurotransmitters found (monoamines such as serotonin and norepinephrine) in depressed people.
It's also possible to be born with a predisposition for depression but to never actually become depressed. If someone with a predisposition manages to avoid things like bullying, illness, extreme stress at home and other common triggers of depression, they may end up going through life without a depressive episode.


There are several different types or subtypes of depression, including:
Major Depression

An individual with major depression, or major depressive disorder, feels a profound and constant sense of hopelessness and despair.

Major depression is marked by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the person's ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once pleasurable activities. Major depression may occur only once but more commonly occurs several times in a lifetime.

What Are the Symptoms of Major Depression?

Symptoms of depression include:

Sadness
Irritability
Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
Withdrawal from social activities
Inability to concentrate
Disrupted sleep
Fatigue or loss of energy
Appetite changes
Thoughts of suicide

Psychotic Depression

Roughly 25% of people who are admitted to the hospital for depression suffer from what is called psychotic depression. In addition to the symptoms of depression, people with psychotic depression may have:

Hallucinations – seeing or hearing things that aren't really there.
Delusions – irrational thoughts and fears.
How Is Psychotic Depression Different Than Other Mental Disorders?

While people with other mental disorders, like schizophrenia, also experience psychotic symptoms (delusions and hallucinations), people with psychotic depression typically have symptoms that reflect irrational levels of despair and negativism, such as profound feelings of hopelessness, being punished, or having committed a sin. People also may be ashamed or embarrassed and try to hide their psychotic symptoms, or minimize their intensity, which can make diagnosing this condition difficult. In psychotic depression, delusions and hallucinations also are not present unless a depressive syndrome also is present.
What Are the Symptoms of Psychotic Depression?

Anxiety – fear and nervousness
Agitation
Paranoia
Insomnia – difficulty falling and staying asleep
Physical immobility
Intellectual impairment
Hallucinations (false perceptions)
Delusions (fixed, false beliefs)

Dysthymia

Dysthymia, sometimes referred to as a form of chronic depression, is a less severe form of depression but the depression symptoms linger for a long period of time, typically years. Those who suffer from dysthymia are usually able to function normally, but seem consistently unhappy.

It is common for a person with dysthymia to also develop superimposed periods of depression, which then lessen without fully going away. This is called "double depression."
Let me know if you wish to get more in detail

Posted on 11 February 2017 - 01:17 PM

1. Research on how lying affects health is scant, but lying is thought to trigger the release of stress hormones, increasing heart rate and blood pressure. … "It takes a lot of negative physical and mental energy to maintain a lie,"

2. Sleep “consciousness” is expressed in the form of dreams [1]. Once thought as an exclusive feature of REM sleep, dreams may also be an essential function of NREM sleep [2, 3]. The majority of researchers agree on the essential role of sleep in memory formation but what this specific role is remains unclear [4]. Most studies in this area assessed the influence of sleep on hippocampal and neocortical plasticity [5].

According to the standard model of memory consolidation [6]:
(1) the hippocampus receives input from the neocortex during wakefulness
(2) the hippocampus binds this information into a coherent memory trace during wakefulness
(3) the memory trace is transferred to the neocortex during sleep
(4) the memory trace is stored and integrated within preexisting memory traces during sleep

3. Sleep “consciousness” is expressed in the form of dreams [1]. Once thought as an exclusive feature of REM sleep, dreams may also be an essential function of NREM sleep [2, 3]. The majority of researchers agree on the essential role of sleep in memory formation but what this specific role is remains unclear [4]. Most studies in this area assessed the influence of sleep on hippocampal and neocortical plasticity [5].

According to the standard model of memory consolidation [6]:
(1) the hippocampus receives input from the neocortex during wakefulness
(2) the hippocampus binds this information into a coherent memory trace during wakefulness
(3) the memory trace is transferred to the neocortex during sleep
(4) the memory trace is stored and integrated within preexisting memory traces during sleep

4. Crying is part of our human emotional package – love it, or hate it. Of course, women are definitely better at it than men, with the number of cries per year estimated at 50 and 10, respectively. It begs the questions how does it all work, and what triggers our waterworks when we are both sad - and happy? Get your tissues at the ready, it’s all about tears this week.

Crying can be scientifically defined as the shedding of your tears in response to an emotional state; very different from ‘lacrimation’, which is the non-emotional shedding of tears. With that said, your plumbing apparatus that makes your tears is all the same. So before I dazzle you with the fact that we have more than one type of tear, let us explore the science of tear production and how it links to the emotional centre of your brain.With the ‘beginning of the end’ of the relationship, the production of your tears can begin. It is all down to your lacrimal system (think of it like your inbuilt Thames Water supply) that sits next to your eyeball. It is both a secretory system that produces your tears, and an excretory system, that drains them.

Last edited on 11 February 2017 - 01:21 PM by Emogan

Put the other person first
Not second behind you. Not behind your children. Especially not behind your parents. First. That starts with putting aside or scaling back on some things that may have taken a lot of time before you were married, such as movies, sports, spending time with friends instead of your spouse, and video games. We know that can seem hard. At the same time, it quickly becomes second nature and more and more enjoyable. Sure, we still do enjoy some individual pursuits, and it’s healthy to do so. However, we never put the other second. One small thing we do in this area is whenever we are sharing something tasty, we always give the other person the first bite, the best bites, and the last bite. It is an easy way to show the other person that you care about their happiness/enjoyment more than your own.

Give each other the benefit of the doubt

This can be very hard. Your spouse is someone who loves, honors and cherishes you more than anyone else. As such, they can also be the person who wounds you the deepest. This is natural and expected. At the same time, because of that bond, we tend to paint each other in the worst light. You got angry with me for being home late? You must be trying to hurt me! You didn’t acknowledge me when I got home? Wounded to the core! Instead of immediately assuming the worst, try turning it around and asking if you would deliberately hurt your spouse by doing the same thing. Then let it go.

Listen

Men, this is especially directed at you. Your wives really want you to listen to them. We aren’t saying “acknowledge that your wife is speaking while you’re busy watching football and actually not hearing anything at all.” Listen to her. Stop what you are doing, look at her, and hear what she is saying. Listen so intently that you can actually give feedback and tell her what she is talking about. She doesn’t want you to solve her problems (in fact, she’d probably prefer that you don’t), she just wants to know you care and will help if needed.

Spend time alone together

Too often it’s easy to get into a routine where kids, friends, and media are your constant companions. Unplug, slip away, and reconnect with each other. We like to take one trip away every year, even if it’s just for a night or two.

Don’t ever, ever, ever engage in “spouse bashing.” Ever. To anyone

Women are most often the culprits on this one but men do it as well. This can cause SO much damage in a marriage. Many times you may think of it as “venting” or may do it because others are and you want to connect in some way. This is especially important when talking to your parents or other family members. Whether or not your spouse ever hears of what you say, it is hurtful and disloyal. If you are having problems in your marriage, discuss them with your spouse, a counselor, or you may possibly clear one other person with your spouse if need be (a best friend perhaps) but even then be careful what you say and how you say it. Loyalty is so important and trust once broken can be hard to earn back.

Forgive

There is an absolutely AMAZING book on forgiveness called Unconditional: The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness by Brian Zahnd. In it he talks about how as Christians we are called to forgive and end the cycles of revenge. He states, “Forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is a choice.” As mentioned above, those we love have the most power to hurt us, intentionally or unintentionally, and because in marriage we are with each other day in and day out, those hurts can add up. Quickly. If we start taking score, constantly reminding each other of things we have done/not done, calling up things done years ago, we are not following the command to forgive and we can destroy our marriages. Forgiveness is not easy. It is not cheap. It is costly and it is difficult but if we are to truly be successful, not only in our marriages but in life, we can call on our Savior and He can help us forgive our spouses and remove the cancer of bitterness, anger, and revenge.

Posted on 11 February 2017 - 02:31 PM

Do you do criminology as well? my mum is a doctor in that?

Posted on 11 February 2017 - 02:36 PM

I have looked into it in the past however I have not done studies on it.

Posted on 12 February 2017 - 12:11 AM

Why do we feel the need to seek attention?

Last edited on 12 February 2017 - 01:37 AM by *deleted-96553

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Posted on 16 February 2017 - 02:46 AM

is it bad that metarus smells like a taco

Posted on 16 February 2017 - 03:06 AM

I haven't even learned Psychology xD

Posted on 16 February 2017 - 10:10 AM

Can a computer truely learn?

Posted on 18 February 2017 - 03:16 AM

Is it morally wrong to have a 10+ year age gap between partners? (I mean like 16 and 26.. would this be wrong?) Or does it not matter as long as they "love each other"?

Posted on 18 February 2017 - 04:07 PM

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Posted on 19 February 2017 - 10:21 AM

Brains wired to equate lack of attention as dangerous, naturally respond to it as threat in the amygdala, a subcortical structure, where thinking does not occur. [6-11] Now the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is like a micromanaging mother, “don’t do this, do that, stop that, go here, don’t go there” can intervene in this, if given the opportunity.[12-16] But as my friend Greg says, “If a dog had wings, he wouldn’t be a dog.” The ACC is in the cortical thinking part of the brain, which disengages when the amygdala swings into action.[12, 17-21] In addition, the ACC needs serotonin to do its micromanaging. There are a number of conceivable problems with that: people who have these types of core issues are often over stressed. Sustained excess stress limits serotonin availability.[22-25] In addition, hypothalamic remodeling is one of the consequences of neglect.[23, 26-31] This often means that your hypothalamus is smaller, and has fewer receptors for serotonin and other neurochemicals. Thus, even if your ACC has troopers to dispatch, they may not have anywhere to land and do their work.
The importance of attention starts when we are very young and we are unable to feed or protect ourselves. All we can do is wail and hope for help. Attention is also important at this stage (and later) in connecting and forming bonds with other people.
When we feel we have too little attention, we seek it. This can become dysfunctional when it dominates a person's life and when those from who attention is sought find demands tiring, distressing or simply annoying. Attention-seeking can thus become problematic and pathologies such as narcissistic personality disorder and Munchausen syndrome can result. People may even self-harm in order to gain attention.
When others pay attention to us, they connect us together, expanding our sense of identity. Their attention may also show esteem and give us some sense of status as they recognize us as worthy of their attention. In the opposite sense, it is depressing and quite possibly insulting when others ignore us, particularly when we are in conversation with them. To deny attention is to deny the person's existence, effectively diminishing their sense of identity.
The giving and gaining of attention hence becomes a game and may be used as a power play, with power-seekers using attention as a kind of reward as those who feel weaker seeking attention as an affirmation. This happens when we feel that powerful people have larger spheres of identity and that others can somehow expand their own smaller spheres by connecting with those with larger spheres.
Our conscious minds are pretty linear in operation and we hence have a limited ability to focus on our surroundings (or even our inner thoughts). While we can spread our attention wide, for example as we scan the environment for threats, when we find something of interest, attention zooms into that one thing. This makes attention a limited resource, which can make it even more desirable.