3. Cover artist:
Catalina Vásquez
www.tumblr.com/kathiuska
The cover explores the idea of a family as a
whole. I gave the shapes a curvy appearance
to represent unity with one another. This in
turn gives the sensation of closeness and the
warmth within a home.
4. 2
Psych2Go
Psych2Go started as a blog to feature short psychology facts in the format of memes
(text-posts that are rapidly spread around the internet). Our mission was to brand
ourselves as a forum/platform for people to get quick psychology information to further
discuss and debate about the posts. We wanted to create an open forum of discussions
to help foster critical thinking about research methods and limitations.
To accomplish that, the Psych2Go team is transparent about the fact that we don't
always post legitimate psychology information, but only do so in order to get people
to really question ALL our posts and think on an analytical level. Sometimes what you
think is true is actually not true and sometimes what is not true is yet to be supported
by research.
We have found that understanding research methods and having an open and
encouraging forum for all of this is essential. Several Facebook groups have also
been created, already aiming at this - including groups that allow people to express
their creativity like our “Poetry” and “Doodle” group, and our “Research and Writing
Discussion” group which creates discussion among expression of ideas, and academic
assistance.
As time went on, it made sense that Psych2Go should start providing supplementary
materials such as sources, references, as well as some explanation to our viral meme
posts that are featured on our Tumblr (as you’ll see an example from the “Psych to
Go” article in this magazine issue) which generates large discussion from audience
members. From these realizations to include more material content, psych2go.net, the
sister site was born.
When we started, Psych2Go had a team of 10 writers and published over 200 articles
within less than 2 months and received over 1 million page views. And the articles
followed a specific format:
1. Intro
2. Bring up research.
3. Identify the research methods and the limitations
4. question for our readers
This format is aligned with our mission statement to analyze research, create
discussions, and provide the resources needed to facilitate those discussions.
Then, as time went on, we thought about implementing a mentorship program to help
further facilitate this learning process for our younger audiences (since a majority of
our readers were not yet psychology students).
And that’s where psych2go.net is today! We have editors, mentors, and intern writers,
who our Human Resource team has a very close relationship with and helps them every
step of the way.
Our goal is to become the go-to site for psychology, writing, help, research, studies,
and so forth. Psych2Go serves as an easily accessible and inclusive platform for our
young audiences.
Tai Tai
Manager and Creator of Psych2Go
Psych2go@outlook.com
Psych2go.tumblr.com
Psych2go.net
WAIT, WHAT EXACTLY IS "PSYCH2GO"?
6. 4
Psych2Go
HELLO!As a special part of the “Psych2Go” team, we believe that this magazine sets itself
apart from other science magazines out there. Understanding this magazine is not in a
traditional “magazine” format gives our magazine a creative and unique feel.
This was made by a collection of young entrepreneurs from all over the world. This
publication includes international contributors from places like Slovenia, The U.K., the
Netherlands, the Philippines, Canada, and people within various places of the U.S. like
New York, Maryland, D.C., Tennessee, and California.
Keep in mind that not all of us are trained professionals in the Psychology field, but
simply people that are intrigued by Psychological concepts, only wanting to pass our
research along, while involving people to talk about their personal experiences, as well
as informing an audience with interesting Psychological facts.
We hope that you enjoy this collaborative publication that acts as an extension of our
online blog, psych2go.net, and we ask that you get involved with this entrepreneurial
organization as well! After all, Psychology is the science that’s all about you, and as a
growing company, we’re offering the opportunity for you to grow with us.
Teresa Johnson
Editor-in-Chief, Manager & Coordinator of Psych2Go Magazine
(https://twitter.com/teresaxjohnson)
12. 10
Psych2Go
Hello all! I’m Sneha and I’m currently pursing my Master's degree
at University of Pennsylvania's School of Design and I’ve been
practicing Arts & Design for around 5 years. My work inclines toward
a palate of textures that influence the organic and structured notion
of spaces around me. Recently, I completed a Diploma in Learning
Disorders Management and Child Psychology.
U.S. (Pennsylvania)
Hi, I’m Sophie! I’m currently doing my BSc in Communication
and Media, but I have always been interested in psychology. I am
especially interested in criminal psychology and how the mind of
a psychopath works, but I am also interested in personality, social,
and child psychology.
Netherlands
Hi, I’m Teresa and I attend the University of Maryland College Park
as a junior undergraduate transfer student and have declared
Journalism as my major. I would ideally love to move to NYC by the
time I graduate to tackle jobs within the social media and journalism
fields when launching my career. I love writing, communicating, and
self-expression. In my free time, I love to sing, draw, write, attend
shows, meet new friends, and explore new places. I started working
with Psych2Go by making videos for their YouTube channel, but now
have graduated to become editor-in-chief of this magazine!
Hiya! I’m a 22 year old Psychology graduate who has a masters in
research. I help manage the magazine and run the store, and I write
for the magazine each issue. I hope you enjoy my work!
The U.K.
Sneha
Sophie
Teresa
Imogen
Hey! I’m finally a senior applying to graduate schools for cognitive
neuroscience, specifically interested in sleep and memory. Working
with this amazing team is one of my proudest accomplishments.
When I’m not napping or studying, I’m probably watching YouTube
or blogging.
U.S. (Maryland)
Lauren
Hi! I am currently going to graduate school for a Master’s in
forensic psychology. Some of my greatest passions in psychology
include the topics of eating disorders, self-harm, psychopathy, and
forensic psychology. When I’m not working or doing homework I can
generally be found watching Netflix, sleeping, playing video games,
playing with cats, or working out.
U.S. (Minnesota)
Larissa
13. 11
ISSUE 5
Hi! I’m Kayleigh. Besides having a passion for writing, learning new
things and gathering interesting facts (Did you know the majority
of lizards can’t run and breathe at the same time?), I love creative
things like drawing and making jewelry. I'm currently studying at
University and in my free time I can be found listening to music,
reading and writing, or browsing the internet.
Netherlands
I still like hedgehogs. I like psychology and have a BSc from a
Canadian university. My field of study was industrial/organizational
psychology and I currently do work in HR!
Nova Scotia
I’m Sheena, and I study Psychology BSc with the University of the
Highlands & Islands in Scotland. Being both the kid who grew up
reading encyclopedias and the ‘Agony Aunt’ friend, I’ve always been
interested in how what happens in our heads affects the way that we
live our lives, and in practicing acceptance (and hopefully spreading
it too!).
The U.K.
Hello! I’m 22 years old and a recent graduate of media studies. I’m
a huge supporter of anti-consumerism and media awareness and
although I didn’t study psychology, I am fascinated by the way our
mind works. In my spare time you can find me reading (especially
fantasy literature), listening to music, watching TV series and
writing. Above all I am simply a girl, madly in love with stories in all
shapes and sizes)
Slovenia
Kayleigh
Hannah
Sheena
Katja
Hi there! My name is Risha. I am a psychology graduate, general
studies. I am oftentimes described as a shy girl with a quick wit.
Amazingly, I have managed to channel my passion to different
facets of art and psychology; and blended my two loves. I am a firm
believer that learning never stops.
Philippines
Risha
I'm a student at uOttawa taking a double major in Psychology and
Linguistics. I have a particular focus in the community bridging
mental and physical health together, as well as promoting the use
of sign language (American and French)
Ontario, Canada
Dancia
14. 12
Psych2Go
Hello! I'm a 21 year old Psychology student who is about to have
a Bachelor's degree. I write about music psychology each issue.
I'm passionate about psychology and mental health, and I hope my
writings are able to help others!
U.S (Mississippi)
Kimiya
Paul Travis is an author living for the rush of big city lights and a
self-proclaimed diva with a heart of gold willing to help anyone
in the world that he possibly can. For more information check out
www.paultravis.net
U.S (New York)
Advice Column Team
My name is Laura Corona and I am 21 years old. Currently studying
Communications and soon will begin working my way into becoming
an American Sign Language Interpreter.
U.S. (California)
Advice Column Team
Laura
Hi I'm Lauren, I graduated with a degree in psychology and a
masters in counselling. I've been a youth worker, a counsellor and
currently I'm working towards becoming a social worker. I wanted
to be apart of the magazine as I know what it's like to struggle with
your feelings and I want help where I can. That's my passion in life.
My other passion is art. I post videos of my digital art on YouTube in
the hopes of creating a relaxing space for others. You can find me at
Rad Little Drawings.
Northern Ireland
Advice Column Team
Lauren
Hi there! I'm Kimi and I'm a 17 year old high school junior.
Psychology has always interested me and I consider it an honor
to be apart of this amazing team of writers. Through my busy high
school honors schedule, I still find the time to write with everything
I have. I hope you enjoy
U.S (Texas)
Hi I'm Jessica! I am a rising senior at University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, receiving my bachelors degree of science
in Psychology with a concentration in Human Services and
Biopsychology. I'm currently working on research about pediatric
pain management with distraction. Cognitive neuroscience is my
main interest, specifically sensation and perception. I really want to
learn more about perception processes to eventually be a leader in
research and a neuropsychologist.
U.S (Maryland)
Jessica
Gabriel
Paul
15. 13
ISSUE 5
The Psychology of Style
A multitude of studies have been done over
the last five years focusing on connecting your
appearance to “abilities and acceptance” which
actually found connections between people’s
personality and footwear. A lot of these studies
didn’t determine that it was personality that
fully dictated choices, but also societal norms.
Cultural conditioning is the most relevant
factor to a person’s choice of clothing - the way
they have seen people react to others wearing
clothes that are brightly coloured versus the
way they’ve seen people react to more muted
tones.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-
beauty/fashion/the-psychology-of-style-whats-the-
real-reasoning-behind-yourlook/article31427994/
Talking to Children About Race
Racism has clearly been rampant in the news
lately. We see it constantly with people being
killed for their skin colour. Because of these
issues, it is pertinent that parents talk with
young children about race. Ignoring race is a
regular occurrence, and acting as though
different skin tones are not seen does not
make the race go away. Nor does it help change
the societal norms associated with negative
behaviour towards races besides one’s own.
In studies where people used a multicultural
approach (instead of a colourblind one) they
expressed less prejudiced behaviour when
dealing with people of other races.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/its-
time-to-talk-about-race-with-children
The Psychology of Storage
Storage used to be tangible, we would keep
memories in photo albums. Now we have the
cloud, has it changed us a lot? Science says yes.
It was determined that 90% of the data created
in the world was created only two years ago. We
are also more likely to save things to reminisce
that we may never want to reminisce. We have
a lot less physical stuff now and that can be
either good or bad. There is more freedom with
what we store.
http://tech.firstpost.com/biztech/the-psychology-of-
storage-332101.html
By: Hannah Bennet
Artwork by: Sohaina Maratita
IN THE NEWS
Hello! I recently graduated with a Masters in Psychological
Research and am currently employed at Durham University as a
research assistant on the Hearing the Voice project. The project is an
interdisciplinary effort to understand auditory verbal hallucinations
and I’m interested in the cognitive and neurological mechanisms
which underpin voice-hearing experiences. Outside of psychology
I’m an avid reader, and enjoy both watching and playing football
The U.K.
Hi! I’m Liv Mitchell, I currently study a Masters in Psychology at the
University of Birmingham in the UK. I’m originally from Shropshire
in England, and I have a real interest in intellectual disabilities and
special needs.
The U.K.
Jamie
Liv
I'm Tyra Davis, a middle school English Teacher living in NYC, but
I've always been a writer at heart. Although my background is not
in psychology, I have suffered from anxiety and depression in the
past, which brings with it a lot of experience dealing with negative
feelings and emotions. I hope to bring some of this experience to
light in my advice to our readers.
U.S (New York)
Advice Column Team
Tyra
16. 14
Psych2GoPsych2Go
Psych2Go: What did you think of the
institution?
NM: NM: The Psychology section is rel-
atively recent because until the early
2000’s, there was a single section which
combined psychology and pedagogy.
Even so, the Psychology Section has its
own events and programs that aim to
popularize the domain among the wide
audience.
Psych2Go: What are your career goals?
NM: The first step I have to take is to
become licensed in Psychology. The
next step is to choose between a Mas-
ter’s Degree in Therapy or a Master’s
Degree in Criminology. Probably most
of us students want to become the next
Clarice Starling/Will Graham or Chloe
Saint-Laurent, but criminology is not a
proper developed field in my country, so
working as a therapist while studying
criminology is my ultimate goal. It
will be hard, but what isn’t?
Pysch2Go: Have you had much career
advice as part of your course?
NM: Since I only finished my first college
year, I haven’t received career advice yet,
but I don’t believe this is an impediment
since I already know what career I will
pursue.
Pysch2Go: What got you interested in
psychology?
NM: I think that the most discouraging
aspect that every psychologist faces is
that there is no recipe for mental health
that applies to every person. There are
no clear answers and there is no guar-
anty that a certain patient will get better
after therapy. During a class, one of my
fellow students asked a teacher about
what some symptoms could mean. And
Nth Maria
INTERVIEW
Maria is a 19 year old who is
about to start her second year of
college. She studies psychology
at the University of Transylvania
in Brasov, Romania. Today she’ll
be answering some questions
for us, about psychology, and
her course, to give you an idea of
what studying psychology is
really like.
Attends the University of Transylvania
17. 15
ISSUE 5ISSUE 1
the teacher, whom I admire, replied “I
don’t know” even though she has been a
therapist for more than a decade.
Psych2Go: If you could change some-
thing about your studies, what would it
be?
NM: I would have studied more during
high school for the psychology exam in
Bucharest because the University there
offers the possibility to follow a course in
criminology. But I am content with my de-
cision; Brasov is one of Romania’s most
beautiful and interesting cities and I had
the opportunity to participate at some
workshops concerning body language
and self-esteem.
Psych2Go: What is the one thing some-
one studying psychology should know?
NM: That the first and your most import-
ant client is yourself. You can’t dream of
helping others if you haven’t completely
known yourself first. You must be aware
of what you can and can’t do; you must
study hard and also begin a self-develop-
ment process which will never end.
You also must learn how to be impar-
tial and objective. At the end of the day,
after you’ve put down the last casefile,
close the door and you head home, the
one thing that should be in your mind is
dinner, not the last piece of information
you’ve read.
18. 16
Psych2Go
By: Paul Travis
Artwork by: Arielle Kaplan
I DON’T KNOW YOU AND
IT WAS FOR THE BEST :
SocialPsychology
Why Adoption Is Always Better For The Child
90% of adopted children have a pos-
itive perception about being adopted. My
mother and biological father were high
school sweethearts until he found she
was pregnant with me. Abortion was his
answer, while the strength in my moth-
er wouldn’t allow such an act. She was
happy and so was my family. His family
wanted nothing to do with me.
There is no amount of statistics out there
that can compare to the story of someone
who went through it. As everyone sim-
ply refers to my biological father as the
“sperm donor,” it comes as no surprise
that he wasn’t too thrilled when my mom
told him she wouldn’t ever abort her
child. They were both young, but he spi-
ralled into a fit of violent rage. However,
my mother--being the fierce woman she
is--fought back against his attacks.
As a child, my mother wished to keep
the origins of my birth a secret, due to
the complications with my biological fa-
ther. As well as this, she met the man I
refer to as my dad when I was very young.
I don’t remember my life without him. I
was brought into a world with love and
that is usually the case of most children
who had a parent(s) walk away from them
during adolescence, or before birth. I
was in elementary school when I found
out about my biological father. The secret
was exposed by my mom’s sister-in-law.
My aunt and uncle had a motive because
upon the announcement of my mom’s
pregnancy they were angry they weren’t
going to have the first grandchild, plus
my mom wasn’t married or seeing any-
one at the time and this was seen as dis-
graceful.
I can remember when I was told by my
aunt (my mom’s sister-in-law). We
sat on the couch at my other aunt’s
house (my mom’s biological sister) for a
party. It was just her and I, and she be-
gan to tell me about the circumstances
of my birth, asking if I would ever want
to meet him. She tried to feed poison
into my mind. Truthfully, God had bless-
ed me with a gift of a very high intuition
and I always could feel the intentions of
people. I am very emotionally intelligent.
Upon her telling me--I won’t lie,--my
world crashed. I felt the same way a lot
of kids feel when they find out such tragic
news. My mom was heartbroken and fu-
rious at my uncle’s wife when I came to
ask her to clarify the truth of this new-
found information I had gleaned. She saw
the hurt in my eyes, the confusion, and a
million questions came to surface...some
I didn’t even realize were ever in my mind
to begin with. I never viewed my “Dad”
differently, though. I don’t consider the
“sperm donor” to be anything to me, and
he certainly is not the man I think of as
my father.
Those moments of my life had a very cru-
cial affect on me. I felt abandoned. Being
told that someone wanted me dead be-
fore I was even born brought a deep pain
bubbling up beneath my surface. Love
was all around me though, which made
it easier for me to cope with the news.
If I could tell that little boy when he first
found out about his biological father not
wanting him, I would look into his watery
brown eyes and say, “You will understand
why when you are older and everything
will make sense.”
I firmly believe if someone gives up a
child you shouldn’t reach out to the par-
ent, even if regret is in your heart or you
19. 17
ISSUE 5
wish they would stick around for
the baby. I went through my whole life
not hearing from the sperm donor, until
a year ago when I became a best selling
poet. I received an email from him telling
me he wanted to reach out for sometime
now, and that he is proud of me. I am a
kind person and I did appreciate the ges-
ture a lot. I replied thank you.
More questions came to surface about
him, though. Probably the biggest was
“why now?” After the first email I re-
ceived one more from him--wishing me
happy birthday--and that was the last
I heard from him. There are moments I
want to reach out but then I realize how I
will cause myself pain if I were to do so. I
still want to know why he decided to con-
tact me after all those years, but some-
times it’s best if your lingering questions
go unheard. It isn’t terrorizing my mental
health because I know it was for the best.
Even though the situation may appear
dark, in reality you learn just how much
love is out there for you. At first it may
hurt, but you become strong. Having a
parent leave you behind is always the
best for you in the end because you were
given a better life than what you would
have had if you were forced to stay with
the parent who wished to walk away.
Sources cited:
Americanadpotions.com
21. 19
ISSUE 5
A friend once told me that you
choose your family. Your family are the
people that care about and support you
throughout life’s challenges. As import-
ant as family can be, sometimes people
within families are not related by blood.
Adoption is not as prevalently spoken
about in everyday conversation or noticed
in society, even though it exists at a wide-
spread level. According to travel.state.
gov, or the “Intercounty Adoption and Bu-
reau of Counsular Affairs,” the adoptions
per country in 2015 were 5,647 which was
about equal percentage-wise in both fe-
male and male with 5-12 year olds being
the most focused age group in terms of
being adopted. It was less prevalent to
see older individuals adopted, such as
those at age 18. The most children that
are adopted are from China, and on re-
cord for 2015 according to the same web-
site was 2,354 children. Someone you
may know could be adopted, whether
that’s a neighbor, friend, or even a family
member. To bring up a couple examples
of famous public figures with adopted
children, Angelina Jolie has six children,
three of which were adopted. Married
same-sex individuals of the LGBTQ+
community also prevalently adopt.
Being an adopted child may post some
issues when children become aware that
they are adopted into a family. They may
experience a disconnecting feeling or a
grieving feeling over a lost connection
and relationship with their birthparents.
Psychologically, adopted children may
struggle with self-esteem or identity is-
sues more-so than their non-adopted
peers. When an adopted child might look
visibly different than their non-adopt-
ed peers, questions and comments may
arise in terms of questioning their cul-
tural or racial background. In this case,
it’s important for these peers to consider
the discomfort their questions may inflict
and understand how to be sincere and not
hurt the adopted individual’s feelings.
If you are thinking about adopting or
know someone that is, here are some
steps to take in consideration that are
included in the adoption process:
1. It’s important to learn about adoption
before partaking in the process. Make
sure you do your research first in
terms of adoption agencies, as well as
what the responsibilities of adopting en-
tail.
2. Complete a homestudy and search for
a child. First a homestudy must be com-
pleted, which is a series of meetings that
must be completed between the person
interested and an agency social worker.
They will ask for birth certificates, mar-
riage licenses, and any other pertinent
documents. After ensuring preparedness
to adopt a child, you would be able to be-
gin your search for a child through differ-
ent agencies, and then exchange infor-
mation with the selected child’s agency.
3. The agency will have to evaluate what
your family can provide for the child, and
most of the time there may be anoth-
er family being considered at the same
time. Once you learn that you have been
selected for a child, you will be able to
meet and visit the child several times be-
fore paperwork is completed.
4. You’ll be able to then receive a place-
ment where the child can live in your
home, and the agency will visit for several
months. During that time period, you will
be able to fill out an intent to adopt form,
and attend a follow-up court session
where a judge finalizes your adoption.
5. Live as an adoptive family! Of course
this is the exciting part, with a special
and new edition to your family. However,
it’s important to continue to be aware of
what you need to continue learning as a
parent with an adopted child, and the way
in which the child’s needs must be met.
Sources Cited:
Intercounty Adoption Bureau of Consular Affairs.
(2015). Retrieved December 2016, from travel.state.
gov: https://travel.state.gov/content/adoptionsabroad/
en/about-us/statistics.html
Patricelli, K. (n.d.). Long-term issues for the adopted
child. Retrieved December 2016, from MentalHelp.
net: https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/long-term-
issues-for-the-adopted-child/
Ten step overview. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2016,
from National adoption center: http://www.adopt.org/
ten-step-overview
22. 20
Psych2Go
SCHIZOAFFECTIVE
By: Hannah Bennet
Artwork by: Sydney Diamond
DISORDER
ExploringMentalHealth
Schizoaffective disorder affects
about 0.3% of the population, so it’s a
mental illness that is less well known.
This might be because of its lack of
prevalence, or it might be due to the
fact that we don’t yet fully understand
schizoaffective disorder; It’s kind of a mix
of multiple disorders.
Schizoaffective disorder is a condition
in which a person experiences a
combination of schizophrenia symptoms,
and symptoms of a mood disorder. Some
of the core features of schizoaffective
disorder are physical problems: eating,
sleeping, sexual health; issues with
social functioning, such as problems with
family or friends, and reality impairment,
such as disorganization, reality distortion,
and grandiosity (delusions in which the
person is the end all be all and much
more functional than they are in reality.)
People with schizoaffective disorder can
also exhibit symptoms of mania, such as
hyperactivity, agitation, an elated mood
and racing speed of speech.
Even though schizoaffective disorder
is not fully understood, there are
treatments available: Anti-psychotics,
mood stabilizers, and antidepressants
are all often used to treat the disorder.
Counselling is also available, often
accessed through psychotherapy, or
family counselling. Both are effective
ways to treat the disorder.
24. 22
Psych2Go
Newton made great contributions to
science. His biggest achievements lie in
the three major laws of motion, the law of
gravitation and in his discoveries in optics,
astronomy and mathematics. Despite his
genius qualities and an astonishing mind,
this man suffered greatly throughout
his life and had very little friends. His
inability to express emotions and his
hostility towards everyone made it very
hard for him to communicate with others
without starting a fight. He was known
for his melancholia and seriousness and
even suffered from major mental health
problems.
Newton had a rather tragic childhood;
his father died before his birth and his
mother abandoned him at the age of
three. His stepfather separated him from
his mother for seven years which affected
the little boy deeply, and it is argued that
his low self-esteem was a result of this
early tearing of his bond with his mother.
Even afterwards, his mother only caused
him problems as she didn’t want him to
attend university and had to postpone
his entrance to Cambridge University.
He was a solitary child and spent most
of his free time alone, building his
inventions. Recurring attacks of rage and
his dominant personality were putting
a lot of stress onto his family. He even
threatened his mother and stepfather. His
violent temper made Newton extremely
unpopular.
During his time at Cambridge, he only
made one friend and in his notebooks
from that era, he wrote about
feelings of anxiety, fear, sadness and
even mentioned suicide. Newton had
several manic episodes which lead him
to starvation and later on, depressive
episodes would follow. As a recognised
scientist, he distanced himself from the
scientific community and avoided people
at all costs. At the time, depression and
manic episodes were seen as something
essential for creativity; depression made
a person a perfectionist, while mania
made him productive.
Low self-esteem made him reluctant
when it came to showing off his work.
Because he was very afraid of being
criticised, he often fought with those
whose opinions did not align with his.
There were only two people he loved in all
his life; the first was his niece, Catherine
Barton, who was his housekeeper, and
the second, a Swiss mathematician
named Fatio de Duillier. Newton worked
for Trinity College for over 30 years but
only tutored three students and he had a
“reputation of being an unpleasant and
unlikable man” (Milo Keynes). Despite his
terrible temper and difficulties forming
relationships, he was quite charitable in
his later years, especially towards young
intellectuals and his family.
In his later life, Newton’s melancholia
became more apparent; he even
experienced hallucinations and held
conversations with people who weren’t
even present in the room. He also
became obsessed with religion and
“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not
the madness of people.”
ISAAC NEWTON AND THE MADNESS
OF A GENIUS
Significant People Enduring Mental Illness in Psychology History:
By: Katja Stojic
Artwork by: Mal Robinson
ExploringMentalHealth
25. 23
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focused a lot on alchemy. Some
researchers believe that the scientist
suffered from Asperger’s syndrome,
and that his late depression was a
result of a mercury poisoning brought
on by his experiments. As Milo Keynes
states: “Newton was poor at human
relationships such as the expression
of gratitude, and had little capacity for
enjoyment”. Whether he suffered from
bipolar disorder or Asperger’s syndrome,
the results were the same: he was often
sad and serious and formed only two
meaningful relationships.
Isaac Newton will always be known to
the world as a first class physicist but
historical figures often get dehumanised,
and we forget that once upon a time,
they were people just like us. Everyone
has their cross to bear and being a
genius rarely makes an exception. On
the contrary, the smarter a person is, the
likelier it is for them to feel isolated in
this world. It is important to remember
that we are all human first, with all our
flaws and problems, and the public
persona comes only after that.
Sources cited:
h t t p : / / r s n r. ro y a l s o c i e t y p u b l i s h i n g . o rg /
content/62/3/289
http://futurism.com/the-madness-of-sir-isaac-
newton/
26. 24
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LGBT Parenting
KNOW THE SCORE:
By: Risha Mae Ordas
Artwork by: Mal Robinson
LGBTQ+Psychology
A person is an inherently complex
being – its core being made up of
layers upon layers of both influence
and experience. Strong personalities
have strong foundations, and strong
foundations are built with years of
learning and the reinforcement of
certain values, which we learn within
our childhood. Notions such as why we
need to share, or how we perceive our
neighbors are usually taught by our
parental figures, people we trust to be
right, people we trust to guide us through
the reality, which can be more than harsh
at certain points. There is importance of
having good parental figures in our lives,
for which they would help shape the way
we see the world.
Family is important. It’s where a person
would get to learn about the world for the
very first time. Good experiences are the
foundation for values such as altruism
and empathy for others, while bad
experiences are effective springboards
to learn what courage and integrity mean
and how they foster into a healthy person.
Family members are the very backbone
of a person’s support system.
This is one of the main reasons why the
topic of adoption is such a big issue when
it comes to the identity of the parents,
especially if the would-be parents
are part of the LGBT community. The
question whether non-heterosexual
couples would be great parents or not
has been the resonating question for a
long time and up till now it is still a topic
of debate.
Admittedly, the apprehension for this
unconventional family dynamic stems
from more than dark roots, as most of
the criticism would often boil down
to a child needing both a man and a
woman to be raised right. But that isn’t
necessarily the case. Over the years, a
lot of studies demonstrate that a child’s
well-being is affected much more by their
relationship with their parents, and the
parents’ own sense of competence and
security, as well as the influence of social
and economic support for the family,
rather than by the sexual orientation of
the parents.
In fact, there are several studies that
would suggest that there really is not
much difference between a child who
is raised by straight parents and a child
who is raised by gay parents, studies
that date back to more than twenty
years. For instance, a study conducted
in October 2010 by the University of
Virginia concluded that the differences
are virtually indistinguishable.
In the same year, another study by
Stanford researcher Michael Rosenfeld
used census data to examine the school
advancement of 3,500 children with
same-sex parents. The findings proved
no significant differences between them
and children with opposite-sex parents,
when controlling for family background.
The same results resonated with the 2015
study, which features Dutch adolescents
with lesbian moms who were contrasted
with their peers with opposite-sex
parents.
One of the best studies for LGBT parenting
so far is the National Longitudinal
Lesbian Family Study, which began in
1986. The study has followed 154 lesbian
mothers and recently checked in on 78
adolescent children, comparing the
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ISSUE 5
mothers’ and kids’ self-reported
status against national standardized
samples, which also indicated that there
is no significant difference regarding the
sexual orientation one’s parents belong
to.
Perhaps the most noteworthy difference
between how children of gay parents
and children of straight parents turn
out are in the issues of tolerance and
open-mindedness. In a paper published
in 2007 by the American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, Abbie Goldberg, a
psychologist at Clark University in
Massachusetts who researches gay and
lesbian parenting, conducted in-depth
interviews with 46 adults with at least
one gay parent. The results show that
these children felt that they are more
open-minded and empathic, and felt less
obstructed by gender stereotypes than
they would have been if raised in regular
heterosexual households.
This is extremely important to note as the
entrenched apprehension towards LGBT
parents are unnecessary, especially since
they are more than capable of producing
loving homes for children, and even if
the public support for gay adoption has
been increasing for the past decade,
more efforts could still be put into the
acceptance of this wonderful familial
dynamic. With ‘it takes a village to raise
a child’ holding some grain of truth, the
backlash of the rhetoric still reaches the
child as they are subjected to bullying and
isolation because of the nature of their
family.
But with all our efforts, we can make safe
and loving environments for children,
whether adopted or not, straight or gay,
inside or outside the boundaries of the
home. The formative years of a child are
the most important, as these years are
the gateways to their first experiences of
the world, and early on, we must continue
to teach and instill that love will always
win.
Sources cited:
Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Parents: Issues and Con-
cerns - FindLaw. (2016).Findlaw. Retrieved 13 August
2016, from http://family.findlaw.com/adoption/gay-
and-lesbian-adoptive-parents-issues-and-concerns.
html
Pappas, S. (2012). Why Gay Parents May Be the Best
Parents. Live Science. Retrieved 13 August 2016,
from http://www.livescience.com/17913-advantag-
es-gay-parents.html
van Rijin-van Gelderen, et. al., L., M.W. Bos, H., & Gar-
trell, N. (2015). Dutch adolescents from lesbian-parent
families: How do they compare to peers with hetero-
sexual parents and what is the impact of homophobic
stigmatization?. Journal Of Adolescence, (40), 65-73.
What We Know Blog | What does the scholarly research
say about the wellbeing of children with gay or lesbian
parents?. Whatweknow.law.columbia.edu. Retrieved 13
August 2016, from http://whatweknow.law.columbia.
edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-
research-say-about-the-wellbeing-of-children-with-
gay-or-lesbian-parents/
Barlow, R. (2013). Gay Parents As Good As Straight
Ones. BU Today. Retrieved 13 August 2016, from
https://www.bu.edu/today/2013/gay-parents-as-good-
as-straight-ones/
28. 26
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Music
vs
Poetry
By:Gabriel Taylor
Artwork by: Trina Lana
MusicPsychology
Recently, poetry (more specifically,
free verse poetry) has become very
popular, especially towards young adults.
Poetry books such as Milk & Honey by
Rupi Kaur seem to resonate with so
many people. Poetry has been severely
underrated as it has been deemed
feminine by some, as well as lame,
boring, and even pointless. However, the
impact of lines from poetry is like that of
lines of your favorite song. Can poetry
invoke the same feelings and have the
same relatability as music? It can, and in
so many ways.
Firstly, most songs are required to
rhyme and follow a constant tempo. On
the contrary, poetry requires no such
boundaries. Therefore, it can be much
easier to write poetry than music. Poems
are written to express strong emotions
such as love, passion, hate, disgust,
and fear, and the topics are oftentimes
very specific, explicit, and controversial.
These can be general and vague topics
such as school and life, or they can
be specific and controversial topics
such as racism, feminism, body positivity,
and mental disorders. It can prove very
difficult to share one’s exact thoughts
and feelings while making it rhyme and
keeping a specific rhythm.
Secondly, most poems consist of many
metaphors and similes to describe
feelings and experiences. As mentioned
before, the lines can be very specific,
such as mentioning names of the
subjects of the poem and naming details
of experiences. While this sometimes
occurs in music, this is mostly common
in rap. Coincidentally, rapper Jay-Z once
said in an interview for his new book,
Decoded, that he hopes “readers take
away from this book that rap is poetry.
It’s thought-provoking; there’s thought
behind it.” (Horowitz, 2011)
This is not to say that music is not great,
or that poetry is better than music.
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However, music is well-loved by all
while poetry is under-appreciated and
written off as an outdated form of art that
is only useful when studying literature.
Both are equally valid artistic forms of
storytelling and expressing emotions,
and hopefully more people will come to
that realization.
Sources cited:
Horowitz, S. (2011, June 14). Jay-Z explains why rap
should be considered poetry. Retrieved August 18,
2016, from http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.15546/title.
jay-z-explains-why-rap-should-be-considered-poetry
Can poetry invoke the same
feelings and have the same
relatability as music?
30. 28
Psych2Go
NATURE
VS
NURTURE By: Imogen Bowler
Artwork by: Evelyn Ivy
PersonalityPsychology
One of the biggest debates within
the field of psychology is that of nature
vs. nurture. This refers to the debate
around whether an individual’s behaviour
is due to genetics (their nature), or the
way they were raised (their nurture).
This can often be difficult to investigate
as nature and nurture can often interact
in terms of someone’s parents. The
child will have their parent’s genes, but
will also be raised a certain way by their
parents. Adoption studies manage to
overcome this issue. In this article, I will
talk about how adoption studies work,
and then describe some of the adoption
studies conducted around personality
and explain what they reveal.
Adoption studies are studies that look at
whether certain traits of adopted children
correlate with those of their biological
parents, or their adoptive parents. If
they have the traits of their biological
parents, it would suggest that genes are
the cause, whereas if they have traits of
their adoptive parents, it would suggest
that nurture is the cause. One area
that has made use of this technique of
research is personality research. Here,
we go through two adoption studies about
personality.
One type of personality that has
been heavily researched is antisocial
personality. This can be considered
a personality disorder, although not
everyone exhibiting few antisocial
personality traits would have this
disorder. Rhee and Waldman (2002)
conducted a meta-analysis of twin and
adoption studies about antisocial
personality. This study suggested
that the best explanation for antisocial
personality was genetic influences, giving
evidence to the nature side of personality,
or at least antisocial personalities.
One issue with adoption studies is the
decision regarding the age groups of
the adopted children. Different studies
tend to use different age groups and this
could lead to a discrepancy in results
between them. For example, Loehlin,
Willerman & Horn (1985) decided to
use late-adolescents and young adults
in their adoption study in which they
studied members of 220 families in
Texas, USA. Their results were consistent
with other adoption studies and showed
that the correlation of personality traits
were higher between adopted children
and their biological parents, than their
adoptive parents. This once again shows
that it seems to be nature which has more
of an impact on personality, which is
consistent with the previously described
study.
In conclusion, adoption studies have
been an immense help to the study
of personality. It has allowed nature
(genes) and nurture (upbringing) to
be somewhat untangled and has led
to some interesting insight into the
development of a person’s personality
and its driving forces. However, there are
problems with adoption studies. Firstly,
depending on the age of the participant
studied, the results may vary, especially
if one is studying a phenomenon that
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changes with age. Secondly, the
studies mentioned above do not show
a perfect 100% correlation between
parent (biological or adoptive) and child.
Therefore, it shows that while adoption
studies do reveal interesting insights
into personality, they cannot be used to
describe a sole cause of personality. This
is probably because personality, being
an inherently complex construct, doesn’t
really have a sole cause of personality.
By Imogen Bowler (Personality
Psychology)
Sources cited:
Loehlin, J. C., Willerman, L., & Horn, J. M. (1985). Per-
sonality resemblances in adoptive families when the
children are late-adolescent or adult. Journal of per-
sonality and social psychology, 48(2), 376.
Rhee, S. H., & Waldman, I. D. (2002). Genetic and en-
vironmental influences on antisocial behavior: a me-
ta-analysis of twin and adoption studies.Psychological
bulletin, 128(3), 490.
32. 30
Psych2Go
DevelopmentalPsychology
Contrary to what some think, devel-
opmental psychology does not just focus
on children, but people of all ages. When
you think about this, it is actually quite
logical, as we never truly stop changing
and developing. Sometimes these chang-
es happen on a small scale, such as
when our weight shifts, and sometimes
on a much larger scale, such as when
we master a new skill. One factor that is
extremely dynamic, changeable, across
someone’s lifespan, and which also
shows a lot of variation between people
of different ages, is neural plasticity. In
short neural plasticity is the neural abil-
ity to adapt fluently to new situations or
“rules”, and to perform under changing
circumstances. It is often referred to as
neural flexibility.
What is neural flexibility good for?
It is good for many different things,
such as learning new skills, and even in
a more basic form, learning to survive.
Children are very neutrally flexible, and
they should be because it aids a healthy
development. When we are born, we have
a lot more to learn to be able to function
in this world compared to adults, we need
to deal with much more change and novel
situations. Furthermore, increased neu-
ral flexibility makes children more resil-
ient when parents lack skills in certain
areas. Later in life it can help people deal
more easily with new technologies, for
example.
How can you measure neural flexibility?
To examine the individual differences in
short-term neural plasticity in a group
on a small scale you could present par-
ticipants with a computer game. In this
game they will be shown a set of pic-
tures, one at a time. A few moments after
the picture appears, somewhere in the
image a small colored square will
appear, either a red or a blue one. If a
participant spots a red square they will
have to press the left-arrow key on the
keyboard as quickly as possible, and if
they spot a blue square they will have to
press the right-arrow key. Mistakes and
reaction times will be kept track of, and
halfway through the experiment the rules
will switch: now participants will need
the right-arrow key for a red square, and
the left –arrow key for a blue square. You
would compare the mistakes and reac-
tion times from the first half to the sec-
ond half of the experiment, and the better
they performed during the second half,
compared to the other participants, the
more neutrally flexible they are.
So what happens to neural flexibility
over the course of someone’s life?
Previously it was believed that flexibility
was only present during a period in ear-
ly childhood, and afterwards remained
relatively unchanged over the course
of someone’s life. However, modern re-
search confirms that aspects of plasticity
remain changeable well into adulthood.
This means that the results on the ex-
periment above would keep on changing
as the participant gets older. If they take
the test when they are 25 years of age,
the results will be different from once
they are 30 years of age. This variation is
even present even on a physical level. In
the human brain the ratio of gray matter,
unmyelinated neurons, to white matter,
myelinated neurons, changes from birth
throughout adulthood.
While there can be great individual vari-
ation, generally as we grow older, we
become less neutrally flexible as neural
pathways solidify, turn into myelinated
neurons, when used and lost if they go
You can’t teach an old dog
new tricks, or can you?
By: Kayleigh Herber
Artwork by: Sohaina Maratita
33. 31
ISSUE 5
unused for too long (“use it or lose
it”). It can also change at smaller and
bigger scales, when individual neurons
get damaged, or at larger scales, for ex-
ample when someone suffers brain dam-
age during an accident
Can you increase your neural flexibility?
As mentioned before, one of the generally
accepted principles is “use it or lose it”.
This means that you have to keep exercis-
ing your brain to stay as neutrally flexible
and efficient as possible. It is hard to tell
if you can increase it or not, as not too
many studies have focused on this, as of
yet. It is logical still, that the healthiest
brain is one that gets trained and exer-
cised. Expose yourself to new situations,
solve problems and puzzles, and keep
your brain as healthy as you can!
We have learned that human neural flex-
ibility is something that keeps changing
over the course of someone’s lifespan. It
is generally at its best during childhood,
but there are individual differences in the
way this can be maintained, lost, or pos-
sibly increased over the course of some-
one’s lifespan. Whether you can increase
it again after having lost some is quite
difficult to tell, but it’s sure that a stimu-
lated brain stays healthier for longer.
Sources cited:
Kopp, C. B., & Bean, D. L. (1994). Baby steps: the”
whys” of your child’s behavior in the first two years. WH
Freeman.
Leman, P., Bremner, A., Park, R. and Gauvain, M.
(2012). Developmental Psychology. Berkshire: Mc-
Graw-Hill Education, pp.158, 195.
Saarni, C., Campos, J. J. & Camras, L. (2006) Emotional
development. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (series eds)
& N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.). Handbook of child psycholo-
gy: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality develop-
ment (6th edn, pp. 226-299) New York: Wiley.
Sroufe, L. A. (1996) Emotional development: The orga-
nization of emotional life in the early years. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Neural plasticity is the neu-
ral ability to adapt fluently
to new situations or “rules”,
and to perform under chang-
ing circumstances.
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S.E.E.P
What is it Like to Have Autism?
By: Sophie Izzard
S.E.E.P.(Special,Exceptional,ExtraordinaryPeople)
Autism is sometimes using special
gestures to say “hello”.
Makaton is a language programme of
signs and symbols that helps people
with learning disabilities communicate
with friends, carers or loved ones. It is
particularly useful for the service users
who are nonverbal as they can indicate
terms such as “please” and “thank you”
at lunch or when they need to go to the
toilet.
Autism is loving to watch the trains go.
One young man loves watching the trains
and waving at them as they go past. He
enjoys watching them on the iPad as well
as in real life, and of course loves riding
on the trains.
Autism is having unusual fixations.
Trains are a common interest of autistic
people. Some reasons as to why this may
be includes sensory stimulation from the
movement and sounds, as well as trains
being predictable and consistent (autistic
people tend to prefer routine and can be
viewed as a form of control to help deal
with their anxiety).
Autism is touching hot water because you
like the sensation.
This is an example of being hyposensitive
to touch (under-sensitive). When one
young lady and I make tea in the morning,
her wandering hands always goes to
touch the hot metal casing of the kettle.
Being an SEN (special educational needs)
support worker means I have to be extra
vigilant on the job because whilst she
may not be able to feel the intense heat
sensation in the same way you and I do,
wounds and burns form in the same way!
Autism is when you don’t like the feeling
of your feet wrapped in shoes.
This same service user also experiences
hypersensitive symptoms which
means certain textures may feel
irritating or uncomfortable to her. She
might feel trapped or constricted when
are feet are covered in two layers.
Sensory processing disorder (SPD)
affects the correct processing of stimuli
and can concern hypo or hypersensitivity
or a combination of both.
Autism is not being able to simply do
what you want to do.
This has two implications: on one hand
it means that the service users are not
always allowed to express themselves
fully due to widespread acceptable social
constructs put in place – so no to running
out to the playground halfway through
breakfast, and nope to taking another
nap after you’ve just had one! On a more
serious note, many people of autism
enjoy helping out and feeling useful
but paid work can be difficult to obtain
for a number of reasons, such as an
employer’s understanding of the disorder,
the autistic individual’s difficulties with
communication, interaction and anxiety.
Work experience at my centre happens
throughout the year and placements
include cleaning up at horse stables and
dishwashing and clearing of tables at
cafes.
Autism is things done your way – not
letting anyone interfere.
Autistic people love consistency as we’ve
explored earlier. The service users at my
centre use structured timetables with
removable visual symbols to indicate
which task is happening now and which
ones are next.
Autism is listening to Christmas songs all
throughout the year.
One young man loves Christmas songs
and never grows tired of them. Repetition
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is popular among autistic individuals.
Fortunately, he uses headphones unless
it’s the festive season!
Autism is wanting friends but not
knowing how.
Autistic individuals experience
friendships differently and may feel
overwhelmed in social situations. That
said, two of the service users have been
neighbours for years, sit next to each
other on the minibus home at the end of
the day and often take part in activities
such as trampolining and the cinema
together on weekends.
Autism is sometimes being afraid of
anything too loud.
Sometimes when there is a birthday party
or if some of the individuals with auditory
processing individuals are going on a trip
where a lot of people are around they may
have to wear special noise cancelling
headphones which can be really handy.
They significantly reduce background
noise but still allows for direct listening.
Autism is not the result of parenting
misdirection.
The outdated and heavily incorrect theory
that autism is caused by lack of maternal
warmth (refrigerator mother theory) is
fortunately widely dismissed today. About
60 years ago however, psychiatrists
believed that autism was caused by lack
of paternal bonding, particularly from the
mother. The “refrigerator” pertained to
the coldness of the parent(s).
Leo Kanner (1943; who gave the first
clinical account of autism) did not
consider that his observations between
parent and child may have been due to
the difficulties in social reciprocity faced
by the child. He also never regarded that
the same mothers had other, non-autistic
children…
I’m glad to report social science and
feminism has come a long way since
then and the cause of autism involves
a combination of environmental and
biological (genetic) factors.
Autistic people can and do show lots of
affection.
Another myth here. I get high fives
and sometimes even hugs and little gifts
of bits and bobs on a regular basis. There
is plenty of laughter in the centre too.
Whilst some autistic people may prefer
to not be touched, this could be down to
sensory issues or anxiety. Impaired social
reciprocation such as not understanding
emotional expression can be a symptom
of the disorder but not exclusive to
all. Besides, having personal space is
something everyone wants!
Autism is condition of wonderful variety.
The spectrum of autism implies that
no two individuals with autism are the
same. This can present as a particular
challenge when working with different
service users as the communication
and support approaches used for one
autistic individual may be different for
another. Similarly, their motivations are
different. Some prefer social rewards,
like being able to work with their
favourite support worker on Saturday
whereas others prefer watching their
favourite TV show! The best thing about
getting to work with different people is
the diversity in personalities, interests
and the invaluable, distinct skills gained
as a result.
Autism is not a burden to society.
Finally, whilst working with people
with autism is challenging and at times
exhausting, there’s never a dull moment
where I work. The service users are
almost always happy, the role is incredibly
rewarding and the immense uniqueness
of the people I work with is priceless. It’s
loud more often than it’s quiet and it’s a
fun, social environment to work in. It is
important to understand that day centres
for autistic people are sometimes the last
resort for them and may be the only place
where they receive adequate attention.
In conclusion, people with autism and
learning disabilities can live rich lives
with the right support, right attitude and
encouragement to promote as much
independence as possible.
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Psych2Go
DYSLEXIA
By: Dancia Susilo
Artwork by: Evelyn Ivy
S.E.E.P.(Special,Exceptional,ExtraordinaryPeople)
Dyslexia is a neurobiological
learning disability, which affects 5-10%
of the population. Since some people
do not go for an official diagnosis, it is
estimated the true percentage is 17%.
Someone with Dyslexia would have
difficulty processing words and numbers.
This disability is most prevalent when a
child is starting to learn how to read and
write, as they would have more difficulty
than their peers. Since Dyslexia is
genetic, a child will be born with Dyslexia,
not grown into it. Similarly, a child will not
be able to grow out of it.
Since Dyslexia is a language processing
disorder, both spoken and written
comprehension might be warped,
making it difficult to comprehend others
and to express themselves. Having
Dyslexia is like understanding arithmetic
but being incapable to complete the
application questions. Although Dyslexics
have intelligence, they have difficulty
processing the information given to them,
and therefore leaving them confused and
frustrated.
Dyslexia is diagnosed by a series of tests.
What typically catches an educator’s
attention are language difficulties,
poor memory, and lacking sense of
direction. There are six aspects of
Dyslexia: disorientation, reading and
spelling, attention focus, math and time
management, coordination/handwriting,
and self-esteem.
Disorientation is a shift in perception
based on stress or confusion. This could
range from blurry vision to fainting
issues. It is treated through Davis
Orientation Counselling. The most
common symptom of Dyslexia is difficulty
in reading and writing. It is remedied
through Davis Symbol Mastery.
Shifts of attention are common in
people with Dyslexia. They are either
hyperactive or a daydreamer. Due to
disorientation, there is no foundation
for accurate counting, which makes
math and time management difficult.
Since disorientation affects balance and
proprioception, writing can be difficult.
They can feel as if they are moving when
they are still. These symptoms mixed
together can give a feeling of inferiority.
This is why people with Dyslexia often
have low self-esteem.
Disorientation is treated through Davis
Orientation Counselling. By minimizing
the amount of disorientation, many of the
other aspects of Dyslexia are diminished.
People with Dyslexia undergo Reading
Recovery programs to help them read
and write despite their disability. They
will also go through Davis Symbol
Mastery. This will allow them to connect
words with images more so they will
comprehend and retain information
easier.
Sources cited:
Bailet, Laura. (2015). “Understanding Dyslexia”. Teen’s Health.
Retrieved from: http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/dyslexia.html#
Davis, Ron. (2016). “Is It Dyslexia?”. Davis Dyslexia Association
International. Retrieved from: https://www.testdyslexia.com/cgi-
bin/assessor.cgi
N.A.. (2016). “Reading Recovery”. Dyslexia SA. Retrieved from:
http://www.dyslexiasa.org.au/resources/educators/reading-
recovery/
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ISSUE 5
In an appearance on The Oprah
Winfrey Show, American wildlife natu-
ralist, Casey Anderson, shared the extent
of his love for his pet: “This connection
goes beyond just taking care of Brutus…
on his birthday he gets to come in the
house, open presents and eat cake… we
go for walks in the woods, and I actually
chose Brutus to be the best man at my
wedding.” For most pet-owners, these
are probably familiar sentiments, and
there are only few attachments as strong
as those between a pet and its owner.
Brutus, however, is a seven-foot-tall,
nine-hundred-pound grizzly bear, who
has been Anderson’s oversized but much
loved pet ever, since he was rescued as a
newborn cub in 2002.
Objectively, there is something decided-
ly odd about taking in a strange animal,
even in cases where the animal is not a
bear that weighs more than most motor-
cycles. Food and veterinary bills are not
cheap, dogs need to be taken for walks
every day, and correctly maintaining an
aquarium for fish or a terrarium for liz-
ards is expensive. No matter the species
of this animal, pet ownership remains
costly, both financially and personally.
In the case of Brutus, many would argue
it is potentially life-threatening for the
owner. However, there are 57 million pets
in 40% of households in the UK (PFMA,
2016). People clearly love having pets
despite the costs. So, what benefits does
pet ownership offer then?
A survey conducted in 2011 demonstrated
that pet owners are more self-confident
and exercise more than non-pet owners
(McConnell, Brown, Shoda, Stayton &
Martin, 2011). These are both indicators
of greater general well-being. However,
these benefits of pet ownership can be
explained indirectly. Owning a dog, for
example, requires regular walks and this
extra exercise could bring about great-
er confidence. The same researchers,
though, conducted a second study which
suggests that humans can directly bene-
fit from being psychologically close to an
animal. Pet owners were asked to write
about an experience of rejection.
They were then asked to write a second
piece, either about a favourite friend, a
favourite pet or, as a control, were
asked to draw a map. A measure of
social need was taken after each piece.
After writing about rejection, people be-
come socially needy – they want comfort
from a friend. Even just writing about a
friend actually reduced social need, as
did writing about a pet. Drawing a map,
on the other hand, did not. This suggests
that pets can be an important source of
social support, comparable with a human
friend. This conclusion is supported by
research conducted over a range of spe-
cies as pets. Similarly, in a somewhat ste-
reotypical finding, cats helped to reduce
feelings of loneliness in elderly women
(Mahalski, Jones & Maxwell, 1988). Even
parrots are thought to be an important
source of social support to their owners
(Anderson, 2015). Pets of all shapes and
sizes can be valuable friends and this
can have an impact on both mental and
physical health. HIV sufferers with pets
report less depression than those with-
out pets (Siegel, Angulo, Detels, Wesch
& Mullen, 1999). Another study found that
ownership of pets actually decreased the
mortality rate of patients in the year fol-
lowing a severe heart attack (Friedman &
Thomas, 1995).
Pets do not guarantee a happy and
healthy life, but having an animal com-
panion, who provides unconditional love,
is certainly beneficial, regardless of
whether that companion has fur, wings or
scales, although I would personally ad-
vise against adopting a grizzly bear.
Sources cited:
Anderson, P. K. (2014). Social Dimensions of the Hu-
man–Avian Bond: Parrots and Their Persons. Anthro-
zoös, 27(3), 371-387.
Friedmann, E., & Thomas, S. A. (1995). Pet ownership,
social support, and one-year survival after acute myo-
cardial infarction in the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppres-
sion Trial (CAST). The American journal of cardiolo-
gy, 76(17), 1213-1217.
Mahalski, P. A., Jones, R., & Maxwell, G. M. (1988).
The value of cat ownership to elderly women living
alone. The International Journal of Aging and Human
Development, 27(4), 249-260.
McConnell, A. R., Brown, C. M., Shoda, T. M., Stayton,
L. E., & Martin, C. E. (2011). Friends with benefits: on
the positive consequences of pet ownership. Journal of
personality and social psychology, 101(6), 1239.
Pet Population 2016. (2016). Retrieved August 18, 2016,
from http://www.pfma.org.uk/pet-population-2016
Siegel, J. M., Angulo, F. J., Detels, R., Wesch, J., &
Mullen, A. (1999). AIDS diagnosis and depression in
the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study: The ameliorating
impact of pet ownership. AIDS care, 11(2), 157-170.
41. 39
ISSUE 5
For many, the belief that the caretaker
of a child truly knows and understands
what is in the best interest of the child
holds true. However, there are many
cases in which a court becomes involved
in aiding disputes between fighting
divorcees regarding what is truly the best
arrangement for the child in question.
While some may believe the court’s
decision to be wrong, there are many
factors considered when the court does
go into making a decision that affects
various lives in such a profound way.
According to Donald J. Franklin, Ph.D.,
some of the most important factors that
are considered while determining whose
custody a child should fall under, are
parent-child relationship, personality
factors, parenting styles etc. Also,
whether there is a possibility of the
child going through heavy psychological
difficulties under the care of one parent
versus the other. While considering
parenting style, a forensic psychologist
often takes into account an individual’s
work schedule, the distance of their job
location from the child’s school, working
hours, and how capable the parent
would be in responding to potential
emergencies faced by his or her child.
These are important factors to take into
account because in case the child is facing
some sort of emergency, the possibility
of a quick response is very important.
Other aspects that must also be taken
into account are, evidence of any type of
abuse - including substance, physical, or
psychological, whether or not the child
prefers one guardian over another. If the
child does state a preference, we need
to make sure the child is in a competent
mindset while explaining their choice,
and at the same time, also ensuring that
the child was not coerced into saying
anything they did not wish to say.
Even though there is a belief that various
custody cases are rigged in favour of
one parent over the other, the American
Psychological Association (APA) notes
that one of the 14 guidelines that
are to be followed in a child custody
case is to base recommendations, if
any are applicable, with regard to the
psychological best interests of the child
in question. Forensic psychologists are
generally not the only professionals
involved in a custody case, which
creates another responsibility that must
be followed by psychologists: to follow
ethical and legal obligations, as stated
by the APA. This includes keeping well-
documented objective evidence so that, if
by chance, other professionals question
the psychologist’s recommendations, the
documentation is able to be analyzed.
This enables others to either support
or challenge the opinions stated by the
forensic psychologist.
Even though the issue of child custody
does not always come into a courtroom
setting, when it does, the child is
the most important individual while
considering which family member best
suits their needs. A tragic encounter for
anyone during their lifetime, forensic
psychologists are brought to try and ease
the pain that ultimately comes with facing
a divorce, by stating their professional,
objective opinion as to who the better
caretaker for a child would be.
Sources cited:
http://www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/child-custody.
aspx
http://comprehendthemind.com/forensic-psychology-
and-children/
http://psychologyinfo.com/forensic/child_custody.html
43. 41
ISSUE 5ISSUE 5
I was abandoned at the gates of a rural Chinese middle school a couple
days after my birth. I was then taken to Zhanjiang, where I was placed
in an orphanage. 8 months later, I was adopted by a couple in the United
States. My adoption story is really important to me, and I will always carry
it with me as a part of my identity as a Chinese-American. I created this
paneled narrative to show people the unique story behind where I come
from in hopes that they can better understand me and where I’m from.
The panels should be read across the rows (like a book) instead of up and
down the columns. It was completed digitally on Photoshop. I hope you
like it! I am very open about my adoption story, and am willing to answer
any questions, so feel free to contact me via Instagram DM or Tumblr
Messages!
I was featured in a documentary about being adopted, and the link to that
is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WDGNRMpzOw
- Nala Wu
http://naladraws.tumblr.com
Instagram: @naladraws
ART SUBMISSION WINNER
THEME:
“Adoption”
If you would like to have the chance to win and have your art
showcased in our next issue, be on the lookout for the next art
theme which will be posted on our social media!
44. 42
Psych2Go
TheTimeline
HOW TO BOOST By: Jessica Jang
Artwork by: Trina Lana
your
resume
In a highly competitive field, your
resume needs to look amazing to
impress admissions directors and hiring
managers. Here are a few improvements
that can help!
Change up your goal statement.
Don’t be objective! People reading your
resume have read many statements on
what each writer wants. They are not
interested. Approach this statement
by saying what they can gain from you,
instead of how they will help you.
Keeping it simple.
Make your resume easier for others to
read by using one format throughout the
resume.
Here’s an example of the work experience
section:
Name of Company, Company Location
(City, State)
Dates of employment on months or years
Your job title
Bulleted list of responsibilities
Here’s an example of the award section:
Date of recognition or award
Accomplishment it recognizes and the
purpose of the award
Competitiveness of the award and your
accomplishment
Level of recognition (national, regional,
local)
Do not panic if your resume looks short!
Work on your details and be specific with
daily tasks you played a role in. The many
years of working in one place shows
dedication and you’re ready to move on to
bigger things!
Here’s what you can do:
Bring attention to transferable skills!
It is always a good idea to include
these skills so the people reading your
resume have a better understanding of
how you work in a team or professional
environment. Some examples are
supervising or decision making,
communication skills, staying organized,
and assisting others.
Do not forget your hobbies.
If you are really passionate about
something like blogging or coding themes
on websites, it might be worth mentioning
to show you are self-motivated and have a
unique set of skills.
Do your research!
Explore the college’s mission statement
and read over the job description to find
keywords to sprinkle in your resume
to describe specifically what they are
looking for. Reading the “About Us”
section can also give you an idea about
the format of the language employers
and admissions directors are looking for.
Sometimes the redundant word choice
can ruin the chances of the resume
reaching important people.
Customizing before sending.
You cannot send the same resume for
everything. It’s best to emphasize certain
skills to shine. Add a relevant experience
section after your education section. Also
include final course grades of relevant
subjects you did well in to be your best for
admissions and employers. Highlighting
the similarities between the position and
work you have done will make resume
readers look beyond years of experience
to focus on your skillset to help their
needs.
Best of luck!
47. 45
ISSUE 5
Think about your parents. How many
faces pop up into your memories? For
most of us, just two: mom and dad.
Ironically, for neglected or abandoned
children, the mental picture of mom or
dad can take so many shapes, building up
an unstable puzzle.
And when the basic pillars of their
development are compromised, foster
children can face a challenging journey
towards mental stability.
Lorentz and later Bowlby have theorized
the necessity of attachment in a child’s
development as a survival strategy.
According to Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
from 1969, a healthy psychological
development of a child is strongly
influenced by the relationship the parent
or caregiver develops with that child.
But what happens when a child
experiences attachment relationships
with two, three or more pairs of
caregivers? No matter how safe and
functional these relationships can be,
can a child’s sense of stability still be
affected?
Researchers identified as several factors
related to children’s sense of stability:
positive parenting, the type of relationship
among caregivers, emotional availability
or daily routine of the family. But when
going from one family to another, a foster
child will experience different family
routines. He will also have to adjust
to different personality types of his
caregivers. (Bradley & Corwyn, 2000)
Apart from a child’s physical health, many
studies have indicated that cognitive
functioning and emotional well-being are
also negatively influenced by long term
foster care.
A National Survey (NSCAW) reported
that almost half of toddlers coming from
Foster Care and half of the ones selected
as sample group from Child Protection
ranked a lower score on a developmental
screen test. In both groups, 13% of
children also indicated a delayed
development after a language test.
Disrupted forms of attachment to his
caregivers will also place a foster child
in a state of constant insecurity and
mistrust.
Foster care environments
characterized by neglect or abuse have
been linked to aggressive behaviours,
difficulties in socialising, posttraumatic
stress disorder, and depression in
adulthood. (Moeller & Bachmann, 1993)
But can these outcomes be changed?
Although the system can not decide upon
the number of placements a child goes
through, it can decide upon the selection
criteria of caregivers. One research
suggested that the more increased
economic resources a family had, a
higher qualitative environment could be
provided to a foster child.
Empathizing with a child’s experiences
and needs, like understanding early
exposure to trauma, can develop a more
confident sense of self in a child, which
will play a major role in later social and
emotional outcomes (Harden, 2004).
Acknowledging the child’s ties with his
former caregivers or biological family is
another thing that a foster family should
consider. Also being aware of a child’s
race and ethnic background is essential
in developing a sense of identity.
Exploring the culture the child comes
from and celebrating it together will
create a positive family atmosphere and
such a bonding relationship that might
as well become the turning point that
child needs in order to become a healthy
confident adult.
Sources cited:
1.Bowlby J. (1969). Attachment. Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Loss.
New York: Basic Books.
2. Bradley, R., Corwyn, R., Burchinal, M., et al. The home
environments of children in the United States: Part II. Relations
with behavioral development through age 13. Child Development
(2000) 72:1868–86
3.Crittenden, P. Dangerous behavior and dangerous contexts: A
35-year perspective on research on the developmental effects of
child physical abuse. In Violence against children in the family and
the community. P. Trickett and C. Schellenbach, eds. Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association, 1998, pp. 11–38
4. Moeller, T., Bachmann, G., and Moeller, J. The combined effects
of physical, sexual and emotional abuse during childhood: Long
term health consequences for women. Child Abuse and Neglect
(1993) 17(5):623–40;
5. Harden, Jones Brenda. Safety and Stability for Foster Children:
A Developmental Perspective. Future of Children (2004) 14(1): 31-
47.
6.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration
for Children, Youth and Families. National survey of child and
adolescent well-being (NSCAW). One-Year Foster Care Report.
Washington, DC: DHHS, 2001
48. 46
Psych2Go
Psych2GoCommunityPhotography
Psych2Go Community Photography
McKenna Hemmer
We may not be a perfect family, but nobody asked for perfect.
These people standing next to us may not be related by blood,
but we’re proud to call them mom and dad. They’ve experi-
enced us at our best and at our worst, and put up with it. They
decided that no matter what happens, we are still their chil-
dren, and nothings going to change that. These are our parents,
and this our family.
– McKenna Hemmer
https://www.instagram.com/hemmer_4/?hl=en
50. 48
Psych2Go
Look here! Look here! Throughout
our lives we are asked for attention,
but how does this happen? Why is it so
important? Attention is the process of
focusing on specific objects while ignor-
ing others. We use this daily to enhance
our perception of objects or features that
capture our interest to investigate using
a critical process called binding. This
also helps to prevent overload of neural
processing systems so our brain doesn’t
constantly feel like it’s going to explode.
Now pay attention!
Let’s start with the basics. There are two
types of attention: overt and covert. Overt
is when you look directly at the object/
area/feature, like how you’re reading
this article with your eyes focusing on
the words. Then when you briefly pause
to change your focus from one thing to
another it’s called fixation. When the
eyes target different things, your eyes are
making saccadic eye movements which
are tiny, rapid jerky movements that are
so fast about three can happen per sec-
ond. This is especially helpful during vi-
sual scanning or when you are looking
from one place to another to focus on a
specific thing among many things, like a
person in a crowd or a hidden detail in a
painting. Covert attention is when a per-
son is paying attention to an object/area
without looking directly at it or focusing
without moving the eye to the thing. An
example of when this is used is while peo-
ple are driving. Their eyes are on the road
but they are aware of their surroundings.
This is also used in basketball when play-
ers pass the ball without looking.
Many experiments were done to explore
where a person looks in their environ-
ment. An important one was Posner et
al.’s experiment in 1978 which revealed
more about attention with a precueing
task. This task measured eye move-
ment reaction time by quickly flash-
ing an arrow pointing to the stimulus,
which was a box, an arrow pointing away
from the stimulus, and no arrow. Posner,
Nissen, and Ogden observed that the ar-
row pointing to the box enhanced percep-
tion and it took longer for the subject to
look at the box when the arrow was point-
ing away. This demonstrated that infor-
mation processing is more effective at the
place where attention is directed, in other
words, attention causes an increased re-
sponse to location. They coined this effect
spatial attention. Another example of this
is a spotlight on a performer; the light is
a cue to enable faster processing of the
performer.
Now let’s go deeper, what is going on in
your brain? Attention to different types of
objects influences neural activity in brain
areas that processes information about
those types of objects. Brain imaging has
located where specific neurons respond
to different things in certain parts of the
brain. Most identifying activity was firing
in the temporal cortex and researchers
found two important areas. The fusiform
face area or FFA specializes in facial rec-
ognition. As further evidence, if there was
damage to the temporal lobe, the patient
had difficulty recognizing close friends,
family, or even their own reflection. This
condition is called prosopagnosia. The
parahippocampal place area or PPA iden-
tifies places. PPA is important for spatial
awareness or the body knowing where
it is in space, since this fires activity in
empty rooms and furnished rooms.
Sometimes the police can only use eye-
witness testimonies. However, a true
testimony does not exist because of a
process called binding. This is vital to
perception to point out specific objects.
The process uses separated signals
HOW TO PAY ATTENTION
By:Jessica Jang
Artwork by: Mal Robinson
Neuropsychology
51. 49
ISSUE 5
from giving attention to objects and
combining them to produce a unified
perception. These objects’ signals come
from separated features such as shape,
color, and size. Illusory combination in-
tegrates these perceived features when
stimuli containing a number of features
are presented briefly, while conditions
make it difficult to focus attention. For
example, presenting a red square and a
blue triangle in thirty seconds could po-
tentially create the perception of a red
triangle. Eyewitness testimonies are not
reliable since they tend to mix up colors
of getaway cars or suspect clothing be-
cause they were next to other colors. The
brain uses top-down processing or prior
knowledge to eliminate illusory combina-
tion and correctly “bind” the features.
But what about the things we don’t see?
In the famous study done by Simons and
Chabris in 1999 the term inattention-
al blindness was coined. The subjects
of this study were told to watch a video
and count how many times the people in
white shirts pass a ball. Many reached
the correct answer, but some hardly no-
ticed the gorilla that enters the middle
of the scene. Inattentional blindness is
when a stimulus that is not attended to
is not perceived, even though the person
is looking directly at it. The subjects were
using selective attention on the people in
white and this is how they missed the go-
rilla. Ever notice mistakes in movies like
a person had a cup of water in one scene
then was empty the next? Those continui-
ty errors weren’t noticed by directors due
to change blindness, which is a difficulty
in detecting differences between two vi-
sual stimuli that are presented with an-
other stimulus interposed between them.
This phenomena also occurs when part
of a stimulus is changed very slowly.
Are you a multi-tasker? There’s actual-
ly no such thing according to the “load
theory of attention”. This explains the
effect of distracting task-irrelevant stim-
uli, where the brain can only take in so
much information at once and needs to
focus in order to complete tasks. Every-
one has a perceptual capacity or a limit
to carrying out tasks that require at-
tention. Let’s say you’re trying to make
a sandwich while watching television.
Each one of these tasks has a perceptu-
al load, or amount of awareness needed
to complete a task. The magnitude of the
distraction depends on the meaning of
the stimulus and the difficulty of the task.
An example of meaning or salience is a
bright red light flashing on the television
will cause you to look up from your sand-
wich-making since it signals danger. If
a task is difficult, it’s called a high-load
task since it requires more concentration,
the opposite is called a low-load task be-
cause it doesn’t require a lot of attention.
People believe they are multi-tasking
because they have many low-load tasks,
however, they are not. The brain is actual-
ly organizing each task at a time (so they
probably are not doing each task as well
as they can).
Attention is very important for us to re-
spond to our environment. Humans need
this basic cognitive component to survive
or find one thing apart from many. What
we direct our attention to gives us ideas,
emotions, and perceptions that shape us
into our unique selves. This article has
barely scratched the surface of this high-
ly researched topic. There’s still so much
to learn.
Sources cited:
Posner M I, Nissen M J, Ogden W C (1978). Attended
and unattended processing modes: the role of set for
spatial location. In H.L. Pick and E.J. Saltzman (Eds.),
Modes of Perceiving and Processing Information (pp.
137- 157). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our
midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic
events. Perception, 28(9), 1059-1074.
55. 53
ISSUE 5
Created and Designed by: Keen Eye Artistry
Keeneyeartistry.threadless.com
@keeneyeartistry
56. 54
Psych2Go
By: Risha Mae Ordas
The HTP Projective Test
Projective Psychology
INTErPrETATIoNS
The House-Tree-Person test is a
projective test designed to measure as-
pects of a person’s personality. Usually,
a person is asked to draw all three fig-
ures and is then interpreted to form one
coherent report. For this article, only one
figure was asked from our readers to be
interpreted. This article is not an official
test result, and should not be taken as
seriously as the original; so take these as
grains of salt, points to ponder on, things
that might be present in your life, con-
sciously or unconsciously.
@Alicezil
You have a healthy amount of motiva-
tion to propel you to reach your goals.
It would seem that your ego is healthy,
and you have a sense of peacefulness.
However, you might still have some feel-
ings of insecurity or maybe you need a
reference point for a boundary. Perhaps
you need something to strengthen your
ideals about your personal boundaries?
Or maybe you put too much emphasis
on having personal boundaries that
would cause you anxiety?
@Alywhits
From the drawing, it would seem that
you are a private person, but you recog-
nize the presence of having relationships
with others. But it would seem that there
might be tension in those relationships,
or perhaps your relationship with your-
self? You might also have issues of se-
curity and a possible lacking in feeling of
being your own person? It might be wise
to start with a few reflections about who
you really are and what defines you.
57. 55
ISSUE 5
@Herbert Gonzales
You have a good direction towards your
goal and you are a very motivated person
who will do much to get those goals. Oth-
ers may have little influence or guidance
over you or your life decisions, but that
would be okay for you. You tend to exhibit
assertive and decisive behavior. You tend
to be really confident, but may be aggres-
sive at times.
@Melissa Jones
From your drawing, you seem to be a very
drawn person, who might sometimes
swing from being well-controlled and
calm to being distant and withdraw-
ing. But it shows that you may be very
expressive in terms of your aesthetics. It
shows that you might have tendencies to
shut out the world, but also have a very
strong maternal figure present. Perhaps
it may be wise to share those burdens
and fears to her? Ask her out for a cuppa
and catch up!
@Senga Lang
From the get-go, it would seem that what
reflects in your drawing is not a side you
usually show people. You seem to be very
withdrawn, and would often refuse to face
your problems and escape into some sort
of defense mechanism. Some parts of it
show that you might harbor feelings of
inadequacy, or guilt over your own fail-
ures. Also, your drawing reflects you to
be someone who welcomes social open-
ness and empathy, so perhaps sharing
the fears and the anxiety to ease all the
heavy feelings you keep locked away.
59. 57
ISSUE 5
The 2010 psychological thriller
known as Inception has some interesting
aspects. For one, it certainly messes with
the minds of the audience as they try to
comprehend what is happening. Second,
the actor/actress choice allows the movie
to be portrayed in a professional way.
Lastly, Inception makes sure to keep the
audience on their toes; there is never a
boring moment in the film.
After watching the movie for the first time,
I couldn’t quite comprehend exactly what
had happened. The film starts in a so-
called dream world: Leonardo DiCaprio is
washed up on a beach and taken to who
appears to be a Chinese world leader.
The scene then cuts to him speaking to
another gentleman. DiCaprio’s character,
Dom Cobb, is met by his friend Arthur—
played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They
discuss their plans to steal from this
leader. Suddenly, the scenes are cutting
between where they were—inside the
leader’s home or meeting place—to an
apartment building with citizens rioting
outside. After the first 10 minutes of the
film, the audience discovers that Cobb
and Arthur are thieves.
However, they are no ordinary thieves.
The duo steal information from the
subconscious minds of their victims by
putting them to sleep, wandering into
their dream, and taking any information
they desire. After a while, viewers will
learn that Cobb and Arthur have decided
to take on an offer for a job that requires
them to delve 3 layers deep; in other
words, they would go as far as having a
dream within a dream within a dream.
Once Cobb, Arthur, and several other
team members the two gathered together
return with the wanted information, Cobb
is sent home to be with his children.
The last cliffhanger is a running theme
throughout the film. Cobb has a spinning
top that he will spin when he needs to
know if he’s in a dream or not. If he is in
a dream, the top will continue spinning
forever. If he is not, the top will eventually
stop spinning. The very last shot of the
entire film is Cobb picking up his children
while the top steadily spins and spins.
The audience is perplexed,
wondering how the top could possibly
continue to spin if Cobb is out of the
dream world. The answer is simple: he
wasn’t out of the dream world.
If Dom Cobb had been chosen to be played
by anyone other than DiCaprio, I believe
the movie would not have had the same
effect. Even though DiCaprio only has
one Oscar, he is a very professional actor
who deserves much more credit than he
received for this movie. Dom Cobb is a
complex character. He is crazy, but not
crazy like the Joker from DC Comics. He
is crazy in the sense he is obsessed with
one thing and one thing only; his wife
and children. Cobb’s wife makes several
appearances through the form of what he
calls a Projection. This means that while
he is in the dream world, he sees her
image. Cobb’s children also make plenty
of appearances in the same way; they are
projections of his mind. Another aspect
to Cobb’s complexity is his inability to see
it anyone else’s way. His partner Arthur
often throws out ideas but Cobb shoots
them down in his own favor. It proves his
need to be in control. However, there are
parts within the film where Cobb is not
in control. So while he does prefer it, he
can handle not having control as long as
it is within the hands of someone who can
definitely do the job better than he can.
Finally, Inception was a thrill ride the
whole way through. With a runtime of 148
minutes, I wondered if I would be able
to stay focused the entire time. There
are so many gunfights and shootouts
that I lost count. Plus, the adrenaline of
“What’s gonna happen next?” constantly
pumped through my veins. All in all, I give
Inception an 8 on a scale of 1-10. It had a
complex plot and well-chosen actors, but
the confusion was never truly cleared up
and the number of shootouts was a slight
bit excessive.
60. 58
Psych2GoPsych2Go
All my life I’ve been out of sync.
My nana sewed my name into my towel for
swimming lessons in first school.
I thought that I had to manipulate people into
loving me.
If you aren’t somewhat insane to begin with,
don’t worry, life will make sure you are by
the end. The mind is like a cork board with a
map of the world on, pins keeping strings of
yarn attached to faces and news headlines
(however false they may be.) It starts out as a
way of finding where you fit in the world and
trying to find SOME method to the madness
but of course, it’s not there.
Amongst the lines of yarn you can at least
piece together an approximate picture of who
you are. Riddles within conspiracy theories you
can fall into endless questioning and next to no
real answers. Is it good to be me?
The lines of yarn keep going attaching to more
and more things until it makes less and less
sense. Until it’s branches away from the cork
board and reaches out to you and grabs you be
the neck and chokes you as if it’s waiting for
you to say a safe word you don’t know.
Hey, how long is a piece of string? However
long you want it to be.
Before you know it, you can’t see the world
behind it. The answer is lost and we totally
forgot what the question was. You started out
with the whole world in view, and unless you’re
an astronaut, you never really left it. And it
never left you.
In the yin yang the light in the dark is almost
swimming towards the dark in the light. They
long for each other. Not only is that happening
within you but it is happening all over the
world.
There is a Native American proverb you’ve
probably heard that we have two wolves
inside of us. One is evil, one is good. Which
wolf wins? The one you feed. I think though,
it might be understandable for a wolf to be
pissed and bite if you never feed it. Told my
friend most of this today and he said his
favourite shirt is one with a wolf and a yin
yang. Gotta love that synchronicity right?
I think, when you look at what was
always there, it can be hard to see those
still struggling. There is a lot of fear that
keeps a lot people in a lot of places. It’s
understandable. We go in all these directions
not because we think anything of value is
there but just so that we can’t see what is
underneath it. But I want to tell you it’s always
there. When the yarn seems to go nowhere. It’s
all yours. Even if you lit a match and burned
this entire metaphor to the ground. The world
is still there. It loves you and will welcome you
back, trust me.
I used to think I had to manipulate people into
loving me,
But my nana used to sew my name into my
towel for swimming lessons in first school,
It’s just that, all my life, I’ve been out of sync.
Life out of Sync: Part II
“Synchronicity is a concept, first explained by psychiatrist
Carl Jung, which holds that events are “meaningful coinci-
dences” if they occur with no causal relationship, yet seem
to be meaningfully related.”
Poem by: Deija Vinson
Artwork by: Sydney Diamond
61. 59
ISSUE 5
Poem by: Deija Vinson
Falsely, she smiles
Blood and artificiality drip cover up makeup
onto wounds
Open as the ones in her heart,
hiding what’s real within
stories are fictional arsenal,
backfiring when the truth is uttered.
Falsely, she smiles.
Catering to his every whim,
as the lines blur between “lover” and
Servants dressed in dressed as oppressors
secrets spill, disguised as misconceptions.
Look to the lines smudged with salt stained
ink to reveal the cries that lie behind
Dazed silhouettes sneak like demons in the
night,
letting deceptive defeat creep into the last
crease of her haven
Falsely, she smiles.
Hanging on to that last reluctant “I lu’ you” as
its muttered.
until his sweet nothings become bitter
through doubt and insecurities riddled
obscurities.
Delivering each passion filled collision with
a blow
Saying, “Stay in your place!” the words sharper
than memories.
Falsely, she smiles.
though it is widely know that we learn from
what doesn’t kill us
That is until we die, of course.
Surely while our souls become immortal, we
cannot be hurt-
But how do we learn?
And what of the next innocent casualty to
wander into the battlegrounds of carefully
crafted lies built to immobilize you
and smother you spirit.
Calling the police ain’t worth the minute spent
as the pull up to a friend’s house,
“What’s wrong?” they’ll say.
Recognising them, she’ll say nothing
as she tries to block their view of her.
“Was there a disturbance?’
“Nope, just the kids playing on the phone.
Sorry, won’t happen again”
Falsely, she smiles.
then turns to run into the door,
fall down the stairs some more.
Then, finally, she laughs.
She laughs for a life just saved
because, while these beatings didn’t kill her-
The next one might.
Even now, as she’s “moved on”
four years later,
Ask for dinner
and see how fast she runs.
‘Cuz they tell you the fastest way to a man’s
heart is through his stomach,
but they never tell you about a woman’s.
A diary of suicide notes left unfinished and
unfulfilled,
every one, a lover’s caress gone too far till the
point of pain.
It steals her breath.
But we were told the knight leaves the
princess breathless.
and beauty fell for the beast.
and if a boys hits you, it wasn’t his fault.”
“It wasn’t his fault. If I would have been
patient,
this wouldn’t have happen.
We ride... or
die.”
He follows a line
set by others before him.
stereotyped to be In. Command.
She was taught to smile
to heed his command.
Is that love?
FALSELY,
SHE SMILES
Poem by: Deija Vinson
Artwork by: Craig Emmerson
