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blogs - a new marketing frontier?

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In order to promote their products, a growing number of companies are using bloggers to write about their products. A case in point is Colleen Padilla, 33 years old, living in a suburb of Philadelphia, USA. This mother of two has tested close to 1500 products, from baby clothes to ready-cooked meals, to Wii games. She publishes her opinion on her site classymommy.com, which not only attracts web surfers, but marketing agencies as well, who know to show their generosity in exchange for a positive review. Marketing agencies increasingly solicit the opinion of individuals – especially those with power to influence (ie. Those whose blogs/websites attract a large number of viewers) to promote their products. This practice raises interesting questions … is this just a form of hypercommericalism infiltrating yet another form of media? Can a sponsorised opinion still count as an opinion? Should this practice be regulated in some way?

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Mental health issues: are all diseases real?

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In many societies today, mental illnesses are elected rather democratically. For instance, in the U.S., symptoms and their associated behaviour are classified as diseases by the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). Once a set of symptoms and behaviours have been voted into the DSM as a ‘disease’, then clinical psychologists and psychiatrics can diagnose it to patients suffering a close-enough version of it. Privately managed health care increasingly demands that therapists make diagnoses, or health insurers will not reimburse them for their services. So, they had better find some disease if they want to earn a living.

If there is anything stressful in your life… perhaps preparing for an important exam, a meeting, or have deadlines to meet. Perhaps you going through a difficult period of transition, like a divorce or career change. Or you’ve been avoiding a complicated confrontation with a co-worker, friend or spouse. If any of these scenarios cause you distress, then you have an illness and it is called Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder (GSAD). The designer drug of choice for ‘treatment’ is Paxil, which was (is?) widely advertised on television to alleviate the ‘disease’ of having concerns in life!

Another widely-known disease is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In layman terms, it means that you are bothered your past, memories of it, your feelings towards it, etc. This is most commonly prescribed to war veterans whose memories of combat have left deep scars upon their psyche and continue to affect their normal functioning in society. It is, however is not limited to such cases. Perhaps an individual had a bad experience in life that left a deep impression on them, a robbery, a serious accident or rape. Undoubtedly such unfortunate events would leave scars years after they took place. But since when did memories become a disease to be diagnosed by doctors? Everyone has a past, and everyone has some pleasant memories and some unpleasant ones. People need better explanations not worse ones concerning their significance. Is PTSD ‘real’ in all diagnosed cases? It most definitely is a useful one. It definitely covers a lot of ground – your entire past. The older you get, the more likely it is that something will turn out to be wrong with you!

It is thus necessary to maintain a degree of scepticism with regards to mental health, given the highly subjective methods of identification and diagnosis of such illnesses. This is especially true, given the shifting views and attitudes towards this area, differing between cultures and times. Pharmaceuticals stand to make a lot of money by convincing more and more people that they are suffering from a disease as opposed to a dis-ease. It is after all, a business too. Perhaps it would be advisable to consult many specialists from different disciplines when faced with such a problem before jumping to conclusions that someone is suffering with a mental illness: (counsellors, philosophers, social workers, etc.) in order to get the best type of help for each particular case. There are far too many grey areas in this discipline and the ease with which some are diagnosed with a mental disease has profound negative effects on the individual if wrongly diagnosed.

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Mental Health Issues: What is Normal - biology or sociology?

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While there is a clear biological cause of mental disorders, there is no clear medical test for determining the existence a mental illness. For this reason, diagnosis and treatment of mental diseases is based on signs, symptoms and the degree to which the condition affects day-to-day life. Sometimes the diagnosis is clear, however a large majority of cases are not so straight forward. For example, if you repeatedly get nervous about speaking in public, does it mean you are suffering from an anxiety disorder or is it just a ‘normal’ case of nerves? While science and medicine can help draw the line of distinction between what constitutes a disease and what does not, it is important to appreciate that “normal function” is partly defined by social norms as well as biological ones.

If you regularly experience hallucinations – that is, you hear or see things that no one else does – you may be called a ‘psychotic’ or a variety of other labels, and diagnosed with a mental health disease. On the other hand, if you see things that no one else does and turn them into paintings, or hear things that no one else does and turn them into symphonies, then you may win praise as an artist or composer. If you are able to channel your untamed mind to bring forth something original in beauty, clarity or intelligence, then you may win a Nobel Prize, as did John Nash. In the 1960s, a psychedelic trip with peace and love would have been the norm. Had you been a wise shaman of your tribe, regular hallucinations would form an integral part of your duties as a wise spiritual leader. In other words, if social norms are adjusted accordingly, then many issues or behaviours that are not diseases at all, can be ‘diagnosed’ as such, and vice versa.

For example: an individual having denounced the former Soviet Union would probably have ended up in a psychiatric hospital instead of a political prison. Why? Because the former Soviet Union was declared by the Party to be a “worker’s paradise”. Anyone who objected to paradise was evidently crazy. And this is not the first time that medical practice has been abused, as a means of social or political control.

Another example: in the late 19th century, all applicants for civil service jobs in the New York state had to submit to phrenology examinations. This was the ‘science’ of determining personality traits by locating various bumps on their skulls. A bump behind the left year supposedly meant that you were courageous; a bump behind the right year, that you were selfish. Phrenology turned out to be an utterly bogus science, and thankfully its ability to exert political and social control was thankfully short-lived.

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Free english lessons in craiova, romania


Related to country: Romania
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

On behalf of the BRITISH ROMANIAN EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE (BREDEX), I am forwarding the free language lesson programme they are offering this summer.


FREE ENGLISH LESSONS WITH BRITISH STUDENTS


UNIVERSITY OF CRAIOVA
MONDAY TO FRIDAY, 10:00 – 13:00
13TH JULY – 28TH AUGUST 2009

For further information, please e-mail
bredexcraiova@gmail.com

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Mental Health Issues: Disease versus Dis-ease

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There are primarily two kinds of things that can lead you to believe there is something wrong: disease or dis-ease. If your body is experiencing an unusual pain or discomfort, that is a good indication that something may be wrong – like a disease. That much is clear. Nevertheless, that is potentially a good thing, as the atypical symptoms are a warning sign that something is wrong. If you are able to do something to cure the disease then, in retrospect, the discomforting symptoms have probably saved your life.

Dis-ease is another matter entirely. For one, it is usually caused by an external stimulus that elicits some disturbing or uncomfortable thought or memory from us. For instance, suppose you see two men holding hands. These people pose no threat to you personally, yet seeing them may cause you dis-ease. Why? Perhaps because this image goes against the preconceived notions and judgements you have about heterosexuality. If you wish to banish your dis-ease, then banish your prejudices.


“People are not disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of things” -Epictetus

It is clear that pain is a sign of disease. But what about suffering? This can arise from both disease and dis-ease. It is almost always the case that suffering is a reflection of a physical problem; but it can also arise from something that is wrong in your environment, or in a relationship. Chronic depression for instance is often caused by a dysfunction in brain chemistry, so it can not simply be alleviated by an act of will alone. Medication and psychiatric help is needed.

The task is to try to understand the nature and source of suffering if it exists. Many types of suffering do not have at their root a biological cause, but one’s own beliefs, prejudices and practices, and can therefore be alleviated by altering one’s beliefs, habits, and renouncing one’s prejudices.

The question we may need to ask ourselves is: am I suffering from a disease, because something is wrong? Or am I suffering because of a dis-ease because I am wronging myself?

“Nobody, as long as he moves about among the currents of life, is without trouble.” -Carl Jung

There exists a large industry with deep pockets whose mission is to convince people that suffering is primarily because something is wrong with you, and even more deploringly, that drugs are the solution. To counter this, there is a small philosophical industry growing around the world that tries to convince you that you suffer primarily because you are wronging yourself. The light at the end of the tunnel is promised by many... the choice as to what type of help is necessary in each case itself a difficult one.


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