Gwamaka Mahenya, Grade 9
UWCSA (Waterford)
Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. It is an academic discipline of immense scope and is incredibly intricate. It is a medical field as much as it is a scientific one. Your brain is in charge of everything we do consciously and unconsciously. It is processing what your eyes see on this page into the words you have learned forehand; it is controlling your heartbeat and keeping your breathing steady. It is more complex and stronger than the most powerful computer but is more fragile and vulnerable than a newborn infant. It is everything that could possibly make up a human being apart from the basic physical aspects, but yet it is still one of the least known about organs in the body and objects in our world. The field of psychology has obviously made relative bounds forward since the beginning of it being recognized as a separate science but is still miles away from the end. When studying psychology and the workings of the brain, in a sense, is studying itself. Now as confusing and perplexing as the study may seem, it is interesting for the same exact reasons. Your brain is the most powerful muscle in your body, but only if you learn to use it and attempt to understand it.
The brain is compounded into three major parts; the brainstem, cerebellum, and the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the main part of the brain and is divided into two hemispheres; each as well is divided up into 4 lobes responsible for a different part of the daily lives we all take for granted. The frontal lobes are responsible for thinking, memory, behavior, and movement; this is usually the most well-known and is at the front of your skull. Your temporal lobes are located underneath the frontal lobes and are in charge of processing your hearing, how you learn new information, and how you regulate your emotions. At the back of your brain are the parietal and occipital lobes in charge of language, touch, and sight, respectively.
A common misconception by most is that things like psychological disorders and mental health issues are intangible and purely in your mind lacking a physical origin. This, however, is a false interpretation. Everything psychological is biological. An accident to the occipital lobe tasked with processing the light filtered through our eyes could lead to cases like visual agnosia. A disorder where a person can find themselves unable to recognize the things in front of them. It is not blindness, but it inhibits your ability to decipher the things you see. Neurologist Oliver Sacks writes about a specific case study in his book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And other clinical stories. He talks about a patient he refers to as ‘Dr.P’ who suffers from visual agnosia, this is an illness that inhibits the brain from being able to process and recognize the things that he saw who, as the title describes, once mistook his wife for a hat. He commonly becomes confused with what is going around him and can sometimes be found talking to lampposts and seeing fire hydrants as children. Understanding the way the different parts of the brain works and how it reacts and responds to situations and stimuli is one of the driving forces of psychology.
The most studied and arguably, the most important branch of psychology is the area of mental health and the tackling of psychological disorders. This is where therapy and psychiatric hospitals come into play. Famous psychologist Sigmund Freud made his name in the late 19th century and early 20th for his role in founding the schools of thoughts in behaviorism and psychoanalysis. He played a pivotal role in emphasizing the significance of unconscious processes and proposed the existence of an unconscious element in the mind that influences consciousness and conflicts in it between various sets of forces. He paved the way for psychologists today and was the mind behind many of the ideas that form the field itself, although his theory of the sexual origin of neuroses aroused great controversy. A more popular psychological theory would be from the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (published in 1943) denoted 5 levels of human needs, each more intricate than the last. In brief, in this series of needs, a human being will only worry about 1 tier when they have already been satisfied with the one before it. The needs in order from bottom to top are: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.
Psychology is one of the most important social sciences because it will not be needed. 1 in every 5 people will be diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lives, and on average, only 41% of them will receive professional healthcare and other services. 1 person commits suicide every 40 seconds accounting for 800,000 deaths worldwide each year, and according to WHO, for every 1 adult that dies, there an estimate of 20 more that attempt suicide. Half of all mental illnesses begin to take form at the age of 14, and in the United States, it was the second leading cause of death between the ages of 10-34.
Mental illnesses are surrounded by stigma simply because they are not as ‘concrete’ as physical illnesses. In many underdeveloped countries like my own homeland Tanzania, dismiss those with depression and anxiety disorders and wrongly admit people into psychiatric wards from where they are likely to never be released from, and their conditions become worse. Psychology allows us to channel the brain’s greatest powers and understand the trauma we deal with. It is impossible to live a full life if you don’t know what you don’t have.
To support mental health, we have to be able to strip away the stigma and discrimination of mental health in our societies. To get people to open up about their problems rather than stuff them away. Transparency through struggles is vital to the healing process. It is more helpful to speak to a professional about matters but at the least opening up to a friend or family member is enough to alleviate the stress. Have someone you can trust and turn to in times of need. Power over your mind is power over the body and soul. If you surrender one, the rest will soon follow.
The brain is compounded into three major parts; the brainstem, cerebellum, and the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the main part of the brain and is divided into two hemispheres; each as well is divided up into 4 lobes responsible for a different part of the daily lives we all take for granted. The frontal lobes are responsible for thinking, memory, behavior, and movement; this is usually the most well-known and is at the front of your skull. Your temporal lobes are located underneath the frontal lobes and are in charge of processing your hearing, how you learn new information, and how you regulate your emotions. At the back of your brain are the parietal and occipital lobes in charge of language, touch, and sight, respectively.
A common misconception by most is that things like psychological disorders and mental health issues are intangible and purely in your mind lacking a physical origin. This, however, is a false interpretation. Everything psychological is biological. An accident to the occipital lobe tasked with processing the light filtered through our eyes could lead to cases like visual agnosia. A disorder where a person can find themselves unable to recognize the things in front of them. It is not blindness, but it inhibits your ability to decipher the things you see. Neurologist Oliver Sacks writes about a specific case study in his book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And other clinical stories. He talks about a patient he refers to as ‘Dr.P’ who suffers from visual agnosia, this is an illness that inhibits the brain from being able to process and recognize the things that he saw who, as the title describes, once mistook his wife for a hat. He commonly becomes confused with what is going around him and can sometimes be found talking to lampposts and seeing fire hydrants as children. Understanding the way the different parts of the brain works and how it reacts and responds to situations and stimuli is one of the driving forces of psychology.
The most studied and arguably, the most important branch of psychology is the area of mental health and the tackling of psychological disorders. This is where therapy and psychiatric hospitals come into play. Famous psychologist Sigmund Freud made his name in the late 19th century and early 20th for his role in founding the schools of thoughts in behaviorism and psychoanalysis. He played a pivotal role in emphasizing the significance of unconscious processes and proposed the existence of an unconscious element in the mind that influences consciousness and conflicts in it between various sets of forces. He paved the way for psychologists today and was the mind behind many of the ideas that form the field itself, although his theory of the sexual origin of neuroses aroused great controversy. A more popular psychological theory would be from the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (published in 1943) denoted 5 levels of human needs, each more intricate than the last. In brief, in this series of needs, a human being will only worry about 1 tier when they have already been satisfied with the one before it. The needs in order from bottom to top are: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.
Psychology is one of the most important social sciences because it will not be needed. 1 in every 5 people will be diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lives, and on average, only 41% of them will receive professional healthcare and other services. 1 person commits suicide every 40 seconds accounting for 800,000 deaths worldwide each year, and according to WHO, for every 1 adult that dies, there an estimate of 20 more that attempt suicide. Half of all mental illnesses begin to take form at the age of 14, and in the United States, it was the second leading cause of death between the ages of 10-34.
Mental illnesses are surrounded by stigma simply because they are not as ‘concrete’ as physical illnesses. In many underdeveloped countries like my own homeland Tanzania, dismiss those with depression and anxiety disorders and wrongly admit people into psychiatric wards from where they are likely to never be released from, and their conditions become worse. Psychology allows us to channel the brain’s greatest powers and understand the trauma we deal with. It is impossible to live a full life if you don’t know what you don’t have.
To support mental health, we have to be able to strip away the stigma and discrimination of mental health in our societies. To get people to open up about their problems rather than stuff them away. Transparency through struggles is vital to the healing process. It is more helpful to speak to a professional about matters but at the least opening up to a friend or family member is enough to alleviate the stress. Have someone you can trust and turn to in times of need. Power over your mind is power over the body and soul. If you surrender one, the rest will soon follow.
Bibliography
https://www.verywellmind.com/psychology-4014660
http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatbrain.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2190246/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oliver-Sacks
https://www.verywellmind.com/major-branches-of-psychology-4139786
https://www.scientificworldinfo.com/2019/11/the-importance-of-psychology-in-our-daily-lives.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-hierarchy-needs
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/psychodynamic-perspectives-on-personality/
https://www.cram.com/essay/Sigmund-Freuds-Theory-Of-Behaviorism/PCWAQWF2G6
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stigma-and-discrimination
https://www.verywellmind.com/ways-psychology-can-help-live-a-better-life-2795615
https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/30/kim-noble-woman-with-100-personalities
https://www.medicaldaily.com/blind-woman-dissociative-identity-disorder-spontaneously-regains-vision-few-her-10-363300
https://www.verywellmind.com/psychology-4014660
http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatbrain.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2190246/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oliver-Sacks
https://www.verywellmind.com/major-branches-of-psychology-4139786
https://www.scientificworldinfo.com/2019/11/the-importance-of-psychology-in-our-daily-lives.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-hierarchy-needs
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/psychodynamic-perspectives-on-personality/
https://www.cram.com/essay/Sigmund-Freuds-Theory-Of-Behaviorism/PCWAQWF2G6
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stigma-and-discrimination
https://www.verywellmind.com/ways-psychology-can-help-live-a-better-life-2795615
https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/30/kim-noble-woman-with-100-personalities
https://www.medicaldaily.com/blind-woman-dissociative-identity-disorder-spontaneously-regains-vision-few-her-10-363300
www.unitedworldwide.co