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Define health
Risky behaviour?
Healthy behaviour?
Health Appraisal?
Steps to decision
makin
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State of….
Any action that…
Any action that…
A detailed…..
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3. a, b, c, d, e
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5
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Your only consistent homework
Every 3 weeks, plenty of time!
Must be typed, and submitted to TURNITIN
Must be on a health related topic
Must use two acceptable sources
Worth 50 points!!
Will teach you important skills to use on your
research paper
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Pick a health related topic that is interesting
Examples:
Find two legitimate sources (articles from a
newspaper, magazine or internet source)
Read articles , and take bullet points.
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Then write a summary of the information. Put
the important information into your own
words. Make the summary interesting but
include necessary information.
You must use parenthetical citation on the
information you summarize
Example: It is important for teens to get 9
hours of sleep (Smith 7).
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Now, in a separate section titled “Relevance”
write out why you picked this topic, what you
learned and how it affects you
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You must list the sources you used in writing
the health update
The sources must be listed in alphabetical
order and all the bibliographic information
must be included and be in the correct order.
You will be given a handout with clear
instructions on how to do this!
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Your health update needs to be in the
following format:
Upper left hand corner:
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Name
Date
Period
Health Update # ______
Topic:
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Freshman Seminar
Period 4
Health Update #1
Topic: Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder
Summary:
Perhaps the most interesting mental illness is multiple personality disorder. To think that the human mind could splinter in to different
personalities is fascinating to most of us. Formerly referred to as multiple personality disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder is
characterized by 2 or more identities or personalities within a single individual. It is a disease thought to begin in childhood in response
to repeated traumatic or overwhelming life experiences. Some examples of trauma are physical or sexual abuse, wartime experiences or
relocation, or even long and painful medical experiences such as chemotherapy. In fact, in studies of patients with DID, a range of 70%
to 95% of patients reported childhood abuse. It is thought that the traumatizing circumstances and poor relationships with caretakers
disrupt the normal consolidation of personal identity. The traumatic memories are “encapsulated to permit development in other areas of
life such as academics and social life. The outcome is that a person embodies a number of concrete independent states”. The case of
“Sybil” depicted in the movie shows a person who developed 16 different identities to get away from painful memories of abuse inflicted
on her when she was a very young child. Before that movie was made there were only 40 known cases of DID in the world. After the book
was published those numbers have gone up to the point where 1 in 100 people suffer from some form of this disease (Schrof 66).
Most people with DID do not have the separate and distinct identity fracturing, but rather have different facets of their personality that
come out and dominate. They don’t black out, they don’t commit murders, they don’t lose years of their life to other personalities. They
rather just feel fractured, they don’t feel whole or in control, they feel as if any of the other characteristics can take charge of their body
at any time. However, patients with DID typically do have amnesia as they can not remember important events in their life, and they can
have blackout phases in which recent events are unable to be recalled. They also experience fluctuations in personalities and talents.
“Some patients actually have variable blood pressures, blood glucose levels, changes in visual acuity (eyesight) and variable responses to
drugs and treatments with the shifting of identities. The good news is there is treatment that helps people with DID integrate all these
personalities into one. The treatment may take a long time, but with therapy the patients log and monitor emotions so that they can
identify possible triggers that will set off an identity. They also work on coping mechanisms such as setting goals, creating schedules and
being organized. Finally, they develop a crisis plan to help them respond to stressful situations (“What is a Multiple” 3).
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Relevance:
We just watched the movie Sybil and I found the subject fascinating. I wanted to know if the movie was factual. I discovered that
some multiples do act like Sybil, but most are less extreme. While some people think DID does not exist, I believe it does based on the
research I completed.
Works Cited
Schrof, Joannie. “Questioning Sybil.” U.S. News
and World Report. 27 January 1997. Platinum
Proquest. Web. 4 January 2010.
“What is a Multiple.” Understanding Mental
Illness. N.p.2 September 2009. Web. 4
January 2010.