How Abnormal Psychology Affected our Lives – Self Reflective Essay
Hello author, this will be a self-reflection essay for my abnormal psychology course.
I have told the teacher prior that I will be including my experiences with ADHD.
Below I will include the requirements and some background information about myself that may be helpful:
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Students will be expected to complete a 4-5 page essay reflecting on how Abnormal Psychology has affected their lives. The following are topics to CONSIDER when completing this essay:
-Does the student have a disorder and how has it affected them?
-Does the student know someone with a disorder and if so, how has their relationship with this person been affected by the condition?
-How has the student been affected by the presentation of Abnormal Psychology in the media and popular culture?
-What role has Abnormal Psychology played in the students community and how has this had an effect on them?
-What role does Abnormal Psychology play in the students culture and how has this had an effect on them?
The effects of Abnormal Psychology in any of the areas of Urie Bronfenbrenners Ecological model.
Students are expected to address the effects of Abnormal Psychology biologically, psychologically and social-culturally. In addition to the reflection, students should be supporting their thoughts with at least 3 different sources.
Essay should be in Times New Roman size 12 font, double spaced with 1 inch margins and must include a cover page and bibliography in APA format. For questions regarding formatting please see me or utilize the library staff and website.
________________________Information about me if necessary_________________
I was diagnosed with ADHD at 15 years old while my sophomore year of high school. I was born in America, and throughout my younger years, I had trouble focusing, managing my time, and completing task which led to a poor academic performance. I was often seen as “lazy”. Since my parents came from another culture (Vietnam) they didn’t really have an understanding of mental / learning disabilities. Hence, my diagnosis was discovered in a late manner. Shortly after being diagnosed, I was prescribed Adderall. I started at a low dosage and eventually increased to 30mg XR of Adderall and an additional 10mg regular booster throughout the day. It help significantly improve my academic performance, however I began to notice other symptoms such as insomnia, anxious thoughts, depression, and panic attacks, especially after the affects of Adderall have worn down. After bringing these new symptoms to the light with my psychiatrist, they began to prescribe me anti-depressants (zoloft), and was suggested to take over-the-counter melatonin supplements at night.
Despite these new medicine helping me balance out the side affects from Adderall, I had trouble feeling normal and in my body. Zoloft made me completely feel like a zombie, in which I had trouble socializing with friends.
Eventually, I didn’t like the affects of Zoloft and decided to stop taking it. I further reached out to my psychiatrist to ask if they could decrease my dosage of Adderall to 20MG XR with a 5 MG booster a day because I am a lightweight person. The psychiatrist eventually agreed and I have not yet experience extremely hard crashes when the affects of Adderall wears off.
(all the rest can be tweaked or bs’d with your words or ask me if you want to further include something, I don’t mind)
