Anxiety Disorders



In my post about panic disorder, I described fear as an emotion that elicits the “fight-or-flight” response of the autonomic nervous system. In anxiety, unlike fear, there is no activation of the fight-or-flight response. Anxiety is a long-term response oriented towards future events rather than imminent danger. Short-lived, low levels of anxiety can be good because they help prepare a person for upcoming activities such as an exam or sports event. However, long-term high-intensity anxiety creates a state of chronic over-arousal that can lead to physical troubles such as reduced immune response (i.e. susceptibility to disease) and increased blood pressure, as described in my post about the biological effects of stress.


In generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), anxiety is chronic, excessive, and unreasonable. The excessive worry must be accompanied by at least three of six other symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance. People with GAD live in a constant state of future-oriented apprehension. They are generally hypervigilant for signs of threat and tend to engage in avoidance behaviors such as procrastination and checking. The most common worries are about family, work, finances, and personal illness. They have difficulty making decisions, and then worry endlessly about whether their decision is correct.



My anxiety diagnosis is “anxiety – not otherwise specified (NOS),” which means that my anxiety doesn’t fit into any of the cookie-cutter DSM-5 diagnoses. To me, my symptoms seem to be a combination of those described in panic disorder and those of GAD. Like in panic disorder, my anxiety symptoms seem to have no obvious stimulus, so they become associated with whatever I’m thinking about at the time of the attack. (Though unlike panic disorder my attacks never peak at pure panic – they remain at high-level anxiety.) Like GAD, however, I have difficulty making decisions and can’t stop worrying about whether I’ve made the right choice. 

As an example: during my 3-hour anxiety attack described in a previous post, my anxiety took on a very strange form. Instead of worrying about something really troubling, I began obsessing about what book I would read next – probably because that’s what I was thinking about when the anxiety attack hit. While in my physiologically aroused state (heavy breathing, pounding heart, sweating) I had to keep making list after list after list of the books I wanted to read, and reordering them by priority. Every time I made a new list, I’d calm down a little and go back to work. But within 5 minutes my anxiety would peak again, I’d have to make a new list. Rationally, I knew that what I read next was of very little import, and whatever it was I would (hopefully) thoroughly enjoy it. But for some reason my body couldn’t stop panicking, and my unconscious mind associated that anxiety with books. Luckily, I don’t have an anxiety attack every time I think about books. 🙂

Most people with GAD are able to continue with their daily activities despite their impaired ability to function. Therefore, they are less likely to request psychological treatment for their disorder. They do, on the other hand, show up in physician’s offices with medical complaints, probably partly due to unnecessary worry about their health and partly to the negative psychological repercussions of stress.

People with GAD are extremely sensitive to the feeling that they are unable to control their environments. It’s possible that teaching the patients to feel in control (or to let go of things they can’t control) will help them to moderate their own anxiety. Perhaps they should all recite the AA serenity prayer every day. 😉

God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
courage to change the things we can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

(Of course, this prayer assumes that the patient believes in God, which makes it annoying to many potential members of AA who are atheists or not of monotheistic origin. But I suppose that’s a gripe for another post.) 

This is a series of posts summarizing what I’m learning in my Abnormal Psychology course. Much of the information provided comes from reading my James N. Butcher’s textbook Abnormal Psychology. To read the other posts, follow these links: 

The Definition of Abnormal
A History of Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal Psychology in Contemporary Society
Contemporary Viewpoints on Treating Mental Illness – Biology
Contemporary Viewpoints on Treating Mental Illness – Psychology
Frontline: New Asylums
Brave New Films: This is Crazy
Clinical Mental Health Diagnosis: Biological Assessment
Clinical Mental Health Diagnosis: Psychological Assessment
Does the DSM Encourage Overmedication?
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome – The Basics
Panic Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Hoarding and Body Dysmorphic Disorders
Depression – an Overview
Personality Disorders – Clusters and Dimensions
Personality Disorders – Cluster A
Personality Disorders – Cluster B
Personality Disorders – Cluster C
Biological Effects of Stress on Your Body
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Paraphilic Disorders
Gender Dysphoria – Homosexuality and Transgender
Anxiety Disorders
Bipolar Disorder – The Basics
Suicide – An Overview

References:

Butcher, James N. Hooley, Jill M. Mineka, Susan. (2014) Chapter 6: Panic, Anxiety, Obsessions, and their Disorders. Abnormal Psychology, sixteenth edition (pp. 163-210). Pearson Education Inc.

Weekly Update Dec 6th



This was a fantastic week. I ended up November with a bang – lots of good books read and acquired. Work has been going well. Abnormal Psychology class has been going well. I had a bit of a mishap at the Red Cross when I was trying to donate platelets. They had to do quite a bit of “adjusting.” But everything came out right in the end. On Saturday, I went to the Hippie Modernism exhibit at the Walker Art Center with my boyfriend and another friend (who is pictured above with me). The exhibit was fun, but we preferred some of the other parts of the museum. The Jack Whitten exhibit was fantastic. 


Lecture Posts


Reviews
Books Completed



Film Completed
I also watched The Third Sex, which is episode 8 of season 5
of the National Geographic series Taboo
Books Acquired


The Hijra – the Trans Community of India

Communities of transsexual women called Hijra have existed in India for centuries – they began as a holy group which could bless people and places and remove the Evil Eye. But as the British colonized India, the Hijra began to be shunned and stigmatized. These communities still exist in India today, but now the Hijra are generally beggars and prostitutes. They are often shunned by their families and by society in general. Those who were once great have fallen due to Western stigma. 



I will share my thoughts about two documentaries about the Hijra. The first is called Harsh Beauty, which was distributed by Frameline, a nonprofit LGBT media arts organization: 



This hour-long documentary is almost entirely in Hindi and Tamil, with English subtitles. It is interview style – focusing on several people. These people range from holy people who ask for alms in exchange for blessings to politicians to prostitutes. Unfortunately, it appears that the former (more “presentable”) categories have very, very few people, whereas the majority of Hijra are beggars and prostitutes. 

In some ways, the trans communities in India are tighter than those in the US. In India, the Hijra live, work, and die together. They form very strong bonds. However, this also means that they do not have strong relationships with their birth families. They do not live with their families or marry (at east not conventionally, as I’ll discuss later). In fact, many have been shunned by their families, or must visit them only discretely.  

Transsexuals in the US have to jump through an amazing amount of red tape for years in order to get their surgeries, but when they have the surgery it is in a safe, sterile, finely-tuned environment. A man->woman surgery can rearrange the nerve endings to form a clitoris. Although this is a major surgery in the US, and it takes much dedication to jump through all the hoops, it seems to me that the Hijra must be even more dedicated than American trans people to get their operation:.

In India, the surgery is much more “brutal” than it is here. There’s no anesthesia (because this is a spiritual ritual). The boy stands naked in a temple looking up at his deities. Then, the guru cuts off his “manhood” (testicles and penis). There is no delicate reorganization of the nerves in this surgery. After the surgery, hot oil is poured on the wound for 41 days to help it heal. 

This procedure may make me shudder in its “brutality,” but I doubt it seems brutal at all to the Hijra community. As I said, to them it’s a spiritual experience. After the surgery, Hijra from all over the area will come to have a huge festival of celebration – because a new member of their community has been initiated. 

I would say this documentary was an excellent introduction to transsexual culture in non-Western cultures. However, because of its format (interviewees speaking in a foreign language, and very little other action), it wasn’t the most dynamic of documentaries.
3.5 stars for good coverage of an excellent topic

The second documentary I watched was The Third Sex, which was episode 10, season 5 of National Geographic’s Taboo series. 

This film had a fantastic description of a Hijra festival which takes place in Koovagam, Tamil Nadu. This festival celebrates the wedding of the god Aravan, who was destined to die in battle in one day. He prayed to be married before his death, but no woman would marry him and become a widow so quickly (widows do not have very good lives in India). So the male god Vishnu came in woman’s form and married Aravan. Every year, Hijra from all around India flock to Koovagam to celebrate their own marriage to Aravan. It is a happy marriage festival with much celebration. Then, the next day, the Hijra cover their faces in turmeric, beat their chests, wail, dress in white, and morn the death of their husband. 

Watching this documentary was a much more enjoyable experience than watching Harsh Beauty. It was more dynamic and had beautiful filmography; however, it was also more sensationalized and less realistic and informative than Harsh Beauty. Of the two, I think Harsh Beauty was the better.   
3.5 stars for dynamic filmography and interesting topic

Narcopolis, by Jeet Thayil

Narcopolis, by Jeet Thayil
Narrated by Robertson Dean 
(This is an edited version of a review I wrote for my retired blog. I’m republishing because it is timely with a documentary I’ll be reviewing on Saturday.)

In this opiate-veiled book, Thayil introduces readers to the seedy underbelly of Bombay. It begins in the 1970’s and transitions with surreality into modern-day Mumbai–which has lost not only its tradition and identity, but also it’s name. The story follows several memorable characters, all of whom fight addiction in one form or another. Addictions range from opiates to violence to sex. 
The most memorable character is Dimple, a pipe-wallah, a prostitute, and an addict. Dimple was abandoned by her mother and sold into prostitution as a child. At the age of 9, she was castrated and her penis was removed, transforming her into India’s “third sex:” a hijra. Some men specifically prefer hijra over male or female prostitutes. When we are introduced to Dimple, she is a little older, and is suffering the ill effects of her surgery–including addiction to opium, which was originally given to her as a narcotic for her pain. The story follows Dimple as she transforms from a beautiful young woman to a sickly and shriveled middle-aged woman.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into the story (I think it would be clearer after a second reading), but I think Dimple was meant to represent India. When we met Dimple, she was young and beautiful, as was the young India. She had been docked and gelded, yes, but she was beautiful, intelligent, and had potential if ONLY she could get out of her rut. Perhaps this is meant to imply that the Westerners had “docked and gelded” India (by their colonization and then partitioning of the land), but that India still had potential. She was still beautiful. But time passed, and the slow-and-easy opium life in the “best opium den in Bombay…maybe even India,” was forcibly supplanted by frightening hallucinatory “cheap” chemical-laced heroin. During this time, Dimple became increasingly sick. Likewise, India itself was getting sicker from the negative influences of modernization. As time passed, Dimple’s name changed, as did Bombay’s, and their identities were lost in the harsh new world.

This book was allegorically very deep, and I’m sure that a second, third, and fourth reading would teach me something new every time. But, unfortunately, once was enough for me. I don’t regret reading the book…it will stay with me forever. But the violence, sex, drugs, and sickening human condition described was enough for me the first time around. Don’t get me wrong, all of these negative issues were handled with graceful tact. But it was still difficult for me to read.

Now, a note on the narration: I imagine this book was a very difficult one to read aloud. Robertson chose to represent surreal quality behind the veil with an airy tone of detachment. This tone was meaningful and perhaps necessary, but some might prefer to read the book instead. For me, Robertson’s tone of detachment didn’t distract from the story once I got used to it and understood the purpose. I was happily able to engross myself in the flow. 


The Archetypal Significance of Gilgamesh, by Rivkah Scharf Kluger

The Archetypal Significance of Gilgamesh: A Modern Ancient Hero
By Rivkah Scharf Kluger
As a young student of Jung, Kluger was encouraged by her mentor to study the archetypes of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Throughout her career, she gave many lectures on the subject, and was working on this book when she died. This is Kluger’s posthumous opus about the archetypes of Gilgamesh. As you can imagine, this is a very Jungian literary analysis. Her thesis was that the Epic of Gilgamesh was a coming-of-age story in which the character developed became fully aware (or conscious). 

In the first part of the story, Gilgamesh has only an id. He is wild – forcing the men to slave night and day on his building projects. Mothers would weep at the untimely deaths of their husbands and sons who had died from overwork. Gilgamesh would rape the maidens. He would ride around on the shoulders of children (how he managed this feat, I don’t know). Enkidu, likewise, was pure id – though in a different sense. He was someone who could run with the animals because he wasn’t yet quite human. 

When Enkidu and Gilgamesh met, there was the first inkling of ego – they became conscious that there was something else to their selves besides this wild energy. But even after they fought Humbaba, they were still a little wild. They scorned Ishtar, throwing insults (and bull haunches) at this revered and dangerous goddess. They were aware of their egos – they wanted immortality through glory – but they still had no self-control. 

This insult to Ishtar was another step in their development. Ishtar was the mother goddess, as well as the sexual goddess. By insulting her, they separated themselves from their “mother figure,” thus becoming men. Granted, immature men, but men all the same. 

After insulting Ishtar and maddening some others of the gods, Enkidu died. Neither Enkidu nor Gilgamesh was ready for this turn. They had not come to grips with the reality of death. In fact, even after Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh was in denial. He waited for his friend to return until maggots fell out of Enkidu’s nose.

This realization of death was a new step in Gilgamesh’s life. He now needed to discover his superego,  which is the part of himself that would moderate the impulses of the id – his child-like, uncontrolled desires – with his ego – the part of him that was aware of the needs of the real world. Basically the superego is his conscience. 

He dressed himself as a wild-man, in some ways regressing away from his ego’s consciousness, and went on a quest for immortality. Along the way, he was tested – over and over – by gods and men. They kept telling him to turn back, his quest was pointless. But he passed all of those tests and reached his goal: Utnapishtim, the man who had survived the deluge and achieved immortality. Much to Gilgamesh’s disappointment, Utnaphishtim couldn’t tell Gilgamesh how to become immortal. But he gave Gilgamesh a plant which would restore the youth of whomever ate it. 

Instead of eating it right away, Gilgamesh decided to bring it back to his home in Uruk to share with others. Perhaps this was his first glimmer of conscience? But, of course, even this plan failed. A snake found the plant and ate it. Gilgamesh’s journey for immortality had failed. But it was not pointless. Because in that journey, Gilgamesh had gained wisdom. He’d become aware of his conscience. He was fully conscious. 

This was a very difficult book for me to read because I’m not very familiar with Jungian literary analysis. In fact, I don’t think I really processed what Kluger was saying until I tried to put it into my own words. Therefore, this book wasn’t very enjoyable to me, and it will not get a very high star rating. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good analysis, only that it wasn’t for me. 

Gender Dysphoria – Homosexuality and Transgender

In the past, there was an amazing amount of stigma against homosexuality. King Henry the VIII of England declared “the detestable and abominable vice of buggery” a felony punishable by death. It was not until 1861 that the maximum penalty in England was reduced to 10 years in prison. Similarly, in 1885, when lesbianism was about to be criminalized, Queen Victoria declared lesbianism to be impossible, and therefore there was no point in making a law against it. In the US, the last law prohibiting homosexuality was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2003. As recently as 1973, homosexuality was a diagnosable disorder in the DSM. 


However, homosexuality was accepted in non-Western cultures. For instance, in Melanesia, which is a group of islands in the South Pacific, a society called the Sambia believe that semen is important for physical growth, strength, and spirituality. They also believe that the body is only capable of creating a small amount of semen, so they must get the semen from elsewhere. In order to maintain adequate semen levels, boys exchange semen through oral sex. After puberty, the teens can penetrate the younger boys, thus providing them with semen. As the teen ages, he “transforms” into a heterosexual, and ends sexual intercourse with boys after the birth of his first child. Melanesian children who refuse such practices are considered abnormal and are therefore very rare. 

Thankfully, Western culture is beginning to accept homosexuality. In the 1960’s gay and lesbian people began to be more active for their rights. Such activist action led to increased brutality of police and homophobic citizens against homosexuals. Most recently, homosexual activity, although still highly stigmatized by some groups, is more widely accepted as within moral boundaries. Same sex marriages have become legal in all 50 states. 

Despite the removal of much of the stigma against homosexual people, there is still a shocking amount of stigma against transgender / transsexual people. In fact, trans people are the minority most likely to be killed in the US. As of October 2015, 22 transgender women have been killed in the US. Considering how rare trans people are in the US, these are shocking murder rates. 



Again, the stigma against trans people is most pronounced in Western culture. For instance, before being colonized by the British in the 18th century, transsexuals were revered as holy people who could remove the Evil Eye and bless homes and other places. But with the British also came stigma. Now, transsexual women resort mainly to begging and prostitution. (I will review a documentary on this subject on Saturday.)

In the US, transsexuals must jump through many hoops and red tape in order be approved for surgery. It is a several year-long process. The first step is to be diagnosed with “gender dysphoria” – persistent discomfort about one’s biological sex, or the belief that one should be another sex. Gender dysphoria can be diagnosed in children if six of the following characteristics are met: strong desire to be of another gender; a strong preference for cross-dressing in boys; a strong preference for cross-gender rolls; a strong preference for toys, games, and activities associated with the opposite sex; a strong preference for playmates of another gender; in boys, a strong rejection of typically masculine toys and activities; a strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy; a strong desire for the sex characteristics of the opposite gender. 

Generally, boys with gender dysphoria more often turn out to be homosexual than transexual; however, the large majority of adults with gender dysphoria develop this characteristic as a child. Given that most children with gender dysphoria grow into emotionally healthy adults, there is some controversy about the inclusion of child gender dysphoria in the DSM-5. In fact, when children with gender dysphoria are brought in for counselling, it is often the parents who receive the most counseling. 

In adults, gender dysphoria can be diagnosed if two of the following traits are present: an incongruence between the person’s sexual gender and his perceived gender; a strong desire to be rid of one’s sex characteristics; a strong desire for the sex characteristics of the opposite sex; a strong desire to be of the other gender; a strong desire to be treated as the other gender; a strong conviction that one has feelings of the other gender. 

After an adult is diagnosed with gender dysphoria, he must undergo years of therapy, including a year of living as the other sex. Only after all these years of hard work can the transsexual be approved by insurance for gender reassignment surgery. 

Disclaimer: I apologize for the male (or male->female) leaning of this post. I’m making these posts to help me study for my Abnormal Psychology class, and the book was mainly about men on this subject. 

This is a series of posts summarizing what I’m learning in my Abnormal Psychology course. Much of the information provided comes from reading my James N. Butcher’s textbook Abnormal Psychology. To read the other posts, follow these links: 

The Definition of Abnormal
A History of Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal Psychology in Contemporary Society
Contemporary Viewpoints on Treating Mental Illness – Biology
Contemporary Viewpoints on Treating Mental Illness – Psychology
Frontline: New Asylums
Brave New Films: This is Crazy
Clinical Mental Health Diagnosis: Biological Assessment
Clinical Mental Health Diagnosis: Psychological Assessment
Does the DSM Encourage Overmedication?
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome – The Basics
Panic Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Hoarding and Body Dysmorphic Disorders
Depression – an Overview
Personality Disorders – Clusters and Dimensions
Personality Disorders – Cluster A
Personality Disorders – Cluster B
Personality Disorders – Cluster C
Biological Effects of Stress on Your Body
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Paraphilic Disorders
Gender Dysphoria – Homosexuality and Transgender
Anxiety Disorders
Bipolar Disorder – The Basics
Suicide – An Overview

References:

Butcher, James N. Hooley, Jill M. Mineka, Susan. (2014) Chapter 12: Sexual Variance, Abuse, and Dysfunctions. Abnormal Psychology, sixteenth edition (pp. 405-442). Pearson Education Inc.

The Three Sisters, by Sonia Halbach

The Three Sisters (The Krampus Chronicles Book 1), by Sonia Halbach
This book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange 
for a fair and honest review. 
Every Christmas Eve, Maggie has the same dream. Santa is walking on the top of her grandfather’s manor, when suddenly he slides off the end. But this year is different. This year, it’s a nightmare in which he is pushed by something sinister. Awakened from her dream, she decides to go sledding – ending up in an accident that leads to meeting the handsome (but older) Henry. Henry has come with strange claims: that Maggie’s grandfather, who is well known for writing the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, had plagiarized his poem. 


While exploring the mansion for proof of plagiarism, Henry and Maggie are accidentally swept into a strange underground village named Poppel – a village strangely resembling Santa’s fabled home. But not all is right in Poppel. It is ruled by tyrants called the Garrison, and Nikolaos is missing. She and Henry must find three hidden objects before the end of Christmas Eve, or else Maggie, Henry and their families are in terrible danger – as is the hidden village of Poppel. 

This was a refreshingly unique story based on the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and Alpine German folklore of the anti-Santa named Krampus. Who knew a world could be built just around such a short poem? And I’d never heard of Krampus before reading this book. (Of course, just yesterday I went to the theaters and found out that a movie named Krampus is soon to be released, though there seems to be no relation between the two.) I really enjoyed reading this book. It was cute, adventurous, and had a tad of romantic tension. And one thing I really loved about this book is that the story was complete at the end. That is the perfect beginning to a series, as far as I’m concerned. I will definitely watch for the next in the series. 

4 snowflakes for creativity, action, romance, and fun

Paraphilic Disorders

Paraphilias are sexual behavior patterns in which unusual objects, rituals, or situations are required for full sexual satisfaction. And yes, believe it or not, paraphilic disorders are diagnosable in the DSM-5. But in order to have a disorder, you can’t just be turned on by unusual situations – it has to involve suffering or humiliation of yourself or others. (Though unfortunately, the suffering may be caused by stigma within society.) I will list several paraphilic disorders and discuss each: 

Fetishistic Disorder: Individual has recurrent sexually arousing fantasies, urges, and behaviors involving inanimate objects (i.e. women’s underwear) or parts of the body (e.g. feet). People with fetishes are generally men. 

Transvestic Disorder: Hetreosexual men who must be wearing women’s clothes in order to experience full sexual experience. 

Voyeuristic Disorder: Individuals with voyeuristic disorder have intense sexual fantasies and behaviors of watching women undress or watching the sexual activities of others. People with this disorder are generally young men. 

Exhibitionist Disorder: These individuals have intense sexual desire and behavior to sexually expose themselves to others. This generally is a man exposing himself to a young, unsuspecting woman; but sometimes they expose themselves to children. 

My dad tells the story that one time he was standing in a check-outline for groceries, and a man laid it all out on the cashier’s countertop. Cool as a cucumber, and without even glancing at the man, she rang up a can of food and then whammed it down hard on…well, you know where. That man was hauled out in an ambulance. Sometimes bad decisions are made. 

Frotteuristic Disorder: In frotteuristic disorder, someone is sexually excited by rubbing his genitals against an unwilling participant. I originally became familiar with this one due to a series of incidents (twice involving myself) with a coworker in retail. Very, very gross. Ick. But it was an experience to learn a new word when my dad was like “Oh! there’s a disorder for that!”

Sexual Sadism Disorder: The term “sadism” derives from the Marquis de Sade who got great sexual excitement out of inflicting cruelty upon people. Similarly, an individual with sadism disorder is aroused by psychologically or physically abusing someone. When sadism is inflicted upon a willing participant, it is not considered a disorder. But some sexual sadists inflict it upon partially or fully unwilling people.

Sexual Masochism Disorder: The term “masochism” is based on a fictional character created by Leopold V. Sacher-Masoch. In masochism disorder, an individual must get intense sexual pleasure from fantasizing about or indulging in the experience of pain.

Sado-masochistic relationships can be healthy and cooperative, within reason; however, masochism can lead to humiliating experiences and sometimes death. 
This is a series of posts summarizing what I’m learning in my Abnormal Psychology course. Much of the information provided comes from reading my James N. Butcher’s textbook Abnormal Psychology. To read the other posts, follow these links: 

The Definition of Abnormal
A History of Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal Psychology in Contemporary Society
Contemporary Viewpoints on Treating Mental Illness – Biology
Contemporary Viewpoints on Treating Mental Illness – Psychology
Frontline: New Asylums
Brave New Films: This is Crazy
Clinical Mental Health Diagnosis: Biological Assessment
Clinical Mental Health Diagnosis: Psychological Assessment
Does the DSM Encourage Overmedication?
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome – The Basics
Panic Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Hoarding and Body Dysmorphic Disorders
Depression – an Overview
Personality Disorders – Clusters and Dimensions
Personality Disorders – Cluster A
Personality Disorders – Cluster B
Personality Disorders – Cluster C
Biological Effects of Stress on Your Body
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Paraphilic Disorders
Gender Dysphoria – Homosexuality and Transgender
Anxiety Disorders
Bipolar Disorder – The Basics
Suicide – An Overview
References:

Butcher, James N. Hooley, Jill M. Mineka, Susan. (2014) Chapter 12: Sexual Variance, Abuse, and Dysfunctions. Abnormal Psychology, sixteenth edition (pp. 405-442). Pearson Education Inc.

November 2015 Review

This was a good month. I had three Thanksgiving celebrations: one with my cousins in Iowa, one with my boyfriend’s family, and one with my own family & boyfriend. They were all a wonderful time. I’m pleased with my progress in my Abnormal Psychology class, work is going uneventfully, and I was very active on my blog. I tried to alternate between “lecture” posts and book review posts this month.


I participated in Nonfiction November with the ladies at  Doing Dewey, Sophisticated Dorkiness, I’m Lost in Books, and Regular Rumination. During the month, I read 6 nonfiction books (Evil Hours, I am Malala, The Epic of Gilgamesh and Old Testament Parallels, Quiet, and The Archetypal Significance of Gilgamesh) and reviewed 7. I also enjoyed reading science fiction along with Rinn Reads. I was only able to read 2 science fiction books (The Martian and Shada), and review 3. 

Next month I’ll be joining the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge hosted by The Christmas Spirit. So far, my plans are Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott; The Three Sisters, by Sonia Halbach; and The First Christmas, by Marcus Borg. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze in some more. You can see other upcoming challenges in my Challenges Tab.

I’ve been having trouble with formatting this month. If I add a link or italicize after-the-fact, it sometimes turns out really big. In past months, I could resize it, but now it won’t let me do that. It’s irritating. Any advice? 


 Abnormal Psychology Posts:

Depression – an Overview
Personality Disorders – Clusters and Dimensions
Personality Disorders – Cluster A
Personality Disorders – Cluster B
Personality Disorders – Cluster C
The Biological Effects of Anxiety on the Body
Stress and Your Body – An Introduction
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Book & Movie Reviews:

The Noonday Demon, by Andrew Solomon
Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett
Gilgamesh Translations
The Biology of Desire
The Martian, by Andy Weir
The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, by Alexander Heidel
Black Five, by J. Lynn Bailey 
Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, by Pete Earley
Quiet, by Susan Cain
Evil Hours, by David J. Morris
I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
Shada, by Douglas Adams and Gareth Roberts

Book Completed: 



Acquired:

Movies/Shows Watched: 



This update is posted to Sunday Salon, Sunday Post @CaffeinatedBookReviewer, Stacking the Shelves @Tynga’sReviews,  @MailboxMonday, It’s Monday What are You Reading @BookDate

Shada, by Douglas Adams and Gareth Roberts

Shada: Doctor Who, the Lost Adventure
By Douglas Adams and Gareth Roberts
Narrated by Lalla Ward and John Leeson

Shada is a novel tie-in to the popular TV series Doctor Who. Specifically, it is based on the screenplay (written by Douglas Adams) of an unbroadcast eighth doctor story arc.  The Doctor, Romana, and K-9 go to visit an old friend, Professor Chronotis, after receiving a distress signal. It turns out that Chronotis had stolen a dangerous book: The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey. All the Time Lords have heard of this book, but none of them quite seem to remember what it’s for. When the book is accidentally borrowed by a post-doc, the Doctor and Romana must find the book and keep it out of the hands of Skagra, an evil genius bent on becoming the universe. (Important distinction here – he’s not taking over the universe; he’s becoming it.) 

This is the first time I’ve ever read a novel tie-in to a show or movie. My opinion has always been that books can become movies but movies shouldn’t become books. You have to add in so much information for a TV novelization to be a good book. When I read a book, I’m not just looking for a story, I’m looking for beauty. For art. For characterization. These are things that this book did not particularly have. You knew who the characters were, after all. Why develop them? You knew about the world in which this story was taking place. No need for world building. So, in that way, the book isn’t what I’m generally looking for in a book. 

That said, this book did have humor, excitement, and familiar friends going through wild adventures. It was Doctor Who, after all, how could I not like it? 

The book was well-read – narrated by the actress who played Romana in the TV show. K-9’s voice was John Leeson, as well. So that was a very nice touch. This is my first time listening to a dramatization with sound effects. I’ve heard multiple-reader dramatizations, but never with footsteps, creaking doors, etc. It was kind of fun. Maybe I’ll try something like this out again. 

I’m going to have to give this book 3.5 snowflakes because I prefer books that have more characterization and world-building. But I also recognize that this is not what tv novelizations are meant to have.