The relationship between reason and democracy Essay

The relationship between reason and democracy - Essay Example In this time period, the Enlightenment, people began to believe that rationality was the most important thing, indeed, Immanuel Kant said at the beginning of his work â€Å"What is the Enlightenment?† that having â€Å"courage to use your own reason† was the â€Å"motto of the Enlightenment† (Kant 1). In this kind of classical liberal thinking about democracy, there is no way to separate the idea of democracy from the idea of idea of reason – democracy could only be successful as a form of government because the people who are choosing the leaders are acting in a rational way – either for their own self interest or because of morality or for some other, rational reason. Yet there might be other reasons why democracy is successful that these thinkers do not cover. So essentially, whether or not democracy relies on reason depends on whether or not one believes in the classical idea of the reasons for democracy. Under classical conceptions of democracy , where it exists as a kind of contract between the leaders and the people they lead, democracy cannot exist without reason; I would argue, however, that classical ideas do not actually describe why democracy is successful, and that alternative explanations could allow for democracy to exist and succeed without reason or rationality being involved in any way shape or form. Classical understandings of democracy come from the Enlightenment, and this classical understanding must be understood in its hirtorical context. This was a time when many rulers ruled by divine right – the monarchy was still the most powerful thing in Europe, and these monarchs used considerable power to shape and even abuse the people who they were in control of, for their own gain. As Locke notes the ability to â€Å"compel by the sword† was the power of the civil magistrate alone, which essentially means that the ruler is the only person who is able to force his people to do something based on fo rce and violence (Locke 2). Through this understanding, it was important to provide a basis for a new system of government that made a lot of sense in theory as well as working in practice, and the theory behind democracy relied on the idea that every person was reasonable. When trying to convince people that they should not be led by their current leaders (the kind of leaders who had been in control of the world for essentially the entire history of the world), one had to convince everyone that there was a better system, not just an alternate system. And the â€Å"betterness† of democracy relies on the idea that each person is rational and can act rationally when choosing a leader or deciding what is best for them – and will do so. So the basic idea of democracy, from a classical perspective, relies on reason in a very strong way, and so cannot be separated from reason – the classical defenses of democracy would fall apart if people were not reasonable. But thi s does not mean that the classical justification for democracy was the reason that democracy is a good system of government. I would argue that one of the main reasons democracy is a good system of government is that it does not give any one group or person the ability to form a tyranny, to get into complete control and begin making everything better for them

Economic Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economic Analysis - Essay Example It is expressed as a percentage change in the quantity of a product demanded as a result of a small change in price. In reality, the price elasticity for demand is affected by many other factors other than just the price of commodity. When making calculations, it is normally assumed that all the other factors which could affect PED remain constant. High price elasticity means that the demand for the product is extremely sensitive to changes in commodity price. A zero measure shows that the demand is inelastic and thus will not be affected by changes in pricing. When the value is one, it shows that the demand is perfectly elastic and thus a pricing change will result to an equal change in demand. When the elastic is more than one, it implies that the demand is elastic and when the pricing is changed, it will automatically result in change in the demand from the item as wrong as all the another factors are kept constant. The cross-price elasticity measures the responsiveness of a product demand to changes in price of another commodity. It is measured as a percentage of change observed in the demand for a product as a result of price change of a completely different commodity. It can be used to determine the type of relationship existing between two products (Mankiw 2012). It allows economists to make a distinction between complementary and substitute commodities. Products can be defined as compliments of each other when the calculation of the cross elasticity for demand yields a negative result. When the measure gives a positive value, it is an indication that the products are substitutes of each other. When the calculations yield a zero measure, then there is no relationship between the products (Wetzstein 2013). When a competitor reduces prices of its prices, rival organization will have to consider the calculation of cross-price elasticity of demand in estimating the impact of this price change o n the demand for its products. This in turn makes the

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral Metoprolol Essay Example for Free

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral Metoprolol Essay The patient, Roger Smith, is a forty year old man and came to the doctors office yesterday morning presenting a chief complaint of on and off headaches. Every now and then he felt dizzy and would complain about blurred vision. He mentions that he does not have any allergies to food or medicines. He admits that he doesnt do any regular exercise. He favors salty food and eats plentiful of it everyday and prefers to drink alcohol two to three times per week. He was an only child and both his father and mother are deceased. The patients mother had hypertension and so did his mothers father. When he was a child he only had varicella zoster. He also mentioned that he sought medical attention a year ago and was diagnosed with essential hypertension. After that, the patient did not visit his previous doctor for a follow up on his medical health. The patient confesses that he did not follow his previous doctor’s prescription. Dr. Robert Jones, took the patients blood pressure and it read as 140/90 mm Hg. The patient was asked to undergo laboratory test for the patients blood creatinine (National Kidney Function, 2008). On the following day, Dr. Robert Jones, measured the patient’s blood pressure again and it read 140/90 mm Hg. The patient told the doctor that he took note of his blood pressure several days ago and it also had the same reading and it never went down. The doctor asked the patient to present him the laboratory result for the patients glomerular filtration rate. The glomerular filtration rate is the test to measure the patients kidney functions level. It is important to find out what the result is to prevent the progression of a kidney disease due to hypertension (National Kidney Function, 2008). The patients glomerular filtration rate value (GFR) was 72 mL/min/1.73 m2. The doctor interpreted to the patient that his glomerular filtration rate is normal and his kidneys are not affected yet by the hypertension. The GFR is calculated by the serum creatinine of the patient which is 1.4 mg/dL, the age of the patient is forty years old, the patients race is African American and the gender is male. The normal glomerular filtration rate value is 70  ± 14 mL/min/m2 for the male and 60  ± 10 mL/min/m2 for the female (National Kidney Function, 2008). The doctor explained that essential hypertension or primary hypertension is the blood pressure thats consistently higher than the normal value, 120/80 mm Hg, and there is no cause found for the high blood pressure. It can be controlled with normal exercise, a well-balanced diet, proper treatment and constant monitoring of the blood pressure. If it is left untreated, it will lead to heart attack, heart failure, damage to the kidney and it might cause the patient to lose his vision. (PSMHMC, 2006). The patient needs to lower the systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) to treat his hypertension as this is an important cardiovascular risk factor (Koenig, 2001). The doctor educated the patient to maintain his weight level near to the normal and eat a well-balanced diet. He was instructed to limit the salt intake everyday to 2,000mg or even lower. Exercise regularly and avoid drinking too much alcohol and limit the intake of caffeine. All these are needed to be followed to control the blood pressure. The patient was also educated about taking care of his blood pressure because it will cause the kidney to fail. In order to prevent this from happening, his blood pressure must be controlled (DailyMed, 2006). The doctor prescribed the patient to take metoprolol tartrate 100mg for the first four weeks and then increased the dose to 200mg for another four weeks. The patient is instructed to orally take metoprolol once daily (Koenig, 2001). Metoprolol is a beta-adrenergic blocking agent that decreases the heart rate, decreases the contraction force of the heart muscle and it lowers the the blood pressure. Metoprolol targets the sympathetic nervous system by blocking its action in order to stimulate the heart beats pace. (Hildemann, et. al., 2002). The doctor further explained that metoprolol helps relax the blood vessels and will help the heart beat at a more regular rate. In this way, high blood pressure is reduced. Other heart diseases, for example stroke or heart attack will be prevented (Koenig, 2001). The medicine is taken through the mouth and will pass through the digestive tract before it can reach the bloodstream for absorption. The onset of action of metoprolol as an anti-hypertensive if taken orally is 1 1/2 to 4 hours. It will last for ten to twenty hours and will be absorbed at a percentage of 95%. For its metabolism, it is extensively hepatic through CYP2D6; significant first-pass effect. The half-life elimination period is three to four hours (Koenig, 2001). Metoprolol will be excreted through the urine with the percentage of 3% to 10% as an unchanged drug (DailyMed, 2006). According to the explanation of the doctor, metoprolol is metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P450 2D6. Therefore, metabolization of the drug depends on the genetic polymorph that determines the hepatic hydroxylation rate. Metoprolol is excreted by the kidney as metabolites and is absorbed within seventy-two hours by glomerular filtration. The patient is further informed that while he is taking metoprolol, he is advised not to take in any other medicine. He should follow the correct dosage at the right time, in other words, the patient is not allowed to change the dosage or the time hes supposed to take the medicine. The medicine should not be taken in with an antacid (DailyMed, 2006). The patient will feel fatigue or dizziness. He should inform the doctor any changes like unusual weight gain or muscle fatigue, swellings of any part the extremities, constipation or should he develop a cough. The patient should maintain a blood pressure of less than 140/90mm Hg. He should take his pulse prior to taking metoprolol orally. The patient will be able to keep himself healthy and fit if he continues to follow the doctors prescription. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) will be lower when the patient follows the intake of metoprolol as prescribed by the doctor (Koenig, 2001). After eight weeks, the patient came to visit Dr. Robert Jones and had his blood pressure is already 120/80 and his glomerular filtration rate value remains at the normal level. The patient is instructed by the doctor to constantly maintain a healthy diet, regularly exercise and take note of his blood pressure everyday (Koenig, 2001). References: Dailymed (2006). METOPROLOL TARTRATE and HYDROCHLOROTHIAZIDE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   TABLETS, USP50 mg/25 mg, 100 mg/25 mg and 100 mg/50 mgBeta   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Blocker/Diuretic Antihypertensive. Retrieved February 8, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/fda/fdaDrugXsl.cfm?id=2522type=display Indian Journal of Pharmacology. (2008) Metoprolol Pindolol: A comparative study in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   essential hypertension. Retrieved February 8, 2008, from http://www.ijp-online.com/article.asp?issn=02537613;year=1990;volume=22;issue=2;spage=85;epage=88;aulast=Gugli;type=0 S.K. Hildemann, H. Fischer, D. Pittrow, V. Bohlscheid (2002). Metoprolol Succinate SR Plus  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hydrochlorothiazide (Beloc-Zok ® Comp) in Patients With Essential Hypertension in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   General Practice. Medscape Today. Retrieved February 10, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/444414_1 Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center College of Medicine (2006). Essential   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hypertension. Retrieved February 10, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/e/essentialhypertension.htm National Kidney Function (2008). Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR). Retrieved from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   February 10, 2008, http://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/ckd/knowGFR.cfm Wolfgang Koenig, on behalf of the Multicentre Study Group, Department of Internal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Medicine II-Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Center, Ulm, Germany   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2001). Efficacy and Tolerability of Metoprolol Tartrate in Patients With Mild-to-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moderate Essential Hypertension: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Multicentre   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Trial. Retrieved from February 10, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/406240

Sociological and Biological Constructs of Health

Sociological and Biological Constructs of Health CONTENTS Introduction1 Section 1 Definition of health and illness-2 Evaluate Sociological and biological constructs of health3 Section 2 Structural patterns in inequality in modern Britain-4 Evaluation of unequal distribution of illness5 Section 3 Factors that reduce the freedom of health care -6 Structures of healthcare service that might affect individuals7 Section 4 Conclusion8 Section 5 Reference-9 Introduction This report aims to understand and analyse the different definitions of health and illness in different perspectives, evaluate them and identify structural patterns in inequality in Modern Britain. It also evaluates unequal distribution of illness from different perspectives among different groups. It identifies problems that might occur in accessing health care among different groups in modern Britain. Finally it evaluates changes in healthcare services and the structures, and how this might affect different groups in the society. DIFINING HEALTH AND ILLNESS The speech â€Å"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,† can be used to define my own version of health and illness as to what our views are about health and illness. For example I view health as been strong and healthy enough to carry out my daily chores, on the contrary inability to achieve it will be blamed on my physical health. So how do people view health and illness? World health organisation (1946) defines health as the mental and physical wellbeing. On the other hand illness will be the defined as lack of mental and physical wellbeing. The biopsychosocial model view health and illness as the interaction between biomedical, social and psychological factors. Biomedical refers to genetic factors such as inherited conditions and physiological changes of individuals, psychologically how we manifest our feelings and thought and socially how we socialise and communicate with persons and group of persons in the society as a whole. The interaction with all of these factors, coupled with cultural differences among different groups of people in Britain will influence the way we view health and illnesses. Holistic model view health and illness by taking into account the whole person, which includes the person’s body, spirit and mind. This mode is much more individualised to the person involved and rarely take into account wider picture and the social and environmental factors that might possibly influence health and illness across various cultures. Biomedical models defines health and illness by using scientific measure to determine if a person is ill or not, as they believe that illness is caused by physical factors, such as physiological changes in the body and inherited genes, in case of mental health causes might be referred to neurotransmitters defect, biochemistry which might be linked to high increase of dopamine to the frontal cortex of the brain and so on. As such blood test, analysis and series of test are carried out to identify the causes and this may enable them to classify the illness and provide appropriate treatment through the use of drugs to control or cure the condition. Biomedical model view human body as a machine, in real sense machines do develop a mechanical fault and will require fixing up. This is how biomedical model view the body, at a point it might break down and require fixing up through surgery or drugs. Sociological model believes that health and illness are caused by factors outside of the physiological changes in the body. This model attributes causes of ill health to poverty and inequality, socio standard of behaviour and communication in the society. Sociological model view health to be socially constructed in the society to control people. They also believe that different factors such as psychological, political, social, economic, biological, and culture and environment influenced the way people view health in the society. Health is not an easy term to define. For some it encompasses mental health, for others physical and mental health are compartmentalized. A perception of health or mental health is not only defined within the medical context, but it is also defined by the patient within a sociocultural context that includes family and social network as well as a wide selection of potential providers. Such definitions may vary from one culture to another, Warwick-Boot (2012). Biomedical models does have some advantages as it enable the medical team to carry out series of medical test to find out any physiological changes. However, scientifically, there has been no expansion of drug innovation, old drugs have been manufactured under different names doing the same thing as previous drugs. This raise concern if these drug manufacturers are neutral to the medical teams. Areas with major health concerns and needs are been neglected and drugs budget have been dramatically reduced due to the poverty conditions of these groups for the fact that they might not make a lot of profit, this refers to the medical professionals as iatrogenesis meaning they are the cause of health problems. The benefit of Sociological model is that it takes into account the factors outside of the physiological changes in the body such as psychological, political, social, economic, biological, culture and environment when viewing health and illness. The down side to it is that way cultures and different groups view health and illness changes over time. For example once homosexuality was viewed as illness and now it is normal in a society. Section 2 Ethnicity According to M. Senior, B Viveash (1998) refers to ethnicity as a way of life, behaviour that one acts on to make a sense of their cultural identity in a particular group in the society as a whole. Movement in and out of Britain have made Britain into more diversified cultural society today, to those who preserved it. Though several ethnic minorities are small, but in some cases there are larger ones in some demographic region like Brent in London. This makes it more obvious for a particular health need to be cared for in an area where ethnic groups are concentrated in. The biological model often refers to the features which makes up the physical look of a person such as their skin colour to classify them into a group. Why the sociologists distinguishes people according to their ethnic groups. The artefact explanations strongly believe that there are specific health and illnesses associated within different ethnic groups. The sociologists have great concern in understanding why some certain health and illnesses are associated with different ethnic groups. Such as Afro-Caribbean linked with high rate of sickle cell anaemia an inherited blood disorder, why the White European have a high rate of haemophilia a disorder that prevents the clotting of blood and might cause someone to bleed to death if quick medical emergency intervention is not carried out on time. Also Asians are associated with high rate of heart diseases and so forth. It is important to examine the way ethnic groups have distributed themselves in the demographic regions of Britain to enable us to account for their numbers in a particular area, whether they are minor or large such as ethnic group in Brent in London, understand some health related issues associated with these specific groups and outline the health care needs of the majority of the local people in the society. Health inequalities exist among different groups. In this case among ethnic groups. Ethnicity and Culture According to Public Health Action Support (2011) there is evidence of documentation within ethnic inequalities in health outcomes in the UK. There are difficulties with the approach and measurement of ethnicity as to what the causes might be as outlined below. Ethnicity is regarded as a fluid concept, because it entails different meanings within different contexts. For example, an individual from Pakistan might consider himself as a Pakistani when filling out a form in the UK surveys, when filling out a form in the US might consider himself Asian. The definition of ethnicity is influenced by historical value and the current social and political context (Bradby, 2003). As definitions of ethnicity changes classifications such as race, skin colour, language, religion, nationality, country of origin, and culture do not change. These have limitations and implications in accessing health. Often reason for research are not clearly stated. Bhopal (1997) claims that ethnicity is a euphemism for race. Review of the literature, Comstock and colleagues (2004) found that researchers failed to differentiate between the concepts of race and ethnicity. Reliability and validity of measurements of ethnicity are huge concern to the society as a whole. Assigned ethnic identities may not match individual identities which threatens the validity of the research. Comparisons over time cannot reflect mixed ethnic identities. Finally classifying people as black, white, or Asian may mask differences associated between different groups of people. Ellison (2005). For the fact Ethnicity is not written on UK death certificates, and mortality data uses country of birth as a proxy, this systems fail to recognise ethnic minorities that are born in the UK. Findings on ethnic inequalities in mortality (Kelly Nazroo, 2008): Caribbean’s born in the UK have high rates of mortality from stroke. Men born in the Caribbean have low rates of mortality from coronary heart disease. Born in West/South Africa you may have high mortality rates from stroke, but low mortality rates from coronary heart disease. If born in South Asia you may have high mortality rates form coronary heart disease and stroke. Non-white individuals may have low mortality rates from respiratory disease and lung cancer, but high mortality rates of diabetes. Table 1: Analyses the rates of mortality by country of origin, England and Wales, 1989-1992. Source: Wild and McKeigue (1997:705) in Bartly (2004) Explanations for ethnic inequalities in health include: Biased results of statistical artefact. Illness are blamed on migrationprocess (change of environment). Genetic and biological differencesbetween ethnic groups may be a factor. It is associated with different culture and health behaviours. Poverty Experiences of various forms of racial abuse leads to health problems. Unequal treatment by the health care system in Britain. Ethnic inequalities in health care access still persist in NHS. The inverse care law, first described by Julian Tudor Hart in 1971, states: The availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need for it in the population served. Goddard and Smith (2001) outline reasons for variations in access to health care: Availability:Some health care services may not be available to some population groups, or clinicians may have different propensities to offer treatment to patients from different population groups, even where they have identical needs. Quality: The quality of services offered to patients may vary between population groups. Costs:The health care services may impose costs (financial or otherwise) which vary between population groups. Information:The health care organisations may fail to ensure that all population groups are equally aware of the services available. The sociological perspectives to illness varies. The functionalism expects a large population to have division of labour as no one is self -sufficient to ensure that the society functions in an orderly manner. They also encourage people to seek and comply with medical advice for speedy recovery so as to return back to work. They understands people have to work, and people do not claim to be ill deliberately and as such should not be punished. This perspective do aim to protect workers from been abused or punished by their employer due to ill health, however they do overstate the importance of the doctors who have the power to make or break a patient which leads to lots of medical errors referred to as iatrogenesis. There could also be dependency on drugs to force people back to work. Marxism examine the economic systems of the capitalist society that shapes the society as a whole. As such the society is divided into two social groups which are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Bourgeoisie the private property owners and those that owns the means of production and create bogus profit are believed to have greater influences in the rules of the society. Why the proletariat (labourers), those who work for the bourgeoisie are been manipulated to believe that they are in a fair system. Marxism ideology encourages us to question the motives of the doctors as they intend to serve the rich people of the society. Due to the need to access healthcare and it is made available to the proletariat they have been made to believe that illness is a personal issue rather than socially constructed. Marxism does not acknowledge the the interaction between doctors patient and also they ignore the sickness and employment benefit offered by the capitalist states. Feminism views thinks men dominate the medical professions and make decisions about a woman’s body which affects women. They also feel that lack of understanding of a natural process of childbirth have been labelled to be a medical condition. Exhaustion from a new role as a mum, have also been labelled as depression. They also think why are women contraception over emphasized? And men left out. This explains the inequality and the patriarchy world we are in today. The interactionist views are that individuals attaches meaning to their own behaviour as well as others they also feel illness differ from person one person to person, even when they are diagnosed with the same condition. They are not always in compliance with the medical team that is why a dialogue is needed for mutual agreement between the doctor and the patient. Sometimes the doctors do not come to terms with a patient if they complain of a particular illness, and sometimes doctors label people with illness which affect the psyche of people’s mind and then making them psychosomatic by acting out those symptoms. If we look at post natal depression as an illness diagnosed by a medical team from all of this prospective we can see that the functionist view conforms to this by giving the medical team the power to label this individual, which results to administration of drugs that eventually will become tranquillizers which leads to dependency with much more side effects. From the Marxism point of view people will be brainwashed to accept the fact that they are suffering from this illness due to their personal physiological changes rather than socially constructed issues of the society as a whole. The feminist does not see post natal depression as an illness, rather they feel it is a natural process for a woman to become sore after the birth of a baby as they may have had episiotomy, sore breast, sleepless nights for caring for a new born, instead of labelling it and interrupting a natural process by medication, they feel the patriarchy medical team should understand things better from a womanâ €™s point of view. Finally post natal depression may be viewed as labelling an individual which into may utter their psyche and may begin to manifest the symptoms, they feel labelling someone may actually make them worse off. Can you think of human behaviours or conditions that have recently been mediatised? Think about what makes a person disabled? Write down some physical symptoms and then discuss how these can be ‘enabled’ in our society Section 3 Definitions of Health, Illness and Sickness http://nccc.georgetown.edu/body_mind_spirit/definitions_health_sickness.html __________________________________________ Warwick ____________________________________________________ Michael Senior with Bruce V Health Knowledge Inequalities in the distribution of health and health care http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/medical-sociology-policy-economics/4c-equality-equity-policy/inequalities-distribution. Public Health Action Support 2011

Multiple Personality Disorders Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"Multiple Personality Disorders†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sometimes people undergo traumatic experiences in their lives that are either physical or mental and maybe even a combination of both. If the experience was so intense, and so horrible, that the mind didn’t want to remember it, or possibly didn’t know how to deal or cope with it, then that one experience has the power to split a person’s mind into â€Å"another personality†. If this happens, the other personality or personalities come out when a person who has MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) is put in a situation that he/she doesn’t know how to handle or feels that the other personality can handle it better. People suffering from MPD also have the risk of developing some symptoms of MPD that include fugue and amnesia. Fugue is the loss of identity in which the person suffering from fugue would not know who they are, who their family and friends are, where they worked, etc. Amnesia is a temporary loss of memory. If a person ex periences amnesia they are not going to remember a specific event or experience in their life. People with amnesia know who they are but do not know of a traumatic event that happened in their life. If someone has MPD then fugue and/or amnesia are most likely present as well. I will be writing brief descriptions of a few people who suffer from multiple personality disorder. Gretchen, John, Barb, and Beth plus are all people diagnosed with MPD.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gretchen is a thirty-four year old woman and has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Gretchen has three personalities, one is her, another is called â€Å"Myself†, and the third personality is â€Å"Enigma†. â€Å"Myself† concentrates better, and she comes out when Gretchen is having a bad day. She deals with Gretchens problems better then Gretchen can. â€Å"Myself† makes attempts to kill Gretchen. She cuts herself repeatedly and doesn’t know why. â€Å"Myself† also relives the abuse that was done to Gretchen as a child. â€Å"Enigma† is the evil personality. She doesn’t come out very much but when she does, she physically abuses herself, and tries to commit suicide to kill all the personalities. â€Å"Enigma† reminds me of the Exorcist because her voice is different, and the things she talks about is sadistic and evil. Gretchen has no conscious awareness of what is going on when the ot her personalities are out. She k... ...ear old girl and was the first multiple to appear to the therapist. â€Å"Janet† comes out to drive. â€Å"Carol† comes out to grocery shop. â€Å"Mary† is the financial keeper. â€Å"Skeptic† claims that Beth is a liar and is acting everything. â€Å"Yardwoman† takes care of the yard. Beth once caused her family to be $6,000 in debt because all her personalities had a combined seventeen credit cards and ran them up. Beth was abused and raped from age ten until the age fourteen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Multiple Personality Disorder is a serious and real condition that is basically present in people who have gone through some kind of abuse or traumatic experience. So far MPD is not known as hereditary. There is no true explanation for multiple personality disorder but its accepted as a condition. Multiple personalities have not only been proved as dangerous and hazardous to surroundings, but its also the mystery of every psychologist and therapist. Many people devote their lives to unlock the secret of MPD and they try and unlock the â€Å"locked† memories in MPD patients minds. Multiple personality disorder has and continues to boggle the minds of psychologist everywhere and is still unexplainable.

Why Do People Help Others? Essay -- essays research papers

To discuss why people help others we must consider whether people are by nature selfless or selfish. The dominant view today in psychology is of universal egoism; that we are fundamentally selfish, and that altruism (helping motivated by the wish to benefit another person) an impossibility.One form of universal egoism is Piliavin et al’s "arousal: cost-reward" model, whereby faced with a potential helping situation we weigh the probable costs and rewards of alternative courses of action, then arrive at a decision which produces the best outcome for ourselves.Darley and Batson (1973) conducted an experiment into the effect of the cost time in the decision to offer help. They found that 63% of students with plenty of time to get to their next lecture helped a man clearly ill in the doorway, whilst 45% who were right on schedule helped, but only 10% of those who were late. However, although a natural setting was used, as an experiment this evidence is not very ecologic ally valid.The Sociobioligical approach also sees helping as egoistic, but in terms of the individual maximising their inclusive fitness (increasing the chances of their genes being passed on), rather than their personal fitness. This seems to be the case when we look at the apparent altruistic behaviour of various species. For example, when a honey bee dies when stinging an enemy, "...by their sacrifice they are increasing the reproductive chances of their fertile relatives thus ensuring that the...

Paper on US Presidential Campaigns

This has been the strangest of American election campaigns; the most exciting in 40 years in terms of the closeness of the contest, yet one in which both major candidates have utterly failed to capture the national imagination. The lead in the polls has changed hands half a dozen times since September and, even at this late stage, only the very bravest dare forecast the outcome. Campaigning, alas, tends to bring out the worst in Gore. As the standard-bearer of the incumbent party, he should have long since locked up this election. Yet his turgid style, his maddening tendency to condescension, and his craven unwillingness to depart from the script provided by his advisers have combined to squander the â€Å"peace and prosperity† factor that should have guaranteed victory. It should be said, too, that his Republican opponent, George W Bush, has improved considerably as the campaign has progressed. Not only has he won the personality contest, a vital component of any American election, hands down; he has held his own in the second debate, adroitly focused his attack on Gore's weak points, and avoided the gaffes that everyone expected. In short, he has done enough to make a plausible president. But that does not mean he would be a good president. His short attention span, his pervasive lacks of curiosity, his general lightness of being, remain unnerving. He has mastered his lines, but all too often does not seem to understand them. On the domestic front, Gore's ideas for using the massive budget surpluses ahead are far more convincing; his ideas on abortions, global warming, education, and campaign-finance reform more clearly address the problems facing America. Gore-appointed justices in the Supreme Court would offer added protection against a social lurch to the right. Al Gore believes that a woman should have a right to legal abortions, and that they should be â€Å"safe and rare.† Gore supports FDA approval of abortion pill Mifeprex and he wants to reinforce security around clinics to protect the doctors who perform abortions, and the patients who seek their services. â€Å"I think it†s up to the woman, and I strongly support a woman†s right to chose, and I support the FDA†s approval, assuming it†s safe for the woman who takes it,† said Gore. Bush on the other hand disagrees completely saying that the FDA†s decision was totally wrong. Ensuring Clean and Reliable Sources of Electricity: Al Gore's plan would ensure clean and reliable sources of electricity by enhancing our nation's capacities to reliably generate and distribute electricity and by providing market-based incentives to clean up aging power plants. Gore revived the issue of global warming, a subject from his past that he has generally ignored this year. Seizing on a new UN report asserting that pollution appears to be raising world temperatures, Gore tried to portray global warming as a populist issue. He called the effort to stop global warming a fight against big polluters, in an attack similar to those he has made on drug companies, insurance companies, & health-maintenance organizations. â€Å"It does not have to happen and won†t happen if we put our minds to solving this problem,† Gore said of the predicted rise in temperature and problems that would create. Gore†s turn to global warming suggests he now thinks he can use the subject to cast an unfavorable light on Bush, who has expressed skepticism about the danger. Bush says, â€Å"It†s an issue that we need to take very seriously. I don†t think we know the solution to global warming yet and I don†t think we†ve got all the facts before we make decisions.† In the field of education Gore says: â€Å"We can't reform education with half an agenda. We can't make education our top priority if huge tax cuts for the wealthy are already the first, second, and third priority. That's really the choice we face: a commitment to education for life or a set of priorities that could leave us with budget deficits for life.† He argues that if you drain the money away from the public schools for private vouchers, it hurts the public schools. George W. Bush has a narrower education agenda because his massive tax cut leaves few resources to invest in education. Vice President Al Gore supports reforms to eliminate gray areas in legislation. He backs McCain-Feingold Bill because it†s that important that all of the issues like prescription drugs for seniors that is opposed by the drug companies, will be easier to pass if we limit the influence of special interests. Whereas Bush supports an effort to ban corporate soft money & labor union soft money. Bush thinks that there needs to be instant disclosure on the Internet as to who†s given to whom. Gore supports using $2.2 trillion of the Social Security surpluses to shore up the program and pay down the debt, thus saving billions of dollars in interest, which can be redirected to ensuring the solvency of the Social Security trust fund until at least 2050. He supports the elimination of the Social Security earnings limit, which the president signed into law on April 7, 2000. Gore supports an increase in benefits for widows and eliminating the â€Å"motherhood penalty† — the resulting reduction in benefits for women who take time off from work to raise children. â€Å"I do not believe it's right to play games with Social Security or pit young against old in a scramble to fulfill extravagant and competing campaign promises,† he said in a speech in Kissimmee, in central Florida. â€Å"I believe we have to strengthen Social Security by giving unprecedented new opportunities for families to save more, invest more and get higher returns,† Gore said. Bush does not rule out the possibility of rising the eligibility age for baby boom-era recipients as part of trade-off for private investment accounts. Bush freely admits that he would rely on advisers. They are an indisputably reassuring bunch, led by Colin Powell, his likely Secretary of State, and Dick Cheney, his running mate and a former Secretary of Defense. But what if the advisers disagree? Again, I come back to Bush's lack of depth. The Republican might have won the campaign. But Gore deserves to win the election and the presidency; Gore†s views are clearly more logical and realistic to this country and that†s why I would vote for Gore.