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| I haven't posted on either of my Xanga sites for ages....most of my IRL friends are on LiveJournal....so that's where I've been updating. If the link below doesn't work, the username is "androgenie"
http://www.livejournal.com/users/androgenie
Just a recap of what's been going on in my lil ol' life....
--I graduate in May with my bachelor's degree (psychology with a human services concentration and a women's studies minor).
--I've been playing the bass trombone in the St. Scholastica concert and jazz bands (most people don't know that I was offered a music scholarship at St. Cloud State that I turned down....my primary instruments were euphonium and trombone).
--I'm vice prez of the Psych club and the Psi Chi psych honors society chapter.
--I also cochair the gay-straight alliance at this lovely Catholic college.
--I've been bellydancing since my 24th birthday (so over a year now).
--Just joined the Nordic Ski Club at CSS.
--I spent the past summer in San Francisco through the University of California- San Fran summer research program. I did a secondary analysis of a study with depressed multiple sclerosis patients....I looked at the impact of different types of fatigue (physical, cognitive, social) on sexual satisfaction and sexual dysfunction. I also bellydanced a lot out there, including before the Pride parade with FatChance BellyDance.
--I'm gearing up for graduate school in biological psychology or health psychology (depending on the program). I could end up being in California, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, or New York next year....back up plan is to apply to the same summer research program in San Fran and get a job as a research assistant in case I don't get into any schools (I'm applying to eight, so as long as they can see that my SCSU transcripts are a blip and only really look at my 3.74 GPA at CSS, I should be fine....just have to hope I got good GRE scores!!)
--I find out today if my UCSF research got accepted for a poster session at the Society for Behavioral Medicine conference in March....wish me luck.
--Not sure what else....off depression medication (and all meds, which isn't great....but those damn psychiatrists are supposed to rule out organic reasons for mental health problems before jumping to the DSM....thyroid deficiency, growth hormone deficiency, and my car accident in 1994 combined explain most of my mental health problems). Despite the mini-rant I just wrote, I'm actually doing pretty well!
--I'm still working at the liquor store....that means I've held the same job for about 3 years straight. I'm also working as a tutor for the school, tutoring Psychology and Social Science Statistics (and the occasional basic biology class).
Well, I think that's about it.....maybe I'll remember to post here more often....this will also get crossposted to my other xanga site.... | | |
| Kim tagged me...5 weird or strange habits...
1. I collect pop tops for Ronald McDonald House to the point of digging through my friends' recycling for more pop tops.
2. I sometimes get up to pee 5 times a night, no matter how much I drank before bed.
3. I must balance my checkbook immediately after either writing a check or using my debit card.
4. I must lift weights at each machine in order otherwise it bothers me (I might forget a station...)
5. I check my email and postal mailboxes all the time, whether I'm expecting something or not.....
I tag....(people on livejournal....sorry!) | | |
| Bad joke alert....
The Pope vs. Moishe
About a century or two ago, the Pope challenged the Jewish community of Rome to a debate.
The Jews looked around for a champion who could defend their faith, but no one wanted to volunteer. It was too risky. So they finally picked an old man named Moishe who spent his life sweeping up after people to represent them. Being old and poor, he had less to lose, so he agreed. He asked only for one addition to the rules of debate. Not being used to saying very much, he asked that neither side be allowed to talk. The Pope agreed.The day of the great debate came. Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple. The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This man is too good. The Jews win."
An hour later, the cardinals were all around the Pope asking him what happened. The Pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger, to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him, that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground, showing that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"
Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around Moishe, amazed that this old, almost feeble-minded man had done what all their scholars had insisted was impossible. "What happened?" they asked.
"Well," said Moishe, "first he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here."
"And then?" asked a woman.
"I don't know," said Moishe. "He took out his lunch and I took out mine." | | |
| Factiods about health psychology (the field of psych I'm interested in)
Health Psychology and Rehabilitation Factoids
from http://www.healthpsych.com/research/factoids.html
©1997 by Health Psychology Associates.
All Rights Reserved.
Last update 7/22/97
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Based on a national sample of rehabilitation patients, the average patient in rehabilitation was significantly elevated in a measure of depression (Bruns, Disorbio and Disorbio, 1996c).
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In one study psychological factors were able to predict 91% of the time which back pain patients would recover from an acute pain condition and which would go on to become disabled (Gatchel, et al., 1995).
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A major study found that job dissatisfaction, hysteria and antisocial traits were better predictors of who would file an injury report in the future than were 50 medical variables (Battíe & Bigos, 1991).
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Of 98 patients admitted to a pain management program for patients with nonmalignant chronic pain, 34 were definitely depressed, 20 were probably depressed, and 44 were not depressed (Maruta, 1989).
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Patients treated in a functional restoration treatment program for chronic low back pain and were compared with 72 patients not treated. A two-year follow-up that 87% of the treatment group was actively working after two years, as compared with only 41% of the nontreatment comparison group.
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Certain psychiatric syndromes appear to precede chronic low-back pain (substance abuse and anxiety disorders), whereas others (specifically, major depression) develop either before or after the onset of chronic low- back pain ( Polatin et al, 1993).
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In a twenty year-long study at Kaiser-Permanente, it was found that more than 60% of all visits by medical patients at their facilities were made by individuals with no clear diagnosable disorder. These persons were labeled "the worried well" (Cummings & VandenBos, 1981).
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In a study of 26,000 subjects in 14 countries, it was found that physical disability was more closely associated with psychological factors than it was with medical diagnosis (Ormel, et al., 1994).
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Colorado State Worker's Compensation regulations recommend that a Psychological evaluation be performed on patients at 6-12 weeks after injury if there is no improvement .
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Over 90 million Americans &emdash; about 45% of non-institutionalized persons &emdash; have one or more chronic conditions, with annual costs estimated to be $659 billion in 1987 (Hoffman, Rice & Sung, 1996)
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American corporate health and safety costs are estimated to be $418 billion in direct costs annually, $837 billion in indirect costs, for a total of $1.256 trillion in annual costs (Brady, et al, 1997).
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In a study of the MRIs of 98 "normal" persons with no back pain symptoms, 52% had bulging disks, 27% had a protrusion, and 1% had an extrusion (Jensen, et al., 1994).
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| I arrived in San Francisco yesterday afternoon. This is going to be one hell of an experience! I'm going to take some bellydance classes in addition to the reason I'm here (health psychology research).....
I can see why this is the most popular city in the world..... | | |
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