Research a mental disorder that you are unfamiliar with or that interests you. Look at how this disorder impacts a person's everyday life, well-being, and relationships. Based on these findings, reflect on the ways in which the disorder could impact a sense of dignity or the dignity that others attribute to them.
A mental illness that I am interested in learning more about is anxiety/panic attacks. There are several disorders that fall under this category but as a whole this mental illness is interesting to me since it can affect anyone. The hardest part about fully understanding this disorder is that there are different levels. All humans experience anxiety whether its a college student before a final exam, or an adult accepting a job offer that could change the rest of his/her life. Big decisions in life often cause individuals to be nervous or anxious and in situations where the person is mentally ill these symptoms are overwhelming. In the most severe cases these feelings of worry and fear interfere with an individual's ability to lead a normal life.
For me to consider how this anxiety disorder impacts an individuals everyday life is very difficult. Having the constant feelings of worry and fear would definitely tear at a person's ability to function effectively. I know myself, short periods of worry/nervous feelings are enough for me, let alone experiencing them on a daily basis. A person's well being would most definitely be harmed through experiencing these feelings often. As far a person with anxiety attacks developing relationships, I think it would be very difficult for them. If one had feelings of worry and fear all the time, relationships with others would bring about trust issues, and broken promises could cause major problems. It seems that everyday life issues that we all combat and move on from, would cause someone suffering from an anxiety disorder much anguish.
When thinking about a mental illness such as this and the impact it would have on one's dignity it is important to consider both the dignity one holds for him/herself and the dignity that others attribute to him/her.
Not being able to conduct a normal life would cause a person to have a lower self esteem, and therefore a lower sense of self dignity. By watching others carry on with their everyday routines and live life as they wish, a persons self dignity would certainly decrease. They would probably wonder, "What is wrong with me, why can't I get over these anxious feelings." The most important thing they need to think about is that its not their fault, its just a characteristic they need to work with. This brings in the idea of dignity from other people's perspectives. Sometimes I feel that society tends to think people with anxiety disorders are "making it up." In my opinion, who, other than the individual himself, can determine how much anxiety he/she is experiencing. Overall, society has a whole views individuals suffering from a mental disorder with a lower level of dignity. These individuals are thought of to be "flawed" and not "perfect" like the vision of today's ideal individual.
This is just one mental disorder that some individuals experience. In my opinion this is not the most extreme, and there are people that may be "worse off" in terms of their self dignity. The situations that all people with mental disorders experience in regards to dignity may be similar but how they affect each individual is very unique.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Human Dignity : Thinking about the Medical Side
I feel like it has been forever since my last blog so hopefully this is a smooth transition back into my weekly routine!
This week in class we will be discussing medical issues and their impact on human dignity. Whether it be about donating a kidney, extending one's life due to machines and medication, or using people's cells without them knowing it, there are tons and tons of issues that arise in the medical field. The hardest part about it for me is that when all of these new medications are founded, or new ways of reproducing cells and creating different things out of cells is created "they" make it sound like it is the best thing in the world! Everyone gets excited about it, but to me the biggest question is, it is improving the length of a life, or the quality of life.
After reading these articles its clear the main goal is to extend one's life. It doesn't matter to doctors if the patients spend their final days under the lights in an ICU or being so dependent on medication that they are not even conscious to remember them. It is just my opinion, but if I am alive, I want to feel alive. I want to be able to hold conversations, and have emotions, recognize my loved ones that will come visit, and be able to make lasting memories in my final days.
One of the articles that we read was "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". This article just really stands out to me because of how unbelievable it is. To fully comprehend that this woman's cells reproduced so quickly and that there are now so many they could wrap around the world 3 times when lined up end to end is just a little too much for me to wrap my mind around!
One of the issues this specific article addresses was when someone willingly gives up their cells, maybe by having a mole removed, this mole is no longer theirs. The doctors are then able to sell it for medical research and patients are getting upset that doctors are making money off of their cells.
This is a tough idea to struggle over since money is involved in everything, even when it is not the central focus. The idea that money is being made off of these types of business exchanges isn't exactly right or fair. However I don't believe that patients should be getting paid for having moles removed because that is just silly. I think patient's should go about their lives and have moles removed only when necessary and have cells extracted in other ways just as they would on a normal basis. After the cells are gone, they shouldn't be concerned about them because they are not a part of him/her anymore. If they cells are donated to research wonderful, hopefully something great will come from that, if they are simply thrown away, well thats ok too. The medical field is too complex and has to many if's in it for me to completely understand, so everything thats going on beyond the doctors office is too much for me to know. From the prespective of a doctor, they should not be making profits from selling cells to one another. I feel that it is inappropriate for Doctors to be making money off of something they didn't create or didn't have a large part in, they are simply the person the indivdual came to, to have it removed/extracted.
One of my favorite theorist we've read is Peter Singer, so I've decided to tie in his ideas with the view's I've formed from this weeks reading. In his book, "Rethinking Life & Death", he states, "...modern medical practice has become incompatible with belif in the equal value of all human life" (189). This gave me the thought of how do the doctors decide how much one's cells are worth. In the case where the doctor is selling a patients cells, who are they to decide how much they are worth, and in addition if someone is worth more than someone elses how can that be determined.
My thought is automatically, the price varies on the characeristics the cell has and the characterists of the human from which the cell came from. Maybe it is their hair color and body type, or maybe it is more of their genetic traits that allow them to ask for a higher price. Either way the idea of putting a price on human cells is ridiculous. Singer would agree that " the worth of human life varies" Whats interesting is that he would say someone who is not possible of mental, social, or physical interacion with other human beings is not worth much. But in the medical field, this would be the type of cells that would probably be worth the most. Research is constantly being done to control diseases and improve conditions so these are the cells that researches want, just like in Henrietta's case because her's were cancerous.
I understand that modern medicine is all about new findings and that is how we got to where we are today, but there is a certain level of ethics that should be maintained throughout this process. I am looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts in the class and seeing the conclusions we've pulled from reading this week's articles!
This week in class we will be discussing medical issues and their impact on human dignity. Whether it be about donating a kidney, extending one's life due to machines and medication, or using people's cells without them knowing it, there are tons and tons of issues that arise in the medical field. The hardest part about it for me is that when all of these new medications are founded, or new ways of reproducing cells and creating different things out of cells is created "they" make it sound like it is the best thing in the world! Everyone gets excited about it, but to me the biggest question is, it is improving the length of a life, or the quality of life.
After reading these articles its clear the main goal is to extend one's life. It doesn't matter to doctors if the patients spend their final days under the lights in an ICU or being so dependent on medication that they are not even conscious to remember them. It is just my opinion, but if I am alive, I want to feel alive. I want to be able to hold conversations, and have emotions, recognize my loved ones that will come visit, and be able to make lasting memories in my final days.
One of the articles that we read was "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". This article just really stands out to me because of how unbelievable it is. To fully comprehend that this woman's cells reproduced so quickly and that there are now so many they could wrap around the world 3 times when lined up end to end is just a little too much for me to wrap my mind around!
One of the issues this specific article addresses was when someone willingly gives up their cells, maybe by having a mole removed, this mole is no longer theirs. The doctors are then able to sell it for medical research and patients are getting upset that doctors are making money off of their cells.
This is a tough idea to struggle over since money is involved in everything, even when it is not the central focus. The idea that money is being made off of these types of business exchanges isn't exactly right or fair. However I don't believe that patients should be getting paid for having moles removed because that is just silly. I think patient's should go about their lives and have moles removed only when necessary and have cells extracted in other ways just as they would on a normal basis. After the cells are gone, they shouldn't be concerned about them because they are not a part of him/her anymore. If they cells are donated to research wonderful, hopefully something great will come from that, if they are simply thrown away, well thats ok too. The medical field is too complex and has to many if's in it for me to completely understand, so everything thats going on beyond the doctors office is too much for me to know. From the prespective of a doctor, they should not be making profits from selling cells to one another. I feel that it is inappropriate for Doctors to be making money off of something they didn't create or didn't have a large part in, they are simply the person the indivdual came to, to have it removed/extracted.
One of my favorite theorist we've read is Peter Singer, so I've decided to tie in his ideas with the view's I've formed from this weeks reading. In his book, "Rethinking Life & Death", he states, "...modern medical practice has become incompatible with belif in the equal value of all human life" (189). This gave me the thought of how do the doctors decide how much one's cells are worth. In the case where the doctor is selling a patients cells, who are they to decide how much they are worth, and in addition if someone is worth more than someone elses how can that be determined.
My thought is automatically, the price varies on the characeristics the cell has and the characterists of the human from which the cell came from. Maybe it is their hair color and body type, or maybe it is more of their genetic traits that allow them to ask for a higher price. Either way the idea of putting a price on human cells is ridiculous. Singer would agree that " the worth of human life varies" Whats interesting is that he would say someone who is not possible of mental, social, or physical interacion with other human beings is not worth much. But in the medical field, this would be the type of cells that would probably be worth the most. Research is constantly being done to control diseases and improve conditions so these are the cells that researches want, just like in Henrietta's case because her's were cancerous.
I understand that modern medicine is all about new findings and that is how we got to where we are today, but there is a certain level of ethics that should be maintained throughout this process. I am looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts in the class and seeing the conclusions we've pulled from reading this week's articles!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Meditation Reflection
After attending class last night I would just like to reflect on the mediation that we took part in. I myself have never practiced meditation, and the closest I've came to taking a yoga class is Wii in my living room!
Taking those 30 minutes of my day to forget about all of the other things going on, and really focus on the leaders instructions was so relaxing. I admit I may have dosed off at some point, but that absolute relaxation was truly amazing. Listening to other students describe their emotional experiences was different to me because the meditation didn't necessarily make me extremely happy or extremely sad, I came out feeling very mellow.
I'm sure it has the possibility to affect everyone differently, but I would like to try it again someday to see if my response is any different.
I really enjoyed the experimental learning, it was a nice change in the format of the class and I look forward to doing more of it! I am also looking forward to the coming weeks discussions as I glanced ahead in the syllabus!
I hope everyone has a nice spring break and tries to squeeze in that 1 hour of solitude!
Taking those 30 minutes of my day to forget about all of the other things going on, and really focus on the leaders instructions was so relaxing. I admit I may have dosed off at some point, but that absolute relaxation was truly amazing. Listening to other students describe their emotional experiences was different to me because the meditation didn't necessarily make me extremely happy or extremely sad, I came out feeling very mellow.
I'm sure it has the possibility to affect everyone differently, but I would like to try it again someday to see if my response is any different.
I really enjoyed the experimental learning, it was a nice change in the format of the class and I look forward to doing more of it! I am also looking forward to the coming weeks discussions as I glanced ahead in the syllabus!
I hope everyone has a nice spring break and tries to squeeze in that 1 hour of solitude!
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