Energy drink - Guarana Essay Example for Free

Energy drink Guarana Essay Are you ever extremely tired? In the generation we live in today, the average person does not get the eight hours of sleep that the body needs. They do not eat right or take vitamins, and they do not get the physical exercise they need to keep their body healthy. As a result; they get extremely tired, stressed, and moody by the middle of the day. A smart choice would be to get more hours of sleep, eat healthy, take vitamins and exercise daily. However, because we changed from a fast and active society to a lazy and overweight one, people have decided to take the easy way out. This easy way would be energy drinks. These drinks are said to give you a â€Å"quick boost of energy† and they claim to have some sort of nutrition to them. Energy drinks have been around for over fifty years and are getting more popular as the years go by. They now are in almost every store you can go to and in many commercials and advertisements. The most popular energy drinks in the United States are Monster, Red Bull, Full Throttle, and Rockstar. However, my point here is that these energy drinks do the exact opposite of what they say they do. They say â€Å"Healthy benefits† I say â€Å"Heart-attack†. Energy drinks are unhealthy because they can cause health problems that will last you a lifetime. First, the most obvious ingredient in an energy drink is caffeine. The bad thing about this ingredient is that people do not realize how much of it is in one can. Jenna Hogan, an author of the article â€Å"What You Need To Know About Energy Drinks†, states â€Å"In comparison, an average 8 ounce serving of a soft drink and a cup of coffee contains 25 to 85 milligrams respectively. This means that an 8 ounce energy drink can have as much caffeine as 14 colas! †(Hogan 3) This much caffeine can lead to things such as bad sleep, kidney problems, dehydration, seizures, high blood pressure, and a decrease in bone mass. Caffeine increases heart rate and blood pressure, which then raises harmful stress hormones in the blood stream. Not only is there a high amount of caffeine, there is also a ridiculously large amount of sugar. An 8 ounce can of energy drink contains 13 tablespoons of sugar. These sugars are labeled as Fructose, Glucose, or Sucrose. They are carbohydrates that are metabolized quickly by the body and then produce a rapid burst of energy. If one is trying to stay healthy and free of illnesses, this much caffeine and sugar is the last thing he or she needs. Second, energy drinks are often ignored or exaggerated. However, the problem here isn’t only what is in the drink, but how many drinks a person consumes a day. In the Energy Supplements and Dangers article, the author recommends you take a moderation of two or less drinks a day. (Pursey 135) This is where the root of the problem stems from. One of the worst dangers in energy drinks is within athletes. These drinks are being used so frequently by many athletes before games or before major workouts. This is dangerous because these drinks aren’t designed for this. Because of the high sodium, caffeine and sugar content, they arent created to help replenish essential elements lost during intense workouts. The caffeine can then have a bad effect which is the opposite of what is needed. It is known that caffeine is actually banned from many sport competitions because it is known to improve strength and performance. Many caught consuming energy drinks before a game are automatically disqualified. The ingredients in an energy drink are very dangerous and overwhelming. Third, specific crowds are more prone to believe the variety of claims that energy drink companies make, and one main crowd would be teens. Energy drink companies make sure that their slogans are very memorable and catchy. For example, Red Bull’s slogan is â€Å"Red Bulls give you Wings. † Other slogans are â€Å"Unleash the Beast† (Monster) â€Å"Party like a Rockstar†(Rockstar) and â€Å"Go Full Throttle or Go Home† (Full Throttle). Teenagers thrive for acceptance. They will do anything to raise their popularity. In today’s society, energy drinks are the â€Å"cool† thing. Energy drink companies understand the importance of advertising, which is why they are becoming much more successful. An example of this would be before the Food and Drug Administration declared â€Å"Four Lokos† (an energy drink) illegal. A fourteen year old boy stole his parents vehicle and crashed it on an interstate in Denton, Texas. His girlfriend, in the passengers seat, did not have a seatbelt on and died immediately. Police who searched his car found five empty Four Loko cans in the trunk, and the young boy was charged with intoxication and manslaughter (Sullum 1). We can finally thank the FDA for banning Four Lokos once and for all. Unfortunately, those lives lost to energy drinks can never be brought back. Some may argue that people need energy everyday and that is why thousands of Americans love caffeine. They work hard and dont get the right amount of rest, and that is where caffeine comes in the picture. Americans consume caffeine because it keeps them awake and running. Many of these people rely on the energy that caffeine gives them and it becomes a part of their everyday life. Without it they feel tired and miserable. Although many of these people need caffeine to survive through the day, many dont know what they are actually putting into their body. Curiosity strikes when people think about the FDA and why it hasnt put up a battle with the energy drink companies. There is one simple answer, Energy drinks are labeled as â€Å"supplements† instead of â€Å"beverages. † This classification allows companies to pretty much write whatever they would like on the back of their labels. There are no restrictions on the amount of ingredients or even which ones they choose to put on their products. Because the FDA can’t do anything about this, the public can’t be assured of its safety. Energy drink companies completely misinform the public about what their energy drinks do. They manipulate society into believing that their drinks will help improve their life. They target specific crowds in order to gain the success that they want. They dont tell their buyers about the long term effects these drinks have on their bodies. Obviously, they are more concerned about the money rather than the lives. Energy drinks have no benefit to the body. They will give you a quick boost of energy, just to bring you crashing down. Consuming more than one a day will only increase your risks of side effects. Energy drinks are very unhealthy and can cause you health problems that will last you a lifetime. The FDA banned Four Lokos and hopefully will do something to make energy drinks much less of a hazard and more of a nutritional drink.

Dangers of over empathising

Dangers of over empathising Discussion This assignment will attempt to discuss the importance of empathizing during the counselling exchange and focus on pointing out the dangers of over empathising as well as discuss how these dangers can be avoided. Before analysing the problems that occur when the therapist over empathizes, I will try to stress the importance of empathy within the client therapist relationship. When referring to the term empathy we mean the capability to share and appreciate someone elses emotions and feelings. It is often referred to as the ability to put oneself into anothers shoes, or in some way experience what the other person is feeling, (Ekman, 1999). Empathising with patients should be the starting point for improving the client therapist relationship and the counselling exchange and process. Empathy has always been a significant characteristic of psychoanalytic treatment. It is the essential healing factor as well as the basis of data collection in psychoanalysis, (Plutchik, 1980). Even though empathy is vital in psychoanalytic, self-psychological, and client centred therapies, its main purpose is seen as different within each therapeutic method, (Nicoll, W.G. 1999). With client centred therapy, the most important role of empathy is to generate a specific kind of learning experience where clients exist and relate to themselves in a different way. In particular, the purpose is to assist people in developing the skill of learning and show them how to use experiential referents in making every day decisions. With psychoanalysis, empathy is a key that assists the therapist in developing insight into the clients unconscious dynamics. With self psychological therapy, empathy works as a way to strengthen self-structure. Even though these functions are different, they can coexist Rogerian therapy According to Rogerian therapy, the therapist enters the clients world. Within this unique world the therapist neither agrees or disagrees. and does not attempt to look into the subconscious, the unconscious or point out contradictions, (Rogers 1977). Instead, therapy is seen as a process of freezing the individual and taking away obstacles and barriers in order for normal growth and development to occur which would eventually result in the clients independence, (Moses, I. 1988). Within the process of therapy the client passes on from rigidly of self perception to fluidity. For this to happen the therapist must be completely genuine and must have positive attitude towards the client and show empathic understanding, (Shaffer, 1978). A fundamental but also tricky in respect to the amount of empathy towards the client is keeping positive attitude towards the client. This demands from the therapist to relate to the client as a person to a person and not as a scientist to an object of stu dy, (Cornelius, 1996). In the context of therapy, empathy is characterised and expressed by studying a persons facial expressions, studying the body movements , and by active listening, by hearing their tone of voice, (Haase Tepper, 1972). Rogers (1975) emphasised on the therapist sensing the clients inner experiencing and communicating something about this understanding back to the person. In this regard, empathy involves a commitment to grasp the internal state of an individual as accurately as possible (Cochran Cochran, 2006). It is the sustained interpersonal stance of the therapist in perceiving and responding to the private meanings of the client that is central to the healing and change process (Barret Lennard, 1976; Rogers, 1975; Bennet, 2001). In order for an empathic response of a therapist to affect a client, it must be expressed or made visible in some form (Barret Lennard, 1993). Although empathic acknowledgment may involve some form of stimulation in the therapist (the empathiser), the therapist should not adopt or experience this feeling as their own, instead they should locate the feeling in the other person. Otherwise the therapist may experience an emotional atmosphere or even that the emotions displayed belong to all the parties involved rather than just to the client, (Moses, I. 1988). As Rogers pointed out: it is crucial that the therapist is able to perceive the experience of a person, but without losing the as if the counsellor were the client (Rogers, 1957). It is said that, in therapy, it is essential for a practitioner to avoid allowing conflictive personal issues to interfere with the counselling relationship (Boy Pine, 1982). On the other hand however, if the therapist maintains only an emotionally distant level of engagement with the client, communications and understandings that are forthcoming from an experiential mode of empathy may be diminished or precluded, (Olinick, S. L. 1969). At this point it is crucial to point out that although empathy is important it can be a very difficult issue for many therapists, (Moses, 1988). This is because therapists are very vulnerable to an excessive level of identification with another individual when personal issues and conflicts are unresolved and subject to merging with the material of the client. Feeling too much can easily complicate things and make it difficult to treat the patient in a completely objective manner. Being too empathic may also result in the therapist in a sense picking up attributes of the patients physical and mental disease. When over empathising the therapist may feel disempowered and it may then become very difficult for the therapist to feel relaxed, centred and rooted which is a basic requirement when attempting to treat someone, When the therapist over -empathises with the client he is in a way reproducing the physiological state of the client in his own system, (Davis, M. H. 1996). This can make therapy a dangerous quest as there are negative emotions involved, which leave the therapist in risk of exposing him or her self directly to the clients negative experience of the problem which could be depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies and many more. By exposing himself directly and without borders to the clients negative state, the therapist is not helping himself, the client or the process of therapy. However, by empathising with the client in a conscious and appropriate manner it can work as a healthy protective mechanism which shields the therapist when needed, Empathy Empathy is not the act of getting lost in the clients state. If this happens, the therapist will be pulled down with the client when the client is drowning and therefore will not be able to provide any help, A sensible definition of empathy is to sense the clients private world as if it were your own, but without ever losing the as if quality this is empathy and it seems essential to therapy. To sense the clients anger, fear, or confusion as if it were your own, yet without your own anger, fear or confusion getting bound up in it. (Rogers) As Rogers states, empathising with the client in the way described can assist the client way more than just the positive feeling of being accepted and understood: When the clients world is clear to the therapist, and he moves about in it freely, then he can both communicate his understanding of what is clearly known to the client and can also voice meanings in the clients experience of which the client is scarcely aware. This way the therapist and the client can move forward together, step by step, instant by instant touching areas of experience which are within the client and affect his or her life, but for some or many reasons is difficult to access, therefore is not open to understanding, acceptance or change, (Myers, S. 2000). Therapists need to keep in mind that counselling is not just talking things over (as they do in their everyday life with friends), but a more formal kind in which there are two very different roles, the counsellor does not generally talk about them self or try to rescue the client as they would do with a friend because by doing this there is a danger of over-empathizing with the client and losing a clear sense of being separate people, (Eisenberg, N., Strayer, J. 1987) In terms of the content of therapy, there is a need for the therapist to constantly look out for the influence they may be experiencing from the client. Therapists need to question all their own assumptions and beliefs through reading, consciousness-raising, and through self examination. This requires a ruthless honesty that can be painful as well as exhilarating. Only when counsellors have gone through this themselves can they genuinely help their client and not become to attached or over-empathize. Ultimately it is important that therapists work with and acknowledge all aspects of their clients and themselves that are beneath and above the form visible to our eyes, (Myers, S. 2000). They need to be able to tune into the level on which they can see the human soul in front of them without being distracted by their theories and self beliefs. However it is important for therapists to distinguish the difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy Sympathy is often confused with empathy as both conceptions are viewed as passing on a sense of caring or compassion. In therapy however, there are clear differences between these aspects that can either potentially delay or increase the treatment process, (Lang, J.A. 1994). The primary intent of empathy is to understand a person and the focus of sympathy is the well-being of an individual (Black, 2004). In practice, if a client expresses emotional distress, a counsellor employing an empathic stance tries to understand the individuals functioning and convey a sense of the experience back to the person. In contrast, if a therapist sympathetically responds to a clients distress, he or she may attempt to alleviate the clients plight, (Lang, J.A. 1994). With sympathy, a practitioners identity may begin to merge with a clients feelings and situation (Kalisch, 1973). As the psychological boundaries between the client and therapist blur, and the sharing of feelings intensifies, the expectation that a counsellor will be able to assume an objective or detached perspective becomes more remote. A manifest pattern of similarity with a clients behaviour may indicate the operation of identification as a defense mechanism on the part of a counsellor (Clark, 1998a). In contrast to sympathy, empathy implies a sense of detachment and separateness. A practitioners identity is maintained except for momentary periods of active resonance with a client (Schlesinger, H.J. 1981). With empathy a counsellor directs attention more to the needs and issues of a client and attempts to maintain a focus on the individuals perspectives. As mentioned previously, identification and projection represent defence mechanisms that can distort a therapists ability to communicate and maintain an empathic posture with a client. The defences relate to conflictive issues and a therapists functioning that emerge during threatening interactions in treatment. Counter-transference is another construct with origins in the psychoanalytic persuasion, and relates specifically to unresolved conflicts of a therapist that potentially have a negative impact in the therapy process (Rud, C. 1993). Because it involves distortion of perceptual functioning, counter transference results in the diminished ability of therapists to focus on the needs of a client. At this point it is safe to argue that over-empathising is similar to sympathising in a way. Empathy is clearly different to sympathy. Sympathy suggests feeling sorry for the other person or, perhaps, identifying with how the other person feels. If one sympathises, they imagine them self as being in the other persons position and how doing so would make them feel. This results in not being able to have a clear view of the problem and therefore not being able to offer an objective point of view as a therapist. if one empathises, however, they try to imagine how it is to be the other person which means that feeling sorry for him/her does not really come into the issue, allowing the therapist to be a disposition towards the client, and allowing the client to express them self fully. Therapists should be very cautious so as to avoid being too sensitive to the clients emotions, and to avoid over-investing their own emotions, as this may have an effect on them and drain away their own orig inality, creativity and resourcefulness. In any therapeutic condition an understanding of the borders and limitations of empathic accurateness is fundamental. It is important for the counsellor to always remember that it is the client in the end who will find his own way through, and will find his own idiosyncratic answers to his problems in living and that the counsellor is there to assist and guide him through.

Post Natal Depression Case Study

Post Natal Depression Case Study Table of Contents Case Study Care Plan Medical Point of view The Role of the nurse Building a therapeutic relationship Respect and Empathy Communication Tackling the problem The Reality Therapy and choice therapy. Working the therapy with Rachel Problems met during sessions. Conclusion Case Study. A 21 year old lady presented at Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) stating that she has these thoughts in her mind that she is going to harm her baby. She was experiencing an excessive fear of what she might do to her baby since these thoughts were telling her that she was going to knock the baby’s head against the wall. She was physically trembling with fear and anxiety. She had reduced her food intake and this had resulted in considerable weight loss. She was not sleeping at night leading to tiredness, lethargy which was hindering Rachel (imaginary name) from performing her daily chores. The pregnancy was unplanned but her boyfriend Robert (imaginary name) was very supportive during and after the pregnancy. He was very worried about Rachel since she had a complete change in character and from a happy go lucky person she had turned into an introvert always worried and depressed. Rachel explained that she had always thought that motherhood would be an enjoyable period in life. She had always dreamt of this period but she had never imagined that it would end up to be the worst experience of her life. She was so focused on her baby that she had forgotten how to live. She was all the time concentrating on her childhood, how much she had felt neglected by her mother at that time and her innermost fear was that she will end up behaving like her; that is why she had stopped working, going out and enjoying everyday life. Despite this, she was feeling guilty that she was not giving enough attention to her baby. CIT offers follow up sessions for 3 to 4 weeks, during which Rachel was asked to identify her problems and prioritise them. By identifying areas where she would like to improve, she would be lessening her suffering and make herself feel better; this was done together with the nurse. Care Plan Medical Point of view Rachel was seen by the CIT psychiatrist who prescribed antidepressants with the aim to try and alleviate Rachel’s mood. Glasser (2003) complained that it is a pity that nowadays psychiatrist and medical doctors prescribe psychiatric drugs prior giving counselling sessions first. The role of the nurse regarding her treatment was to educate the patient regarding the importance of concordance and informing Rachel about any side effects that might occur when starting treatment. The Role of the nurse The role of the nurse is to help the patient get better by offering the optimum level of care in order to empower her patient and help him/her improve his/her quality of life. Smith, Wolf and Turkel in 2012, explained that for the patient to be cured, s/he needs to be cared for as no curing can occur without caring (p.137). The nursing care plan should be planned together with the patient in order to identify the patient’s needs, plan and set goals to overcome the obstacles. Kelsey (2013) stated that NHS is emphasising on patient participation in the care plan as this will help the nurse to engage more with the patient while the patient will feel more empowered. This concept is firmly believed at CIT, and it was always stressed that all professionals collaborate for optimum care delivery together with patient. The patient also has the right to choose family members and/or friends whom he wished to be involved in his/her care. Building a therapeutic relationship In order to formulate a care plan with the patient, a therapeutic relationship must be built for a successful outcome. Caring is based on a relationship and for relationships to be effective both parties must be involved, (Govier, 1992). The fulcrum of nursing care is building a nurse-patient relationship by engaging with the patient and his carers. Building a therapeutic relationship helps the nurse to gain indispensible information about her/his patient whilst the patient learns how to trust the nurse (Lehman et al., 2004). Although according to nurses trust is vital for building a therapeutic relationship, this can be very difficult to establish with the patient. Literature states that trust has been a debatable topic in research; it does not concern only on the health care profession but includes also the institutions and other services providing the care, (Laugharne Priebe, 2006). In Malta there is still a good amount of stigma regarding Mental Health and Mental Hospital thus people are afraid to talk about their mental health problems. The stigma that surrounds the name of the mental health hospital in Malta still carries fear of the unknown and beliefs about mental illness hinder the patients from seeking help. This often results in severe deterioration leading to an involuntary admission (Farrugia, 2006). The same thing happened with Rachel at the beginning of our sessions when she was still terrified to discuss her innermost thoughts, believing that she would be judged and labelled as mentally ill thus providing grounds for an admission. Rachel needed to overcome her fears and start to confide in the nurse. In order to gain her trust, the nurse had to reassure Rachel that no harm will come to her and if she wishes CIT could offer her care in the community reassuring her fears regarding hospitalisation. This could only happen if Rachel agrees to work with the team members and keep to the plan which they had agreed on together. Rachel agreed with the proposal inviting her boyfriend to join the plan, which he accepted. Support and information was provided to both parties and they were satisfied with the plan. Respect and Empathy The nurse assured Rachel that both parties should respect each other. Papastavrou et al (2012) explains that to show respect towards a patient one should allow autonomy, show dignity towards the person, care for him/her holistically and ensure privacy and confidentiality. Assuring the patient that since she is seeking help, the team’s aim was to provide that help and not to judge her thoughts and actions. For the nurse to be able to understand the patient better she has to put him/herself in the patient’s shoes and this skill is called Empathy. Empathy was found helpful to humanize the care delivered to the patient (Barker, 2003). When the nurse shows that his/her intentions are genuine and is trying to understand the situation by offering help and keeping agreements, the patient will start to trust her/him. Communication Establishing trust, showing respect and empathy to the patient, needs good communication skills; Taylor, Lillis, Lemone, Lynn, and Smeltzer (1989), claimed that a therapeutic relationship can never be built if there is no good communication skills. It is imperative for the nurse to learn to listen attentively to verbal communication but also to learn to read the non-verbal communication that the patient is sending. Through the non-verbals, the nurse can extract information which the patient wishes to hide such as fear and anxiety through her body language (Stuart, 2009). Glasser (2003), emphasised on the importance to allow time for patient to narrate their problem, in order to be able to assess the patient in depth. Tackling the problem She does not like her life at the moment. She misses work and school (she was learning art, her hobby is drawing) She hates the thought of becoming like her mother She hates the thoughts that are obscuring her mind preventing her from enjoying life. The nurse went through the list of problems written by the patient and together with Rachel she tried to group them into categories. Keeping in mind that CIT service is provided over a limited amount of time, it is of utmost importance that the team tackle the urgent problems which have prevented the patient from functioning normally and reaching a Crisis. For secondary problems, Rachel will be referred to another team who can offer longer term care. The first two problems discussed were the fact that she is absent from work and not attending art school at the moment. This fact is making her feel useless and lonely. She is not doing these things because she thinks that if she starts to do things that she used to enjoy, she will neglect her child. This will make her worst fear that she will become like her mother come true. This made it easier for the nurse to narrow the amount of problems because in agreement with Rachel they decided to group all the three problems under one heading: fear of becoming like mum. Rachel admitted that if she could be sure that she would be nothing like her mother she would feel less stressed. The second problem was her bizarre thoughts which were persecuting her. During the first meeting they discussed at length the issue of harming her child and what chance there was that she would actually harm him. She took so much care of her child since his birth three months ago that it was highly unlikely that she would ever harm him. In reality she was caring fulltime for the child, taking care of him 24 hours a day and never leaving his side. Rachel’s boyfriend assured the nurse that she never left her child unattended. He explained that they were living with her mother who took care of the house chores and gave them moral support whilst Rachel took care of her child. After discussing all this with Rachel it was concluded that what she was feeling was unhappy, she lost her joy of living. It was important for Rachel to try to control her thoughts and worries and to try learning to sort them out. First she needs to work out if the worries are founded or not and when that answer is found she needs to choose whether to ignore or believe them. The nurse opted to work with Rachel on the steps of Reality/ Reality Theory by Glasser to help her overcome these fears. The Reality Therapy/Choice therapy. William Glasser developed Reality therapy way back in the sixties and it was based on identity theory, (Zastrow, 2010). The last two decades Glasser noted that his therapy focused more on human behaviour, how can it be altered and improved leading him to change the name of Reality Therapy to Choice Therapy, (Wubbolding, 2013). The choice theory explains how the life of the individual is determined by the choices he made. Every individual has his perceptions about his/her reality of life and according to Glasser the individual behaviour is in constant attempt to narrow between what we want and what we have (Zastrow, 2010 pg 491). The aim of the therapy is to help and teach individual to satisfy the internal motivation and or basic psychological needs. The Choice therapy focuses on the basic needs of the individual. Glasser (1996) explained that the therapy emphasised the four basic psychological needs which included belonging, power, freedom and survival (Jong-un, 2007). Belonging refers to family and friends. People; with whom a person can socialise, enjoy him/herself with, as well as feel loved. Power refers to the individual achievements in life such as achieving dreams and feeling worthwhile. Having your own space, acting independently, being autonomous and deciding for yourself covers the need of freedom. Whereas, survival needs are covered by nourishment, intimate relationships and shelter. Sunich (2007) in his article argued that Glasser wrote about five basic needs and the ones mentioned above and adding fun. Contrary to traditional theories, the Reality Therapy promotes the idea to focus on the ‘here and now’ and reduce concentrating on the past. The therapy is based on the patient’s willingness to change, make choices, take responsibility and sustain commitment. Its aim is to assess and identify the unmet needs of the patient exploring what behaviours they are displaying that either assist or interfere with them meeting their needs (Sunich, 2007 pg.3). Working the therapy with Rachel The nurse explained how choice therapy works and Rachel agreed that she would like to give it a try. The nurse explained that reality therapy is best summarized as WDEP which means: wanting, doing, evaluation and planning, (Cameron, 2013) In Rachel’s situation, it is important to focus on what she really Wants; she wished to get rid of her thoughts and fear. It was explained to her that she needs to start to learn to identify unrealistic thoughts and learn to control them. After the problem was ascertained the next step taken was to ask Rachel what she was Doing to try and get what she wished for. Rachel tried to explain what she had been doing but Evaluating the situation together Rachel admitted that the method she had chosen was not working. After that Rachel and the nurse agreed to try and formulate a new Plan which will help Rachel gain her joy in life back,(Cameron, 2013) . In the first session Rachel described herself as: â€Å"blocked in a black tunnel†, she was afraid to talk about her thoughts because the nurse might think that she was â€Å"going crazy†. but could feel that with the right support there is hope for her illness. The nurse had to explain to Rachel that she should stop labelling herself as depressed and concentrate on how she was feeling at that moment. Rachel admitted she was feeling unhappy, and this was caused because the patient had stopped doing the things, she liked to do so that she would be able to concentrate on her son 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Although she knew that she was still fearful of the thought that she might harm the baby. The nurse explained that feeling unhappy for a reason is not being â€Å"crazy†; the important thing is doing something about it to improve the situation (Glasser, 2003). The thought that she might harm the baby was explored at length. Rachel admitted that she never did anything to harm her baby, she loved him unconditionally, and she took care of his Adls. She never misses his appointment at the baby clinic where they confirm that the baby is very healthy and this was confirmed by Robert. The nurse documented everything they said on a page divided into two columns, labelled good care and neglect After Rachel finished, the nurse handed her the paper and explained to her what she had done. All the things Rachel had stated were listed under the good care column and the neglect column remained empty. Then the nurse asked Rachel â€Å"Seeing this paper how much are the chances that you are neglecting your son?† Rachel stared amazed at the paper as she answered â€Å"none†, thus this makes your thought unfounded. The nurse explained to Rachel needs to learn to do this exercise each time she has a thought so that she can identify if the though t is realistic or just an imaginary one. So they planned Rachel’s homework until her next session which focused mainly on identifying the thought and reasoning it out. After the first session she confessed that she felt better; the fear that she was going crazy subsided, she felt that she was not alone any more in her dark tunnel and hope was instilled. Sessions went by and Rachel started to learn how to control her thoughts better but choosing to ignore them. She was better but not good enough yet. Rachel had to start to stay away from her son a couple of hours so she has time for herself. It was the biggest step for her and as she described it as the most painful but with the help of Robert and their extended families she started to work a couple of hours a week. This made a drastic change in Rachel’s mood and she started to feel happy again. She started to make friends and felt that she belonged in society again and not isolated anymore. â€Å"Happiness or mental health is enjoying the life you are choosing to live, getting along well with the people near and dear to you, doing something with your life you believe is worthwhile, and not doing anything to deprive anyone else of the same chance for happiness you have† (Glasser, 2003 pg 7). Problems met during sessions. Seeing the story in writing might look as if it had been easy to empower Rachel enough to achieve goal. It included four weeks of intensive counselling with two planned sessions a week and several phone calls from Rachel asking for support and reassurance. This could be done by praising Rachel for her decisions and actions. There were times that the patient had to be confronted about her decision for example â€Å"you are thinking and assuming that your mum will not be capable to look after your baby. Did she show any signs of mistreating him or being unloving towards the baby? Are these just your thoughts tormenting you or there are facts which might lead you to think that she is incapable of looking after him?† There are many authors who criticise this method because of the above: they argue that it is a harshly confronted therapeutic approach towards the patient. Wubbolding and Brickell (2000), did not deny it but emphasised the fact that reality therapy is a gently confronted approach. Glasser (2002), explained clearly the consequences of seven deadly habits, which may arise during reality therapy session. These habits are criticising, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening punishing and bribing or rewarding to control, but they cannot be allowed in any relationship because they will simp ly destroy it (Sommers-Flanagan Sommers-Flanagan, 2012). There was one episode at the beginning when Rachel entered the office unannounced shaking and sobbing. She was so desperate at that moment that she could not even talk. The nurse waited for Rachel to calm down but each time she did and the nurse asked her to talk Rachel ended up sobbing again. After more than half an hour, in a soft but stern voice the nurse had to tell Rachel that she had to speak up if she wanted help. The statement might have sounded insensible and blunt but it was all about the reality of the situation; Rachel understood that and reached for a paper and with great difficulty wrote what was troubling her. Sommers-Flanagan Sommers-Flanagan (2012) agreed with other above authors who believe that Reality therapy at times is too directive and might become almost offensive and unethical towards the patient. Conclusion Rachel started to look forward to her therapy session; she worked hard on her problems, kept with the plan and gradually she reached her goal. Basic knowledge about the therapy helped the nurse conduct the sessions but also made her aware of the need for more intensive training (Sommers-Flanagan Sommers-Flanagan, 2012). Post Natal Depression Case Study Post Natal Depression Case Study The Experience of Health Illness Level 2 Assessment Client Study Culture and the service user experience This essay details the experiences that I had in dealing with and observing a Mrs. N, a 28 yr old lady who safely delivered a baby girl in December of last year. Her major problem was the development of post natal depression, but there were a number of contributory factors which were relevant in her case, one of which was her culture and ethnic background which coloured both her expectations and her reactions to the various landmarks which punctuated her illness trajectory. 1. Identify a specific client/user and provide a vivid but non-judgemental description of his or her personality, family, cultural and social background (include employment, education, housing etc). Mrs. N is a Bangladeshi lady who has been married for seven years. It was an arranged marriage. She is 28 yrs old which means that she was married comparatively late for her culture. Her husband, (Mr. N) is a year older than her and has been living and working in the UK for 8 years as a London Transport bus driver. He has been working to set up a home in the UK and it was always the intention that Mrs. N would come to the UK when conditions were stable for them. Mrs. N has lived in her in-laws home in Bangladesh until last year when she was granted permission to enter the UK and live with her husband. The seven years that she spent with her husband’s family were very difficult for her. She had a great deal of difficulty in coping with her mother-in-law’s (Mrs S.) overbearing and dictatorial manner. Mrs S felt that it was her place to â€Å"mould and shape† her daughter-in-law’s life and manners to suit what she considered to be her place in society. Mrs. N had only a limited education and would be considered to be less well educated than her husband. This was a major issue for the husband’s family and there was the underlying feeling that he â€Å"could have done better† for himself. Mrs S appeared never to miss an opportunity to remind Mrs. N of this fact. (Tseng, W et al. 2001) An additional factor was that both Mr. Mrs. N were intensely aware of the cultural and family expectations on them to have children. Although Mr. N frequently visited his wife in Bangladesh, she had not conceived for 6 years, which led to anxiety between the couple and friction between Mrs. N and Mrs S. When Mrs. N eventually became pregnant, she came to the UK to live with her husband in a culture that she was unfamiliar with and could only speak rudimentary English. She felt very isolated and had difficulty in coping with the day to day problems of living. 2. Provide a brief outline (no more than 200 300 words) of the basis of their need for health care (i.e. pregnancy or other specific physiological condition) highlighting only those aspects that may have implications for their cultural and social health and well-being. Mrs. N had a relatively uneventful pregnancy and a normal delivery. Routine midwife post delivery checks were normal, but it was noticed buy the health visitor that Mrs. N was becoming progressively more withdrawn, tearful and unable to cope with the new baby at about the 3 month period. This was difficult to assess as Mrs. N had difficulty in expressing herself and also was reluctant to involve the healthcare professionals in what she saw as â€Å"her problem†. There was some debate amongst members of the primary healthcare team as to whether these changes were indicative of post natal depression or whether they were due to social isolation or perhaps a combination of both factors. Post natal depression and culture A number of studies have shown that post natal depression occurs with a similar incidence across virtually all cultures and civilisations. (viz. Marks, M. N. et al. 1992). It is known that perinatal psychoses are a leading cause of maternal morbidity and suicide related to such morbidity is the major cause of maternal mortality in both the UK and in Northern Europe. (CEMD 2001). There is no good quality published work detailing the prevalence of such mortality in Asian countries, but there is no evidence to suggest that it is in any way significantly different from the European figures. In any event, one can clearly deduce that post natal depression (and the other perinatal psychoses) are a major cause of debility. Post natal depression is also known to be associated with longer term consequences for maternal mental health, marital problems and also the psychological health of the marital partner. (Asten P et al. 2004). It is also known to be associated with a number of adverse effects on the social and cognitive development of the infant and other siblings in the family. (Murray, J et al. 2003) A brief overview of the literature on the subject however, shows that the great majority of the studies conducted into the subject of post natal depression has been undertaken in Western societies (viz. Kumar, R. 2004). The consequence of this observation is that such research generally does not take into account the range of psychosocial experiences that are associated with other cultures and civilisations where there are differing rates of lone motherhood, differing degrees of social support and family bonding, quite apart from the different emphasis placed on relationships within marriage, kinship and family. All of these factors will intuitively impact on the incidence and nature (and possibly the clinical presentation) of post natal depression. 3. Define how you are using the notion of culture for the purposes of the assignment. Try to make explicit answers to the following questions: What evidence and research did you use to describe and analyse the client’s/user’s cultural perspectives, needs and any other factors that might influence their understanding and interpretation of health, illness and treatments? How did you gather the evidence? Evidence here must include the client/users own narratives. What were your findings? For example, how did the user/client describe their experience and how did their story fit with what you observed in practice? How did it fit with theory you have read? Were they seen as difficult or good clients by practitioners if so on what grounds and how might this be explained? Culture is a complex concept. Most definitions refer to various patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another (Findley A et al. 2006) Mrs. N’s culture was a central consideration in this case. Unlike many of her countrywomen, she had not become in any way anglicised and was, to a large extent, completely unprepared for the enormous cultural changes that she experienced between her lifetime home in rural Bangladesh and her new home in suburban London. If one adds to this the inevitable stresses of her first pregnancy, the loss of support of her (albeit critical) family and the advent of post natal depression. Bangladeshi culture regards childbirth as a major life event, generally with a greater significance than in western civilisations. (Cox, J. L. 2006). It is specifically considered to be one of the major â€Å"rites of passage† of a woman, not only from childhood to adulthood, but also into social respectability. (Gautam, S et al. 1992). Bangladeshi society has a number of specific rituals, prohibitions and proscriptions which typically accompany the passage of the woman into motherhood which are generally not found in western societies. These rituals both aid and guide the new mother, as well as providing the social support networks, to help the new mother adapt to her newly acquired role. It has been suggested that these rituals may assist in protecting new mothers from becoming depressed. (Seel, R. M. 1996) In the case of Mrs. N however, it is clear that she had no back up of such rituals or social network support, as she found herself being suddenly removed from her familiar society and being suddenly transported (at a very critical and emotionally charged time in her life) into an alien an unknown culture where she could not easily communicate with the healthcare professionals who were trying to help her. In a landmark study of transcultural birthing practices in 1983, Stern Kruckman found â€Å"surprisingly little evidence of the phenomenon identified in Western diagnoses as postnatal depression and suggested that the lack of post-partum rituals in Western society might be a cause of postnatal depression.† (Stern, G et al. 1983). The authors support this finding with the comment that â€Å"The effectiveness of counselling in treating the condition may be through its re-creation of post-partum ‘structure’ and the provision of social support which might formerly have been provided by the extended family (in Asian societies) and public recognition of the new role.† An additional feature which was not immediately apparent, but only came to light later in the trajectory of the management of the illness, was the fact that Mrs. N felt ashamed that she had given birth to a baby girl. In Bangladeshi culture it is considered a sign of cultural status to have boys, particularly the first child. Shaheen R et al. 2006). The fact that Mrs. N had a girl reduced her own self esteem enormously. 4. You should develop a discussion of the assessment of the person’s actual and potential cultural needs, with reference to a specific theoretical perspective that has been introduced in the module e.g. social class and effects on health or the impact of illness on the family. As far as possible, use the evidence of the client/users own words to provide a more vivid insight of the client/users view and to give a robust basis for your own analysis and discussion. Studies which have considered the cultural implications of post natal depression point to a number of factors which can be considered â€Å"independent risk factors† for the development of post natal depression. (Kit, L. K et al. 1997). In specific regard to the case of Mrs. N , one can identify many of these as being relevant to her case. We shall consider each factor in turn. Many studies point to a number of factors that are a cause of happiness in pregnancy (which reduce the incidence of post natal depression) and these include discovery of pregnancy and the awareness of foetal movement. There is no doubt that Mrs. N was delighted to find that she was pregnant, not only because it pleased Mrs S, but also it meant that she would join her husband in the UK. This has to be contrasted with the negative factors including the initial difficulty in conception in Asian families as being a factor which increases the likelihood of post natal depression. (Mari, J et al. 1999) Further negative associations were physical illness and discomfort, nausea, tiredness and a lack of sleep, (OHara, M. W et al. 1996) all of which were relevant to Mrs. N as she had bad back pain from about 18 weeks onwards which limited both her mobility and her ability to sleep comfortably. This pain did not resolve quickly after delivery and the lack of sleep persisted as she tried to establish breast feeding and experienced great difficulty as the baby did not feed well and therefore would not sleep well. The role of healthcare professionals is often cited as a cause of postnatal unhappiness in studies that involve Asian women (viz. Pillsbury, B. L. K. (1998) Maternity staff who are unsympathetic, and little time to talk (or difficulty in talking) are the commonest negative associations. Mrs. N certainly experienced both of these factors with some of the hospital staff and found her hospital visits very difficult. Fortunately Mrs. N has a normal, relatively atraumatic delivery which therefore spared her another independent risk factor for post natal depression. 5. How were these cultural needs addressed? If they were not, or only partially met, say so and describe in what way you feel they might have been better achieved. Mrs. N’s cultural needs were not met in a number of ways. Clearly the family support that she would normally expect to count upon was limited to her husband. This comment has to be seen in the context that her husband was a man, although she had known him for several years she had never lived in close dependent proximity to him before she was pregnant. In the same way, Mr. N was also a comparative stranger to this situation and he did not have other members of his family group to advise and support him. In the context of this small nuclear family unit (which clearly is not the cultural â€Å"norm† in Bangladesh) it was not surprising that tempers were frayed and that Mr. N did not always support his wife. It is possible that he did not even recognise the signs of the pathophysiology of the post natal depression. The language difficulty persisted. The hospital services provided a translator, but this lady was not present at every occasion that Mrs. N attended the hospital and therefore she sometimes had to rely on other Bangladeshi women to translate and to help her. Clearly this was far from satisfactory. 6. Offer a conclusion with some indication of how your experience of this particular person’s needs have informed your practice and evaluate your own interactions and experience with the client/user/patient and their carers. For further details on submitting assessments, pass requirements and other information please refer to the separate assessment pack. I have considered the case of Mrs. N at great length and reflected on its implications for my personal practice. (Palmer 2005). It is with some sadness that I look back. It seems clear that Mrs. N had a number of circumstances relevant to her post natal depression which were largely beyond her control. The fact that her â€Å"world† was uprooted while she was in the early stages of pregnancy and she was transported to a culture that was alien to anything that she had previously known, clearly was a major de-stabilising factor for her. The factors which could have been changed would have to be the fact that an empathetic translator could have been present at every interaction with the healthcare professionals and this might have not only eased her problems but might have given the healthcare professionals a reciprocal insight into her predicament. With her past history, one might reasonably deduce that she had a number of major risk factors for post natal depression and therefore it should have been actively considered from the point of delivery. There is a considerable body of evidence which suggests that the earlier post natal depression is positively diagnosed and aggressively treated, the less severe its eventual trajectory becomes. (Dennis C L 2005). The language difficulties, inexperience of cultural difficulties and a reluctance on the part of Mrs. N to seek help all contributed to her post natal depression reaching quite a severe level before it was finally recognised. References Asten P, M. N. Marks, and M. R. Oates (2004) Aims, measures, study sites and participant samples of the Transcultural Study of Postnatal Depression. The British Journal of Psychiatry, February 1, 2004; 184 (46): s3 s9. CEMD (2001) Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths Why Mothers Die 1997 – 1999. The Fifth Report of the UK Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Cox, J. L. (2006) Perinatal mental disorders – a cultural approach. International Review of Psychiatry, 8, 9 -16. Dennis C L (2005) Psychosocial and psychological interventions for prevention of postnatal depression: systematic review. BMJ 2005; 331: 15 (2 July), Findley, Carther Vaughn and John Alexander Rothney (2006). Twentieth-century World. Sixth edition, p. 14. Gautam, S., Nijhawan, M. Gehlot, P. S. (1992) Post partum psychiatric syndromes: an analysis of 100 consecutive cases : Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 24, 383 386. Kit, L. K., Janet, G. Jegasothy, R. (1997) Incidence of postnatal depression in Malaysian women. Journal of Obstetric and Gynaecology Research, 23, 85 89. Kumar, R. (2004) Postnatal mental illness: a transcultural perspective. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 29, 250 264 Mari, J., Sen, B. Cheng, T. A. (1999) Case definition and case identification in cross-cultural perspective. In The Scope of Epidemiological Psychiatry (eds P. Williams, G. Wilkinson K. Rawnsley). London : Routledge. 1999 Marks, M. N., Wieck, A., Checkly, S. A., et al (1992) Contribution of psychological and social factors to psychotic and non-psychotic relapse after childbirth in women with previous histories of affective disorder : Journal of Affective Disorders, 24, 253 263. Murray, J. Cooper, P. J. (2003) The impact of postpartum depression on child development. In Aetiological Mechanisms in Developmental Psychopathology (ed. I. Goodyer). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003 OHara, M. W. Swain, A. M. (1996) Rates and risk of postpartum depression – a meta-analysis : International Review of Psychiatry, 8, 37 54. Palmer (2005) in Learning about reflection from the student Bulpitt and Martin Active Learning in Higher Education. 2005 ; 6 : 207 217. Pillsbury, B. L. K. (1998) ‘Doing the month’: confinement and convalescence of Chinese women after childbirth. Social Science and Medicine, 12, 11 22. Seel, R. M. (1996) Birth rite. Health Visitor, 59, 11 22. Shaheen R, Andres de Francisco, Shams El Arifeen, Eva-Charlotte Ekstrà ¶m, and Lars Ã…ke Persson (2006) Effect of prenatal food supplementation on birth weight: an observational study from Bangladesh. Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Jun 2006; 83: 1355 1361. Stern, G. Kruckman, L. (1983) Multidisciplinary perspectives on postpartum depression: an anthropological critique. Social Science and Medicine, 17, 1027 -1041. Tseng, W. Hus, J. (2001) Culture and Family: Problems and Therapy. New York: Haworth Press. ################################################################ 1.7.08 Word count 3,070 PDG

Essay --

Nowadays, the amount of people who want and able to be a teacher has been lesser and lesser from time to time. It is because teaching is a very hard and stressful job and it has been considered as the one of the top five hard jobs in the world (Lewis 2014). Work stress is the stress occurred at work, is the ‘natural’ limit of human endurance and ability to recover, is the product of the unsustainable pressures and requires placed on the worker by late capitalism (Wainwright & Calnan 2002). The occupational stress is associated with reduced productivity, impaired employee, worker turnover, well-being and absenteeism (McCormick 1995). The signs of stress of a teacher can be in physical, psychological and behavioral form (Wainwright & Calnan 2002). For example, the symptoms are block out new information, involve themselves only superficially, display in appropriate humor and some more else. These signs of stress may cause by the work conditions, workload, job insecurity and relationships at work (Edworthy 2000). There are three simple methods for teachers to handle their stress, such as having a good time management, a healthy lifestyle, and right attitude. Teachers contribute most of their time in teaching, so it is important for teachers to deal with their time smartly (Dean 2013). Teachers will feel stress in their teaching if they are not able to arrange their time well. It is because teachers need to spend most of their time to focus and prepare for their lessons. For example, teachers need to cover the chapters for the next day lessons, and prepare the studies materials at night. Without preparations and knowledge for the next day lesson, teachers may nervous and do not know how to answer the questions asked by students. Moreov... ...as naughty students, lazy students, smart students and some more else. Those students who have bad attitudes may make teachers angry and scold them. So, in this kind of situation, teachers can try to give a chance more to those students and forgive their bad behavior towards teachers. This action may build the trust again between teachers and students, and teachers can have lesser stress from this forgiveness situation compared to the scolding situation. As a conclusion, teachers should learn some tips for helping themselves to cope with their stress at work, and should not bring the stress back home, and share together with their families. They should have the happy moments with their families after their working time. Teachers may also share their happiness with their students in classes. Lastly, teachers are mighty and their contributions should be appreciated. Essay -- Nowadays, the amount of people who want and able to be a teacher has been lesser and lesser from time to time. It is because teaching is a very hard and stressful job and it has been considered as the one of the top five hard jobs in the world (Lewis 2014). Work stress is the stress occurred at work, is the ‘natural’ limit of human endurance and ability to recover, is the product of the unsustainable pressures and requires placed on the worker by late capitalism (Wainwright & Calnan 2002). The occupational stress is associated with reduced productivity, impaired employee, worker turnover, well-being and absenteeism (McCormick 1995). The signs of stress of a teacher can be in physical, psychological and behavioral form (Wainwright & Calnan 2002). For example, the symptoms are block out new information, involve themselves only superficially, display in appropriate humor and some more else. These signs of stress may cause by the work conditions, workload, job insecurity and relationships at work (Edworthy 2000). There are three simple methods for teachers to handle their stress, such as having a good time management, a healthy lifestyle, and right attitude. Teachers contribute most of their time in teaching, so it is important for teachers to deal with their time smartly (Dean 2013). Teachers will feel stress in their teaching if they are not able to arrange their time well. It is because teachers need to spend most of their time to focus and prepare for their lessons. For example, teachers need to cover the chapters for the next day lessons, and prepare the studies materials at night. Without preparations and knowledge for the next day lesson, teachers may nervous and do not know how to answer the questions asked by students. Moreov... ...as naughty students, lazy students, smart students and some more else. Those students who have bad attitudes may make teachers angry and scold them. So, in this kind of situation, teachers can try to give a chance more to those students and forgive their bad behavior towards teachers. This action may build the trust again between teachers and students, and teachers can have lesser stress from this forgiveness situation compared to the scolding situation. As a conclusion, teachers should learn some tips for helping themselves to cope with their stress at work, and should not bring the stress back home, and share together with their families. They should have the happy moments with their families after their working time. Teachers may also share their happiness with their students in classes. Lastly, teachers are mighty and their contributions should be appreciated.

Impact of Technology on Family Life Essay example -- Sociology Essays

Impact of Technology on Family Life I think that technology has had both positively and negatively impacted the family life in our society. But I think the positive effects out way the negative ones. In this term paper I will focus on how cell phones, internet, and home security systems. These are only a few of the technology that has affected family life. I will first talk about the positive effects then I will explain the negative effects. Communication has had a big impact on family life in our society. Cell phones have become very popular in the past few years. One big cell phone that has been very popular with younger generations is the Nextel cell phones. One reason for this is because the Nextel phone has two way radios built into them. This makes it very easy for someone to talk to another person, you don’t have to dial up their number you just find their name and then push the button and then talk to them. Everyone in my family owns a Nextel phone. My parents got my brother’s and me phones so that they could get a hold of us easier when we went away. When I was in high school they were nice because I could call my parents and tell them where I was going and let them know when I was going to be home. Since cell phones are made smaller these days they are easier to carry around and much more convenient then trying to find a pay phone and then worrying if you have money for the pay phone. The internet has a positive impact much like cell phones. By this I am mainly talking about email and instant messenger. Email has had a huge impact on family life because it allows families to write each other that might not be able to talk to each other very often. Most email are free this is ... ...lso many other sites on the internet that are dangerous such as online gambling sites that say you can win lots of money. With these types of sites and many other sites that want you to give up personal information such as credit cards numbers, pin numbers, or social security number you have to be very careful and make sure that the site is a creditable site. There really isn’t too many things that I can say are negative about having a home security system because it will keep your family safe. The only ones that I can think of would be maybe the headache of insulting it. Another one is that it now a days people have to get home security systems. These are just a few ways technology has affected the family life in our society, but there are many more then the one that I have told you about in this paper. And there are many more to come in the future. Impact of Technology on Family Life Essay example -- Sociology Essays Impact of Technology on Family Life I think that technology has had both positively and negatively impacted the family life in our society. But I think the positive effects out way the negative ones. In this term paper I will focus on how cell phones, internet, and home security systems. These are only a few of the technology that has affected family life. I will first talk about the positive effects then I will explain the negative effects. Communication has had a big impact on family life in our society. Cell phones have become very popular in the past few years. One big cell phone that has been very popular with younger generations is the Nextel cell phones. One reason for this is because the Nextel phone has two way radios built into them. This makes it very easy for someone to talk to another person, you don’t have to dial up their number you just find their name and then push the button and then talk to them. Everyone in my family owns a Nextel phone. My parents got my brother’s and me phones so that they could get a hold of us easier when we went away. When I was in high school they were nice because I could call my parents and tell them where I was going and let them know when I was going to be home. Since cell phones are made smaller these days they are easier to carry around and much more convenient then trying to find a pay phone and then worrying if you have money for the pay phone. The internet has a positive impact much like cell phones. By this I am mainly talking about email and instant messenger. Email has had a huge impact on family life because it allows families to write each other that might not be able to talk to each other very often. Most email are free this is ... ...lso many other sites on the internet that are dangerous such as online gambling sites that say you can win lots of money. With these types of sites and many other sites that want you to give up personal information such as credit cards numbers, pin numbers, or social security number you have to be very careful and make sure that the site is a creditable site. There really isn’t too many things that I can say are negative about having a home security system because it will keep your family safe. The only ones that I can think of would be maybe the headache of insulting it. Another one is that it now a days people have to get home security systems. These are just a few ways technology has affected the family life in our society, but there are many more then the one that I have told you about in this paper. And there are many more to come in the future.

“Meditation 17” by John Donne Essay

In â€Å"Meditation 17† by John Donne, Donne uses many different methods of trying to get his message out. By using metaphors, images, and paradoxes Donne gets his message out but in a perplexing way. In order to understand what Donne is saying, this passage must read over and analyzed sentence by sentence to really see the true meaning of the excerpt. Donne uses a book as a metaphor, with man as a chapter for every part of the book and God is the author. Donne believes God controls everything and everything happens for a reason. Donne then states, â€Å"God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation.† The translations of age, sickness, war, and justice are all things that can cause death. In that case, these elements can translate human beings into spirits of heaven or to anywhere else God chooses to send them. One of the most popular metaphors Donne uses is â€Å"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.† Here Donne is trying to say that one person cannot stand-alone. Human beings need each other for survival and support. Donne then starts to talk about the death bell. He says whenever the bell tolls it is tolling for more than the one person who has died but it also is tolling for those who have been left behind to grieve over the death. Also in order to get the message across Donne uses a paradox by saying, â€Å"For affliction is a treasure.† This is a paradox because generally when you think of a treasure you don’t think of it hurting you but you think of it making you wealthy or better off but instead he uses treasure as a source of suffering. But suffering is a treasure because it can teach you things, since you suffer from mistakes; you learn from them and don’t make the same mistake twice. By saying this Donne makes suffering sometimes seem like a  good thing to have in your life. Imagery is another device used to get Donne’s message across. â€Å"One chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated† This is an image for the reason that he is presenting mankind and the death of mankind like a book. He is saying when a man dies he is not ripped away from society and forgotten but just thought of differently and every man dies (translated) in a different way although some may seem to be the same such as too people may have cancer yet it is still different because God has a unique death (translation) made out for each and every person. By using many different methods John Donne gets his message across in a complicated way that seems to draw the readers into his writing. By breaking down the passage it can be smoothly translated into an easy to read text. Not only does this make it enjoyable to read but also it has given people something to read for years and most defiantly will in the years to come.

Fiction in Henry James “Paste”

Fiction in Henry James`s â€Å"Paste† Table of Contents 1. Introduction3 2. American Modernism4 3. Henry James (1843-1916)5 4. Paste8 5. Fiction in Henry James10 6. Paste analysis12 6. Conclusion14 7. Bibliography15 1. Introduction In my term paper I will primarily discuss Henry James and his short story Paste. Firstly, I will focus on the time he wrote the story and than I will describe his life and his three major writing phrases. Next, I will go on with giving the most important of the story touching the most important point of its sources and who influenced James to such a work. The next section in the term paper is one of the most important ones because it touches all the most important things connected with fiction in James`s short story which will be a guide towards the analysis of Paste. In the analysis I will examine the narrative techniques and I will connect the discourse with the story. Finally, the term paper ends with an conclusion summing up all the relative points. 2. American Modernism The large cultural wave of Modernism, which gradually emerged in Europe and the United States in the early years of the 20th century, expressed a sense of modern life through art as a sharp break from the past, as well as from Western civilization's classical traditions. Modern life seemed radically different from traditional life — more scientific, faster, more technological, and more mechanized. Modernism embraced these changes. Technological innovation in the world of factories and machines inspired new attentiveness to technique in the arts. To take one example: Light, particularly electrical light, fascinated modern artists and writers. Posters and advertisements of the period are full of images of floodlit skyscrapers and light rays shooting out from automobile headlights, moviehouses, and watchtowers to illumine a forbidding outer darkness suggesting ignorance and old-fashioned tradition. The way the story was told became as important as the story itself. Form and structure became more important than content. Henry James, William Faulkner, and many other American writers experimented with fictional points of view. Vision and viewpoint became an essential aspect of the modernist novel as well. No longer was it sufficient to write a straightforward third-person narrative or (worse yet) use a pointlessly intrusive narrator. The way the story was told became as important as the story itself. 3. Henry James (1843-1916) [pic] Life: Henry James was born in New York City into a wealthy family. His father, Henry James Sr. , was one of the best-known intellectuals in mid-nineteenth-century America, whose friends included Thoreau, Emerson and Hawthorne. In his youth James traveled back and forth between Europe and America. From an early age James had read the classics of English, American, French and German literature, and Russian classics in translation. He studied with tutors in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna and Bonn. At the age of nineteen he briefly attended Harvard Law School, but was more interested in literature than studying law. James published his first short story, A Tragedy of Errors two years later, and then devoted himself to literature. In 1866-69 and 1871-72 he was contributor to the Nation and Atlantic Monthly where his first novel, Watch and Ward (1871) was published. James wrote it while he was traveling through Venice and Paris. After living in Paris, where James was contributor to the New York Tribune, he moved to England, living first in London and then in Rye, Sussex. During his first years in Europe James wrote novels that portrayed Americans living abroad. James's years in England were uneventful. In 1905 he visited America for the first time in twenty-five year, and wrote ‘Jolly Corner'. It was based on his observations of New York, but also a nightmare of a man, who is haunted by a doppelganger. Between 1906 and 1910 James revised many of his tales and novels for the so-called New York Edition of his complete works. It was published by Charles Scribner's Sons. His autobiography, A small boy and others (1913) was continued in Notes of a son and brother (1914). The third volume, The middle years, appeared posthumously in 1917. The outbreak of World War I was a shock for James and in 1915 he became a British citizen as a loyalty to his adopted country and in protest against the US's refusal to enter the war. James suffered a stroke on December 2, 1915. He expected to die and exclaimed: â€Å"So this is it at last, the distinguished thing! † However, James died three months later in Rye on February 28, 1916. Two novels, The Ivory Tower and The sense of the past(1917), were left unfinished at his death. James`s three writing phases after his Biographer Leon Edel: James's first, or â€Å"international,† phase encompassed such works as Transatlantic Sketches (travel pieces, 1875), The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1879), and a masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady (1881). James's second period was experimental. He exploited new subject matters — feminism and social reform in The Bostonians (1886) and political intrigue in The Princess Casamassima (1885). He also attempted to write for the theater, but failed embarrassingly when his play Guy Domville (1895) was booed on the first night. In his third, or â€Å"major,† phase James eturned to international subjects, but treated them with increasing sophistication and psychological penetration. The complex and almost mythical The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903) (which James felt was his best novel), and The Golden Bowl (1904) date from this major period. In James, only self-awareness and clear perceptio n of others yields wisdom and self-sacrificing love. Characteristic for James novels are understanding and sensitively drawn lady portraits; James himself was a homosexual, but sensitive to basic sexual differences and the fact that he was a male. His main themes were the innocence of the New World in conflict with corruption and wisdom of the Old. In James's later works, the most important events are all psychological — usually moments of intense illumination that show characters their previous blindness. Apart from writing fiction, James made important contributions to the genre of literary theories, especially through his famous essay, The Art of Fiction, 1884. g. In his early critics James considered British and American novels dull and formless and French fiction â€Å"intolerably unclean†. â€Å"M. Zola is magnificent, but he strikes an English reader as ignorant; he has an air of working in the dark; if he had as much light as energy, his results would be of the highest value. † (from The Art of Fiction) 4. Paste Two weeks after his fathers death Arthur Prime lost also his stepmother, an former actress Miss Bradshaw. After his stepmothers funeral Arthur told his cousin Charlotte to select and take some of the jewelry her aunt left. Charlotte selected a pearl necklace which seemed to her as real. Arthur felt deeply insulted with the thought that they were real and the way his stepmother as an actress could got such pearls. Charlotte apologizes and agrees with Arthur that they are paste and takes them s back to Bleet where she worked as governess. Once at a party, Mrs. Guy noticed the pearls, recognizes them as genuine and with Charlottes approval wears the string at the party. When Charlotte noticed that everybody at the party assumed they were real she insisted at the idea to return them to her cousine Arthur who still pretends to believe that they were pasteand later writes to her that he smashed them to destroy any false slur upon his family. Later however, Charlotte sees Mrs. Guz wearing a beautiful pearl string. She explained to Charlotte she bought it from a dealer to whom Arthur sold them. Charlotte was disappointed how her cousin could be so deceitful. The origin of â€Å"Paste† is rather more expressible, since it was to consist but of the ingenious thought of transposing the terms of one of Guy de Maupassant's admirable stories. The story originated from the idea of reversing the situation of de Maupassant`s La Parure, in which a supposedly genuine necklace is found to be false, by centering the action on a string of perals, thought to worthless but proved to be real. In â€Å"La Parure† a poor young woman, under â€Å"social† stress, the need of making an appearance on an important occasion, borrows from an old school friend, not much richer than herself, a pearl necklace which she has the appalling misfortune to lose by some mischance never afterwards cleared up. Her life and her pride, as well as her husband's with them, become subject, from the hour of the awful accident, to the redemption of their debt; which, effort by effort, sacrifice by sacrifice, excuses, a rage of desperate explanation of their failure to restore the missing object, they finally obliterate–all to find that their whole consciousness and life have been convulsed, that the pearls were an â€Å"imitation† and that their passionate apology has ruined them for nothing. According to Henry James and his theory of fiction Guy de Mauppasant holds that we have no universal measure of the truth and that there are many different classes of fiction which help us to understand that the particular way we see the world is our particular illusion about it. 5. Fiction in Paste and Henry James Henry James`s conception of writing fiction is defined in these words: â€Å"A novel is, in its broadest definition, a personal, a direct impression of life, that, to begin with, constitutes its value, which is greater or less according to the intensity of the impression. But there will be no intensity at all, and therefore, no value, unless there is freedom to feel and say. † In his treatment of subject matter, James felt that no aspect of life should be excluded. He said that â€Å"the province of art is all life, all feeling, all observation, all vision †¦ it is all experience. That is a sufficient answer to those who maintain that it must not touch the sad things of life †¦ † James's style of writing is magnificent and his canvas is broad – encompassing both Europe and America. He is a master of character portrayal and has extensively used the â€Å"stream of consciousness† method in his fictional writing. Julie Rivkin explains the term as a radiating luminous intelligence which integrated the â€Å"felt life† into fiction. Perhaps more than any previous writer, James refined the technique of narrating a novel from the point of view of a character, thereby laying the foundations of modern stream of consciousness fiction. Henry James produced one hundred and twelve stories and majority of them have been ignored or dismissed as a tributary to the mainstream of his novels. James creative energies were devoted equally into his novels, essays and his short stories, which means that also the stories deserved critical research as his novels or essays. James wrote about Guy de Maupassant that he will be remembered because of his more than hundred tales he wrote and not on his half a dozen novels meaning probably that he wanted to state that his whish would be to remember him himself also because of his novels and his short stories. 6. Paste analysis Henry James is grappling with the idea of keeping the story under 7,000 words. Part of this struggle develops from his idea seemingly having too much to say, but the notebook entry also leans towards the difficulty of being able to create a diverse enough idea to actually have a story within this space. James seems to be attempting to begin answering what is the short story: â€Å"†¦but to do anything worth while with it I must †¦ be very clear as to what it is in it and what I wish to get out of it. †¦ It must be a picture; it must illustrate something. † This also refers back to that that the writer needs to avoid a simple summary of events and the reader must encounter a story within the sketch structure. Within James’ description of the story he intends to work on, he places a great deal of emphasis on contrast to relay his story. Paste is one of the few tales in which James successfully approaches Maupassant`s technique, allowing the objective action of the tale to reveal all its characters and values. The plot is swiftly set in motion, on the day of his stepmothers` funeral , Arthur allows his cousin Charlotte to take one peace of stage jewelry, she picks out some paste pearls which she honorably returns to Arthur when she founds out they are real. Arthur being a prudish stepson is greedy enough to sell the pearls , while he wrote her cousin he destroyed them. As so often in this tales, the professional virtuous are exposed as utterly fraudulent and the decent people as Charlotte as selfless fools. Only Mrs. Guy which with her name remembers us on Guy de Maupassant is one of James`s innumerable versions of the Madame Merle- type competent wordly woman with an innocent look and a strong authority manages to a short while to win the reader`s thoughts. Paste is told by an omniscient third-person narrator, who refrains from judging the characters or their actions. The narrator does have access to the characters' thoughts, but for the most part, the narrator simply describes the events of the story, leaving it up to the reader to determine the nature of the characters through their actions. Most of all, the narrator is concerned with Charlotte Prime. The moral dimension is most obvious in what appears to be James`s confident insistence on the reality of moral evil, motivated by egoism and by self-sacriface, especially sacrifice of own happiness. Charlotte insisted on the problem of sacrifice and she does not act for her own good, she wants to be fair and returns the pearls to her greedy cousin and when she founds out that he sold them she asks her self why was she so moral and truthful James`s characters, especially Charlotte, are presented as they having a very difficult time to simply trying to understand what they most need to understand- their own and others intentions or motives. The major themes in the story are paste, greed, losing moral values, truth vs. lie. All the themes are connected with a symbol in the story. Paste meaning the farce which Arthur plays toward his cousin, implying that things are not always what they seem to be. All the themes are connected with transition from innocence and naivety to experience. Development of Charlotte Prime in Paste Charlotte Prime is a governess in a little town called Bleet and the role of a governess in Victorian times was not a popular figure in Victorian England. The governess did not have a social position worthy of attention. The problem existed in them that aristocrats and middle-class Victorians were not sure how to treat the governess because she was in many cases also from the same class as they were, but her lack of financial stability made them view her as she were from the lower class. To work as a governess in Victorian times was justified by the society only if she found herself in financial distress or had no relatives to give her support. From the story it is noticeable that Charlotte Prime was also working as a governess because her bad financial situation 6. Conclusion The main aim of this research paper was to show how James dealt with fiction in his short stories, especially in Paste. James was fascinated to be challenged with writing short stories. He knew that had to take one single incident and his fiction does not generally lend itself to a close examination or its values are diffuse, the structure is often loose, its effects depend on stock devices and responses. That means that a plot need be no more than a string of stock devices for arousing stock responses of concern and excitement in the reader. The reader’s interest may be captured t the outset by the promise of conflicts or mysteries or frustrations that will eventually be resolved, and he will gladly—so strong is his desire to be moved or entertained—suspend criticism of even the most trite modes of resolution. 7. Bibliography 1. Baldev Vaid, Krishna (1964). Technique in the tales of Henry James. Cambridge: HUP Press 2. Gale L. , Robert (1965). Plots and Characte rs in the Fiction of Henry James. Hamden:The Shoe String 3. Pippin, Robert B. ( 2000). Henry James and modern moral life. Cambridge: HUP 4. Putt, S. Gorley (1966). Henry James. A reader`s Guide. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.