The Dbottino Weblog

One of the areas where I seem to be placing most of my focus these days is the relationship between creative expression and healing. Something that I have always found to be particularly fascinating is the fact that the words heal, whole and holy all come from the same Latin root. (Check it out!)

What this says to me is that the idea of disease, is just that–dis-ease, being off center, out of sync. And to heal therefore, means the opposite–to be whole again, to somehow restore or recapture the whole, “holy” aspect of our nature–that part of us that is in touch with and expresses the divine, creative spirit that lives within us all.

So, to me creativity and healing are really one and the same. Taking that which is within and expressing it outside of ourselves is one of the most powerful processes available to reduce or even eliminate dis-ease and in so doing, regain our wholeness, health and divinity.

Frida Kahlo, the Mexican Painter (1907-1954) is a perfect example. Not only was she stricken with polio at the age of six, but was later seriously injured in a bus accident at age 18. Her body was almost entirely crushed and she spent the rest of her life in and out of hospitals, undergoing 30 operations, bedridden for long periods and in tremendous pain. Only her strength and will to live (and in my opinion, her painting) allowed her not only to survive, but make a remarkable recovery.

Frida began to paint shortly after her accident because she was bored being in bed. Painting then became her lifelong passion and profession. She expressed all of her emotions on the canvas. In particular, she painted the anger and hurt she felt over her stormy marriage to the infamous Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera and the suffering she experienced throughout her life because of her accident.

“I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.”

“My painting carries with it the message of pain…..Painting completed my life…..I believe that work is the best thing.”

To me one of the greatest expressions of the healing aspect of creativity was Frida’s appearance at her one and only exhibition in Mexico in the spring of 1953. Her health was extremely poor at that point and she was advised not to attend.

But in her inimitable style, nothing was going to stop Frida, especially from attending a party in her honor. She arrived at the exhibition by ambulance and was then taken by hospital stretcher and placed in her bed in the middle of the gallery. True to form, she told jokes, entertained the crowd and sang and drank the entire evening.

At that exhibition, Frida told reporters, “I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint.”

SUSAN SCHANERMAN, M. Ed., is a multi-talented author, artist, speaker, consultant and creativity coach. She is creator of CreativeSuccessWorks, a company that specializes in coaching, training and educational programs and merchandise aimed at uncovering and reclaiming one’s creative power.

She has authored two books,God is Color http://www.godiscolor.com and Play or Pay: 77 Ways to Have FUN or Suffer the Consequences and End up Paying the Price http://www.playorpayonline.com

Sign up for her FREE monthly newsletter heARTmatters at http://www.creativesuccessworks.com

I didn’t know a heart could die
before it stopped beating.
I didn’t know a life could cease
before it stopped breathing.

I didn’t know how devastation
could wend a living soul
I didn’t know how death could make

one lose all self control.

I didn’t know the pain of loss
was so intense and sharp.
I didn’t know the depth of void
death leaves within the heart.

I didn’t know how often tears
would redden hurting eyes.
I didn’t know how hard it was
to say one’s last good-bye’s.

I didn’t know that pain would come
and go as it well pleased.
I didn’t know that joy is scarce
to those who are bereaved.

I didn’t know that time would stop
and meaning cease to be.
I didn’t know that friends would pray
but shy away from me.

I didn’t know how difficult
to get the whole night through.
I didn’t know the strength it took
for simple tasks to do.

I didn’t know that as time pass
slowly, the pain subsides.
I didn’t know what I thought was lost
still in my heart resides.

Now I know a little spark,
somehow in me remained.
Now I know that someway,
my life will be sustained.

Now I know the feelings felt,
were all a part of grief.
Now I know how fervent prayer
helped me to find relief.

So rest assured my unknown friends,
though healing comes real slow.
It actually does get better
for now, I truly know.

Yes I survived my loved one death
that occurred this time last year.
I feel the loss and always will
but the pain’s much less severe.

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: A Grief Healing Workbook, will be available soon.

We ultimately make our own decisions, and so we should with grief – on our own timeline and in our own way. Not buying in to “you should be moving on” if it does not fit. Grief is best as the “snowflake” concept – honoring our uniqueness.

My youngest sister succumbed to lung cancer in 1998. She had a 10% survival rate – the reality of lung cancer for women over 40. We were soul mates, sisters, and dear friends – I knew my life changed forever. I was in shock at the idea of losing her – the mother of two teenage boys. I was numb, her boys paralyzed with fear. The entire family was in disbelief.

We still showed hope and our faith by resolving family differences and coming together to forgive – an opportunity we did not want to miss. Repressed grief ignores reality and suppresses true feelings. Give yourself permission to feel, not deny death – find an emotional safety net.

Denial finds diversionary activity. I sought a new companion. I took him with me to our family reunion that first Christmas she was ill. I had not taken a companion home with me in 20 years; being in reality was too painful.

Anger showed in searching endlessly for answers and new drugs; someway her “big sister” could make things better. Anger at God, at her for smoking, and at the ones that say quitting 12 years makes a difference!

Now the guilt – I am the oldest with no children – why was it not me? Did I do enough for her? Did I write the book out of guilt? Did we reconcile childhood issues? We cannot change the past, but we can change our reactions to it!

Depression came when I was not looking, that dark mood visited me when I least expected it. I was in slow motion and forgetful. Her funeral seemed pointless, I did not attend. Despair was with me, but not recognized. I felt abandoned and overwhelmed. I stayed home alone.

Acceptance is a search for meaning by maintaining a relationship with them in our memory and our dreams to solidify that bond. She will forever remain a part of my life. Her old blue broach was my “something old” when I recently married. I had no doubt she was there too. You do not need to let go to heal – you can embrace your loss in a new way.

Grief feels like being afraid. When we accept, the fear dissipates. Faith is my lifeline to the world. The anger has subsided and the guilt no longer exists if I stay grateful for the years we had and attach some meaning to the loss such as my personal growth, my spiritual awakening and my chance to write a book to leave her legacy by celebrating her life.

“My mission is to enhance the spirit of the client’s organization.”

An inspirational speaker, Patricia L. Brooks has contributed to the development of successful women for over 25 years. Patricia L. Brooks Seminars, LLC http://www.plbrooks.com, features Human Relations and Marketing of her business expertise with keynotes and workshops. In 2005, she has added Grief Support, Anti-Smoking and Writing Workshops through her personal perspective since the launch of her first book – Gifts of Sisterhood, #ISBN 1-4208-1875-9, a celebration of her sister’s life.

She has been a university faculty associate for over ten years and teaches Marketing at Arizona State University Polytechnic. Patricia has a Masters Degree in Organizational Management, the Advanced Toastmasters designation and was recently named to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

Patricia is President of the National Association of Women Writers – Scottsdale Chapter, a member of the Phoenix Writers Club, the Arizona Authors Association and the Arizona Small Business Association.
patricia@plbrooks.com cell 480-250-5556

Some of the best persuasion techniques have been developed from NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) methods. For example, if you hear a person saying, “I see,” a few times, they are probably processing information visually, according to NLP. To influence them then, you would use phrases like, “You can see how…” or you would actually show them things. A more auditory person would be influenced by, “I hear what you’re saying,” and “Listen.”

Notice if they use visual, aural, or kinesthetic words. If you want to convince your spouse to go to the Bahamas, it makes a difference which words you use. “We’ll be feeling that sun on our backs,” is not the same as “We’ll see sunny beaches,” or We’ll listen to the waves at night.” You may use all of these, but one of the three types of words will be more influential for most people.

More Persuasion Techniques

1. Use a person’s name. You have undoubtedly heard salesmen use and abuse this technique. Maybe a statement like “Look Steve, you can see the benefits of this…” just turns you off. Using a person’s name IS a powerful persuasion technique, but there is more subtlety and art to persuasion than just following simple rules.

People do love to hear their own name, but you have to be careful how you use it. First of all, use it how they want to hear it. Ask how they prefer to be addressed. A Mike may not like “Michael,” and a Joseph may be irritated by you calling him “Joe.”

Second, use it at the right time. Unless you are great at reading people and know it is okay, don’t say “Hi Betty!” the moment she walks into your office. Wait until there is a bit of rapport, and sometimes even ask permission (“Is it okay if I call you Betty?”).

2. Use motivating words. Say “think about,” they’ll do that. It is not a call to action. Use words like “today,” and “now,” and “do this.” Many subliminal experts will tell you that even using “by now,” repetitively, as in “By now you can see that this car is luxurious,” is subconsciously taken as “buy now.”

Remember to use THEIR words. If they use the word “efficient” often, then it’s an important word to them. Start using it: “You can see how efficient this RV is in it’s use of space.” Pay attention and pick out any words they use often. Persuasion is easier when you speak the same “language.”

3. Be a chameleon. Change your language to more closely match theirs. Slow or accelerate your speech to match theirs. Sit in the same position that they sit in. Use the same facial expressions. Laugh when they laugh.

This technique is called “mirroring and matching,” and, when done well, you can establish rapport quickly and easily with most people. Most people will never notice you’re doing this, but don’t be too obvious. The person will just feel like you’re like they are, that you can “relate” to them. A bond will begin to develop between you, and you can test this bond by “leading.”

This means that once you have established the bond, you can change your body posture, to see if they unconsciously do the same. If so, they are ready to follow. You continue to mirror and match, but you also start to lead them right to the bottom line on the contract, or to whatever action you want them to take. This is one of the more powerful persuasion techniques.

Steve Gillman has been hunting down obscure knowledge and useful secrets for years. Learn more about subliminal persuasion, and get a free gift at: The Secret Information Site (www.TheSecretInformationSite.com)

Do you feel you have low self esteem? Or do you feel depressed? Is it hard for you to leave your house and meet new people? Some people think that low self esteem and depression are the same. In this article I will speak about low self esteem.

Some people’s self esteem evaporates when they are constantly reminded what a terrible person they are by their spouse. The worst part of this horrible sentence is they believe it.

Other people’s self esteem evaporates when a sibling or friend mentally downgrades them to a point that they don’t even realize that this is happening.

Some people live their everyday lives and do not realize that they have low self esteem. There life has always been on the same even keel and the boat never gets rocked. They are happy or so they think.

The people in your lives thrive on having enough power over you to inflict this mental prison. These people are usually unhappy people themselves. They are so miserable in their own minds and bodies that they have to make the people closest to them miserable also.

Then maybe something earth shattering happens, the death of a child, spouse or parent and their lives are tipped upside down. Suddenly, the life they lived and were comfortable with collapses. There self esteem evaporates at the prospect of living a new life.

WHEN THIS HAPPENS – WHAT DO WE DO?

(1) We can get a job.

(2) We can go back to school.

(3) We can join a gym and exercise to improve our mental and physical self.

(4) We can volunteer.

Volunteering is what I would like to speak about tonight.

There are several places to volunteer.

(1) A Church

(2) A Temple

(3) A School

(4) A Hospital

(5) There are many more facilities to choose from.

Any of these facilities always need an extra pair of hands to help with whatever pops up in their community. Without the volunteers many extra activities would never be utilized.

When you volunteer you are helping yourself boost your self esteem. You do this without even realizing it is happening. You just feel wonderful being able to be out and about and doing new things and meeting new people.

First of all – always volunteer for a job that you are interested in.

Maybe it is an area that you always wanted to work in but were afraid to change occupations. Now you can find out if this is what suits you.

I do not mean if you are working and supporting yourself and your family to quit your job and volunteer I mean incorporate volunteering into your free time.

When you volunteer you feel good about yourself. You smile from the inside.

You are reinventing yourself to embrace new experiences and meeting new people.

When you volunteer the organization you volunteer for value you as a person and appreciate your time.

I volunteer every Saturday night at my church. I am a greeter. It does not sound like much but I enjoy it. I meet new people each week and I assist people with their questions.

I also volunteer for special projects and genuinely where I am needed. I always feel great about spending my time helping others and my self esteem jumps to the top of the scale.

When you are a volunteer you have all kinds of perks. You can get into special events free and be a part of the special event.

Anything you do to make your life more meaningful makes you a better person and when you are a better person you are a happier person.

When this happens your self esteem pops and pretty soon you have a big smile on your face.

So go for it find that perfect volunteer job and help somebody and at the same time you are helping yourself.

Thank you for reading my article. I hope you feel free to read my other articles.

Copyright 2006 Linda Meckler

Linda is the author of, “Ghost Kids Trilogy,” Christy, 12 and her Brother Brad, 16 moves into an old house on top of a mountain and meet two Ghost Kids.
Become involved with all the characters and all the adventure and mystery.

Then we have a mysterious, magical Blue Vase where Uncle Charlie the villain is trapped. He wants out of the Blue Vase and exchange he will tell Christy and Brad where Pirates’ Treasure is Hidden.

Take a walk with Christy and Brad down a dark hall hunting for Pirates’ Treasure. You will think were you there right there with them. Love, Family Values and Charity burst off the pages.
Check out my website http://www.lmeckler.com

If you are bed or wheelchair confined or can’t bend to sit on a toilet you must check out on my website, “Instant Bladder Relief Urinal (IBRU)” http://www.lmeckler.com

September 11th changed America and chances are it changed you. Images of that tragic day pop into your mind without warning and you have a constant feeling of anxiety. Awful questions come to mind as well. Will the terrorists strike again? Where will they strike? How many innocent people will be killed?

You may attribute your worries to news reports reports when they’re really anticipatory grief — a feeling of loss before a death or dreaded event occurs. The stress of anticipatory grief can become unbearable. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to turn your fear into hope.

1. Focus on the present. Though anticipatory grief shifts your thoughts to the future, you have the mental power to shift them back to the here and now. You have this day and may as well live it to the fullest.

2. Model calm behavior for kids. According to The National Association of School Psychologists kids are reassured by a parent’s calm behavior and words. Though you may not feel calm on the inside, try to model calm behavior on the outside for the sake of your children.

3. Pay attention to your children’s health. Stress takes a toll on kids so make sure your children eat balanced meals, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. While you’re at it, pay attention to your own health.

4. Talk about terrorism. Voicing your worries is better than pushing them to the back of your mind. Share your terrorism thoughts with family members, neighbors, and church friends. You may even wish to start a support group.

5. Talk to your kids about terrorism. Kids’ fears can magnify quickly and you don’t want that to happen. So tell them the truth: America was attacked by terrorists. Say the attack upset you and it’s OK for them to be upset. Be brief and use words your kids will understand.

6. Limit television viewing. Just because there’s 24-hour news on television doesn’t mean you have to watch it. Young children should NOT see terrorism footage. Turn off the set and get them involved in somethng else.

7. Know your community resources. Locate the nearest hospital, police station, fire station and drive the routes. Put a list of emergency numbers by the phone. Read stories about hospital workers, policemen and women, and fire fighters to young children.

8. Stay in touch with family. Regular contact with family members will prevent needless worry. Give family members a list of contact names, addresses, and phone numbers if you’re going away.

9. Make a terrorism plan. Terrorism expert Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH thinks every family, including his own, needs a plan that includes a central meeting place, redundant systems (such as multiple cell phones) and a back-up system. Distribute the plan to family members.

10. Shift your thinking. Sheila Jowsey, MD, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist, recommends a shift in thinking “from hopelessness to helpfulness.” You do this, Jowsey says, by focusing on available resources and staying current on terroist information.

You can turn your fear of terrorism into hope. Pick a step and start working on it today!

Copyright 2005 by Harriet Hodgson. All rights reserved. Go to www.harriethodgson.com to learn more about her work.

Harriet Hodgson has been a nonfiction writer for 26 years. Her recent work focuses on health and she is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists. Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief, co-authored by Lois Krahn, MD, is her 24th book. Hodgson describes the book as “balm for a wounded soul” and it is available from amazon.com by entering the title or her name. She has also written Alzheimer’s: Finding the Words (a communication guide)and The Alzheimer’s Caregiver, both published by John Wiley & Sons and available on Amazon. Hodgson is hard at work on her next book, Doctor in the House: An Inside Look at Medical Marriage.

This anger management Practice draws on the dual wisdom of Aikido and scientific research. “The gift of forgiveness” will help you explore how to change long term anger into a wider range of life affirming emotions. It is a simple yet profound Practice following the Seishindo principles of Absorption, Utilization, and Balance.

- Absorb your upset feelings as you inhale, and feel what is there for you.

- Utilize your upsetness to help generate forgiveness.

- Remain emotionally balanced as you feel a wider range of your emotions.

This Practice will lead you to go beyond feeling angry or resentful and limiting what you are capable of feeling and appreciating. This Practice invites you to use the built up energy of anger or resentment, as the catalyst for generating forgiveness. The more you are able to feel anger or resentment while not fully giving into it and losing yourself, the more you will be able to enter onto a path of forgiveness.

Begin
As always, the key here is to take your time, speak slowly, breathe deeply, and pause between sentences. Keep each sentence short and concise. This is important. Long sentences lead to sloppy thinking and getting lost. You are to speak each sentence out loud if you are in a space that allows for this. It can often be helpful to repeat this process for several rounds in one sitting, letting your words change as you go along.

You might want to read through this Practice at least once, before actually beginning.

Choices:
In general, you can:

Choose between using and working with the concept of “anger” or “resentment” for each statement that you read below.

Or, alternate between using “anger” for one statement, and “resentment” for the next statement.

Or, use both terms at the same time, “My anger and resentment …”

It is totally up to you.

If your sense of anger or resentment is strong, you might likely have to do this Practice a number of times before you are able to fully agree with what you are saying. This is often an important part of the process. If necessary, please do give yourself the opportunity to speak the words while still feeling a bit out of alignment with what you are saying. This is part of opening up to the gift of forgiveness.

“Today, I am feeling into my relationship with …” (Name a person or situation that is troublesome.)
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit quietly.

“Today, I am feeling into my anger (resentment) in this regard.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit quietly.

“Today, in feeling my anger (resentment), I realize that I am missing out on the opportunity to experience the blessing of serenity.
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Look around at your surroundings as you sit quietly.

Today, I realize that beyond my anger (resentment), I would also like to feel a sense of deep inner calm.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Listen to your surroundings as you sit quietly.

“Today, I realize that I can help improve my overall emotional response to life, by giving myself the gift of forgiveness.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit quietly.

“Today, I realize that I would like to exchange my anger (resentment) for a sense of peace and calm.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Look around at your surroundings as you sit quietly.

“Today, I realize that feeling a sense of forgiveness, leads to feeling calm, and at peace with myself.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Listen to your surroundings as you sit quietly.

Today, I realize that I can breathe in anger (resentment), and breathe out forgiveness and compassion.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply In AND Out, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit quietly.

“Today, I know that I can face my anger (resentment) again tomorrow, with a sense of serenity.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit quietly.

“Today, I can rest in the grace of the world and be free.”
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit quietly.

* * *
I hope this Practice will help you to fulfill the longing of your spirit. That you achieve peaceful victory over your anger as you travel ever closer to living the life your heart longs for.

Charlie Badenhop is the originator of Seishindo, an Aikido instructor,
NLP trainer, and Ericksonian Hypnotherapist. Benefit from his thought-provoking
ideas and a new self-help Practice every two weeks, by subscribing to his complimentary
newsletter on the website Seishindo: Accessing
Your Body Wisdom. On the website, you can also find out more about Seishindo
Anger Management Program
and watch our 26 minute video, which will give you a taste of what Seishindo Anger
Management teaching can be like.

Longitudinal approach to the study of development implies repeated observations of phenomena during some time with the object of revealing constant aspects and changes, and also with the object of their explanation.

Longitudinal method is a special kind of observation. Its task is to determine causes of inward individual changes that happen to one person, or to different individuals or to various groups of people.

This approach is considered to be the ideal one for development psychology which can be defined as a science that studies changes that happen in human’ s behavior depending on his age.

The usage of the longitudinal method was closely connected with the growth of development psychology. Indeed, there are a lot of biographies and journals where children’s behavior is described in the process of their development. The longitudinal method was widely used from 1916, when testology appeared.

In order to receive data with the help of longitudinal approach some tests, questionnaires, observation method are used. Time distance between longitudinal measurements depends on the period of life that is investigated. For instance, for an adult person a week is a very short period of time, while for an infant a week is a very considerable period.
Advantages of longitudinal approach:

1. Longitudinal method explains changes that happen according to age. Longitudinal method consists in observation or measurement of the same examinees. They are conducted during certain time. That’s why attention is paid to changes that happen inside of the individual, but not to changes that occur between different individuals.

2. This approach admits the comparison with other examinees.

3. Longitudinal approach allows to compare changes that happen under various external circumstances.

4. Higher accuracy in prognosis of psychic development of a certain person and of future process of psychic evolution in general (in comparison with cross-sectional approach).

5. Longitudinal method gives the opportunity of defining genetic connections between phases of psychic development. It also allows to establish the diapason of fluctuations of age norms and the moments of transformation one phase into another.

6. Longitudinal method takes into account individual social, psychological and psychophysiological peculiarities of a person.
Using of longitudinal method gives the opportunity of defining the curve of child development and to determine whether his development correspond age norm. This method allows to reveal turning-points in this curve when sharp qualitative changes occur.

Longitudinal method is not free from shortcomings. It does not give the opportunity of penetrating into phenomena, of understanding the mechanism of psychic processes. The facts received by this method can be explained only by various hypotheses. There is no necessary accuracy of their interpretation.

Disadvantages of longitudinal method:

1. Time. It requires much time to finish the investigation.

2. Siftings. It can happen that some examinees will quit the instigation or it will not be possible to find them.

3. Repetition of trials. The matter is that something can happen that will bring down the validity of investigation. For example, examinees can learn the answers or can guess experimenter’s goals and they start to play “good” examinee.

4. Outdated theoretical and methodological base, that was used at the beginning of investigation.

5. Equivalence of tests that are used, if they are repeated several times.

6. Labor-intensiveness of organization and carrying out of longitudinal method. It is very important for receiving reliable data to determine definite duration of the whole investigation. Besides it is essential to define the quantity and periodicity of carrying out the control measurements. It is known that the longer longitudinal investigation is, the higher reliability of results is. But at the same time investigators want the longitudinal research does not exceed the bounds of their life.

7. There are some difficulties connected with the demands to methods. The matter is that for conducting longitudinal investigation the parallel series of methods are needed. But it takes mush time to work out them. Otherwise the results will be conditioned not by changes in person’s psychic organization, bur by person’s adaptation to tests and training.

8. There should be paid much attention to the quantity of examinees. From the one hand a small quantity of chosen examinees make it difficult to reveal age peculiarities. From the other hand long – term investigations are accompanied by reduction of participants because of their diseases, removals, death.

The hypothesis of longitudinal method consists of the suggestion that person’s development is determined by his age, by biological causes, individual and historical events and by conditions of the surroundings.

Cross-sectional approach is the alternative method to longitudinal method. This method implies the comparison of different groups of people according to their age, education, activity work and communication. The main task of cross-sectional approach is to compare examinees of different age. This comparison can be more useful in case that longitudinal comparison of a small quantity of examinees was already carried out.

Originally, cross-sectional approach was used for studying the phylogenesis of behavior and psychic activity. Nowadays it is widely used in development psychology and it covers a lot of grounds, namely:

• Various level of development, for example, comparison psychic organization of a human being and primates.

• Various periods of development, for instance the comparison children of pre – school age with children of school age.

• Different phases of the same period. For example, the comparison psychic organization of people of early and of late adulthood.

Besides this criterion of age, there are some other ones, such as: investigations revealing psychic peculiarities according to age, to professional belonging, state of health and so on.

There are some advantages of cross-sectional approach:

1. The usage of cross-sectional method to carry out quite extensive investigations for a short period.

2. It allows to cover various age categories and to reveal a lot of determinates.

3. Cross-sectional method gives the opportunity to retrace the dynamics of age development, succession of different phases and periods of formation of psyche.

4. Moreover it permits to reveal evolution characteristics of the dynamics of psychic formations that are studied under the identical social, cultural, historical and economic circumstances.

5. Cross-sectional method allows to conduct the comparison of people of different age for a short time.

There are also some disadvantages of cross-sectional approach, namely:

1. There are some limitations in application of cross-sectional method, that are connected with underestimation of the role of individual variability of psychic manifestations when studying general processes.

2. Cross-sectional method is characterized by levelling individual, social, psychic, physioligic peculiarities and be equalization of all examinees of the same age and belonging to one group.

3. The problem is that cross-sectional method presupposes the creation of equivalent groups according to many factors, such as sex, education, social level and others. But as a rule examinees belong to different cohorts, that’s way they undoubtedly have various experience.

The investigations with the help of cross-sectional method consist in the following:

• The groups for investigation are chosen. They should differ one from another according to the given criterion. It can be definite social, psychological, physical factors.

• Necessary psychodiagnostic methods are chosen.

• The same methods are proposed to the groups that take part in the investigation.

Sometimes these two methods are opposed to each other. But it is not quite correct. The comparison is used in both of them but in one case facts about different objects are compared, and in other case fact about one object are compared during all his development.

But nevertheless the opposition is quite rightful. As each method has its pros and cons. If cross-sectional method allows to cover more people, longitudinal method allows to discover different tinges of individual development, that are elusive for cross-sectional method. These methods practically are considered to be mutually complementary.

Aaron is a senior writer at Custom Essay Writing Network. He is an experienced custom essay writer and will be glad to share his experience of custom essay writing with you.

Mania is the medical condition where patients suffer severely elevated moods at all times. Normally it is associated with mood swings when the patient goes through extremely elevated or happy mood at one time and at the other time may feel depressed. However this is not the only condition and Mania can occur without these cyclical episodes.

How do I know I have Mania?

Although some one who is not suffering from the disease may fail to understand what the big deal is all about since the patient is happy at all times, people afflicted by it lose their judgment as a result of being over powered by feelings of joy at all times and end up taking wrong decisions and keep getting into socially uncomfortable situations as a result of this. Manic patients often get irritable, belligerent and deny there is anything wrong with them when pointed out the obvious disconnect that their behavior shows with the situation prevailing at that particular time.

Some of the prominent symptoms of Mania are given below:

The patients feel decreased need of sleep and will be hyperactive, hypersexual and hyper religious.

The afflicted person has got grandiose ideas and plans and finds himself to be unusually talkative.

There are other behavior that the person suffering from Mania displays like wasteful expenditure, risky liaisons in personal and business life as well as very vocal and violent arguments.

Mania patients fail to recognize signs of sadness in the facial expression of others, while they can easily recognize expressions of happiness the expression of sadness fails to register in their minds.

There is a mnemonic which is used to describe Mania – DIGFAST

Can Mania be treated?

Mania can be treated by medication and talk therapy, however before that it is necessary to diagnose it correctly. This is because most of the symptoms mentioned can occur due to non psychiatric reasons and something known as differential diagnosis needs to be performed. What happens in this type of diagnosis is the various symptoms of the patients are observed and then a list of diseases is mapped according to the symptoms. Then the doctors start off their treatment and analyze which is the treatment that the patient is responding to the best.

In cases of acute mania patient may also have to be admitted for treatment involuntarily and is typically treated with mood stabilizers and antipsychotic medication. But invariably all of these medicines have side effects and the patient has to be carefully observed to avoid any side effects. Even while the symptoms of Mania have subsided long term treatment still continues in a bid to stabilize the patient’s mood through a combination of medicine and talk therapy.

Collective Mania

Collective Mania is a state where a large number of people start behaving irrationally, the numbers can in some cases be as large as an entire country as in the case of Tulip Mania. Such cases can be often witnessed in some of the stock market rallies that happen where the stock prices reach very high levels but despite repeated warnings from analysts people keep on buying without any apparent reason to do so.