Happy Halloween!

Yesterday morning I was sitting in our basement working on a paper when my housemate and her boyfriend called down to me, "Kathleen, you need to see this."

In the middle of researching, I was reluctant to head up stairs. She said something about blood being on our driveway. Initially, not too concerned. Someone earlier that morning outside our door had mentioned something about someone being "cut by glass." A quick mental sum of the facts, of course there was blood on our driveway. Wait, there was blood on our driveway.

Here's what I saw:
"And there's a bloody handprint on our garbage can." Haha, okay very funny. Have a party, get wasted, scare your neighbours and leave us to clean up the mess. Happy Halloween to us.

But no, it was real blood. Unsure of what to do, we called the police station to be safe. They followed the blood trail to a house nearby. Apparently, a girl had cut her arm and the police had actually already been there to take her to emergency. There was also a bunch of house parties on our street the night before so it wasn't a surprise. So really, not a huge deal.

All we wonder now is why people were hanging out by our side door. Maybe they were so drunk they didn't realize they were at the wrong house. Maybe that's it. Still weird though.

Have a Happy Halloween! Be safe!

Re: QA#1 response

Only about 3% of people in psychiatric institutes are said to have this, which is tiny amount seeing as it's the psychiatric population not the entire population. I assume the form of DID you are referring to is the kind that used to be called MPD because in most cases of DID the personality types act to the world in predictably similar ways, only a little bit different. Also it has been debated whether this form of DID actually exists partially because it has such a low prevalence rate.

Now looking at the prosecuting aspect it is actually worse to sentence someone to be incarcerated in a mental institution than it is to actually put people in prison in many cases. This is due to the fact that most people who's pleas of insanity are allowed eventually get lost in the system as a mental patient.

So to the question no they definitely should not be held criminally responsible. Both for reasons of precedent and because legally (especially with such a small population)the system is suppose to uphold the ideal of sparing innocent people of wrong prosecution.
Those with mental disorders need to be helped by doctors not put into a prison where their disorder will most likely be exacerbated. And those stupid enough to subject themselves to a mental institution and possibly be stuck there for the bulk of their lives and put under the (sadly) shitty care that is offered to those deemed dangerous in the mental health care system for that period of time. well too bad buddy: you are retarded (ironic statement?)

Re: Q&A 1 DID

Just because I know you're probably doing some sort of school project on this:

I can't decide, just yet. It calls upon the entire "temporary insanity" excitement. I suppose the only way you can really draw the line is with something subjective, like the DSM. It's the only preexisting diagnostic tool fit to handle this kind of conversation. Otherwise, you're going to encounter issues regarding various levels of psychosis or whatever you'd want to call it.

Take serial killers. We've proven that their brains function differently, so how can we determine that someone experiencing temporary insanity or someone suffering from DID is not liable for their actions and someone with an anatomically different brain be held accountable for killing? That's where the DSM comes in handy with a definitive yes-no in regards to whether something is classified as a syndrome.

Unfortunately, the primary use of the DSM is insurance, which is really not a comparable paradigm. So, hell, let 'em off the hook. Put 'em in treatment (because they probably should be). If the argument against holding them accountable (presumably, jailing) is that it's unethical, because they can't control themselves, that doesn't mean it's unethical to hospitalize them or something. It's protective, it's beneficial, and it's more ethical. Hopefully.

But hey, what do I know?

Q&A #1

Just looking for some opinion:

Should individuals with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) be held criminal responsible for their crimes?

And...go!

Lost in the Week.

Something I discovered today:
Bon Iver. Honestly, I'm a little shocked at how far behind I am on this one. Anyway, I'm hoping at least a few of you are even further behind on it than I am. It's nice to have a bit of a break from my current trend of music. I threw up four songs that I've been listening to a lot, recently. I've got to admit that my interest in Bon Iver was perked by Kanye West.

So much for getting away from what I usually listen to. But guys, really, I'll try and avoid just posting a metric shit ton of hip hop or rap or whatever it is you guys think I listen to. Because neither of us want that. Neither. Uh.

Oh man. This is gonna be tough.



I've started working in a psych lab just this past week, doing social psychology experiments. Haven't got a chance to run any, just yet, but we're in the prep stage. It should be pretty interesting, tampering with the door-in-the-face technique that a lot of you have probably learned about. Feel free to ask if you've never heard of it/can't remember. Considering I should probably learn to explain it in my sleep, now.

And that's cool and all, but it's really brought to light the fact that I need to start making decisions about my life that I've been putting off for the last few months. Well, years. Specifically (in this conversation), it's my running debate of pursuing clinical psychology or branching off into the social psychology sphere. I've essentially been telling myself that I'll keep pursuing what I consider to be the harder one of the two, and the one I prefer, until I realize that it's no longer attainable. That is, I'll keep working to become a legitimate clinical psychologist until someone says that I'm not qualified. Then I'll switch to social psychology and perhaps a run at marketing, or even law.

Really, I just think I'd look good in a suit.

The problem I'm facing is that until someone actually says those words ("Andy, you don't have what it takes."), I'll never know when it's time to call it a career. But this lab had got me thinking that I'd thrown in the towel, and decided that social psychology is the way to go. Then, as the ball in my brain started rolling, I realized that no, I wasn't ready to give up. So next semester, when my commitment to my lab is up, I'm going for a position in a clinical lab. I've also been looking into grad school, recently. I suppose, ever since I received an email about Ryerson's clinical psychology graduate program. Yeah. That'd do it.

I think I'm just afraid that if I postpone this decision too long, I'll find out that I'm chasing a pipe dream just a minute too late and both my plan and my backup plan will pass me by.

But I'm not going to let that stop me from taking the risk.



It's fall. Winter's just around the corner. How do you guys feel about that? Personally, I feel like this year's going a lot faster. I like that, but at the same time I feel like I should be a lot further ahead than I am. It's troubling.



Files:
Skinny Love - Bon Iver
The Wolves (Act I and II) - Bon Iver
Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
Blindsided - Bon Iver
Lost in the World - Kanye West ft. Bon Iver
here

I want to start off well

I rode a bike today for the first time in years. Literally. Gave credence to the expression. Literally. This stuff has always been my bike. But I want to start over, I want to give this another go with a new approach. Something more open and friendly. Something grand and diverse.

This is my new place to talk about things I learned today, feelings I have about the events of the world, opinions on protocol or society. A place to share the things I hear and see. And it's your place too. All you have to do is ask and you're part of the community. Part of the team. Write about something you discovered or whatever the hell it is you've always wanted to say. Ask the questions you've always wanted people to answer or try to answer.

We're going to set up a mediafire account so sharing songs you love or things you wrote can become even easier. When you get added to the community you'll get the password for the account and you'll be able to add any files or grab any files you desire.

If anyone else has any other ideas about this experiment, then all you have to do is say it and we'll try and implement it. Everyone will be able to post, but I'll keep the admins low just so nothing gets too intensely crazy. I will totally take any suggestions, though. Give me a better name and I'll drop this one.

I'll try my best to post as often as possible. And I'd love it if we could manage to get some debate up in this bitch. Throw a Re: on your post and have at it.

But really. On to the good stuff.