Their Eyes Were Watching God Research Paper Essays -

Their Eyes Were Watching God Research Paper Their Eyes Were Watching God Research Paper Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Research Paper "I am Me, My Eyes Toward God" Mark Evans Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a thriving woman. Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards life has to offer. Zora Neale Hurston was, the daughter of a Baptist minister and an educated scholar who still believed in the genius contained within the common southern black vernacular(Hook http://splavc.spjc.cc.fl.us/hooks/Zora.html). She was a woman who found her place, though unstable, in a typical male profession. Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Eatonville, Florida, the first all-incorporated black town in America. She found a special thing in this town, where she said, "... [I] grew like a like a gourd and yelled bass like a gator," (Gale, 1). When Hurston was thirteen she was removed from school and sent to care for her brother's children. She became a member of a traveling theater at the age of sixteen, and then found herself working as a maid for a white woman. This woman saw a spark that was waiting for fuel, so she arranged for Hurston to attend high school in Baltimore. She also attended Morgan Academy, now called Morgan State University, from which she graduated in June of 1918. She then enrolled in the Howard Prep School followed by later enrollment in Howard University. In 1928 Hurston attended Barnard College where she studied anthropology under Franz Boas. After she graduated, Zora returned to Eatonville to begin work on anthropology. Four years after Hurston received her B.A. from Barnard she enrolled in Columbia University to begin graduate work (Discovering Authors, 2-4). Hurston's life seemed to be going well but she was soon to see the other side of reality. Hurston never stayed at a job for too long, constantly refusing the advances of male employers, which showed part of her strong feminist disposition. But Hurston was still seeking true love throughout her travels and education. At Howard University, Hurston met Herburt Sheen whom she married on May 19, 1927 in St. Augstine, Florida (DA, 2). They divorced shortly after they got married because they could not continue the idealistic dreams they had shared in their youth. Zora Hurston's second marriage to Albert Price III was also short lived. They were married in 1939 and divorced in 1943 (DA, 2). By the mid-1940s Hurston's writing career had began to falter. While living in New York, Hurston was arrested and charged with committing an immoral act with a ten-year-old boy. The charges were later dropped when Hurston proved that she was in another country at the time the incident allegedly took place (Discovering Authors, 3). Hurston already was witnessing the rejection of all of her works submitted to her publisher, but the combined effects of the arrest and the ensuing journalistic attack on her image doomed the majority of her literary career. She wrote to a friend: "I care nothing for writing anything any more... My race has seen fit to destroy me without reason, and with the vilest tools conceived by man so far" (Discovering Authors, 4). In approximately 1950 Hurston returned to Florida, where she worked as a cleaning woman in Rivo Alto. She later moved to Belle Glade, Florida, in hopes of reviving her writing career. She failed and worked as many jobs including: newspaper journalist, librarian, and substitute teacher (Baker, http://www.prodigy.com/ pages.html/chronology.htm). Hurston suffered a stroke in 1959 which demanded her admittance in the Saint Lucie County Florida Welfare Home. She died a broken, penniless, invalid in January 1960 (DA, 5). All of Hurston's trials built the basis for her best work. Therefore, the work that has denoted her as one of the twentieth century's most influential authors did not come until after she had graduated from college. However, the literature she composed in college was by no means inferior. She was a defiant free-spirit even during her early college career. While working on an anthropological study for her mentor, Franz Boas, she was exposed to voo doo, which she quickly embraced. She was deeply interested in the subtle nuances

A simple Pendulum Essays

A simple Pendulum Essays A simple Pendulum Essay A simple Pendulum Essay Essay Topic: Simple My aim in this experiment was to see if the length of the string the bob was attached to effected the time taken for one oscillation.RESEARCHWhat a pendulum is:A pendulum is a body suspended by a fixed point so it can swing back and forth under the influence of gravity. Pendulums are frequently used in clocks because the interval of time for each complete oscillation, called the period, is constant.What effects the time for one period?When the bob is moved from equilibrium either left or right and then is released, it oscillates in a vertical plane in the shape of an arc of a circle. This is then reversed back to its starting position.The weight pulling down on the pendulum bob causes the bob to accelerate towards its normal resting point. This acceleration can be calculated by the formula a = -gA. The angle size can also be linked to the arc length, this is shown in the formula, x = LA. With L being the length of the string. This leads us to the equation for acceleration of a simple pendulum bob a = -g/L x. These two formulae then give us the formula for a period, this isWhere L = length of string from pivot to bobg = acceleration due to gravityT = time of period.This tells me that there are only two variables, that I have direct control over, that can effect the period of the bob. These are the angle, and the length of the string. There is one other variable and that is the force of gravity; this could vary because the pull of gravity is not uniform all over the earth.PREDICTIONI predict that the longer the length of string the longer it will take the pendulum to complete one period. This is because the length of the arc, the pendulum is travelling along is greater (x = 2?L = circumference) but the gravitational acceleration will remain the same. This prediction is also proved by the formulaHere if the length of the string is increased (L) then that side of the equation becomes larger because the size of the fraction is increasing and because one side of the equation is increasing so must the other to remain equal so T will also increase.SAFETYThere are many accidents that could happen if this experiment was not carried out safely; below I have outlined a few simple guidelines to prevent such accidents occurring.DangerRiskPrecautionBob swingingCould hit someoneDo not swing the bob from large angles.Heavy massCould fall off table and hit someoneMake sure the mass isnt on the edge of the table and is away securely held.Clamp standCould fall over and hit someoneMake sure a large mass is holding it downFAIR TESTINGTo make sure our results are accurate we need to keep everything but the variable constant. Below are some simple guidelines to ensure that our testing is fair.Procedure/ObjectProblemSolutionClamp StandCould rockPlace a heavy mass on the base to prevent this.Mass of the bob (see note below)If we use different bobs there mass could be differentMake sure we use the same bobAngleAngle could be differentMake su re we measure the angle accuratelyGravityIf we move to another area of the world, the effects of gravity will be slightly differentStay in the same area of the earth as much as possible.Human errorHuman error between releasing the bob and starting the stopwatch.Make sure the same person does each task every time, use a standard pre-release method, i.e. 3,2,1, go. We should also let the pendulum swing for ten periods and then divide by 10 to reduce the effect of human error.Note: Although during my research I ascertained that the mass of the bob does not effect the period of the pendulum, I should still keep this constant, as I should only have one variable in my experiment.METHODAPPARATUSFor our experiment we needed:* A length of String at 60 cm long* A bob* A boss, clamp, and stand* A heavy mass* A large protractor* A Stopwatch* A meter ruler* A cork split in twoFirstly we set up the equipment as shown below:1. We measured the string to 10 cm. from the bottom of the corks to the mi ddle of the mass.2. We then pulled the string back to 40?:3. We then released the bob and started the stopwatch at the same time.4. We let the bob swing backwards and forwards 10 times5. We then stopped the pendulum swinging and recorded the times.6. We repeated the experiment with the same length 3 times7. We then repeated steps 1-6 for string lengths 10cm, 15cm, 20cm 25cm, 30cm, 35cm, 40cm, 45cm, 50cm and 55cm.RESULTSLength of stringAttempt 1 (sec)Attempt 2 (sec)Attempt 3 (sec)Average for 10 oscillations (sec)Average for 1 oscillation (sec)107.067.317.207.190.719158.58.528.658.560.856209.769.599.679.670.9672510.8010.6210.8610.761.0763011.4811.4211.3911.431.1433512.4512.4812.3212.421.2424012.7212.8912.7712.791.2794513.9514.0313.8113.931.3935014.4214.6514.5614.541.4545515.8415.8515.4415.711.571ANALASISBy looking at my results, I can immediately tell that the longer the length of string the longer it takes the pendulum to complete one period. This increase in time is always between 3 0 second and 90 seconds. I have drawn a graph, which shows the period for each oscillation. My line of best fit shows that the time taken increases in a linear fashion and does not go through the point of origin. This shows me that the period does increase relative to the length of string, this supports my prediction that because of the length of the arc increasing with the length of the string that the period would increase.EVALUATIONI believe that my experiment went reasonably well, the results we collected would seem to be very good and we had no accidents. I also believe that the method we used to obtain these results was an accurate one, but it could have been improved with the use of light gates and a computer because this would have removed the element of human error. I would like to take this investigation further by continuing to increase the lengths of the string until about one-meter. I would also like to try this experiment with different angles to see what effect that h as on the results and then compare the results to these ones. The evidence I have here is only just enough to support a firm conclusion, but does show a trend appearing.

Why are similar independence claims the subject of different responses Essay

Why are similar independence claims the subject of different responses from the international community The international communitys position on Kosovo, South Ossetia and Abkhazia - Essay Example vestigation of the issues and facts that divide the international community in its responses to the secessions of Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia reveal that the legality of these secessions are not the only determining factors. A review of the literature seems to suggest that power politics has a role to play in the responses to these secessions. In other words, there is an emerging trend indicating that it is possible to conclude that world powers are more inclined to support or refuse to support an entity’s secession based on political rather than legal reasoning. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that power politics permits what amounts to a spin on the international legal framework for statehood and state recognition. The secessions of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Kosovo will be compared and contrasted with a view to determining the way that the international community should have responded to these secessions and how they in fact, responded. It will be argued that from a purely legal perspective the secessions are no different from one another, and power politics plays a greater role in the international community’s responses than international customary law. The 2008 declarations of independence by South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Kosovo was met by entirely different responses by the international community, specifically international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Organizations for Security Cooperation with Europe (OSCE) .2 The CoE, the UN and the OSCE readily recognized Kosovo’s independence but at the same time did not accept and recognize the secession of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.3 The European Union (EU) which occupies a unique position in its relationship with Russia, was split on Kosovo’s independence and unquestionably unsupportive of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.4 NATO and the United States (US) accepted and recognized Kosovo’s independence but outright refused to accept

Experiencing Performance Management and Performance Essay

Experiencing Performance Management and Performance - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  effective performance management gives information for the day-to-day decisions and promotes the developmental aspect of performance where a manager establishes the employees’ needs to improve weaknesses and make employees aware on their strengths. The main sources of performance can be the managers or instructors, peers, direct reports from employees, self-assessment and feedback from customers. There can be, however, certain limitations in evaluation of employee’s performance by the manager or the instructor as one cannot see the employee frequently and thus the evaluation will be based on the third party influences. Despite that, the modern ways of managing employees such as virtual management or internet-linked office make it possible to conduct the performance management of an employee. Peers can be other types of source for evaluation one’s performance.  This research highlights that  the assessment of my perform ance was done in collaboration with my instructor and other students, who have established my strengths and pointed on the fields for my further development. For me, as an industrial engineering student, the main strengths were identified as my ability to focus on the activities and the effective use of my knowledge in acquiring new processes. This knowledge in turn enables me to be a good strategist with the emphasis on research and collaboration with others.

Foreign Exchange Operation of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Essay Example for Free

Foreign Exchange Operation of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Essay In this regard an organization attachment at Dilkusha Branch of Mutual Trust Bank has been given to me a period of three months commencing from 1st August, 2010 to 31st October, 2010. During this period I learned how the host organization works with the help of the internal supervisor. The internal supervisor assigned me on of the projects and shuffled me around to educate me about the operation of a bank. 1. 2. Significance of the report This internship report is an important partial requirement of four years BBA graduation program. This is because knowledge and learning become perfect when it is associated with theory and practice. By this internship program students can establish contacts and networking. Contacts may help to get a job in practical life. That is, student can train and prepare themselves for the job market. A poor country like Bangladesh has an overwhelming number of unemployed educated graduates. As they have no internship experience they have not been able to gain normal professional experience of establish networking system, which is important in getting a job. Therefore, it is obvious that the significance of internship is clearly justified as the crucial requirement of four years BBA graduation. Scope of the Study Mutual Trust Bank Limited is one of the new generation banks in Bangladesh. The scope of the study is limited to the Dilkusha Branch only. The report covers the organizational structure; background, functions and the performance of the bank have mainly worked in the foreign exchange so my report covers all the activities of foreign exchange department in the Dilkusha branch. While preparing this report I haven’t any limitations the employees of foreign exchange department has helped me a lot and I have use both primary and secondary data which was available to me. 1. 4. Objectives

Embryonic Stem Cells: The Future of Medicine Essay example -- Embryon

Whereas there are many facets of medical research in the world at the present time, one of the more controversial continues to be stem cell research and more specifically, embryonic stem cell research. The percentage of groups and individuals who agree or disagree with this science are roughly equal on both sides of the argument. There are many quarrels within this one area including â€Å"should stem cell research be federally funded†, â€Å"is embryonic stem cell research ethical†, and â€Å"is the outcome of stem cell research worth it†? While there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, since the answer would vary depending on whom you ask, the argument regarding this topic remains quite passionate and heated. Embryonic stem cell research is the medical study of cells taken from embryos before they are able to implant into a uterus. This procedure – harvesting the cells – ultimately destroys the embryo rendering it non-viable and unable to sustain life. Adult stem cell research is simply the study of stem cells harvested from adults and used in many areas of medicine. Numerous groups are opposed this sort of research because they feel it infringes on the right to life, while others do not believe that an embryo that has spent five days in a petri dish should be considered a human. In the 1800’s the first discovery of stem cells occurred. This discovery proved that some cells could spawn other cells. However, it was not until the early 1900’s that research demonstrated stem cells could generate blood cells. This was very promising in the medical community at that time since so many diseases ran rampant and were incurable. During the infancy of stem cell research , both animal and human stem cells were used. Now, for medic... ...h Embryonic Stem Cell Research?. Pregnantpause.org. 26 Jul 2001. Web. 28 Nov 2011. Moisse, Katie. â€Å"Stem Cells: New Hope for Heart Failure Patients†. Abcnews.com. 14 Nov 2011. Web. 15 Nov 2011. Park, Alice. â€Å"Stem Cell Miracle? New Therapies May Cure Chronic Conditions like Alzheimer’s†. Time Magazine. 25 Jun 2011. Web. 10 Nov 2011. Snow, Nancy. â€Å"Stem Cell Research New Frontiers in Sciences and Ethics†. Houston Community College Library. 2004. Print. 10 Nov 2011. Stem Cell Basics: What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?. In Stem Cell Information. Web. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009. 22 Nov 2011. Tasker, Fred. â€Å"New Stem Cell Study Promises to Heal the Heart†. Dallas Morning News. 22 Mar 2011. Web. 10 Nov 11.

Anxiety and Depression in Adolescence: A Social Problem Essay

1. Introduction Anxiety and depression in adolescence has become an increasing issue in society as time has progressed. Rates of high school students who qualify for the criteria that meet a mental disorder are 6-8 times higher than the same age group in the 1960’s. A test given to high school students over the years called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index (MMPI) gives us data from 1938 (â€Å"Marsh†). The test is a personal survey asking students to answer questions about themselves on a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree (ex. I am happy today). Mental disorder rates are higher today than during the great depression, WWII, and the cold war. So why is this happening? A factor many experts agree on is a switch from an internal locus of control to an external. A majority of teens today don’t feel as though they are in control of their own fate and that can cause a lot of stress. This is partial credit is due to the way our society is shaped today; we have ma de a major shift from an emphasis on play to an emphasis on work. Kids are asked to grow up much earlier. Children and teens are becoming anxious at a much larger rate than in past years. The culture we now live in puts much more pressure on young people at a younger age, forcing them to grow up. The anxiety is crippling if left untreated, and with the amount of people experiencing it, it’s a social problem worth looking into. 2. Where does anxiety and depression come from? The etiology of anxiety and depression can be traced back to an individual’s first stage of life. Psychiatric specialist John Marsh writes in his book that a child’s temperament in their first year of life can show behavioral signs that may lead to becoming an anxious child and teen. A parent can  identify these early signs that include: excessive bouts of crying, sleeping difficulties and gas (â€Å"Marsh†). These traits or actions may seem normal for an infant thus it’s hard to expect a parent to pick up on any of these early signs, so they shouldn’t fret too much this early on. Where anxiety really starts is with an irrational fear of something that an individual perceives as a threat or dangerous. This fear causes a change in behavior, like an avoidance of a situation where many people are or may be present in the case of social anxiety (â€Å"Alfano†). The part of the brain responsible for this fear is the amygdala, the emotional capital of our mind. The amygdala’s structure is altered when we become fearful of something, making it hard for the fear to be conquered or shaken. When this fear manifests, it can turn into different forms of anxiety and thus become part of a person’s emotional capability (â€Å"Marsh†). In essence, anxiety alters the stimulation of a certain fear into something people cannot handle and become overwhelmed. Look more:  solutions for sleep deprivation essay The main area that psychologists and other scientists have focused in on the last 10-15 years in child psychology is behavioral inhibition of the unfamiliar, or BI (â€Å"Marsh†). BI represents the tendency to exhibit fearfulness, restraint, secretiveness, and withdrawal in the face of novel events or situations. The more inhibitions a child shows, the more likely they are to develop anxiety or have anxious tendencies. BI is moderately heritable yet the largest factor in BI is the environment and experiences one has. In a study shown in Marsh’s book, nonshared environmental influences contribute more to BI than do factors shared by siblings, such as genetics and shared experiences. BI is lessened by socialization, if a child becomes engaged in play and conversation with others from an early age; they are less likely to be inhibited. Parental encouragement in this aspect is key such as parents making play dates for their children and things of that nature. Let me be clear, BI is not the same as anxiety, it is a studied precursor to anxiety that has a lot of valuable research to back up the link between BI and anxiety. It is a good thing for parents and clinicians to pick up on at an early age in the child’s life to make the proper adjustments to ensure no mental breakdowns occur. Outside of BI as a child, there are other things that can play into an  adolescent onset of anxiety or depression. One of these things is the parental influence, whether it be the parent’s own mental illness, style of parenting, or the sociability of the parent, they all can affect the child. Biological predisposition is a factor a child can’t control and is unfortunate. 20-50% of teens that suffer from depression, anxiety or another disorder have a family member with some form of mental illness (â€Å"Borchard†). It has long been documented that children of parent’s with any mental disorders are at a much higher risk of also developing a disorder. As for parenting style, anxiety in teens and children has been associated with parenting styles characterized by limited expression of care and warmth and more inclination toward showing control and overprotection. A study done in 1991 by Krohne and Hock, observed pairs of mother and daughter solving puzzles, high-anxious girls and low-anxious girls divided the study into two groups. The psychologists found the mothers of high-anxious girls to be much more controlling than those of low-anxious girls (â€Å"Marsh†). A young person, with the exception of school, has most their social interactions due to their parent’s connections. They have Thanksgiving with their cousins, aunts, and uncles and have barbecues with their parent’s work colleagues and their families. If a child’s parents are less socially involved, it hinders the child’s ability to grow and advance these skills, causing an emergence of anxiety in these situations (â€Å"Marsh†). Besides parental contact, the most beneficial relationships for young people to have are positive relationships with their peers. Peer victimization is a common experience that negatively affects young people psychologically. Recent research findings are a bit appalling, indicating that one in five youths are chronically exposed to ongoing abuse, whether it was physical, verbal, or any other form (â€Å"Muris†). These occurrences of bullying were most strongly linked to depression, low-self esteem, and social anxiety . An interesting study was done in 2005 by Strawser, Storch, and Roberti. They gave undergraduates a Teasing Questionnaire (TQ), which measures the degree to which people could recall being teased during childhood. Results demonstrated that TQ scores were linked to social anxiety, trait anxiety, worry, and anxiety sensitivity (â€Å"Muris†). This study shows that peer victimization can play a key role in the development of mental disorders and the long lasting effects it can have. A place of interest I had while  researching was if there were any differences in financial and ethic status in the community and if that had any significant effect on anxiety and other mental disorders. In general, the socioeconomic status of a youth was not a deciding factor in occurrence of mental disorders but one thing that does hinder those of less fortunate situations is they are much less likely to seek or receive treatment due to the costs. Most studies carried out in the US have found that children from ethic minorities (i.e. African American, Hispanic American) display higher levels of fear and anxiety than Caucasian counterparts. This also may be due to the fact that more minorities live in urban settings versus suburban settings, which can cause a sometimes more stressful living environment. Stressful or traumatic life events are definitely a factor in a child or teen developing any number of disorders. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that is directly connected to a significant single event or string of events happening. In a journal I found, the goal of the study conducted was to look at the difference between dependent and independent events and the effect they had on pre-adolescent children. Dependent events are events that the individual actually chooses to do or directly involves the individual, such as choosing to partake in drugs. Independent events are things the individual has no control over such as the death of someone close to them. The findings of the study were that anxiety and depression are very likely to occur after dependent stressful events and independent life events were less likely to have effects lasting longer than six months (â€Å"Eldemira†). The results of this study suggest that life choices have more influence in mental disorders than things out of one’s control. These are just general reasons children and young adults can develop mental disorders. Today’s society produces a variety of other factors that are specific to our time, showing the difference that has progressed over the decades. Students suffer today the immense pressure to get good grades in order to get into one of the elite colleges of the nation. From 9th grade in high school, kids are under the impression that unless they get straights A’s, their college options are going to be very limited. This is a level of stress that in past generations was not present at such a young age. Another thing unique to our decade is the phenomenon that is social media. The  popularity of sites like Facebook and Twitter and the smartphone era in general has caused raised levels of anxious teenagers. This anxiety doesn’t come directly from social media, but from being away from it. A study done by Wilhelm Hoffman of the University of Chicago compared social media addictiven ess to other things with addictive qualities. The results came back with the fact that social media was harder to resist than alcohol, caffeine, or cigarettes (â€Å"Fitzgerald†). Overall, the most significant factor in recent years is the change from intrinsic to extrinsic goals. 3. Different Types of Disorders There are a large number of anxiety and depression disorders, with many twists and turns that make diagnoses very specific. In order to keep from being too repetitive this section will focus on some of the most largely diagnosed disorders including general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and general depression. Discussing the symptoms and what these disorders entail is the goal of this section in order to provide a solid base of knowledge of just what young people are suffering with today. 3.1 Generalized Anxiety Disorder Children with general anxiety disorder or GAD are plagued by worries most children or teens can shrug off. Often referred to as â€Å"little adults†, these children are concerned about things like health, personal value, safety, and their future. They also tend to worry a lot about other people and their issues, which have nothing to do with themselves, such as the neighbors’ fight they had last night. These worries become a central part of daily thoughts and this can disrupt development and adjustment to life (â€Å"Essau†). GAD has mostly been documented and studied in adults; this is because in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) up until the 4th edition over-anxious disorder (OAD) was what this was called in children. These conditions are considered very similar and overlap many symptoms so now GAD is the universal term used regardless of age. The main symptoms of GAD in the DSM-IV are excessive worry about multiple topics, difficulty controlling or regulating the worry, somatic symptoms  that accompany the worry, and functional impairment resulting from the worries. There are a lot of overlaps in symptoms of anxiety so if these are restricted to: separation from someone, social situations, or a specific event than GAD is not the right diagnosis. 3.2 Social Anxiety Disorder Anxiety as a whole is conceptualized as a tripartite system (â€Å"Alfano†) consisting of physical symptoms, subjective or cognitive distress, and behavioral avoidance. Social anxiety affects about 5-16% of young adults ages 15-24 depending on what study or survey you look at. Regardless, it’s too many people being affected than should be. The physical symptoms of social anxiety include: tachycardia (a heartbeat that exceeds 100 beats per minute), blushing, trembling, and sweating. These can occur not only in a social situation but in the anticipation of an upcoming event as well. An investigation performed in 1985 by Beidel, Turner & Dancu found that systolic blood pressure and heart rate significantly increase when someone who suffers from SAD was talking to someone of the opposite sex (â€Å"Alfano†). Cognitive symptoms are very similar to that of GAD but it’s mostly the unreasonable worry that the person will do or say something that will be seen by others in a group as embarrassing or humiliating. This can take the form as specific negative thoughts, a general unease in social settings, or even specific beliefs that one will not behave how they think one should in social situations. The negative thoughts are something that is commonly seen in most patients. It’s usually one of the things that appear on self-reports and it’s hard to break. In my personal experience with a psychologist, she had told me that these are referred to as NATs or negative automatic thoughts. Just like the insect gnat, they are annoying thoughts that will not seem to leave someone caught in this struggle, which is why therapy is helpful to reshape the way someone thinks. The behavioral aspect of SAD is avoidance of social settings. Many people who suffer from SAD become reclusive. These behaviors can be very subtle such as avoiding eye contact with teachers or asking to be behind-the-scenes when putting on a school play (â€Å"Alfano†). An interesting table I found surveyed a high school on different social events and what percentages said it caused at least a moderate level of distress and caused avoidance. The top 5 categories, oral  reports, attending dances or parties, asking a teacher a question in class, starting or joining a conversation, and athletic or musical performances all had 85% or more of the students say it caused at least moderate distress and 55% or more said it caused avoidance of those situations (â€Å"Huberty†). 3.3 Depression Depression, for the most part, is less of a chronic disorder like most anxieties are. Depression is usually a bout that people deal with from two weeks anywhere to two years. If the symptoms don’t pass after that amount of time, it becomes diagnosed as dysthymia, which is the chronic form of depression. Regardless of whether an individual is suffering for a short period of time or chronically, depression can be extremely debilitating. At any time about 10-15% of people under 21 suffer from depression. The more frightening statistic is that only 30% of these depressed people are receiving or seeking help (â€Å"Borchard†). There is a large range of symptoms and signs that someone is suffering from depression. These include: apathy, complaints of physical pain such as headaches, stomachaches, difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite or overeating, memory loss, thoughts or obsession with death and dying, sadness or feeling of hopelessness, trouble sleeping or too much sleep, drop in grades, substance abuse and many other things. Depression, rather than getting scared, seems to make someone numb to the world. Often due to some sort of disappointment such as inadequate social status, sexual frustration with orientation or inability to talk to the opposite sex, school performance or any other number of things (â€Å"Gray†). 4. Treatment Treatment is a glimmer of hope in today’s world. Although rates of anxiety and depression have continued to climb, treatment methods are also continuing to improve as science and technology advance. The most widely accepted or praised method for treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. â€Å"Cognitive-behavioral is meant to represent an integration of cognitive, behavioral, affective, and social strategies for change† (â€Å"Marsh†). A study that is pretty representative of the cognitive-behavioral process as a whole was done in 1989 by Kane and Kendall. The study took a group of adolescents suffering from anxiety and put them through therapy for 6 months. Kane and Kendall were able to divide the process of recovery into four major components: â€Å"1. Recognizing anxious feelings and physical reactions to anxiety, 2. Identifying and modifying negative self-statements, 3. Generating strategies to cope effectively in anxiety-provoking situations, and 4. Rating and rewarding attempts at coping† (â€Å"Marsh†). After the six months, self-reports, parental reports, and reports done by the clinicians had improved significantly. A follow up appointment was made three months after the study had ended and about 50% of the subjects had made considerable gains in adopting and using their newfound knowledge. The other half had regressed at least in some way back to old habits. This shows the differences betwee n individuals and their needs, some can have an intense short treatment and be fine for the rest of their days while others need a constant support over many years. The other portion of treatment that is of importance in our time especially is intervention by the means of pharmacotherapy. Using drugs such as anti-depressants and anxiolytics in order to stop anxiety and depression has increased as technology has improved. The three most commonly prescribed medicines for anxiety and depression are benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, and SSRIs. Benzos are prescribed for a short-term period for severe disabling anxiety. The way this drug works is it dampens the overall activity in the brain in order to calm the person. Beta-blockers are commonly prescribed to those who suffer from social anxiety because they essentially block adrenaline output, lessening the nerves one can feels from being excited or nervous. SSRIs are the latest and most effective antidepressant. They have been praised for their lack of side effect compared to older anti-depressants. Formally selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, they keep serotonin, the neurotransmitter in charge o f mood, in the brain longer causing a raise in mood. Just from 1996 to 2005, antidepressant use in the US has gone from 5.84% of the population to 10.12% (â€Å"Grohol†). The trend is still increasing and it may just be because more people are becoming  depressed but it also could be because of a shift to a â€Å"quick-fix† societal norm. We live in a world where if someone can no longer get an erection, they take a blue pill called Viagra and are ready to go. This same mentality can be applied to drugs used for mental disorders. People can go into a doctor’s office and say they need something to make them feel better and skip the most important part of the process, therapy. Without a change in behavior, the antidepressant won’t have a strong effect. It has been proven time and time again that cognitive-behavioral therapy accompanied by a drug is the most effective strategy in lowering anxiety or beating depression. â€Å"Two treatments provide a greater ‘dose’ and thus may provide a more rap id and efficient response† (â€Å"Marsh†). 5. Conclusion and Possible Improvements We live in a rapidly changing time, and that may be one of the very reasons that so many people are anxious and depressed, the fear of the unknown and change. Regardless of whether that holds true or not, we have an obligation as a society to change the way we approach anxiety and depression in young people because they will be the leaders of tomorrow. The idea of just fixing things by throwing a pill at the problem is not the right way to handle things because it doesn’t have long-term benefits. It may initially be helpful but it doesn’t allow an individual to look at a problem and realize the error of their ways and why was something going on. The â€Å"quick-fix† we have going on is in part due to a loss of sensitivity in our world as a whole. Things like Facebook and texting makes face-to-face contact less and less necessary and we lose a sense of humanity because of it. The result that may come forth if this downward trend continues is about 1/5 of our count ry’s soon-to-be adult population suffering from mental disorders and not being able to contribute or enjoy life to their full potential. Adolescent-onset of mental disorders has been proven to have an even stronger overall toll than the adult-onset version; therefore, action is necessary as early as possible (â€Å"Marsh†). The future isn’t entirely gloomy though. We have the chance as a society to change how we deal with mental disorders in young people. One thing that  would benefit many would be to go back to a more creative and individualized education experience. By allowing children and teens the ability to â€Å"play† and seek passions, we can create a system that may not produce as many CEOs but instead people who are simply happy in their career and life. Allowing more time for children to grow up could be very beneficial for their mental health. Another possible improvement is in the medical field. Making psycho-evaluations mandatory or as important as annual health check-ups could allow early preventative action to take place. By starting this process early in an individual’s life, it could greatly reduce the chance of an anxious or depression outburst to occur. The number one thing that can happen in order to change the prevalence of mental disorder rests on the shoulders of parents. By being knowledgeable in the dangers of mental disorders today, like 5,000 annual suicides, a rate triple of the 1960’s, they can be the best preventative force. It’s better to be proactive and than reactive. Muhammad Ali said it well when he stated, â€Å"you can set yourself up to be sick, or you can choose to be well.† The future of this social problem is in our hands, whether we choose to continue down the track where anxiety and depression rates rise, or take a stand, is all up to us. Regaining an internal locus of control, allowing creativity and individualism to thrive, and caring about happiness more so than financial wealth are ways we can stop the progression of anxiety and depression in adolescence. Works Cited Alfano, Candice A., and Deborah C. Beidel. Social Anxiety in Adolescents and Young Adults: Translating Developmental Science into Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2011. Print. This book is based on social anxiety in adolescents. Social anxiety symptoms are often seen in teens but only recently books like this one have come out that really dig into the adolescents. It looks at the etiology of the problem, which is what I will be mainly using this source for. Borchard, Therese J., â€Å"Why Are So Many Teens Depressed?† Psychcentral.com 03. Apr. 2004. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. . Borchard is an associate editor for Psychcentral.com and upon reading her article she had a few interesting facts that I thought were worth sharing because they show a general hopelessness in today’s youth that we need to fix. De Jong, P.J., B.E. Sportel, E. De Hullu, and M. H. Nauta. â€Å"Co-occurrence of Social Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Adolescence: Differential Links with Implicit and Explicit Self-esteem?† Psychological Medicine 42.03 (2012): 475-84.EBSCOhost. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. This article talks about social anxiety and depression and how they very well can go hand in hand. The study looks at two different types of self-esteem, implicit and explicit. Explicit self-esteem is deliberately self-evaluating while implicit has more to do with memory. The goal of the study was to see if these explicit and implicit self-esteems did in fact result in higher levels of depression and social anxiety. I will use this study to look at the differences between a teen’s memory and actual thoughts of themselves effect on mood. Eldemira Domenech-Llaberia, et al. â€Å"AGE, GENDER AND NEGATIVE LIFE EVENTS IN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SELF-REPORTS AT PREADOLESCENCE AND EARLY ADOLESCENCE. (English). â€Å"Ansiedad Y Estres 17.2/3 (2011): 113-124. Academic Search Complete Web. 17 Oct. 2012. This is a study that took students from 4th to 6th grade from 13 randomly selected schools participated. The study looked at the difference in age, gender and life events on a student’s prevalence to get anxiety and depression. Provides me with information based on different groups of people. Essau, Cecilia A., and Franz Petermann, eds. Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Epidemiology, Risk Factors and Treatment. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2001. Print. This book is another look at how to diagnose, deal with, and treat anxiety issues. The interesting thing with this book is it’s about ten years older than the other books and so the difference in findings will be gripping to look at it. Fitzgerald, Britney. â€Å"Social Media Is Causing Anxiety, Study Finds.† The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 July 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Fitzgerald’s article talks about the effect that social media has on anxiety and just how addictive Twitter, Facebook and other things in the same category are. Gray, Peter. â€Å"Freedom to Learn.† The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Is It Connected to the Decline in Play and Rise in Schooling? Psychology Today, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . Peter Gray talks about one of my main focuses, the switch from play to work early on in a child’s education and the effect that has. Grohol, John M., Psy.D. â€Å"Antidepressant Use Up 75 Percent | Psych Central News.†Psych Central.com. N.p., 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . This article is all about the rise in the usage of antidepressants and why this is happening. Huberty, Thomas J. Reed. Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention. New York: Springer, 2012. Print. Thomas Reed’s book was written in as an insight or somewhat of a guide in understanding what goes on in a young person’s development that allows anxiety and other mental disorders to develop. Historically there has been five major factors in the development of mental disorders such as biological or social but this book adds a sixth: schools. Reed thinks that a child’s school is not only for educational growth but all other factors as life as well. Looking into a school setting is critical because outside of the home it’s where children usually spend most their time. March, John S. Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford, 1995. Print. This is the last print source that I have; it seems to be the most technical and scientific as well. John March is the chief child psychiatry specialist at Duke University and so he’s a specialist among specialists. I will look into what he says and try to elaborate my research with it. McLaughlin, Katie A., Joshua Breslau, and Jennifer Green. â€Å"Childhood Socio-economic Status and the Onset, Persistence, and Severity of DSM-IV Mental Disorders in a US National Sample.† Social Science & Medicine 73.7 (2011): 1088-096.EBSCOhost. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. This article dives into the idea that a socio-economic status is a factor in a child or adolescence’s mental health. It has been documented many times, but this article found that childhood financial status wasn’t usually the main factor in a child’s overall mental health. I will use this article because I think that a social economic status seems like it would matter tremendously in mental health. Muris, Peter. Normal and Abnormal Fear and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2007. Print. Peter Muris’ book goes into the epidemiology of anxiety in children and the difference between that and normal fears. He examines how some children have a worse way of adapting to bad situations. That vulnerability is a key factor in the development of according to this book and I want to look at that portion of this book. Nicholas Allen, et al. â€Å"Parental Behaviors During Family Interactions Predict Changes In Depression And Anxiety Symptoms During Adolescence.† Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology 40.1 (2012): 59-71. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. A journal investigated the longitudinal relations between parental behaviors observed during parent-adolescent interactions, and the development of depression and anxiety. Positive and negative parental behaviors were examined. This is a great thing to look at for my paper because parents play a huge role in a child’s development. Zavos, Helena M.S., Ph.D, Chloe C.Y. Wong, Ph.D, Nicola L. Barclay, Ph.D, and Jonathan Mill, Ph.D. â€Å"Anxiety Sensitivity In Adolescence And Young Adulthood: The Role of Stressful Life Events, 5HTTLPR And Their Interaction.†Depression and Anxiety 29.5 (2012): 400-08. EBSCOhost. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.