Social Scientific Literacy 

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     I used to be a hypochondriac growing up (sometimes I think I still am) and would tell my parents or anyone who would listen for that matter, that I was sick or needed to go to the hospital. Now my parents caught on real quick and helped put my mind to ease by making me feel better but as I progressed into my late teens, and technology advanced, I eventually discovered google and the capability to find out what my potential “symptoms” really meant. This spiraled into a long rabbit hole in the future, as I always ran to wikipedia or Mayo Clinic but walked away learning more about the acute pancreatitis I was convinced I had, or assumed that I was waiting out the inevitable of the loss of a limb just because I had some slight pain in my arm. The more and more research I did, the more “equipped” I felt about knowing about potential diseases or illnesses my body could have. I think this transferred over to more of a curiosity as I became older and wanted to learn more about anxiety, depression and OCD- all these big things that I ended up having. I didn’t understand how I “got” it, and what made it happen, which is why I went to good old google but it couldn’t explain it to me  like the mayo clinic website could explain how a person gets the flu. I did a great deal of research, therapy and soul searching to even break the surface of understanding how the human brain works. So when I took PSY 150- General Psychology, in the fall semester of 2020, I felt confident going into it that I had a good understanding of my own mental health. Boy was  I in for a rude awakening and a lot more to learn! The final assignment of this 12 week course was to write an Autobiographical Psychological History on ourselves discussing five of the nine concepts learned throughout the semester. In this assignment, which is also my artifact, I deep dived into how I have been impacted through behavior, emotion, thinking/language/intelligence, psychological disorders, and therapy.

 

     While I am very self aware, this was the most challenging assignment I have ever had to complete, as I had to be the most vulnerable. I was not asked to write about someone else’s life, but mine- the good, the bad, and the ugly. I probably should have known that it would be easy to analyze myself in these lessons, but I love a good challenge, so why not? I had the most difficult time writing about two sections: emotion and the psychological disorders,  as these two areas of psychology had very big life changing impacts on my own personal human patterns. I discovered in class and in my research how many psychological disorders come to existence in people. Many, like depression, are genetic, but some like OCD, are event triggered. While yes, the genetics of OCD are passed down, some people never get the “light switch flipped on '' so to speak, as they don’t have a traumatic event that initiates the compulsive behavior. This truly was mind blowing to me at the time when I read this in a medical journal because I knew the exact moment and event that triggered it for me. So not only did I learn and write about the experiences in my artifact about how I function with some of these behaviors, but it led me to a deeper understanding of other individuals with similar disorders, even my only family members that have been affected as it can truly affect anyone. This connects with my first goal for this competence, which is to delve into psychology and learn basic human patterns and how they work to have a better understanding of how I and other people work. I am very confident that I succeeded with this goal, and not only does it come through my assignment, but I personally can attest that I see it impacting my interactions with people in my day to day. 

 

     My second goal is to apply the information I learned from psychology and put it into practice in my day to day so that I can improve my interactions with people in the workplace and in school. While I don’t speak to people every day regarding their mental health or personal woes that they may be facing, I have developed a strong foundation for understanding behavior and triggers in people. In my artifact, I write on how genes can be manipulated by factors such as stress, alcohol and drugs therefore causing humans to respond in intensified behavior. Knowing this and key indicators, allows me to approach situations with compassion and empathy, compared to hostility and judgement. I strive for all my interactions with peers, friends, and family to be open and by not jumping to conclusions on people’s actions, but looking at underlying root causes so I can approach people in a better manner. This is an ongoing goal, I am committed to being persistent in, as I think it’s important for more people to learn more about the psychology of humans, especially considering everything that has transpired over the past two years, so that we can better approach each other with more empathy and understanding.