The Impact of MBSR on Anxiety Treatment - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 878 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/04/11 Category Psychology Essay Level High school Topics: Anxiety Essay Did you like this example? The average human blinks about 15-20 times per minute. This would result in 1,200 blinks an hour, and an astounding 28,800 blinks in a day. (Cronin, 2012) Now, when have you ever had to remind yourself to blink? The answer to this should across the board be virtually never. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Impact of MBSR on Anxiety Treatment" essay for you Create order Our brain automatically tells our body to blink, just like our brain automatically causes us to breathe. It takes more effort to consciously not blink or breathe than it does to just let those things happen. Mindfulness then goes against our daily state of being for the most part, unmindful. As simple as mindfulness seems, it requires practice and patience to break our habits of being unmindful, living our lives on autopilot. Mindfulness originated about 2,500 years ago and can be traced back to the early teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha set out the first foundation of mindfulness focusing on the body, sensations/feelings, the mind, and mental contents. Mindfulness began and was shared by the Buddha in order to achieve nirvana, the end of suffering. (Fossas, 2015) However, in 2,500 years much has changed. It can be that argued that The Mindful Revolution really began in the late 1970s when Dr.Jon Kabat-Zinn created an eight-week program, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). (Fossas, 2015) This program prompted thousands of scientific studies on mindfulness and its potential effects on psychical, and mental well being. Through these studies it has been found that mindfulness therapies can help aid in an array of disorders including depression, anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, and even cancer. MBSR therapies have shown promising results for many disorders but specifically, anxiety. Most people suffer from some form of anxiety or another. Anxiety is the most common mental illness within the United States, affecting about 18.1% of people per year. (ADAA, 2018) Although the symptoms of mild anxiety may only disturb ones day, the symptoms of severe anxiety can be debilitating. Mild symptoms range from feeling nervous and experiencing an increased heart rate, while more severe symptoms can be trembling, hyperventilation, and even panic attacks. (Mayo Clinic, 2018) Traditionally, anxiety has been treated with some combination of medications and therapies. (Web MD, 2018) While these tactics have proven to be effective they can often be costly, not only that but starting a daily medication/addictive medication runs the risk of dependance. In the search for new solutions, scientists came across mindfulness therapies, specifically MBSR. MBSR has been proven to effectively help treat anxiety and panic disorders. (UMASS Medical School, 2017) MBSR is commonly referred to a meditative awareness and focuses on teaching people to observe their experiences, rather than being completely consumed with them. (Sutter Health) MBSR includes a mindfulness practice six days a week that lasts for about 45 minutes. (UMASS Medical School, 201) These 45 minute sessions typically entail meditation practices such as progressive muscle relaxation, awareness mindfulness, body scan exercises, walking meditation, the breath, and many more. (Positive Psychology Program, 2017) MBSR affects anxiety by changing the way people interact with their thoughts. These therapies help adults take a step back from the thoughts that are causing anxiety, to more accurately analyze the situation. Thoughts of panic become much shorter and easier to work through and no longer become reflections of reality. (Sethi, 2018) This helps regulate emotions and in turn, decreases anxiety. When the mind is blank it begins to wander and for those suffering from anxiety disorders this can lead to panicked thoughts. Due to the fact that mindfulness requires one to be in the present moment and to keep their mind from wandering, it is effective in stopping the train of panicked thoughts that lead to the feeling of anxiousness. Not only this, but being mindful of anxious thoughts helps create a more positive relationship between anxious thoughts and the individual. Instead of avoiding all situations that could prove to be anxiety producing, they are able to work through their anxious thou ghts. The results of MBSR are slightly inconclusive. While there are many studies that support the theory that MBSR improves anxiety, some have found little correlation. This could be due to methodological flaws, but ultimately leads to slightly inconclusive results. Further research should be continued due to conflicting evidence in an attempt to find a more concrete conclusion. (Sethi, 2018) Over my time in this TIDES course I feel as though I have completed a version of MBSR. Although class did not meet once a day, continued at home practices and suggested meditations in class were quite helpful. I have ultimately felt happier, more compassionate, and more in control of my emotions since starting this course. The power of mindfulness is strong, 2,500 years strong. There are an exponential amount of benefits to MBSR and it can potentially aid with many physical/mental issues across the board. I personally struggle with anxiety which is why I chose to research the effects of mindfulness on anxiety. Ive tried countless medications and therapies and while some work, the side effects tend to be unpleasant and therapy sessions can become costly. Through the course I realized how many free mindfulness practices there were online that really helped me. As the world moves forward, more research should be done on these types of practices and how they can be embedded in our daily lives. Who knows, maybe one day we will all reach nirvana.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Causes Symptoms and...

78, 921. Seventy eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty one. This is the number of soldiers wounded or killed in action, received an amputation, or suffered from a Traumatic Brain Injury during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. What this number does not include are the 39,365 cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (more commonly known as PTSD). (Department 2009) Although we usually think of war injuries as being physical, one of the most common war injuries is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the effects can be devastating to a redeploying soldier who has come in contact with severely traumatic experiences. PTSD is an anxiety disorder in which patients who have experienced extremely frightening, threatening,†¦show more content†¦If uncontrollable events are experienced with a sense of fear, hopelessness, or horror for extreme periods of time, a person cannot â€Å"snap back.† Some of the most common causes are actual or threatened death, either the death of others or the perceived inevibility of your own death. A feeling of vulnerability towards ones physical integrity can cause extreme stress eventually developing into PTSD. Learning of the unexpected death of a family member or friend can also have devastating effects to a person’s mental health. The surprise of the death seems to have a much greater affect on a person than does a death that seems imminent. A very confusing point in today’s study of the disorder is why some experience PTSD while others, who in the same situation, do not. Some theories for this phenomenon are a person’s inherited predisposition to mental illnesses, a person’s temperament, or the regulation of chemicals and hormones by the brain in response to stress. (Post-traumatic 2009) One of the biggest problems with the disease is the inability of sufferers to realize they have a problem, or their inability to receive help. One of the best ways to combat this problem is the encouragement of friends and family to encourage help when signs are exhibited. Some common signs are detachment or avoidance of things once enjoyed or people close to the person. If a person seems to be showing signs of an inability to maintain close relationships, PTSD could be aShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder1494 Words   |  6 PagesCauses and Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Post-Traumatic stress disorder has affected humans probably as long as we have had a higher consciousness, but it is only recently that researchers, medical professionals and psychotherapists have had much understanding into its nature and treatment. Although this disorder may be easy to describe, the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder negatively affect a person’s mental health, physical health, work andRead MoreThe Consequences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder1621 Words   |  6 Pages Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a medical condition that many people suffer from at different ages. Most of the people that have suffered from PTSD have done so due to a major trauma that occurred at some point in their life. Even though the trauma could have happened months or even years earlier, the symptoms can come back when an event or the anniversary of the trauma triggers the memory of the traumatic event. Some of the traumas that cause post-traumatic stress disorder are rapeRead MoreHolden Caulfield Is On His Own Psychological Journey1450 Words   |  6 Pagestriggered by the traumatic event of his brother, Allie, dying 4 years prior. The death of Allie has affected Holden in all aspects of his life, including friends, school, actions, and thoughts. This causes concern in Holden’s parents. They are concerned with his health and well-being, therefore send Holden to a rehab center. His parents fear that Holden may have Post - Traumatic Stress Disorder, and have him psychoanalyzed. So, Holden struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder because he showsRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )1471 Words   |  6 PagesRunning head: POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER 1 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Student’s Name Course Title School Name April 12, 2017  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder that many people are facing every day, and it appears to become more prevalent. This disorder is mainly caused by going through or experiencing a traumatic event, and its risk of may be increased by issuesRead MoreExpressed And Blessed : Holden s Battle With Ptsd1363 Words   |  6 PagesHolden’s Battle with PTSD According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, post-traumatic stress disorder is defined as, â€Å"a mental condition that can affect a person who has had a very shocking or difficult experience and that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, etc†(citataion). Unfortunately, many people struggle with this disorder every day which can cause them to become depressed and nervous, and in the worst cases, cause them to commit suicide. Throughout Catcher in the Rye, the main characterRead MoreA Look Into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder1214 Words   |  5 PagesA Look into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Rachael S 09/15/2013 PTSD affects 7.7 million American adults, but it can occur at any age (NIMH, PTSD, Who is at risk). The sight of violence and death leaves lasting effects on people. How do you think those people cope with what they saw when the Twin Towers went down? How do people cope with such traumatic experiences? The events that lead to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can impact one’s life, fortunately there are ways to treat itRead MorePTSD Research Paper1674 Words   |  7 PagesSykes English III Honors 7 April 2014 Living with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder Today, hundreds of thousands of service men and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have been shot at, seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are types of events that can lead to Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic. â€Å") Anyone that has gone through a traumatic event can be diagnosed with PTSD but research shows, militaryRead MoreThe Effects Of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder On A Family1183 Words   |  5 PagesThe Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on a Family The symptoms of Post-traumatic stress can vary from patient from patient. Most common symptoms are flashbacks, hyper arousal and avoidance. The first article is â€Å"Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Cancer and Their Families: A Randomized Clinical Trial.† In this article the researchers put together a random wait list control trial. They would have an intervention with the family of a cancer survivorRead MorePost-Traumatic Stress Disorder1630 Words   |  7 Pagesare now accessing mental health services for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) defined by DSM-IV-TR is â€Å"characterised by the re-experiencing of an extremely traumatic event accompanied by symptoms of increased arousal and by avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma† (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 2000). There are many impacts and effects this disorder has on refugees requirin g treatment, interventions, education andRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )987 Words   |  4 PagesPost Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) PTSD can be traced back to antiquity. It was called soldier s heart during the American Civil War and morphed into shell shock in the First World War and battle fatigue during the Second. It became operational exhaustion in Korea and PTSD only after Vietnam, when the American Psychiatric Association added the term to its list of recognized mental disorders (Thompson, 2015, pg. 41). PTSD was originally observed in the military context, but more recently

Work Appraisal for Internship Samples - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Work Appraisal for Internship. Answer: Brief overview of my work The core of my work in this internship program will mostly deal in the following areas: checking in guests that come into the hotel. Bel Eyre Perth Hotel is a very smart place for accommodation, conference facilities, and meals. It is situated I Perth Australia, which is an ideal place for tourists as its accessibility is easy (Andrews, and Russell, 2012). The front office department where I am attached is a crucial area, which nearly paves way for easier operation of other departments. As many guests visit this hotel, it is obvious that phone calls are predominant almost at all times. Phone calls are coming from customers who may need to know the type of rooms that are available at any given time and perhaps to do bookings as well. Inquiries about other relevant issues are also done through phone calls. Keeping proper records is mandatory in this hotel (Desa and Basu, 2013). Therefore, this is one of the areas that I am dealing with. I am often tasked with keeping various records ma inly concerning the number of customers coming into the hotel. Finally, I am also responsible for themanagement of the accounts of the hotel in the front office department. These account records must be clearly and properly checked before they are presented to the auditors to scrutinize and authenticate (Haasler, 2013). Nature of the organization The name of the hotel is Comfort Inn Bel Eyre Perth, located in Perth Australia, is a unique place for great comfort. It is conveniently located on the Great Eastern Highway and it is very close to Perth airport and this is the reason as to why many tourists prefer it because they do not need to travel long distances before they get the comfort they want. The organization has its clearly defined mission or vision statement. The vision of Comfort Inn Eyre Perth is to aspire to provide the best hospitality to its customers. This vision is focusing on the welfare of the clients and this the reason why Comfort Inn is taking a keen interest in ensuring that is customers are satisfied with the services offered. This organization offers many services to its clients, some of which are listed as follows; Most popular facilities include offering free parking, free Wi-Fi access, Airport shuttle, Family rooms, spa among others. It also offers outdoor facilities like Sun Deck and BBQ services. The free internet is found in all places within the hotel. Additional services include kids meals with extra charge, breakfast brought to the room, a bar and restaurant. All these are for the choice of the client. There is a wide free parking area with proper security which a customer is able to find even without prior reservation notice needed. If a client needs dry cleaning and laundry services, the hotel can provide this but at additional charges. The hotel is very close to Perth Airport and this makes its accessibility become easier to travelers, mining workers, and some locals who may want unique and effective hospitality. Its capacity is properly rated as 3.5-star hotel, currently, it employs sixty workers. My roles and responsibilities as a front office assistant According to the regulations of this organization, a front office assistant has several and varied duties to perform. It is a position that is preferred to an entry-level employee. I am able to learn a lot about the company and check other areas of operation (Bharathi, 2016).The position require a diploma certification in addition to previous experience in a similar position. Some of my roles are described below: every office should have its own system of filing and records to be maintained. In this responsibility, I am expected to organize online and paper documents for easier accessibility and faster retrieval. The work of filing also involves suggestion of new filing systems if necessary and taking care of file requests from employees of the organization. Consequently, with the introduction of emails, voice mails, and other general emails, managing correspondences is fundamental in any big organization. One of the duties is to take care of my own correspondences and those of the m anager. As a front office assistant, I would be responsible for doing follow-ups on any documentation in my area, file the emails and voice mails into proper sections for later references. Opening the postal mails and distribution is also my docket and I am responsible for carrying out the same. As I am the first person that anyone would bump into when he or she arrives at the office, I will be responsible for greeting guests as they come in. These visitors may include vendors, patients, clients or others. It is therefore important for me to know all the colleagues and their designations so that I can ask the visitors to wait for an appropriate time before I direct them to whom they need assistance. It is my duty, therefore, to be able to effectively put a balance between greeting visitors and my duties of administration. Lastly, my other very important responsibility as a front office assistant is answering phone calls. I may be called upon to answer the main line for the company and direct any call to appropriate individuals. Sometimes I may have limited calls for my own; however, I am also responsible to answer calls meant for colleagues who may be either busy or not available. In such scenario, I am responsible for providing my colleagues with information, receiving text messages, and informing colleagues about the time of call, date and the nature of such calls. Program of work outcomes The work outcomes that I am aiming to achieve at the end of this internship program would be to achieve best recommendations from themanagement and the entire body of my co-workers. I am also intending to gain appropriate skills and experience to enable me to work as a front office assistant even in larger organizations than this. I am aware focusing on my work and carrying out my duties responsibly and diligently will give me an opportunity to known by other employees and not only providing me with enough experience. My anticipation about the challenges that may sometimes come to my way is live. Uncooperative co-workers and clients are the main challenge in this position (Levy, 2013). Because this is a position where I have to meet and interact with quite a number of people, some of these people may not be corporative hence causing problems in coordinating and managing affairs of the organization. Some of the non-technical skills that I would gain from this organization include verb al communication, public speaking, and written communication among others (Panagiotakopoulos, 2012). Some of these skills I can learn easily through interaction with my colleagues and the environment where I work. An overview of the progress of my internship It took me a short time to settle down psychologically for this work in this organization. It was hectic at the beginning, but through the assistance of my co-workers, I am able to adapt to the environment and the work itself. The support that I have been given by my colleagues has enabled me to know in and out of the work and execute my duties diligently. A lot of challenges were there at the beginning but after adapting to the environment and gaining a little experience, I have been able to minimize the challenges and the work seems to be moving on smoothly. Performance Indicators and Evidence of mastery I have proved to achieve a commendable knowledge and skills in the entire period of my internship. As a proof of this, I have learnt how to organize my workplace, attending to the guests with courtesy, and build a strong team with my work mates. I have also been able to receive applause from many clients that visit the hotel. They either do this through expressing their satisfaction to themanagement or me as an individual. I have been able to know my achievement through good things that my colleagues are saying about me. There is evidence that since I joined here as an internship, I have seen an improvement in the number of visitors that are visiting the hotel. In addition, the praises I have received are a motivation to my endeavors. References Andrews Russell. (2012). Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation, and impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 2(1), pp.33-44. Bharathi, A. (2016). Communication SkillsCore of Employability Skills: Issues Concerns. Higher Learning Research Communications, 6(4). Haasler, S. (2013).Work Appraisal and the notion of self. International Journal of Training and Development, 17(3), pp.233-243. Levy, I. (2013). Soft Skills For a front office assistant: "Shift to a Service Driven Economy" Era. International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management, and e-Learning. Miller, L., Biggart, A., and Newton, B. (2013).Common responsibilities Of a front office assistant. International Journal of Training and Development, 17(3), pp.173-175. Potters, E. (2002). Improving Skills for human resource in the 21st Century. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 55(4), p.739. Desa, G. and Basu, S. (2013). Understanding management in complex organizations. Strategic management Journal, 7(1), pp.26-49. Panagiotakopoulos, A. (2012). Work-based competencies and analysis. Greek higher education institutions (HEIs). Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 2(2), pp.141-150

The Carter Cleaning Company Essay Sample free essay sample

Jack Carter’s claim of him non being able to be accused of being prejudiced because they hire largely adult females and minorities is merely non true. Jack can and will be apt for any unfair actions he has said or done to anyone within his company unless it is a bona fide occupational making for the occupation. Everything you say or do must be equal to all employees and new hires. Jack made several errors when non learning his directors about Equal Employment Opportunity and about what they can state and can non state or make to their possible hires and employees. Besides. sexual progresss towards two adult females had been discovered within the cleansing company and menaces had been made to fire her unless she socialized with him. Carter Cleaning Company can hence be sued for Sexual Harassment under the Federal Violence against Women Act of 1994. â€Å"It provides that a individual who commits a offense of force motivated by gender and therefore deprives another of her right shall be apt to the party injured† ( Dessler. We will write a custom essay sample on The Carter Cleaning Company Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 2013. p. 40 ) . It was besides apparent that they had discriminated against a 73 twelvemonth old employee that had been with the company for over 50 old ages and had employees half of his age making the same occupation doing more money than he was. Under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. â€Å"it is improper to know apart in wage on the footing of sex when occupations involve equal work ; necessitate tantamount accomplishments. attempt. and duty ; and are performed under similar working conditions† ( Dessler. 2013. p. 33 ) Q2. Jennifer should turn to the sexual torment jobs by taking stairss to demo that they took sensible attention of the state of affairs. To carry on the state of affairs professionally. Jennifer should take all ailments earnestly and do certain everything is in written order. She should so. â€Å"Issue a strong policy statement reprobating such behaviour. It should depict the forbidden behavior. assure protection against revenge. depict a confidential ailment procedure. and supply impartial probe and disciplinary action† ( Dressler. 2013. p. 42 ) . Jennifer will so necessitate to speak to other employees about the sexual torment policy and explain that it will non be tolerated. Following these stairss. Jennifer will so necessitate to. â€Å"Establish a direction response system that includes an immediate reaction and investigation† ( Dressler. 2013. p. 42 ) . She will so necessitate to do certain that she trains supervisors and directors about consciousness of these issues and that immediate action is taken towards anyone involved in a sexual torment issue. After sensible attention by Jennifer is establi shed. she will so necessitate to register a charge with the EEOC. Although the shop merely has a smattering of employees. this does non disbar them from being protected under any favoritism related issues. The Carter Cleaning Company will be covered under the EEO of 1964-1991. The Carter Cleaning Company is besides entitled and will be covered under the Equal Rights Legislation. However. they will non be covered under the 1964 Civil Rights Act which excludes employers with less than 15 employees to be covered. However. with The Carter Cleaning Company holding less than 15 employees it will be covered by the State and Local Equal Employment Opportunity Laws. â€Å"The consequence of the province or local Torahs is normally to cover employers who federal Torahs might otherwise lose. Many screen employers ( like those with less than 15 employees ) non covered by federal legislation† ( Dressler. 2013. p. 39 ) .

Sexual Story Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers

Sexual Story Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers Sexual Story I'd always thought of her as a fairly shy girl, so I was totally unprepared for what happened next. As soon as we sat down on the sofa in the living room, she leaned over and kissed me. Not a little peck, but a full-blown french kiss. It must have lasted for ages as she pushed me down onto my back, pressing her firm breasts against my chest. When she broke the kiss, she looked into my eyes and said I've liked you for so long, but I never had the nerve to do anything about it. I want you. Before I could say anything else, she kissed me again. This time, though, she slid one of her hands down into my jeans to find my penis, which by this time was fully erect and longing for some action. Encouraged by this finding, she undid my jeans and pushed them and my underwear as far down my legs as she could until finally she had to break the kiss. She wasted no time in moving down to my cock and licking its head. She took me in her mouth, but not very deeply. I grabbed her head and gently pushed down, but she resisted. She came up off my *censored* and said Uh ... this is my first time; I hope I'm not too bad at it, then surrounded my cock with her lips once again. She took me a little deeper each time, with a little more suction, a little more tongue action. I didn't tell her, but it was my first time, too, and I'd never felt anything like this before. I lay my head back against the chair arm, closed my eyes, and the feeling swept me away. No wonder guys always talk about getting head, I thought to myself. She was evidently a quick learner, for she soon had me about to cum. I moaned Ohh .... ooohhhh ... I'm ... I'm about to ... , but I didn't get a chance to finish the thought. As every muscle in my body tensed up, I looked at her head bobbing up and down and I shot my semen into a woman for the first time. I guess she didn't quite know what to expect, as she coughed a little before managing to swallow a couple of times. She gave my cock one last suck and lifted her head, smiling. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her head up to meet mine. I kissed her, passionately jousting with her tongue. I was surprised at the taste of my semen; I'd always thought it would be gross, but it actually wasn't so bad. When we broke the kiss, she looked me in the eye and said Did I do OK? The only answer I could think of was another kiss, as my hands went down to her skirt. I fondled her ass a bit while I removed the skirt and her panties. I broke the kiss and told her Now it's your turn. We exchanged positions and I moved down to her *censored*, kissing her breasts through the sweater on the way and wondering if I'd be anywhere near as good for her as she was for me. I gave her outer lips a little kiss, prodding between them with my tongue. Heidi shuddered and spread her legs some more, so I figured I was starting out OK. I spread her lips with my hands and found her clit with my tongue. Her response was a little moan. As I licked her clit, she grabbed my rig ht hand and pushed it towards her breasts, under her sweater. She was wearing a front-closing bra; I wonder if she had anything in mind when she put it on today? It was quite a challenge undoing her bra without my tongue losing track of what it was doing, particularly with only one hand free to work on her bra, but I finally managed to get one of her magnificent breasts in my hand. I was running my fingers around her nipple, pinching it, pressing on it, squeezing her breasts; meanwhile, I was probing into her cunt with my tongue.

Definitions and Interpretations of Rhetorical Irony

Definitions and Interpretations of Rhetorical Irony To say one thing but to mean something else - that may be the simplest definition of irony. But in truth, theres nothing at all simple about the rhetorical concept of irony. As J.A. Cuddon says in A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (Basil Blackwell, 1979), irony eludes definition, and this elusiveness is one of the main reasons why it is a source of so much fascinated inquiry and speculation. To encourage further inquiry (rather than reduce this complex trope to simplistic explanations), weve gathered a variety of definitions and interpretations of irony, both ancient and modern. Here youll find some recurrent themes as well as some points of disagreement. Does any one of these writers provide the single right answer to our question? No. But all provide food for thought. We begin on this page with some broad observations about the nature of irony - a few standard definitions along with attempts to classify the different types of irony. On page two, we offer a brief survey of the ways that the concept of irony has evolved over the past 2,500 years. Finally, on pages three and four, a number of contemporary writers discuss what irony means (or seems to mean) in our own time. Definitions and Types of Irony The Three Basic Features of IronyThe principal obstacle in the way of a simple definition of irony is the fact that irony is not a simple phenomenon. . . . We have now presented, as basic features for all irony,(i) a contrast of appearance and reality,(ii) a confident unawareness (pretended in the ironist, real in the victim of the irony) that the appearance is only an appearance, and(iii) the comic effect of this unawareness of a contrasting appearance and reality.(Douglas Colin Muecke, Irony, Methuen Publishing, 1970)Five Kinds of IronyThree kinds of irony have been recognized since antiquity: (1) Socratic irony. a mask of innocence and ignorance adopted to win an argument. . . . (2) Dramatic or tragic irony, a double vision of what is happening in a play or real-life situation. . . . (3) Linguistic irony, a duality of meaning, now the classic form of irony. Building on the idea of dramatic irony, the Romans concluded that language often carries a double message, a second often moc king or sardonic meaning running contrary to the first. . . .In modern times, two further conceptions have been added: (1) Structural irony, a quality that is built into texts, in which the observations of a naive narrator point up deeper implications of a situation. . . . (2) Romantic irony, in which writers conspire with readers to share the double vision of what is happening in the plot of a novel, film, etc.(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992) Applying IronyIronys general characteristic is to make something understood by expressing its opposite. We can therefore isolate three separate ways of applying this rhetorical form. Irony can refer to (1) individual figures of speech (ironia verbi); (2) particular ways of interpreting life (ironia vitae); and (3) existence in its entirety (ironia entis). The three dimensions of ironytrope, figure, and universal paradigmcan be understood as rhetorical, existential, and ontological.(Peter L. Oesterreich, Irony, in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, edited by Thomas O. Sloane, Oxford University Press, 2001)Metaphors for IronyIrony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment, insinuating the most galling satire under the phraseology of panegyric; placing its victim naked on a bed of briars and thistles, thinly covered with rose leaves; adorning his brow with a crown of gold, which burns into his brain; teasing, and fretting, and riddling him through and through with incessant discharges of hot shot from a masked battery; laying bare the most sensitive and shrinking nerves of his mind, and then blandly touching them with ice, or smilingly pricking them with needles.(James Hogg, Wit and Humour, in Hoggs Instructor, 1850) Irony SarcasmIrony must not be confused with sarcasm, which is direct: Sarcasm means precisely what it says, but in a sharp, bitter, cutting, caustic, or acerb manner; it is the instrument of indignation, a weapon of offense, whereas irony is one of the vehicles of wit.(Eric Partridge and Janet Whitcut, Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English, W.W. Norton Company, 1997)Irony, Sarcasm, WitGeorge Puttenhams Arte of English Poesie shows appreciation for subtle rhetorical irony by translating ironia as Drie Mock. I tried to find out what irony really is, and discovered that some ancient writer on poetry had spoken of ironia, which we call the drye mock, and I cannot think of a better term for it: the drye mock. Not sarcasm, which is like vinegar, or cynicism, which is often the voice of disappointed idealism, but a delicate casting of a cool and illuminating light on life, and thus an enlargement. The ironist is not bitter, he does not seek to undercut everything that seems worthy or serious, he scorns the cheap scoring-off of the wisecracker. He stands, so to speak, somewhat at one side, observes and speaks with a moderation which is occasionally embellished with a flash of controlled exaggeration. He speaks from a certain depth, and thus he is not of the same nature as the wit, who so often speaks from the tongue and no deeper. The wits desire is to be funny, the ironist is only funny as a secondary achievement.(Roberston Davies, The Cunning Man, Viking, 1995) Cosmic IronyThere are two broad uses in everyday parlance. The first relates to cosmic irony and has little to do with the play of language or figural speech. . . . This is an irony of situation, or an irony of existence; it is as though human life and its understanding of the world is undercut by some other meaning or design beyond our powers. . . . The word irony refers to the limits of human meaning; we do not see the effects of what we do, the outcomes of our actions, or the forces that exceed our choices. Such irony is cosmic irony, or the irony of fate.(Claire Colebrook, Irony: The New Critical Idiom, Routledge, 2004) A Survey of Irony Socrates, That Old FoxThe most influential model in the history of irony has been the Platonic Socrates. Neither Socrates nor his contemporaries, however, would have associated the word  eironeia  with modern conceptions of Socratic irony. As Cicero put it, Socrates was always pretending to need information and professing admiration for the wisdom of his companion; when Socrates interlocutors were annoyed with him for behaving in this way they called him  eiron, a vulgar term of reproach referring generally to any kind of sly deception with overtones of mockery. The fox was the symbol of the  eiron.All serious discussions of  eironeia  followed upon the association of the word with Socrates.(Norman D. Knox, Irony,  The Dictionary of the History of Ideas, 2003)The Western SensibilitySome go so far as to say that Socrates ironic personality inaugurated a peculiarly Western sensibility. His irony, or his capacity  not  to accept everyday values and concepts but live in a state of  perpetual  question, is the birth of philosophy, ethics, and consciousness.(Claire Colebrook,  Irony: The New Critical Idiom, Routledge, 2004) Skeptics and AcademicsIt is not without cause that so many excellent philosophers became Skeptics and Academics, and denied any certainty of knowledge or comprehension, and held opinions that the knowledge of man extended only to appearances and probabilities. It is true that in Socrates it was supposed to be but a form of irony,  Scientiam  dissimulando  simulavit, for he used to dissemble his knowledge, to the end to enhance his knowledge.(Francis Bacon,  The Advancement of Learning, 1605)From Socrates to CiceroSocratic irony, as it is constructed in Platos dialogues,  is therefore  a method of mocking and unmasking the presumed knowledge of his interlocutors, consequently leading them to  truth  (Socratic  maieutics). Cicero establishes irony as a rhetoric figure which blames by praise and praises by blame. Apart from this, there is the sense of tragic (or dramatic) irony, which focuses on the contrast between the protagonists ignorance and the spectators, who ar e aware of his fatal destiny (as for example in  Oedipus Rex).(Irony, in  Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters, edited by Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen, Rodopi, 2007) Quintilian OnwardsSome of the rhetoricians recognize, though almost as if in passing, that irony was much more than an ordinary rhetorical figure. Quintilian says [in  Institutio Oratoria, translated by H.E. Butler] that in the  figurative  form of irony the speaker disguises his entire meaning, the disguise being apparent rather than confessed. . . .But having touched on this borderline where irony ceases to be instrumental and is sought as an end in itself, Quintilian draws back, quite properly for his purposes, to his functional view, and in effect carries nearly two millennia worth of rhetoricians along with him. It was not until well into the eighteenth century that theorists were forced, by explosive developments in the use of irony itself, to begin thinking about ironic effects as somehow self-sufficient literary ends. And then of course irony burst its bounds so effectively that men finally dismissed merely functional ironies as not even ironic, or as self-evidently les s artistic.(Wayne C. Booth,  A Rhetoric of Irony, University of Chicago Press, 1974) Cosmic Irony RevisitedIn  The Concept of Irony  (1841), Kierkegaard elaborated the idea that irony is a mode of seeing things, a way of viewing existence. Later, Amiel in his  Journal Intime  (1883-87) expressed the view that irony springs from a perception of the absurdity of life. . . .Many writers have distanced themselves to a vantage point, a quasi-godlike eminence, the better to be able to view things. The artist becomes a kind of god viewing creation (and viewing his own creation) with a smile. From this it is a short step to the idea that God himself is the supreme  ironist, watching the antics of human beings (Flaubert referred to a blague supà ©rieure) with a detached, ironical smile. The spectator in the  theatre  is in a similar position. Thus the everlasting human condition is regarded as potentially absurd.(J.A. Cuddon, Irony,  A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, Basil Blackwell, 1979)Irony in Our TimeI am saying that there seems to be o ne dominating form of modern understanding; that it is essentially ironic; and that it originates largely in the application of mind and memory to the events of the Great War [World War I].(Paul Fussell,  The Great War and Modern Memory, Oxford University Press, 1975) Supreme IronyWith supreme irony, the war to make the world safe for democracy [World War I] ended by leaving democracy more unsafe in the world than at any time since the collapse of the revolutions of 1848.(James Harvey Robinson,  The Human Comedy, 1937) Contemporary Observations on Irony The New IronyThe one truth the new irony has to tell us is that the man who uses it has no place to stand except in momentary community with those who seek to express a comparable alienation from other groups. The one conviction it expresses is that there are really no sides left: No virtue to oppose to corruption, no wisdom to oppose to  cant. The one standard it accepts is that on which the simple manthe untutored non-ironist who fancies (in his dolt-hood) that he knows what good and bad should meanis registered as the zero of our world, a cipher worth nothing but uninterrupted contempt.(Benjamin DeMott, The New Irony:  Sidesnicks  and Others,  The American Scholar, 31, 1961-1962)Swift, Simpson, Seinfeld . . . and Quotation Marks[T]echnically,  irony  is a rhetorical device used to convey a meaning sharply different from or even opposite of the  literal  text. It’s not just saying one thing while meaning anotherthat’s what Bill Clinton does. No, itâ₠¬â„¢s more like a wink or running joke among people in the know.Jonathan Swift’s  A Modest Proposal  is a classic text in the history of irony. Swift argued that English lords should eat the children of the poor to alleviate hunger. There is nothing in the text which says, hey, this is sarcasm. Swift lays out a pretty good argument and it’s up to the reader to figure it out that he’s not really serious. When Homer Simpson says to Marge, Now who’s being naà ¯ve? the writers are winking at all those people who love  The Godfather  (these people are commonly referred to as men). When George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld keep saying Not that there’s anything wrong with that! every time they mention homosexuality, they are making an ironic joke about the culture’s insistence that we affirm our non-judgmentalism.Anyway,  irony  is one of those words that most people understand intuitively but have a hard time defining. One good test is if you like to put quotation marks around words that shouldn’t have them. The quotation marks are necessary because the words have lost most of their literal meaning to the  new  politicized interpretations.(Jonah Goldberg, The Irony of Irony.  National Review Online, April 28, 1999) Irony and EthosSpecifically rhetorical irony presents few problems. Puttenhams drie  mock pretty well describes the phenomenon. One kind of rhetorical irony, however, may need further attention. There can be relatively few rhetorical situations where the target of persuasion is utterly ignorant of the designs someone has on himthe relationship of  persuader  and persuaded is almost always self-conscious to some degree. If the persuader wants to overcome any implicit sales resistance (especially from a sophisticated audience), one of the ways he will do it is to acknowledge that he  is  trying to talk his audience into something. By this, he hopes to gain their trust for as long as the soft sell takes. When he does this, he really acknowledges that his rhetorical maneuvering is ironical, that it says one thing while it tries to do another. At the same time, a second irony is present, since the pitchman is still far from laying all his cards on the table. The point to be made is that every rhetorical posture except the most naive involves an ironical coloration, of some kind or another, of the speakers  ethos.(Richard Lanham,  A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, 2nd edition, University of California Press, 1991) The End of the Age of Irony?One good thing could come from this horror: it could spell the end of the age of irony. For some 30 yearsroughly as long as the Twin Towers were uprightthe good folks in charge of Americas intellectual life have insisted that nothing was to be believed in or taken seriously. Nothing was real. With a giggle and a smirk, our chattering classesour columnists and pop culture makersdeclared that detachment and personal whimsy were the necessary tools for an oh-so-cool life. Who but a slobbering bumpkin would think, I feel your pain? The ironists, seeing through everything, made it difficult for anyone to see anything. The consequence of thinking that nothing is realapart from prancing around in an air of vain stupidityis that one will not know the difference between a joke and a menace.No more. The planes that plowed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were real. The flames, smoke, sirensreal. The chalky landscape, the silence of the streetsall real. I feel your painreally.(Roger Rosenblatt,  The Age Of Irony Comes to an End,  Time  magazine, September 16, 2001) Eight Misconceptions About IronyWe have a grave problem with this word (well, in fact, its not really gravebut Im not being ironic when I call it that, Im being  hyperbolic. Though often the two amount to the same thing. But not always). Just looking at the definitions, the confusion is understandablein the first instance, rhetorical irony expands to cover any disjunction at all between language and meaning, with a couple of key exceptions (allegory  also entails a disconnection between sign and meaning, but obviously isnt synonymous with irony; and lying, clearly, leaves that gap, but relies for its efficacy on an ignorant audience, where irony relies on a knowing one). Still, even with the riders, its quite an umbrella, no?In the second instance,  situational irony  (also known as cosmic irony) occurs when it seems that God or fate is manipulating events so as to inspire false hopes, which are inevitably dashed (1). While this looks like the more straightforward usage, it o pens the door to confusion between irony, bad  luck  and inconvenience.Most pressingly, though, there are a number of misconceptions about  irony  that are peculiar to recent times. The first is that September 11 spelled the end of irony. The second is that the end of irony would be the one good thing to come out of September 11. The third is that irony characterizes our age to a greater degree than it has done any other. The fourth is that Americans cant do irony, and we [the British] can. The fifth is that the Germans cant do irony, either (and we still can). The sixth is that irony and cynicism are interchangeable. The seventh is that its a mistake to attempt irony in emails and text messages, even while irony characterizes our age, and so do emails. And the eighth is that post-ironic is an acceptable termit is very modish to use this, as if to suggest one of three things: i) that irony has ended; ii) that postmodernism and irony are interchangeable, and can be conflated into one handy word; or iii) that we are more ironic than we used to be, and therefore need to add a prefix suggesting even greater ironic distance than irony on its own can supply. None of these things is true.1. Jack Lynch, Literary Terms. I would strongly urge you not to read any more footnotes, they are only here to make sure I dont get in trouble for plagiarizing.(Zoe Williams,  The Final Irony,  The Guardian, June 28, 2003) Postmodern IronyPostmodern  irony is allusive, multilayered, preemptive, cynical, and above all, nihilistic. It assumes that everything is subjective and nothing means what it says. Its a sneering, world-weary,  bad  irony, a mentality that condemns before it can be condemned, preferring cleverness to sincerity and quotation to originality. Postmodern irony rejects  tradition,  but offers nothing in its place.(Jon Winokur,  The Big Book of Irony, St. Martins Press, 2007)Were All in This Togetherby OurselvesImportantly, the Romantic of today finds a real connection, a sense of groundedness, with others  through  irony. with those who understand what is meant without having to say it, with those who also question the saccharine quality of contemporary American culture, who are certain that all diatribes of virtue-lament will turn out to have been made by some gambling, lying, hypocritical talk-show host/senator overly fond of interns/pages. This they see as doing an inj ustice to the depth of human possibility and the complexity and goodness of human feeling, to the power of the imagination over all forms of potential constraint, to a basic ethics that they themselves are proud to uphold. But ironists, above all else, are certain that we must live in this world as best we can, whether or not it suits our own moral outlook, writes Charles Taylor [The Ethics of Authenticity, Harvard University Press, 1991]. The only alternative seems to be a kind of inner exile. Ironic detachment is exactly this sort of inner exilean  inner emigrationmaintained with humor, chic bitterness, and a sometimes embarrassing but abidingly persistent hope.(R. Jay Magill Jr.,  Chic Ironic Bitterness, The University of Michigan Press, 2007) Whats Ironic?Woman: I started riding these trains in the forties. Those days a man would give up their seat for a woman. Now were liberated and we have to stand.Elaine: Its ironic.Woman: Whats ironic?Elaine: This, that weve come all this way, we have made all this progress, but you know, weve lost the little things, the niceties.Woman: No, I mean what does ironic mean?(Seinfeld)

How to control and manage hospital acquired infection in a mental Essay

How to control and manage hospital acquired infection in a mental health setting - Essay Example Those who recuperate from surgical wounds and have indwelling equipments such as catheters and intubation tubes, also have a higher chance of developing nosocomial infections if not handled properly. Nosocomial infections are hard to treat, because the frequent use of different antimicrobials in the mental facility over time has resulted to development of resistance. The mentally ill patients present with symptoms such as low blood pressure, chills, fever, and even mental confusion depending on the etiology (Shaw, 2011: 56). Nurses working in a mental health facility face many challenges when treating patients. In some cases, because of the poor mental state or poor cognitive ability of the patient, the nurses usually get a hard time when treating them. Some patients are uncooperative and violent and pose a huge challenge to the nurses attending them. If such patients have wounds then treating such wounds becomes a huge problem and the likelihood of occurrence of nosocomial infections is high. If such patients have fall related fractures or chronic diseases, then the combination of such with the mental state of the patient, contributes significantly to a lowered immunity of the patient and the nosocomial infections get a chance to thrive. This presents the nurses with a huge responsibility because they have to deal with three factors which are treating the first disease, handling the mental state of the patient, and treating the nosocomial infection (Beckwith, 2011: 80). Another challenge facing nurses in such a facility is resistance of drugs and the lowered immunity of the patients. The immune-compromised patients do not recover quickly, because the already low immunity finds it hard to fight infections. The continual use of drugs to control such infections makes the immunity more weakened, and development of drug resistance by the causative pathogens complicates the whole situation. Microorganisms become more troublesome