Assessing functional status Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assessing functional status - Essay Example The ambulatory status is done to determine the patient’s mobility capability. The assessing physician should check if the patient uses a wheel chair, a cane or prosthetic devices for movement. If otherwise he should establish whether the ability is excellent, good or fair by checking the ease with the patient can climb stairs. The ability of the senses often range from excellent to poor beyond which specific descriptions are employed. In the case of hearing ability the other options are either deaf or use of hearing aids. When assessing vision, the patient should either be using glasses, contacts or is blind. Cataracts, glaucoma, DM retinopathy and Macular degeneration also form part of the scoring system. The assessment of speech is aimed at recognizing speech problems such as verbal apraxia, Aphasia, Dysphonia and abnormal tongue and lip movements. Ill-fitting dentures too are checked. Touch is scored in terms of normal sensitivity, decreased sensitivity or numbness to temperature. Smell and taste sensitivity cannot be described as excellent, good or fair. It is either having no problem or is changed. The checking physician notes down the changes in the score card. Assessing functional status of a patient is important in many occasions. According to Preeti (2009), one situation where it is necessary is a patient is about to undergo an operation. In most cases, the results of the assessment are compared with the possible outcomes of the operation. Pre-operation functional status assessment is aimed at identifying the impairment. It is reported that most patients who after operations develop delirium depression and general inability to recover had functional and cognitive impairments which were not considered before operation. Under this situation, the studies would have helped prevent postoperative health decline in the adults (Preeti, 2009). Generally, geriatric assessment is necessary in determining a patient’s functional

Madame Bovary And The Death Of Ivan Ilych Essay Example for Free

Madame Bovary And The Death Of Ivan Ilych Essay What is the nature of man? Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych portray not only a glimpse of what man’s nature is, but also in so doing provide a criticism of it. Both works look into the life of people who want more out of life, and yet ironically what they desire only adds shallowness and not meaning to their existence. Whereas Flaubert’s Madam Bovary shows the depressing end of a woman consumed by passions, Tolstoy gives hope with a dying man’s last days where he gets an epiphany of what the nature of man should be. Emma is Madame Bovary, a young woman who lived in her world of romantic fantasy. She came from the country and read romantic novels when she was in the convent, and believed in earnest that love and marriage will make her happy. But after marrying a simple-minded and incompetent doctor Charles, she grows disillusioned as she sinks in the routine activities of daily life. She wanted romance, passion, excitement, and although her husband loves her and adores her, she wanted more. She wanted the latest trends in fashion and she felt that she was born unjustly to a lower class than was supposed to be for her, the aristocrat. But Emma does nothing to earn the admiration or the respect of the people she admired: she can copy their outward mannerism and clothes, but she does not have the refinement or the manners to be truly aristocratic. She merely believes in her fantasy world where the aristocrats live in luxury and a life of excitement. She was ambitious, but did not have any means to acquire her material cravings but for using her beauty and body. She gets into extramarital affairs because she finds her married life dull, even when she gives birth to a daughter. She does not take care of her daughter because she wanted a boy, and instead romps off with Rodolphe Boulanger, and does not care what other people say. She is oftentimes indiscreet and cares not of her reputation or her husband’s. Emma is self-centered and she had a sense of entitlement and superiority which had no basis but drove her to act without a thought to the consequences of her actions. She is, in a way, always likening herself to playing a role that sparks her imagination at the moment: a young woman being married to a foreign doctor, a middle class with a noble’s spirit, a bored wife having an affair, a lover, a woman of rich tastes. She could not accept that her reality was the norm and that her fantasies were exaggerated, dramatic ideals. When she was young she wanted the same romance she read in her romantic novels. When she became exposed to the high society at the ball she wanted to become like them. When she saw the melodramatic opera â€Å"Lucia de Lammemoor† she adopts the character and like her commits suicide. She drove herself to debt by buying expensive items which she sometimes gave as gifts to her lovers even when she had no means of paying for these in the first place. She signed promissory notes even when she did not understand them because the merchant Lheureux played with her fantasy that she was meant for the finest things in life. When her first lover leaves her, she is distraught and falls gravely ill. With her second affair she acts as the man, covering the costs for the affair and taking charge of where, when, and how they will meet. Her debts pile up as she purchases more and more to fill the gaping hole in her being. She believed she needed passion and excitement, but it seems that what she really needed was purpose and direction, for her life held no meaning. Her innocent tendency towards romance is transformed into full blown moral corruption as she was unable to hold herself together and keep her urges and desires under control. Emma is not productive, she has no desire to improve herself or her skills, and she does not nurture her relationships with her husband, her daughter, not even with her lovers. She just saw them as means of escape from her dull life, and when they fall short of her expectations she just drops them. When the consequences of her actions finally catch up on her and her world becomes smaller and smaller, she decides to play a role – that of a tragic heroine and kills herself with swallowing arsenic. She could not face up to the trouble that she has caused and decides to escape rather than take responsibility as she could not imagine a life of poverty and shame – although her whole life she was never wealthy and she lived a scandalous life with her known affairs. Up until then she saw her life differently – believed she had wealth, pride and breeding because that was what she wanted, but sadly these did not bring her the happiness she sought. Emma had a good life but was not able to appreciate it with her preoccupation with the things she did not have. By focusing her energies on her fantasies of wealth and romance she failed to live her life to the fullest, and for the most part it could be said that she was living in a dream and when she woke to find herself in the gravity of her real life situation, she killed herself to escape, but there was no going back to her fantasy world, and no redemption as even after her death her husband discovers her infidelity which kills him and her daughter sent off to work on a cotton mill. In her, we see the nature of man as ruled by emotions, desires and appetites, without caution or control, without compassion to others. Emma was not able to see and recognize the humanity in her, all the time she was acting out, even her motherly functions, her martyr facade. She never truly enjoyed life because she never saw anything and anyone beyond their appearances, and never learned to appreciate the little things that make life worthwhile. The theme of life and death is also examined in Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych, where he uses the characters to critique the artificial life that people live in society characterized by materialism and shallowness. Tolstoy puts forward a picture of society with striking honesty and insight: individuals do not behave as individuals but rather aspire to be like everybody else, trying to live a correct life as appropriated by norms, striving to have a comfortable life accentuated with material wealth even if their spiritual life and human relationships are dry and empty. With his narrative, Tolstoy then poses the question of what is important in life, how life should be led, and ultimately, how important life is and how people take it for granted by deluding themselves into believing they are exempt from death. Most of the characters in the story are portrayed as materialistic social climbers, who equated material wealth and position in society as determinants of success and happiness. Ivan, his wife and daughter, his supposed friends, all troubled themselves with appearances – they were preoccupied with proper decorum and attires, of looking well off, of having power over others. But these are all temporal, for these things do not really matter in the face of death. Ivan finds out that what is important is living one’s life according to one’s own vindication, not blindly following trends in society which results in a shallow, routine, meaningless life. He belatedly understood that empathy and recognizing the individual as an individual with thoughts and emotions rather than as subjects with mere faces is what mattered in life, that to live humanly is what gives life its meaning. Only Gerasim and his son are the ones in the story that have empathy and humanity in them – in Gerasim it is made obvious by his understanding that everybody, regardless of position or appearance, are all equal, with the same fate waiting for them in the end, especially when he said, â€Å"We shall all of us die, so why should I grudge a little trouble? †. The son, on the other hand, is the only one in Ivan household who showed any feelings for his dying father – he took his father’s hand and kissed it while crying. This can be taken as the boy was young; he was still innocent and not yet tainted with the demands of society. Ivan himself was dissatisfied with the boy because he behaved differently from him, his wife and daughter, but in his last days it was his son who showed him that there is a human soul in the world who regarded his life important. Also, this depiction of the innocence in childhood is mirrored in Ivan’s experiences: the only times he felt truly alive was when he was a boy, before he went to Law School. Being assimilated into society, he found that he trapped himself into a prison of standards, and lived a largely artificial life. Tolstoy showed that an artificial life is characterized by materialism and social climbing. At the beginning of the story, we find Ivan dead but his friends were chiefly concerned with the position that he will be vacating, the promotions and changes in the workplace and what they have to gain from it, all the while denying to themselves that they too will end up like Ivan sooner or later, that they will die eventually. They act as though they could live forever and concern themselves with the trivial everyday things. Even in his wake, his friends put a show of grievance because it was what was required of â€Å"friends†, but were more interested in playing bridge. They did not see the inevitability of death and suffering, of the hollowness of their lives. Peter Ivanovich, Ivan’s perceived closest friend, somehow felt disturbed and concerned, but rushed to quell these feelings because he reasoned he was alive and Ivan dead and there should be no reason to â€Å"hinder their spending the evening agreeably†. When he was still alive, Ivan himself saw how he had lived superficially in the way his doctors treated him, as though he was some subject whose sentence they hold in their hands, his life holding no real importance or meaning to the doctors. What mattered to the doctors was their perception of themselves that they feel important and significant by virtue of their occupation; that is what gave them satisfaction and purpose. Ivan himself acted the same way many times in his life – with the accused brought before him he reduced them to facts on paper and did not see them as individuals, he got married for it was expected of a man of his station and chose a bride not out of love or devotion but out of the social status it will benefit him. In the end, the story teaches that material wealth and position in society are not what matters. In the face of death, one looks back at the quality of life that he has led, and the most precious times would be the ones he felt most alive, when he was free and himself. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Madame Bovary teach us the nature of man as susceptible to fantasies of the happiness that wealth and material possessions can bring, but in reality these are more likely to corrupt us than give us real happiness. The nature of man is that of desire – desire to achieve in all aspects of life, and in this man should always apply himself to make himself a better person. However, desire for achievement is different from greed. Achievement should not only be limited to the professional and material aspects of life, but more importantly to the relationships with others. The meaning and purpose of life is not about the material achievement but how well one lived his life. Man’s nature reflects that of his society, and society that of man, as the individual is part of the whole and the whole consists of its parts. Both protagonists were deeply influenced by their time and what was regarded as important then. They have let others dictate, influence and take advantage of them, and by not taking responsibility d control over their lives they eventually found themselves in situations they did not dream of. This could have only come up to those who did not examine their actions and the kind of life they lead. Emma and Ivan believed that wealth and material things can bring happiness, but they both ended up dead – although here the stories’ protagonists differ. Whereas Emma chooses suicide to escape her suffering, Ivan comes to terms with his death and accepts it. Although Emma’s final act was of her own decision, we cannot say that she was finally taking things in her hands as before that she was always feeling hindered and trapped by her circumstances. She did not have a realization of what brought down her downfall, even in her final days she did not know what held meaning and not. Her suicide, like all her actions before, was an attempt at escaping reality, and this time she succeeded. Emma was not able to redeem herself, nor was she able to see what would make her life happy, but Ivan was changed and in his last days was able to make sense of his suffering. Tolstoy showed that no matter how sullen or materialistic a man behaved and lived, there is still hope for him to change as long as he lives. That man’s innate nature is towards living an authentic life, towards goodness, and that even if society is corrupt and superficial, pure love and humanity also exists, and it is always within us, and also in our capacity, to choose what kind of life to lead.

The Value of Information :: Technology Information Essays Papers

The Value of Information In the world today, information is an important aspect in almost every part of our life. From what time the movie we want to see begins to whether we should buy stock in Dell or IBM, we depend on accurate information. Is this kind of information a commodity? The dictionary defines a commodity as something valuable or useful (Webster 1993). Presently, information is a commodity because people are willing to pay high prices for information in order to make better decisions. In this paper, I will give many examples of how information acts as a commodity. I will also show how information acts as a commodity in other areas than just technology and business. The kind of information I will explore is the knowledge of a specific news or event derived from study, experience or instruction(Webster 1993). This type of information is not something everyone can have access to. This information can separate the successful companies from the one ¹s struggling to survive. This information is valuable, and can be bought, sold traded and even stolen. It can be the most important asset a company owns. One aspect where information acts as something valuable is in the area of sports. The National Football League is a billion dollar business. The careers of coaches, players and general managers can rest on one play or one game. To minimize mistakes or to find any advantage, teams spend millions of dollars to pay scouts to provide useful information. One part of putting together a winning team is doing well on draft day. Teams do a tremendous amount of research on every player who is eligible to be drafted. The NFL has its own private investigation firm. It is called NFL Security, and it is rarely seen or discussed. Its job is to compile information about every possible draftee. If players smoke marijuana at Saturday-night parties, it's probably in their files. If players stay in bars past 2 A.M., it's probably in their files (Sports Illustrated p.34). The purpose of NFL Security is to prevent a team from investing millions of dollars in a player who might have drug or other problems that could prevent a player from performing up to a certain standard. "For the amount of money involved here, the employers would like to know good hard facts about their potential players. Employers deserve that. And we're going to give it to them," says Mike Ahlerich, an employee at NFL Securities (Sports Illustrated p.

Opportunities for Women-Owned Businesses

IntroductionWomen business owners are crucially vital to the American economy.   Women are establishing businesses at twice the pace of all businesses and remaining in business longer. In fact, America's approximately 9.1 million women-owned businesses provide work for about 27.5 million individuals and put in around $3.6 trillion to the economy (Page, 2006).   Nevertheless, women persist to confront rare and distinctive barriers and challenges in the world of business.   This paper will establish that in spite of present global turndown, there are now tremendous opportunities for women owned businesses both domestically and in the international market place.The total number of women owned companies throughout the world provides considerable business-to-business (B2B) opportunities. Actually, US women owned companies spent around $48 billion on technology equipment alone (Page, 2006). This just proves that women can definitely respond in this 21st century by their numbers to th e â€Å"ole boy's network† of old. These women business owners are a primary force in the global economy with considerable spending powers.The major  obstacles to trading internationally  are frequently the time and costs concerned with getting it done.   The costs of marketing to a number of different countries at the same time can be unusual. It takes  some time  to go into new markets,  it takes considerable time to build new business relationships and it takes a lot of  time to create the right contracts.   A number of the conventional methods of entering new markets  have been participation at international conferences or trade fairs.   These  can  be time consuming, expensive, and,  unluckily,  not at all times productive.Some time ago,   globalization has been set aside for the elite corporate, with their  Ã‚   huge budgets and  Ã‚  Ã‚  massive  resources. For a lot of small businesses turning out to be a player on the world market w as  Ã‚  Ã‚  just  basically further than their expectations. For women business owners, there's often double whammies,  since  women are  frequently declined the essential capital for starting up in business and then often declined capital for growth and expansion.  Ã‚  Women business owners frequently lack access to information and easy access to a recognized trade network.In the year 2000, President Bill Clinton initiated Executive Order 13157 reiterating his administration's pledge to boosting opportunities for women-owned businesses (Office of the Press Secretary, May 29, 2000).   The E.O. required agencies and departments to formulate long-term comprehensive strategies to develop and increase opportunities for women-owned businesses. The Executive Order also obliged federal agencies to â€Å"meet or exceed† the five percent government-contracting objective that now subsist for women-owned businesses.At present, there are various supports being offered to cr eate opportunities for women-owned businesses and help these women entrepreneurs succeed in their businesses.   First, there is the growing popularity of certification among women-owned businesses; next, there is increasing federal procurement opportunities for women-owned businesses; and third, a web site was created to assist women business owners obtain federal contracts.Certification Growing in Popularity Among Women-Owned BusinessesNowadays, certification to qualify for government contracts is becoming more popular among women-owned businesses (Page, 2006). Specifically, a lot of women-owned businesses in Oklahoma are obtaining or securing certification to meet the criteria or qualify for government contracts.Moreover, certification likewise offers firms owned by women an advantage in securing contracts from big corporations, as mentioned by Debbie Hurst, president of the Women's Business Council-Southwest. According to Hurst, she informs women that certification can be a sig nificant part of their marketing tool case. Hurst added that with merely 5 percent of women business enterprises obtaining government and corporate contracts yearly, there is still a need to bridge the gap between the opportunities for business and the capability of women-owned businesses (Page, 2006).The group Women's Business Council-Southwest (WBCS), with headquarters in Arlington, Texas, stands for women-owned businesses located in Oklahoma, north Texas, New Mexico, and Arkansas. The association operates in coordination with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council to endorse and certify members.As asserted by Hurst, the number of Oklahoma companies securing certification has increased 60 percent ever since the year 2004, the year the Oklahoma Leadership Forum was created by the regional group (Page, 2006).As maintained by Tamara Walden, president of Walden Energy (a certified women-owned business) based in Tulsa and a council member The Oklahoma Leadership Forum was con ceived to assist women capitalists boost business and gain access to more contracts (Page, 2006).Walden added that certification is a vital marketing tool for increasing a women-owned business' visibility between procurement decision makers and corporate supplier. Several companies necessitate that a firm be licensed or certified before they will offer a contract as a women's business enterprise. The WBCS is striving to create consciousness of that fact to local businesses, as well as offering educational opportunities and fun networking that help support that.There is promise and potential for growing certifications in Oklahoma for the reason that the state has a projected 77,000 women-owned companies (Page, 2006). Moreover, there is an enormous market of women-owned businesses that are not availing of certification programs like that being offered by WBCS that can help them access diversity and government programs.Growing Federal Procurement Opportunities for Women-Owned Businesse s Although Federal procurement might not sound like a significant issue to the general public, or even a term that a lot of people is aware of, it is considered one of the most profitable, yet complicated and difficult, markets for small businesses to access, specifically those owned by under-represented minorities and women. According to the Office of the Press Secretary (May 29, 20000), in the year 1999, women-owned businesses composed 38 percent of all businesses but obtained merely 2.4 percent of the $189 billion in Federal prime contracts.Certain Federal agencies have taken the lead in operating with women owned businesses, and must be applauded. As indicated by the Federal Procurement Data System, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration have all not just met the five percent objective, but have come in at approximately fifteen percent or better (Office of the Press Secretary, May 29, 2000).These Federal agencies recognize that coordinating and operating with women-owned businesses is not merely a philanthropic exercise. These businesses owned by women are dependable, strong, and do good work. Furthermore, these companies offer a solid service to their clients, and the Federal contracting officers are aware of it. Altogether, about 20 Federal agencies either fulfilled or exceeded the five percent objective.Thus, this just proves that it is certainly possible for government agencies to accomplish the five percent goal. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that agencies will work harder, adhering to the examples of the agencies mentioned above, to contract with women-owned businesses.  Ã‚   Over the years, government officials are supportive of numerous initiatives to boost resources and opportunities for women-owned businesses. For instance, several senators have passed legislation to re- authorize the National Women's Business Council for a period of three (3) years, and to raise the annual appropriation from $600,000 to a total of $1 million. Part of that amount will be utilized to help Federal agencies satisfy the five-percent procurement objective for businesses owned by women (Seck, May 23, 2000). The National Women's Business Council has offered magnificent leadership in this field, making bigger contracting opportunities a main concern since it was established in the year 1988, and merited praise from Republicans and Democrats for two general and extensive procurement studies it published in the years 1998 and 1999.Besides sustaining reauthorization of the National Women's Business Council, Senator Kerry initiated the Women's Business Centers Sustainability Act of 1999 (Seck, May 23, 2000). Proclaimed a public law, that Act is assisting Centers deal with the funding limitations that have been making it more and more hard for them to maintain the level of servi ces they offer after they graduate from the Women's Business Centers program and no longer be given federal matching finances.Hence, it is certain that President Clinton’s Executive Order creates a strong system within the Federal Government for raising the number of contracts that can be obtained by women-owned businesses.SBA Creates Web Site to Help Women Business Owners Obtain Federal ContractsIn the year 2000, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) launched a new web site, which aimed to boost procurement and networking opportunities to women-owned businesses by means of putting all contracting assistance information at a single on-line site.The web site called WomenBiz.gov is a joint venture of SBA's Office of Federal Contract Assistance for Women Business Owners, National Women's Business Council, the Interagency Committee for Women's Business Enterprise, and the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership (Comtex News Network, 2000).WomenBiz.gov offers women-owned businesses direct access to the government networks and the federal acquisition tools to draw on the $200 billion federal marketplace. Furthermore, the web site functions as the official gateway to over 100 procurement and acquisition sites hosted by a variety of federal agencies.Furthermore, the web site likewise incorporates connections to Electronic Posting System, PRO-Net, the GSA Federal Supply Schedule Program, DefenseLINK, CBDNet, and SBA's Government Contracting page (Comtex News Network, 2000). When President Clinton asked the SBA to lead the efforts to make sure that women-owned businesses be given their fair share of federal contracts, SBA answered that call and reiterated its promise to the President Clinton’s initiative though endorsing the launch of its web site and establishing the office. These are two vital instruments for offering procurement opportunities to women-owned businesses.Generally, the web site contains information pages specially developed to he lp women entrepreneurs who want to take part in government procurement.Meanwhile, the women's contracting office is one of numerous initiatives the White House has instigated to encourage procurement opportunities for women-owned businesses.ConclusionAll of the initiatives discussed in this paper show that there are several complementary national policies to increase procurement opportunities for businesses owned by women.The phenomenal growth and success of women-owned businesses was primarily due to the development of a national network of women's business centers and organizations. As an outcome of lobbying by women business owners and the establishment of the SBA’s Office of Women's Business Ownership, various women's business centers have offered would-be entrepreneurs with adequate and necessary knowledge, information, training, skills, loans, and technical assistance.Nowadays, the Federal agencies have started to make progress from the time when Congress implemented th e five-percent procurement goal, but the contracting managers should keep in mind that this goal is just a minimum, not a maximum. Out of the over 9 million women-owned businesses in the United States, the Federal Government can find ones that are reliable and qualified, with good products and services to boost, to fulfil their contracts if they make it a main concern or top priority.ReferencesComtex News Network.   SBA Unveils New Web Site to Help Women Business Owners Get Federal Contracts.   U.S. Newswire, September 12, 2000.Office of the Press Secretary.   Executive Order 13157-Increasing Opportunities for Women-Owned Small Businesses.   Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 29, 2000.Page, David.   Certification growing in popularity among women-owned businesses.   Dolan Media Newswires.   March 18, 2006.Seck, Kathyrn. Kerry Floor Statement on Increasing Federal Procurement Opportunities for Women-Owned Businesses.   U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business a nd Entrepreneurship.   May 23, 2000.

Psychosis Portrayed in the Media

Impact of Media’s Portrayal of Psychotic Illness on Viewers Introduction Psychotic disorders are the more serious form of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia. Many multidimensional factors have contributed to the social stigma of psychotic mental illness, deeming it a social problem. According to Landsberg and Rock (2010), stigma and discrimination impacts policy and program response to the issue, causing limitations on our financing. As a result, there is a deficiency of resources provided by macro and micro level systems for individuals battling with the illness despite a recent shift in society’s perception. Programs such as National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Recovery Movement have been trying to increase public understanding of the illness, advocate for government resources, and emphasize supportive networks such as family, friends, and mental health providers (Hertz, 2010). Unfortunately, the complexity of this illness and lack of thorough understanding continues to reinforce and sustain the stigma. Additionally, individuals discharged into the community from institutions have not been well supported by micro-level services. As a result, many commit crimes and end up in jail. Landsberg and Rock (2010) found that many seriously mentally ill patients are in nursing homes, homeless shelters, and jails because of unmet needs. Community mental health centers have more patients than staff can handle (Hertz, 2010). In spite of various attempts, the mental health system is comprised of programs that â€Å"don’t work†, leaving many seriously ill individuals without proper care (Landsberg and Rock, 2010, pg. 258). These wide ranges of factors contribute to viewing serious mental illness as a social problem that is stigmatized as well. In terms of social stigma, there are several misconceptions. Hertz (2010) found that the public misperceives people with psychotic illness as homicidal. The truth of research indicates that these individuals are more frequently victims of crime perpetrated by others, or, tragically, by their own hands (Hertz, 2010). Unfortunately, the daunting ways in which symptoms may manifest prevent people from establishing any positive associations with such illness. The media portrays psychotic disorders through different perspectives, ultimately sending mixed messages to audiences about the nature and prospects of the illness. Landsberg and Rock (2010) stated that movies often picture the mentally ill as violent, negatively affecting our society’s willingness to enact needed changes and fund programs. The movies A Beautiful Mind, K-PAX, and The Soloist each portray a character living with a psychotic disorder, particularly Schizophrenia, who also demonstrates strength and resilience in their struggles. The intent of this paper is to discuss characteristics of psychotic illness, critically analyze these movies and their message to audiences, and assess accuracy within their portrayals. Brief History of Mental Illness as a Social Problem There are conflicting ideologies in terms of how to approach serious mental illness in the United States. While some adopt a â€Å"survival of the fittest† perspective and believe affected individuals shouldn’t receive assistance, others act as committed advocates for programs to service them. When looking at the recent history of mental health, several attempts at revolutionizing systems were made, and always seem to only partially work. As a result, more systems that partially work were created. The 1950’s through the 1970’s emphasized inpatient hospitalization for psychotic patients without much chance for their self-determination and self-empowerment. Solutions were very problem-focused, and patients received their treatment of insulin shock therapy. Socially, there seemed to be more emphasis on regarding anyone with a psychotic illness as â€Å"crazy†, and therefore someone to stay away from. The deinstitutionalization movement in the 1970’s and the creation of managed care was an attempt to steer away from â€Å"putting people away†. As a result, many hospitals were shut down. The problem with this system was the lack of funds allocated towards community-based services. Now that the patient’s length of stay at hospitals significantly decreased, patients have been discharged into the streets, and left to their own devices. While many have been receiving adequate services, many are not receiving proper care and result in committing crimes, engaging in other illegal activity, becoming homeless, or just functioning on a very low level. Hertz (2010) stated that the waiting lists for residual programs for the chronically mentally ill are months, if not years long. This implies the staggering amount of people not receiving proper aftercare. A true solution is yet to be discovered. Background on Psychotic Disorders with an Emphasis on Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is currently affecting nearly 2. 5 million people living in the United States, and 29 million people worldwide (Hertz, 2010). The typical beginning of this illness is during adolescence or early adulthood. Hertz (2010) reported that the onset can be gradual, starting with odd beliefs and mannerisms, while other onsets are acute with a sudden psychotic break. These research findings imply the complexity in how symptoms manifest, and pose a challenge for practitioners to pinpoint and potentially diagnosis. There exists a social misconception regarding psychotic disorders. Psychotic symptoms may appear in disorders other than Schizophrenia, and the presence of psychotic symptoms doesn’t necessarily indicate diagnosis of Schizophrenia. Hertz (2010) stated that withdrawal from reality marks psychosis, containing two major symptoms: delusions and hallucinations. Schizophrenia is particularly characterized as a thought disorder which builds on these symptoms to include impaired cognitive functioning such as â€Å"loose associations of ideas/thoughts and disturbance of affect† (Hertz, 2010, p. 285). There are several types of schizophrenia, and is defined by positive and negative symptoms which indicate the existence or deficiency of functioning. Hepworth, Rooney, and Larsen (2010) found that positive symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and catatonic behavior. According to Hepworth, Rooney, and Larsen (2010), negative symptoms include flattened affect, restricted speech, and limited initiation of goal-directed behavior. The causes of psychotic disorders are ultimately unknown, and many different theories emphasize different contributing factors. According to Hertz (2010), genetics, heredity, and neuro chemistry determine varying degrees of predisposition to developing psychosis. This research finding implies that environmental and social stressors play a role as well. A Beautiful Mind John Nash is the main character in A Beautiful Mind who is predominantly battling with the paranoid subtype of schizophrenia. The movie follows the life of mathematician John Nash who is responsible for creating several ingenious theories such as game theory still used in economics today. He attended Ivy League Princeton University in the 1940’s after which he became a calculus professor at MIT five years later. Falling in love with one of his students, Mr. John Nash started a family and continued working on theories and concepts as a product of his mastermind. Gradually throughout the course of Mr. Nash’s academic and intellectual achievements, the movie directed attention to the display and effect of his psychotic illness. Several aspects of Mr. Nash’s psychotic symptoms were portrayed through different characters and plot points. His college roommate Charles, Charles’s niece Marcee, and Department of Defense agent William Parcher were three characters that were eventually revealed as part of his visual and auditory hallucinations. Agent Parcher also marked Mr. Nash’s delusional thinking when he invited him to crack a special code of their enemy at the Pentagon. Throughout the movie, viewers periodically see Mr. Nash involved with Parcher in various assignments that appeared prestigious and extremely intellectual. In the beginning of the movie, Charles’s character was designed for audiences to believe he was real, given the strong and realistic friendship that transpired between him and Mr. Nash. However, as the years went by and Marcee stayed the same age, Mr. Nash realized she was a figment of his imagination. Mr. Nash’s delusions have put his family in danger on numerous occasions. He nearly allowed his son to drown while bathing him, and accidentally knocked his wife Alicia over when agent Parcher told him to kill her. After Alicia had enough of his behavior, she called the psychiatric hospital where he was admitted to receive insulin shock therapy, a common treatment for psychosis in the 1950’s. After agreeing to take anti-psychotic medications, Mr. Nash was released from the hospital. Unfortunately, he ended up stockpiling the medication without aking them, resulting in relapse of his psychotic symptoms. Lesser and Pope (2010) stated that psychotropic medications are effective in ceasing or reducing psychotic symptoms but often have unpleasant side effects. Mr. Nash’s detrimental side effects included reduction in intellectual abilities, and impairments to his relationship with his wife. Ultimately, Mr. Nash has learned to manage his symptoms and live with his illn ess. The message this movie hopefully sends out to viewers is that serious mental illness can affect bright and well educated people, and that recovery is possible. Moreover, the movie encourages viewers to realize that even individuals with serious mental illness can excel in certain areas of life, if not reaching levels of genius. While the media, as previously stated, typically portrays individuals with mental illness as violent antagonists, Mr. Nash is portrayed as a protagonist despite his mild violence during psychotic episodes. Viewers likely feel compassion for him and want to see him win his battles. The movie accurately portrayed environmental stressors that may cause unpredictable emotional breakdowns. Mr. Nash’s character was portrayed as getting frustrated and angry when he thought he couldn’t fulfill the duties agent Parcher has assigned him. He was worried that the Russians are after him, and felt pressure to crack the code that never existed. Moreover, when he was admitted to the hospital, he perceived doctors to be Russian spies, a reasonable portrayal of paranoid schizophrenia. Luckily, Mr. Nash trained himself to transcend his symptoms by acknowledging, followed by ignoring, their existence. While it has been stated that the real John Nash only experienced auditory hallucinations, A Beautiful Mind seemed to incorporate visual hallucinations for entertainment purposes, inaccurately portraying and exaggerating Mr. Nash’s illness. However, accuracy was shown through the many psychotic breakdowns Mr. Nash experienced, demonstrating emotional and physical breakdowns. Although he put his wife and child in danger on numerous occasions, Alicia served as his main support system. Hertz (2010) stated that supportive networks are a critical variable in determining the quality of life of people with Schizophrenia. In fact, it is arguable that in this movie, Mr. Nash demonstrated more resilience and strength than is realistically common in the United States for people with psychotic illness. Not everyone has access to the kind of support he did given his prestigious status as a mathematician. Additionally, he had the support of his loving wife who never abandoned him and seemed to be the main source of his resilience. K-PAX Prot is the main character in K-PAX who demonstrates delusional thinking as part of his psychosis. As previously discussed, he didn’t necessarily have Schizophrenia. Prot was admitted to the hospital after claiming to be an alien from a planet called K-PAX. As psychiatrist Mark Powell begins to treat Prot, he learns of his excelling intellect in the subject of astronomy. Stunned by this wisdom, Mark introduced Prot to some astro-physicists who were puzzled by his recollection of traveling from a different planet by a means of light travel. Prot and Mike’s relationship grew stronger with each treatment session, and Prot revealed his knowledge of life on planet K-PAX. Prot also had a positive influence on other patients in the hospital who believed he was from a different planet. Prot began to display erratic emotional breakdowns that were indicative of his psychosis. He had an episode during some of his sessions with Mark, as well as in front of Mike’s family when he was invited over for dinner. Prot began to repeatedly mention that he is going back to planet K-PAX on July 27th. Mark started to make connections between what triggers lead to Prot’s hysteria. Additionally, he used regressive hypnosis to discover the significance of the date July 27th, suspecting he suffered from significant loss. He learned that Prot has attempted suicide after his family was killed on July 27th. When that date finally came, Prot was found catatonic, and the ending of the movie was open to interpretation. This movie sends several messages to viewers. One of them includes the strong impact trauma may have on individuals. Prot attempted suicide without success after his family was killed, marking the onset of his delusions. Hertz (2010) found that suicide attempts are a common and often overlooked occurrence within psychotic symptoms, and often occur during the first psychotic episode when the individual feels bewildered and out of control. His feelings of bewilderment were likely caused by seeing his family get killed, a realistic reaction to such a tragic occurrence. K-PAX hopefully teaches audiences to realize that many of the severely mentally ill individuals could have experienced significant loss in their lives that was out of their control, leading to their illness. There was nothing substantial provided in the beginning of the movie which aroused sympathy for Prot’s character. It is arguable that audiences could have perceived all his discussions about travelling from another planet as him â€Å"joking† around with authorities. He wore black sunglasses, and seriously spoke about life on another planet. However, as the movie showed several emotional breakdowns, it was evident that he has experienced significant psychological trauma of loss. Hertz (2010) stated that psychotic symptoms are often triggered by a significant loss, and environmental stressors can trigger neuro chemical events in the brain. The movie accurately portrayed the concept of surrounding triggers. For instance, Prot was reminded of the tragedy when the sprinklers came on at Mike’s house, causing flashbacks of his trauma. Assessing accuracy of his intense reaction is difficult, for, each individual reacts to triggers to varying degrees. His particular reaction involved crying and an appearance of deep sadness. The Soloist Nathaniel Ayres is the main character in The Soloist who is portrayed to struggle with Paranoid Schizophrenia as his psychotic disorder. The movie follows the life of Anthony Ayres, a man who became homeless as a result of his illness. Journalist Steve Lopez was desperately seeking material for a story to meet a deadline. One day he heard someone playing the cello so beautifully that he felt compelled to follow the music. As a result, he met a homeless man named Nathaniel who claimed to have attended Julliard for his musical talents. Steve tested his word by calling the school, only to find out that Nathaniel has indeed attended Julliard, but has dropped out after his second year. Steve ended up writing his story on Nathaniel. As their friendship progressed, Steve became more interested in Nathaniel’s safety, and wanted him to receive treatment. Flashbacks to the onset of Nathaniel’s Schizophrenia were portrayed to answer Steve’s questions as to why he is no longer in Julliard and living in a shelter. In response to the published story, readers responded with sympathy, and one woman even sent Nathaniel a Cello. Eventually, Steve convinced Nathaniel to perform in front of an audience which triggered his auditory hallucinations. The end of the movie displayed Nathaniel continuing to struggle with his illness, but no longer living in a shelter, marking progress. His friendship with Steve and his music seem to help manage his symptoms, according to psychiatrists Steve has consulted with. In addition to serious mental illness, The Soloist portrays another social problem that is stigmatized: homelessness. Hertz (2010) estimated that 60% of people with schizophrenia live in poverty, and 1 in 20 ends up homeless. The movie portrays Nathaniel as someone who has been exposed to treatments such as medications and shock therapy, and doesn’t want anything to do with them. It seemed as though he felt he belonged in a shelter as opposed to an apartment where his symptoms emerge. The message of this film is for audiences to realize that homeless people aren’t necessarily â€Å"lazy†, or â€Å"can’t get a job†. Conversely, they may have suffered from symptoms which inevitably led to that lifestyle. Through flashbacks, Nathaniel was portrayed as a productive and gifted member of society who attended a prestigious musical institution, and tried to start his young adult life living in an apartment. Unfortunately, he was overpowered by his auditory hallucinations, making him paranoid and scared. Hopefully audiences will reorient their mentality and not disregard homeless individuals as those that haven’t worked hard enough to attain a job and a place to live. Some of them have truly been overpowered by persistent mental illness. In terms of accuracy, The Soloist fairly portrayed the possible impact of stressors in the environment that trigger psychotic episodes. For Nathaniel, the pressure of performing well in front of an audience triggered â€Å"voices† which led him to run away. Additionally, unless an individual is medicated, it is rare for psychotic symptoms to not emerge. In the movie, Nathaniel was not receiving treatment at the time he became friends with Steve, and it was shown through his inability to have coherent conversations with him. Furthermore, he was unable to hold on to an apartment, and even felt comforted by the city street noises. His physical appearance was also unkempt and very colorful, reasonably displaying what someone with this disorder could potentially look like. Comparisons and Contrasts between Films There are several similarities and differences in the way media portrayed these characters suffering from serious mental illness. While the etiology, symptoms, and course of their disorders slightly differed, they all share a strong support system which provided them self-determination and potential for growth, similar to the goals of the Recovery Movement. Hertz (2010) stated that the presence of someone who believes in their recovery increase recovery rates. Mr. John Nash had the privilege of a supportive wife. Realistically, it may be an exception that an affected individual is a coveted professor with a family by his side assisting his struggles. Prot developed a relationship with his Psychiatrist. It is rare, if not unethical, for a patient’s psychiatrist to invite them into their home and introduce them to family members. More importantly, it seems rare for a psychiatrist to invest so much emotional effort into one particular case, especially one that is middle aged and has been in the practice for so long. Nathaniel formed a strong friendship with journalist Steve Lopez. Most severely mentally ill homeless individuals are not â€Å"discovered† by someone who decides to believe in them; most, as previously discussed, are underserved and not receiving proper treatment and care. While the storylines were touching and enlightening, they are very rare. These situations seem to be an exception rather than the rule, making the character portrayals inaccurate in terms of exaggerating the levels of support. Another important similarity accurately portraying psychotic disorders is the fact that there is no known cure. None of the characters were â€Å"cured† by the end of the movie, but rather found their own ways of coping with symptoms. The ultimate message was moderately accurate when showing psychotic mental illness; every single case should be viewed individually despite the one set of guidelines for diagnosis provided in the DSM-IV. Research has been clear about one thing: psychotic disorders remain etiologically perplexing and challenging to treat (Hertz, 2010). As a result, it is fairly easy for media to â€Å"play around† with psychotic illness through characters, since there is ultimately no absolute truth to reference, and thereby deem â€Å"inaccurate†. Since symptoms are a product of the person’s psyche, there seem to be no limits as to how creative psychotic symptoms and reactions may become. Interestingly, all three characters in the films are men. Research found that more men than women are given the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder (Hertz, 2010). Also, each movie emphasizes a different aspect of psychotic illness. A Beautiful Mind focuses on illness affecting a genius mind; K-PAX signifies the impact of a traumatic loss, and The Soloist show how symptoms can lead to homelessness. Conclusion According to Lesser and Pope (2010), psychiatry critic Thomas Szasz believed that the diagnosis of psychiatric illnesses was socially constructed, vary culture to culture, and is society’s way of labeling individuals when their behavior breaks social rules. Nonetheless, the use of the DSM system prevails in the United States, and many individuals â€Å"labeled† under its guidelines are in need of services, reinforcing mental illness as a social problem. The deinstitutionalization movement in the 1970’s as an attempt to serve the severely mentally ill has created a new array of social problems given the lack of funding anticipated for these goals. Hertz (2010) presented that the sickest people in our society are â€Å"lost in the cracks† as they are discharged from institutions to poor and inadequate aftercare. The media provides several portrayals of serious mental illness. The three movies chosen for discussion (A Beautiful Mind, K-PAX, and The Soloist) ultimately portray the strength and resilience possible even for the most seriously mentally ill individuals, when provided with emotional and social resources. Implicitly, hope is not lost, and Hertz (2010) proposed a solution to make a shift in our priorities: making a commitment to even the most disturbed members of our society. As demonstrated in the three films, two of which were based on real life people and events, individuals with even the most serious of mental illness can show strength and resilience. References Berzoff, J. , Melano Flanagan, L. , & Hertz, P. (2008). Chapter 13: The psychoses, with a special emphasis on schizophrenia (pp. 281-310). Inside out and outside in: Psychodynamic clinical theory and psychopathology in contemporary multicultural contexts (2nd ed. ). New York: Jason Aronson. Hepworth, D. , Rooney, R. & Larsen, J. 2010). Chapter 9: Assessment: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Environmental Factors. (pp. 199-226). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (8th ed. ). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Landsberg, G. , & Rock, M. (2010). Chapter 9: Mental Health. Social policy and social work: The context of social work practice. New York, NY: Pearson. Lesser, J. G. , & Pope, D. S. (2010). Chapter 17: Chronic illness and disability. (pp. 437-464). Human Behavior in the Social En vironment: Theory and Practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Free Essays on Nefertiti

Nefertiti (The Great Wife) The Egyptians always named the pharaoh’s wife the â€Å"great wife,† somewhat in the way that Americans refer to the president’s wife as the 1st lady. The great wife legitimized her husband’s exercise of power through religious beliefs. The Egyptians believed that she was divinely born and that Amon took the human form of her husband, impregnated her, oversaw the development of the child in her womb, and ensured a healthy delivery. Thus the child was the offspring of both the god and the pharaoh. The great wife couldn’t legally be pharaoh, for only a male could exercise that power. But she could make a man’s right to power. The Egyptians literally and formally considered hers the throne of power, although her power was passive rather than active. Egyptians artists depicted the great wife with much care as the pharaoh. They stylized her body as that of th4e ideal woman, and her portrait was more idealized than realistic. So stood things until Nefertiti, who was an exceptional great wife. She was not content to play a passive role in Egyptian life. Like her husband Akhenaten she passionately embraced the worship of Aton. She used her position to support her husband’s zeal to spread god’s worship. Together they built a new palace at Akhenaten, the present Amarna, away from the old centers of power. There they developed and promulgated the cult of Aton to the exclusion of the traditional deities. Nearly the only literary survival of their religious belief is the â€Å"Hymn of Aton† which declares Aton to be the only god. It also mentions Nefertiti as the great royal consort whom he Akhenaten loves, the mistress of the Two Lands. Akhenaten later stripped Nefertiti of her crown name, which was equivalent of divorce, and exiled her to a palace in the northernmost part of Amarna. It is quite possible, but beyond proof, that Akhenaten wanted a reconciliation with the old gods and their priests. The ... Free Essays on Nefertiti Free Essays on Nefertiti Queen Nefertiti Nefertiti was one of the most famous and beautiful Ancient Egyptian. Her name means, " the beautiful one has come." Nefertiti ruled with her husband, Akhenaten. They ruled together for 17 years from 1362-1379 B.C. Nefertiti and Akhenaten believed in one god, Re, the sun god. Due to this belief they destroyed all of the other god's temples and built a new capital city called Akhetaten. They also had a big family with six daughters. One of her daughters married King Tut. Nefertiti joined her husband in worship of a new religion that celebrated the power of the sun-disk Aten. Akhenaten formed a city where only this religion was practiced. He named this city Akhetaten which means the â€Å"horizon of Aten†. This put much impact on the Egyptian culture. After taking part in helping her husband, Nefertiti changed her name to Neferneferuaten_Nefertiti which means â€Å"The Aten is radiant of radiance because the beautiful one has come†. Together they transformed the religious practices of ancient Egyptians. Queen Nefertiti was known as the most beautiful woman in the world. One of the best known Egyptian treasures is a bust of her that can be found in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. But she was more than just a beautiful face because she was also the daughter of Ay, a nobleman who was the brother of Queen Tiy. Nefertiti is perhaps one of the best known queens of Egypt who is in more artwork and sculptures than even King Akhenaten. In 1340 B.C. Nefertiti died. Nefertiti and her husband's tomb have not yet been found. I think she had an impact on Africa because she established one of the world’s first monotheistic religions.... Free Essays on Nefertiti Nefertiti (The Great Wife) The Egyptians always named the pharaoh’s wife the â€Å"great wife,† somewhat in the way that Americans refer to the president’s wife as the 1st lady. The great wife legitimized her husband’s exercise of power through religious beliefs. The Egyptians believed that she was divinely born and that Amon took the human form of her husband, impregnated her, oversaw the development of the child in her womb, and ensured a healthy delivery. Thus the child was the offspring of both the god and the pharaoh. The great wife couldn’t legally be pharaoh, for only a male could exercise that power. But she could make a man’s right to power. The Egyptians literally and formally considered hers the throne of power, although her power was passive rather than active. Egyptians artists depicted the great wife with much care as the pharaoh. They stylized her body as that of th4e ideal woman, and her portrait was more idealized than realistic. So stood things until Nefertiti, who was an exceptional great wife. She was not content to play a passive role in Egyptian life. Like her husband Akhenaten she passionately embraced the worship of Aton. She used her position to support her husband’s zeal to spread god’s worship. Together they built a new palace at Akhenaten, the present Amarna, away from the old centers of power. There they developed and promulgated the cult of Aton to the exclusion of the traditional deities. Nearly the only literary survival of their religious belief is the â€Å"Hymn of Aton† which declares Aton to be the only god. It also mentions Nefertiti as the great royal consort whom he Akhenaten loves, the mistress of the Two Lands. Akhenaten later stripped Nefertiti of her crown name, which was equivalent of divorce, and exiled her to a palace in the northernmost part of Amarna. It is quite possible, but beyond proof, that Akhenaten wanted a reconciliation with the old gods and their priests. The ...

Free Essays on Sports Psyc

Sports Psychology is â€Å"psychological and mental factors that influence and are influenced by participation and performance in sport, exercise, and physical activity.†( AAASP online, 2002, â€Å"What is sports psychology†, para.1) A sports psychologist also uses the knowledge gained through his/her studies of sports psychology and tries to apply it to everyday settings. When one thinks of the word psychology, a sport isn’t the first thing they associate with it. To better understand what sports psychology is, we first have to understand what exactly a sports psychologist is and what service he or she provide for a patient. And to further understand the topic we have to outline a few of their techniques and methods in treating a patient. A sports psychologist has two main areas of focus. The first one is helping an athlete use psychological factors to optimize his or her own mental health, and to help that person to reach his/her peak performance level. The second is understanding how the participation in sports and exercise effects the psychological development throughout an individuals lifespan. A sports psychologist’s job is to try and get an athlete into the zone of optimal functioning (ZOF). To do this they first have to figure out what the mental or physical block that is preventing a person from reaching that zone. Some examples of these mental and physical blocks are, a football player that just recovered from an ankle sprain might be afraid to make a cut-back or plant their feet and block, because they think they could sprain their ankle again. Another is maybe a softball player who is in a serious hitting slump. The sports psychologist might have these people do mental exercises or have them change the way they approach a physical activity. To reach the zone of optimal functioning we first have to understand what the â€Å"zone† is. When someone says he/she is in the zone they are usually referring to whe... Free Essays on Sports Psyc Free Essays on Sports Psyc Sports Psychology is â€Å"psychological and mental factors that influence and are influenced by participation and performance in sport, exercise, and physical activity.†( AAASP online, 2002, â€Å"What is sports psychology†, para.1) A sports psychologist also uses the knowledge gained through his/her studies of sports psychology and tries to apply it to everyday settings. When one thinks of the word psychology, a sport isn’t the first thing they associate with it. To better understand what sports psychology is, we first have to understand what exactly a sports psychologist is and what service he or she provide for a patient. And to further understand the topic we have to outline a few of their techniques and methods in treating a patient. A sports psychologist has two main areas of focus. The first one is helping an athlete use psychological factors to optimize his or her own mental health, and to help that person to reach his/her peak performance level. The second is understanding how the participation in sports and exercise effects the psychological development throughout an individuals lifespan. A sports psychologist’s job is to try and get an athlete into the zone of optimal functioning (ZOF). To do this they first have to figure out what the mental or physical block that is preventing a person from reaching that zone. Some examples of these mental and physical blocks are, a football player that just recovered from an ankle sprain might be afraid to make a cut-back or plant their feet and block, because they think they could sprain their ankle again. Another is maybe a softball player who is in a serious hitting slump. The sports psychologist might have these people do mental exercises or have them change the way they approach a physical activity. To reach the zone of optimal functioning we first have to understand what the â€Å"zone† is. When someone says he/she is in the zone they are usually referring to whe...