Blog Post # 10: There are no such thing as happy pills

DSM classifications are bizarre. They are constantly changing (every time a new model of the DSM is released, mental illnesses get redefined and the boundaries moved). The internet gives us unfettered access to ways to empathize with, criticize, or self diagnose many of these illnesses. As illnesses are essentially invented, and individuals become aware of these illnesses, it becomes more common for individuals to be ill. Every time I read the symptoms of various things online I begin to think that I have ADD, OCD, Depression, Anxiety, Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder, and might be on the autism spectrum. Honestly, only a handful of these might even almost come close to actually applying to me, but because of the lax diagnoses prevalent in modern day society I could be diagnosed and prescribed medication for almost all of the above.

This is a fascinating shift in our society. Rather than suffering in silence, we see the emergence of a nation of hypochondriacs self-acclaiming that they are suffering from many ailments, often times mentally crippling themselves when they could have been fine had they approached their situation from a different mindset. And I am NOT claiming that the illnesses I listed above are not real and that individuals don’t suffer from them. What I’m claiming is that it makes it more difficult for individuals that are ACTUALLY suffering from these ailments to get taken seriously and receive proper treatment because of all of the falsely diagnosed individuals running rampant. Stress is a normal, natural thing. How is it that every single college student I know has “social anxiety, depression, and general anxiety disorder”??? It is not because we don’t all feel extremely nervous occasionally about social settings, or avoid social gatherings because talking to people is exhausting, and we feel downtrodden quite often as well as panicked about our assignments. No. It is because these common situations we as college students are forced into are being looked at by medical professionals and called “close enough” because they don’t want to turn someone away from treatment if they have actively sought it out.

We as a society are far too quick to turn to pills for the answer. I suggest that first we try alternative methods such as going to a trained psychiatrist, beginning a mindfulness exercise program, and reconnecting with loved ones/building stronger bonds with individuals we are close to/seeking out people with similar interests and struggles. Popping pills should be the last option, because they can have some extremely nasty side effects and can leave lasting effects as well. I know this from personal experience, and I wish I would have exhausted all other resources first before becoming a drugged-up zombie and losing a year of my life. For people in extreme cases, medication may be exactly what they need and they may need it right away. But if there is not a life-threatening impending danger then please, stray from the societal norm and seek other treatment that isn’t over-the-counter. There are no such thing as happy pills.

Blog #12 Some Assembly Required

Science, culture, rhetoric, pseudoscience, confirmation bias, framing, agenda setting, marketing, digital communication platforms, economics, politics, medicine, the environment, social media...
Yikes!! That's a whole lot of stuff to disseminate, disassemble and then attempt to reassemble into some semblance of a functional, rational whole. How did we, as a class manage to do it?!!
Well, first off Robin and Brendan constructed a course and created an environment that challenged each of us individually and collectively to examine and analyze topics in a number of disciplines and from a wide range of points of view. We drilled deep and spread out wide. They also made everyone in class feel completely safe and comfortable expressing their views and sharing knowledge from their specific domain.
As I look back, I notice that all of the work; the blog posts, debates, background reports and poster presentations built upon each other and helped fuel and further develop our in-class discussions. What resulted was an illuminating and inspiring, free exchange of ideas. I found myself considering opinions on issues that I had not previously considered or in some cases, ever been exposed to. This is a good thing. This is what proponents of a liberal arts curriculum promote as being a central tenet of liberal education.
As we have learned, social media and its architecture and algorhythms make it incredibly easy to surround ones self with like-minded people. This can and does create dangerous echo-chamber environments and fosters reified realities. This is all incredibly ironic considering that we are living currently in the supposed "Information Age."
Instead, we seem to, in many cases have create a digital world of "The Daily Me."
Further stoking the fire is the fact that we live in an American society that operates under what is essentially a two-party system of government. As a consequence, we tend to structure our debates and discussions more like aggressive confrontations between left vs right, black vs white, science vs religion creating one big culture war filled with "he said, she said" rhetoric.
In class, our debates were structured so that we were able to examine issues deeply and from various points of view, backed up with the requisite research. The result was that we shed much needed research-backed "light" on issues and created far less rhetorical "heat."
The course helped us sharpen our individual and collective critical thinking skills. It also caused us to explore the nature of our own identity and beliefs and how they in turn shape each other.
Bruno Latour lamented that he, as a writer that studied science may be partly to blame for the current state of rhetorical affairs. He admits that the language of science often has a hard time standing up to the hyperbolic, sensationalized, cocksure inflammatory rhetoric of conspiracy theorists and their like.
I personally believe that this makes it all the more important that we have courses like this one that tackle interdisciplinary issues.
Our scientists do need to have a better grasp of persuasive speaking techniques and rhetorical devices and, our non-science professionals need to have a better understanding of science, including the scientific method of hypothesis testing.
Finally, I would like to congragulate Robin on 51 highly successful years in higher education! Wow!
This is my final class at the U of M; my last post; my last project. I graduate next week.
I am extremely happy and thankful that we all got to spend this time together and, that we had such wonderful facilitators in Robin and Brendan.
Have a wonderful Summer and best of luck in all of your future endeavors!!

Blog Post #12

There were so many different topics that were brought up during this class but one that really stood out to me was the idea of prescription and over the counter medications in our water supplies. As someone that will be attending Pharmacy School the next 4 years and will be practicing as a pharmacist this was very alarming to me. It had me thinking as I go to work at the hospital and Walmart Pharmacy, what are we doing to help fix this issue. Although this issue will never completely go away, we can reduce the levels with a little work. This is an issue that I will take with me on my adventure as a pharmacist. I have come across the issue that people are wanting to dispose of left over medications appropriately but there are not enough facilities that are convenient for people to do this. Community pharmacies should try to come up with a plan on how they could set up a take back system for customers. This would be a very convenient place instead of trying to explain the one fire station across town to everyone. Although many other ideas in this class were very interesting, this one specifically stood out to me as it is something that I can take with me over my lifetime to try and make a difference.

Blog Post #9: Fear and GMO Cancer

Fear is the most powerful tool we have. Mob mentality can amplify this fear exponentially. This is why inciting panic in a public place (such as the popular idiom “yelling fire in a crowded movie theater”) was outlawed in 1919. I hold many of the arguments that individuals make against genetically modifying organisms in the category of inciting public panic. No, genetically altering a gene in corn will not make your tortilla chips cause mutations in the epithelial lining of your small intestine. There is no biological way for that to even work. But I have had this used against me as why individuals don’t trust GMO-containing food. I can understand if someone doesn’t believe in GMOs from a religious perspective, because maybe altering these genes in our lab somehow equates to “playing God” (even though we have been selecting for specific genetic traits in agriculture for thousands of years!), but you cannot argue to me that science says they will cause cancer because THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC BACKING FOR THIS. This works as a valid argument though because the general public does not have a degree in biology. They don’t understand how genetic mutations occur, that cancer is not contagious, and that our stomach acid does a pretty decent job of degrading things anyways. Fear works in mysterious ways, and mob mentality is fascinating. Also, humans have an innate sense that they are right and everyone else that does not specifically align with their views is stupid. Playing off of people’s fear of the unknown and their inability to admit they are wrong when in a confrontational situation is how absolutely stupid ideas can be argued as fact from multiple individuals. This is how people believe that eating GMOs will mutate their own genetic code. Stupid. But scary.

El Blog Fiñal -Alissa Carlson

Okay, so this class has really changed my viewpoints on a lot of things.

I currently work in a pharmacy. As you can imagine, the drug unit was really interesting for me. I think learning about medications and the addictive or non-addictive qualities it can have is super intriguing. We touched base on the female viagra (insert Simon Cowell saying "it's a no from me" here), generic vs. brand name, as well as narcotics, etc. There are so many different medications that have multiple uses that I just cannot keep straight.

I don't remember exactly if we talked about this, but I have become more and more interested in Gabapentin and medications being used for purposes other than its original discovery. For starters, it is a commonly prescribed medication that was originally used as an anticonvulsant, and can be used in people that experience seizures and pain caused by shingles. In more recent years, it has become a use for nerve pain. It all started on one day when someone called in for a refill, and he didn't know the name for the medication but stated that it was for, "Phantom limb pain." Obviously, me being relatively new, I placed the person on hold and asked my Pharmacist WTF is a phantom limb and how is pain still attached to it? So many questions, so little time. Anyway, I learned that Gabapentin can be used as an anti-psychotic as well and that many experience this sort of pain. The government is actually regulating this more because of its use as a non-narcotic for pain relief.

This is kind of messy, just like my brain, but let me just say that I found the drug unit the most interesting. Learning about interactions within the brain and the methods that companies use to get you to buy their product is fascinating and I have always found an interest in it. I think working in this field has most definitely helped me to better understand the reasons why companies brand their drug over the Target generic as well as the purposes for medications. I agree that there is an epidemic, that doctors should not be prescribing oxycodone for every type of pain, and that the female viagra is dumb.

Blog Post #12; Caitlin Barth

WAY back when

                 The first reading that discusses a condition that I will never be able to pronounce (apotemnophilia) dismayed me enough to rank as #1 for “most memorable.” In “A New Way To Be Mad” Carl Elliot describes the phenomenon of a semantic contagion through the identification and description of a condition where people feel the need to become an amputee in order to become their “true selves.” I think this very first reading could be applied to most of our work in this course.

                  Through all things within science and technology, we are constantly falling into a semantic contagion of some sort. I find our eagerness to identify as something very intriguing. Of course, as humans, we all want to belong and have an identity and shape that identity to be something magnificent, however, is it completely necessary to chop off your own limb to shape it? In my opinion, that is nowhere near worth it, but still, there are people who crave it. As Robin always said, we won’t be able to solve all the world’s problems within an hour and fifteen minutes or even in a brief blog post. However, what I do know is that humans have always, and will always, categorize the world to the point of it making us go mad.

                 There is no doubt that categorization makes our lives easier. For instance, a fork being categorized as a piece of cutlery, therefore one can find it in the cutlery drawer. Without categorization, we would be lost in a library. But classification of the world hasn’t always provided us with ease. This innate practice has also facilitated stereotypes and racism, deforestation and a warming climate. We aren’t able to visualize the interwoven nature of societies and the natural world, but rather broken up into pieces, each with its own color coated label. Maybe I’m just going off topic and ranting, but I do think that the themes that stem from Carl Elliot’s piece perfectly depict the way in which we are mad in every aspect, but at different degrees. These differing degrees of being mad is the knowledge gap between our collective inability to facilitate any type of paradigm shift in our complex societies. I hope I am making some sense here, but I’m going to stop typing before I go on another tangent. Moreover, I will never forget the condition of wanting to chop off a limb or being attracted to those without limbs.  

Final Blog

The biggest take away from this class has been the solidification of knowledge I had already been aware of across multiple different topics. For Unit One, it was the introduction to philosophical thought and theory. I’ve taken philosophical courses before, but I feel like this was the first time I was able to connect with the very dense reading we were participating in because the class was not structured like a lecture and therefore the subject manner was explained in a way I could understand and apply to the various subjects we would go on to cover over the course of the semester. In Unit Two, I enjoyed reading Economix because I had never taken an Economics course before and had a vague knowledge of how our system worked but was able to better understand the complexities thanks to the book. I also liked reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma in Unit Three because too many people buy into the thought that Organic = good or non-GMO = safer & healthier. Obviously, this is a marketing strategy but it’s good to learn more information about where the food I consume comes from so I can better inform others as well thanks to the topics we covered. In Unit Four the various articles we read studied the negative sides of technology. While I grew up with the internet and see many of the positives associated with such technology, I think it’s also important to acknowledge the negatives. It is concerning how companies like Cambridge Analytica are able to easily obtain personal information of online users then use that information to produce political content related to user’s beliefs. This investigation into the 2016 presidential election is still ongoing and frankly a roller coaster of emotions. In the history of the United States, we’ve never had a sitting president threaten to fire the chief investigator of such a serious investigation. We’ve experienced many firsts (most of them negative) with this particular sitting president but I’m hoping the last “first” will be unanimous impeachment.