The Ivory Coast Essay Example for Free

The Ivory Coast Essay Giving money for a positive cause is always a good thing especially when they create favorable long term effects. There are numerous countries suffering for several different reasons all around the world, one of these countries being The Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast is failing in different aspects because of certain social, economic and political issues. One of the biggest problems to date is the poor education system. We plan to repair the countries damaged education system by rebuilding schools and supplying people with the necessary resources needed to pursue a decent education. With help from the World Bank, Oprah Winfrey and any others willing to contribute to our cause, we are confident that the Ivory Coast can be put on a steady path to success. The Ivory Coast is located on the South coast of West Africa. Surrounding countries include Guinea, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Ghana. The country is about 322,463 sq. Kilometers. Today, there are over 20 million people living in the Ivory Coast. There are about 39 people per sq. Kilometer. There is a pretty even number of males to females, 51% males, to 49 % females. The life expectancy age is approximately 59 years old. People of the Ivory Coast practice many different religions. These religions include traditional beliefs practiced and developed in certain varying villages, Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Islam. The current president is Alassane Ouattara. The official language of the Ivory Coast is French, but there are multiple languages spoken in the country including Dioula, Baloule, Dan, Anyin and Cebaara Senufo. The capital of the country is Yamoussoukro and Abidjan serves as the administrative center. The flag of the country is composed of three bold, vertical strips all different colors. The orange color on the flag represents the rich and generous land, it also is a symbol for the blood of young people who fought for emancipation. The white strip represents peace, and the green exemplifies hope for a better future. Common Cuisine consists of a dish called aloko, a popular snack that is served with fried banana, onions and chilies. Popular music includes Zoblazo, Zouglou and Coupà ©- Dà ©calà ©. When traveling to the Ivory Coast, All visitors require a passport and a visa is necessary, except for nationals of USA and ECOWAS countries. It is hard to determine when existence first began in the Ivory Coast due to the fact that human remains have not been well preserved. But with discovery of old weapon fragments and tools, life of the Ivory Coast seems to have begun during the upper Patheolithic period (15,000 to 10,000 BC). Research indicates that the early inhabitants of the Ivory Coast seem to be scattered, leaving historians to come to the conclusions that the ancestors of present Ivory Coast Inhabitants were displaced. The earliest recorded history of the Ivory Coast is found within the trade caravan condu cted by North African traders from early Roman times. A caravan of salt, slaves, gold etc. was conducted across the Sahara. After independence from France in 1960, the Ivory Coast economic success story was built on cocoa, and other agricultural products including coffee, cotton and fruits. But many laborers, who originally came from neighboring countries, and their descendants, increasingly felt marginalized. This contributes to a rebellion in 2002 which split Ivory Coast in two. The Ivory Coast is currently suffering due to ongoing social and economic issues. The major economic issue today in Ivory Coast is the rebuilding of Ivory Coast infrastructure, main roads, cocoa farm and reducing their deficit which is about us$2.3 million. As the political impasse persists in divided Ivory Coast, the West Africa country, which was once the region’s economic powerhouse, faces further decline. Residents and analysis are very worried about the quickly dissolving economic situation there. After the political crisis a lot of banks were shot down, cocoa farms which is one of the major resources in Ivory Coast were destroyed, shortage of cooking gas, roads were damage and the price of food raised. Socially, the health of the country is extremely poor. Malaria, a virus caused by parasites infects a high percentage of the country and is a leading cause of death in children and is the second highest cause of morbidity and mortality in the Ivory Coast. Symptoms of malaria include fever, body aches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and sweating. Unfortunately, Malaria is not the only deadly disease which affects many in the Ivory Coast. The AIDS epidemic is preoccupying; over 3.9% of the adult population is HIV-positive. Around 500,000 persons are living with HIV. HIV/AIDS is the highest cause of morbidity and mortality in Cote dIvoire. Aside from diseases, Water pollution is an environmental problem in the Ivory Coast. Due to chemical waste from agricultural, industrial, and mining sources: about 92% of the countrys city dwellers and 72% of the rural population have safe water. Water pollution is a massive problem in the Ivory Coast that is causing struggle and delaying the process to achieve peace. Sadly, there are other issues in the Ivory Coast aside from health concerns. Poor education has not always been a problem, but the topic has become increasingly significant in recent years. Most people do not continue school after the primary level. There are multiple factors that contribute to such a low number of educated individuals. One of the main reasons that education is at such a decline now, is because of the current political crisis. The 2010 presidential election between incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and opposition member Alassane Ouattara resulted in a political standoff and violent conflict after Gbagbo refused to honor the results that declared Ouattara the winner. Two elections were held. The initial election did not yield a winner and a second electoral round was held on November 28, 2010. The polling results were released on December 2, 2010 and declared Ouattara the new president of Cà ´te d’Ivoire after he received 54.1% of the vote. The political stalemate turned violent and caused the decline of state security, threatened regional stability, and resulted in gross human rights violations and violence against civilians. The UN reported in March 2011 that over 1000 people were killed in clashes, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees stated that over 500,000 Ivorians were forcibly displaced, and 94,000 Ivorians fled to neighboring Liberia out of fear of violence. The country seemed to be divided. Forces loyal to Gbagbo and Ouattara were accused of gross human rights against civilians which could amount to crimes against humanity including enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and extrajudicial killings. After months of defying the outcome of the presidential election, Laurent Gbagbo was arrested by Ouattara forces on 11 April 2011 following an attack o n his residence in Abidjan. Alassane Ouattara immediately called for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission. Cà ´te d’Ivoire now faces many challenges as a result of the far reaching effects of the crisis, including the restoration of peace and security, the prevention of further human rights abuses, and the delivery of humanitarian aid. Alassane Ouattara’s government must now foster peace and reconciliation in Cà ´te d’Ivoire and insure that those responsible for gross human rights violations are held accountable. After the 2010 presidential crisis there were nearly 800,000 children out of school due to the crisis and some are still waiting to get back to learning. â€Å"We arrived at school at 7:30 a.m. as we always do on a school day. At exactly 8:30 we could hear shooting coming from the direction of a neighbouring village,† recalls Pafait Guei, a 14-year-old boy who attended primary school in the western area of Ivory Coast. Instead of being in school, youn g children are seen selling goods on road sides in attempt to earn very little money to support themselves and their family. In a venture to try and help the Ivory Coast education system we have devised a plan that will ultimately rebuild the Ivory Coast education system. Our plan is to obtain a minimum of $10,000,000 dollars from the world bank and Oprah Winfrey to help at least 100,000 children by distributing school bags filled with supplies such as textbooks, pens, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener to support families in need. We also want to re-open/re-build many schools that were affected by the crisis. Even the ones that have re-opened have a shortage in desks, chairs, and supplies. We plan on hiring more teachers. Most of the schools have 1 teacher per 50 students. We will use all of the money to help the government pay for the teacher’s salaries and hopefully the country will move in the right direction and will be able to afford and continue our efforts once the money finishes. We feel as though Oprah would be a good choice as a financial contributor because of her stand on education, especially after building the school in South Africa, she was quoted saying: â€Å"I think the reason not just Africa but the world is in the state that it is because of a lack of leadership on all levels of government and particularly in regard to schools and schooling for poor children. The best way to effect change long term is to give children exposure and opportunity and nurture them to understand their own power and possibility.† We hope that she would be willing to aid us with a significant amount of funds to move the Ivory Coast forward in the right direction. There are many commendable reasons to donate money to the Ivory Coast. Donating money to the Ivory Coast would only result in positive effects. Only about half of the population is illiterate and many children are not enrolled in school (between the ages 6-10). By donating money to the Ivory Coast, we will be able to begin to change the statistics by creating more education opportunities. We also will make educational resources more accessible to everyone. Those who have some form of education can have the opportunity to extend their education, and those who have no or very little education would have the chance to receive one. Having better education opportunities would not only benefit those going to school, but it would also create jobs. There is usually about one teacher to every fifty children, but with the money we receive, we plan to hire more teachers. Less children in the classrooms means that the children could receive better and more direct attention. This can ensure that the material being taught is actually getting across to each student, and it will become easier to give one on one attention to those who need i t if there are more teachers available to help. Not to mention the fact that the employment rate will increase providing more individuals with a source of income. If anyone were to decide to donate or contribute money to the Ivory Coast you would be a part of our plan to help to build a stronger economy. One of the many reasons Africa is suffering as a whole is because of the lack of necessary resources needed to obtain a good paying job. If we do not invest in education, the education system will continue to fail. Majority of people in The Ivory Coast do not continue schooling after primary school because they do not have the funds for college and feel that it more important to get a job barely making ends meats. But if we can provide money for schooling and education, this can create a better future not just for the Ivory Coast but for Africa as well. If people were to have the credentials needed to land a decent job, this could slowly start to increase income in households. Donations could also help begin to restore order in the Ivory Coast. Because people were displaced, had to flee, or were forced out of their homes, many people of all ag es could not continue to go to school. If we can focus in on trying to get people of the Ivory Coast back in school, this can be a stepping stone to help the country prosper. In the 1980’s education was named one of the country’s main priorities and the plan has proven successful . Education received about one-third of the national budget. Because education was so greatly emphasized, The Ivory Coast education rate changed dramatically. An overall 43% literacy rate increase, 53% for men, and 31% for woman. Nearly 15% of the country was enrolled in some sort of educational institution. If we attempt this once again, we are confident that we can get the same, if not better results than we had in the 1980’s. The fact that a similar plan was put into effect and carried out with positive results gives us more motivation to believe that our approach will be effective. Education is extremely significant when trying to make a country prosper. If we try to make education our main focus, the things that are important become relevant again and the Ivory Coast can continue to flourish positively. Giving the children a chance at a better education can ensure a better future for the country’s entirety. The flight from JFK airlines to Abidjan through Air France i s approximately $1513. You would be staying in one of the best hotels in the Ivory Coast, The Ibis Abidjan Plateau (located in Abidjan), which is $1137 for 7 days 6 nights; it includes breakfast and a car rental. While in the Ivory Coast, there are many interesting places and landmarks to visit. The Basilica Notre Dame de la Paix, also known as Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yammousoukro is one of the greatest prides of the Ivory Coast. It is considered as the tallest and largest church in the whole world. The basilica is specifically located at Yammousoukro, Ivory Coast. Its construction started in 1985 and was finished four years later. It cost $300 million to complete the basilica. The Taà ¯ National Park is a national park in Cà ´te dIvoire containing one of the last areas of primary rainforest in West Africa. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982 due to the breadth of its flora and fauna. There are a few of the animals found on the Taà ¯ National Park that are on the red list of threatened species such as the pygmy hippopotamus, leopards, and chimpanzees. The rainforest is located in Abidjan. There is also a beach called Bassam, it is about 45 minutes away from Abidjan city, so its possible to do a day trip from the city. This country has the potential to become prosperous and peaceful. All it needs is good leadership and unity within the country. Ivory Coast has good natural resources and it has been proven to have the capacity to do well economically. Hopefully now with the new president the country will continue in the good direction and he will focus on the major issues facing this country such as political stability, addressing the health issues, and most importantly, not forget the importance of an education, and all the benefits it will bring to the country as a whole if at least the literacy rate of the country goes up. Bibliography unicef.org http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cotedivoire_59009.html http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cotedivoire_57879.html wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey_Leadership_Academy_for_Girls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_coast responsibilitytoprotect.org http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/crises/crisis-in-ivory-coast ttp://www.voanews.com http://www.geopolitical-info.com http://traveltips.usatoday.com/famous-places-ivory-coast-58979.html http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Africa/Cote_DIvoire/Things_To_Do-Cote_DIvoire-TG-C-1.html http://www.netglobers.com/africa/cote-d-ivoire-main-health-risks-for-cote-d-ivoire.html

Racism in Toni Morrisons Song of Solmon Essay -- Song of Solmon Essay

Racism in Toni Morrison's Song of Solmon Milkman is born on the day that Mr. Smith kills himself trying to fly; Milkman as a child wanted to fly until he found out that people could not. When he found, "that only birds and airplanes could fly&emdash;he lost all interest in himself" (9). The novel Song of Solomon is about an African American man nicknamed Milkman. This novel, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison was first published in 1977, shows a great deal of the African American culture, and the discrimination within their culture at the time Song of Solomon takes place. In part one, the setting is in a North Carolina town in the 30's and 40's. Â   Part one introduces readers to not only Milkman, but also to his family and friends. His father holds power in the African American community because he has his own business and is ambitious. Milkman's mother is a center figure in the community simply because her father was the doctor. Milkman has a mysterious unmarried Aunt, with a single daughter and granddaughter. He also has a friend, Guitar who is a member of a group of seven African American men dedicated to keeping the 'ratio' between blacks and whites the same. Throughout the novel, Milkman gradually learns about his families past as well as forgotten pieces of his own childhood. Â   In part two, Milkman goes south to his father's hometown. He is looking for a fortune that his father and aunt had found long before. When he does not find the fortune he begins trying to find where it went. This takes him to where his great grandfather and mother originated. Milkman eventually is led to the town where he is a direct descendant of the town's legend, Solomon. It is in this town that Milkman finds himself and becomes his own m... ... lied for it, killed for it," (247). For her revenge, after all of the Butlers died Circe says "I want to see it all go, make sure it does go, and that nobody fixes it up. I brought the dogs in to make sure" (247). She allows everything they loved to be destroyed. Â   Morrison shows readers a side of American History rarely seen. She shows the deepness of prejudice and how many different ways it has effected people. While she does this she also tells a story of soul searching, Milkman tries to find himself among many people who are confused and ate up by hate and prejudice. In the end, he is able to find who he is and where he stands on all of the issues that are going on around him. When he gets this understanding Milkman retrieves, and achieves his childhood dream of flying. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York, Penguin Books USA Inc., 1987

Even Sigmund Freud participated Essay

Today the medical sphere may offer us good examples of how the existing diversification of approaches and methods towards the treatment of people is related to the fundamental shifts in our perception of the old problem of finding the connection between the human body and the mind. In fact, on one hand medicine as such is on the most fundamental level an inherently conservative filed of knowledge and practice because what is at stake for a doctor is often the very human life, the value of which overthrows any possible dubious methods of treatment that may lead to the lack of positive results, or even to negative ones. On the other hand, as we are constantly learning new things about such an intricate structure as the human body is, it becomes clear that phenomena that had been thought understandable in reality have a much more complicated nature, which requires elaboration of existing scientific approaches, or even demands refusal from some of the traditional medical postulates. To grasp challenges that arise from such shifts in our understanding of mind-body connection we may consider perhaps too extreme examples – numerous schools of the so-called New Age medicine which under the pretence of the break-through knowledge all too often advance simply untenable and absurd claims based on mere speculations (Reisser, Reisser, and Weldon, 1988, pp. 147-52), and the overly sceptical defenders of the traditional Western medicine who may tend to be too inflexible in their admission of the validity of alternative approaches to medical treatment of people. More specifically, the matter of the influence of human psychological processes on what has traditionally been considered purely physiological disorders is one of the most inflaming causes of disagreements between the mentioned approaches. This tension that in one form or another is ongoing between representatives of different medical camps to a large degree defines the modern discourse of approaches to the medical treatment (Miller, 2003, pp. 185-187). In this regard, it would be interesting to closely investigate the existing literature that represents the current state of affairs in the perception of the connection between the mind and the body. As a suitable object of our analysis may serve the book written by Doctor of Medicine John E. Sarno, a Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, and attending physician at the Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University Medical Center. His best-selling work â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain† belongs to the list of the most popular books that highlight academic and practical achievements in the field of psychosomatic medicine, a school of medicine which is based on the principle of unity of the mind and the body, and which aims to examine the mechanisms of the interdependency between emotions and bodily functions and to promote psychological methods of medical care (Levenson, 2004, pp. 3-66). The combination of the academic approaches of the author to the support of his material and the popularity of the book among lay people to whom it is largely addressed suggests that on the example of this work we may judge the level of penetration of what could unanimously be perceived alternative medicine not long time ago into the modern medical discourse. With all this in mind, let us examine the volume of John E. Sarno in the context of its connection as of a textbook of applied psychosomatic medicine with the modern medical paradigms. For this purpose, we will briefly outline the history of psychosomatic medicine, then will try to link it with the book of Sarno, and in the main body of the paper will provide the book report with relevant comments on the book`s contents. Background on psychosomatic medicine The origins of the psychosomatic medicine can be found in the teachings of early Western philosophers and physicians who acknowledged that emotions played an important role for the human health (Cacioppo, 1989, p. 589). Still, the Western medicine has traditionally been more inclined towards the study of the significance of bodily functions (Loudon, 1997, p. 238). However, by the middle of the nineteenth century the level of attention to the involvement of emotions in diseases development grew as the observational evidence was accumulating that had suggested that some disorders were not always accompanied by organic affections (U. S. National Library of Medicine, 2005). For example, only since the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries such a neurosis as hysteria began to be linked with emotional factors and the nervous system in general. Even Sigmund Freud participated in the study of symptoms of hysteria, and one of his conclusions was that they are based on memories linked to mental traumas which under certain conditions may intrude in the processes of somatic innervation. In this way, a possible mechanism for the interaction between mind and body was offered that was reminiscent of mechanisms that Sarno would be describing in his book. The German psychoanalysts Georg Groddeck even went as far as claiming that psychological mechanisms engendering hysteria can be applied to all somatic diseases which from this point of view are the bodily manifestations of unconscious psychological processes. In the 1930s psychoanalyst Franz Alexander attempted to find a compromise between the Freudian theory, such views as those of Groddeck, and existing knowledge of physiology. He was against excessively psychological interpretations that ignored the automatic mechanisms in the body that to a large degree directed emotional expressions. The theoretical basis developed by Alexander contributed in the United States to the invigorated extensive research of psychosomatic mechanisms, and psychosomatic medicine as a separate field of study was formed in 1939 when the medical journal dedicated to this branch of medicine was published. After that time, psychosomatic medicine was only gaining momentum. For example, World War II spurred the interest to it due to numerous manifestations of psychosomatic symptoms in soldiers. Eventually, by the 1950s interest to psychosomatic medicine and its scientific background grew so much that its concepts entered the popular culture as media started to publish numerous articles and thus popularized psychosomatic theories (U. S. National Library of Medicine, 2005). Now, fast forward to today, and we can witness that many of the postulates of psychosomatic medicine are already among the undisputed popular opinions of many people, and for instance the maxim that in order to stay healthy a person should avoid excessive stresses and disturbing emotional states is among the most frequently heard ones in both media sources and in our everyday interaction. However, after the surge of academic interest to it half a century ago, psychosomatic medicine, in contrast to its successful penetration into the public perception, somewhat lost momentum within scientific circles in the second half of the twentieth century (Kennedy, 2004, p. 400). So, it is in such circumstances that the book of John E. Sarno â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain† saw the light of the day. The book of John E. Sarno in the larger social and historical context â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain† builds upon themes from Sarno’s previous book â€Å"Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection† that advanced the idea that the cause of back pain, headache, slipped discs, and other chronic forms of pain is actually rooted in our psychology (Sarno, 1991). In â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† Sarno adds new knowledge about the psychology of emotionally stimulated physical manifestations, and elucidates how such emotions as anger, anxiety, guilt, and other negative mental states can cause mental stimulation of negative physical symptoms. Thus, in both of those books the author touches upon very urgent topics for the modern American society in which an increasing number of people are plagued by back, neck, or limb pain. In fact, this is a serious economic problem as well, as industries in which large percentage of people are working at computers bear significant health insurance burden due to a variety of similar disorders causing pain, like fibromyalgia or repetitive stress injury (Sarno, 2005). More generally, pain as such in its different forms is a crippling problem for many individuals in both their professional and private lives (Margoles, 1998, pp. 9-32). So, â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† addresses precisely this disturbing epidemic as it analyses clinical data to find the main cause of the pain disorders, and elaborates methods to treat those disorders. Importantly, in doing so the author tries to fill the gap existing in the traditional methods of chronic pain treatment that are apparently unable to stop this pain epidemic. From the very beginning of the main body of the volume it becomes clear for a reader that the author adopts a holistic approach to his subject. More specifically, Sarno opens the first chapter of the book with construction of various typical and stressful scenarios that in one form or another take place in lives of many of us and contribute to chronic physical pain that people experience. What is untypical, though, is that Sarno from the very beginning of the book begins to draw our attention to what could be considered as a minor element of those scenarios, but what in reality, according to the author, underlies the different manifestation of the pain disorders. This significant element is the factor of unconscious anger or outright rage that Sarno envisions as inevitably accompanying all of the scenarios that he delves in, like our troubles with private life, or within family, or career-related frustration, and many other different â€Å"or† that Sarno repeats in succession to bring home to us his case of unconscious mechanisms that generate anger in so many people. Now, this initial attention to the emotional side of our life is in a good agreement with our above observations about the widely acknowledged role that our mind plays in our health, and the author as if resumes that the existence of the definite connection between our emotional experiences and our bodily health is factual. But, judging from the way he begins his work, what we can expect from Sarno is the elaboration on the exact mechanisms that keep the mind-body connection running, especially as the author immediately claims that the disorders that he is about to discuss â€Å". . . are neither illnesses nor diseases, but rather symptomatic states induced by the brain to serve a psychological purpose† (Sarno, 1998, p. 3). After all, while general public does not always bother to verify its views, practitioners of classical pathophysiology would surely expect solid support of any claim related to the emotional aspects of diseases and illnesses and to the connection between pain problems and stress. At the same time, having chosen the non-technical style of presentation Sarno procured the easiness of reading for common people whose pain-related problems are the actual target of the book. The structure and the contents of the book â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† consists of three parts preceded by an extended preface and an introduction that deals with a historical perspective of the book`s theme. The preface and the introduction of the book summarize theories and experience of Sarno with treatment of back pain and other types of musculoskeletal disturbances. Naturally, already in the opening parts of the work the emotional foundation of the pain is emphasized. In the end of the book we can find a thorough appendix, which provides supportive citations for conclusions of Sarno, and a bibliography which refers to articles that cover physical and psychoanalytic issues related to chronic pain and its treatment. In the first part of the book Sarno reflects upon concepts underlying mind-body medicine, and exemplifies influences that physical stress and such psychological states as feeling of guilt, anxiety, depression, or personality disorders have on the range of symptoms manifested in patients. Sarno categorizes the range of painful symptoms that may arise due to psychological processes as belonging to what he terms Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), which is a painful condition that develops in the back, shoulders, neck, or buttocks, and may equally arise in other parts of the body, and which throughout the whole book would be the main object of study for the author. But before shifting to investigation of concrete instances of TMS-related maladies, in order to justify his principal claim that chronic pain symptoms are in reality a kind of a defense mechanism used by our brain to distract our attention from our unconscious emotions of anger, Sarno copiously refers to the prominent figures whom we have discussed – Sigmund Freud, Franz Alexander, and some other defenders of the theory of psychoanalysis like Stanley Coen and Heinz Kohut. I believe that this approach is beneficial as it helps readers appreciate the historical inheritance that underlies basic conceptions of the psychosomatic medicine, and thus provides a firmer footing for beliefs held by many people who have had successful experiences with psychosomatic approaches to treatment of illnesses. Aside from the references to important figures in the history of psychosomatic medicine, the first part of the book also elaborates a distinct and well-structured explanation of the concepts constituting the basic principles of mind-body interaction. In the process of such explanation the author mentions such fields of study and such medical and psychological notions as neurophysiology of psychogenic disturbances, problems of psychosomatic origin, and reactions of conversion (which is one of the types of interaction between the mind and the body when unconscious elements of human psyche intrude into somatic processes) (Sarno, 1998, pp. 173-174). Sarno also mentions the findings of Candace Pert, a neuroscientist who found opiate receptors in the human brain, and who greatly contributed to the growth of our knowledge of links between biochemical processes in the brain and physiological phenomena. In this way, Sarno anchors the theme of his book in the history of psychosomatic medicine, and, even though he is mentioning some radical concepts that may be critically perceived by adherents of traditional pathophysiology, the style of Sarongs presentation is lucid and definitely absorbing. All in all, the first part of the book serves as a bridge between the general discussion of the psychological mechanisms of emotional influence on physical disorders and more detailed investigation of psychoneurophysiology that underlies psychogenic processes. In the second part of the book Sarno closely examines his clinical experience with emotionally caused physical disorders, and is primarily concerned with various manifestations of TMS and with the possibility to extend his theory of the mechanisms of TMS emergence to other diseases and illnesses. In fact, many of the clinical problems that he examines have already been known to have a connection to stress, which either produces them, or aggravates their effects. However, what makes the work of Sarno special is his approach to explanation of these disease states from the point of view of unconscious working of repressed anger and rage. To prove his case, Sarno has combined physical medicine with psychoanalytic theory in order to give what he believes is a proper account for TMS, which, according to his practice, is the main cause of musculoskeletal and back pain. For Sarno, the origin of painful manifestations of TMS lies in repressed emotions. And the pain in various parts of body as such is theorized by the author as being caused by a diminution of blood flow to the corresponding tissues. This process of blood flow reduction is mediated via the autonomic system as a stressful reaction of brain to repressed emotions. We may chart the TMS pathophysiology in the following way: The formation of unconscious repressed emotions (anger/rage); ? Abnormal patterns of autonomic system`s activity; ? Decrease of the level of local blood circulation; ? Development of mild oxygen deprivation; ? The resulting pain in muscles and other possible symptoms (for example pain in tendons, tingling, numbness, weakness). Having established such a mechanism of the emergence of pain, Sarno surmises that this approach from the TMS formation theory can as well be applied not only for the fixed number of cases of muscle and back pain, but to a wider range of physical disturbances. In this light, Sarno earlier pointed out that in a 1975 survey it had been found that â€Å"88 per cent of patients with TMS had histories of up to five common mindbody disorders† (Sarno, 1998, p. 29). And, indeed, Sarno manages to extend his theory of the emergence of pain disorders to migraine, to such various conditions as carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, colitis, peptic ulcer, post-polio syndrome, infections, skin disorders, and even to more unusual instances like the chronic pain that accompanies Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria transmitted through ticks. The author also mentions disorders in which emotions might be involved, among which are atherosclerosis, hypertension, one of the most common heart problems termed mitral valve prolapse, and even cancer. Of course, with such a broad scope of concern at hand Sarno has to offer an adequate methodology for unambiguous diagnosing of emotionally induced pain. For this purpose, his requirement is that the TMS diagnosis can be ascribed to a patient only if traditional physical exam failed to uncover existing abnormalities. However, according to the author, even in the presence of an abnormality TMS still can be working in a patient and exasperate the pain to the higher level than the found abnormality itself would be capable of. In the third part of the book Sarno discusses approaches that may effectively treat TMS and related physical disturbances. From what we have observed before it should already become clear that Sarno essentially assigns to the pain the function of a defense reaction that aims to divert our consciousness from the need to face repressed anger or other unbearable forms of emotional strain. On ground of this, as the only possible way of treatment of the real cause of TMS symptoms Sarno postulates the examination of the physical origins of repressed negative emotions as the way for the deliverance from pain. Generally speaking, a person has to find ways to single out those harmful emotions and roots of the unconscious anger that are undermining his or her psychological well-being. And what also makes the theory of Sarno special is that, according to him, the mere acknowledgement of certain emotional concerns, and not of any bodily abnormalities, as the ground of the deteriorated physical state is in many cases already a sufficient condition for healing. One may not even have to remove the psychological problem itself in order to procure a visible clinical improvement. This contrasts with some of the New Age schools of psychotherapy that also associate unconscious repressed emotions with various maladies, but which require that before the healing can take place such unconscious `problem spots` must be dissolved, like is proposed, for instance, by the so-called primal therapy, a school of psychotherapy elaborated by psychologist Arthur Janov (Janov, 1999). For Sarno, the identification of a problem is the main task for people suffering from emotionally induced physical disorders, and such identification can normally be implemented by means of an insightful self-examination, perhaps with the help of such techniques as meditation or self-affirmation (a method of compensation for the lowered self-esteem in one area by consideration of one`s proficiency in other areas (Sarno, 1998, p. 22; Nezu and Nezu, 2004, pp. 182-188). In this regard, from the point of view of Sarno it is also very important that a patient should have no doubts about the correctness of the TMS diagnosis, and that he or she fully realizes the exclusively psychosomatic origin of pain. To bolster this indispensable perception in patients, after the mentioned thorough physical examination needed for the elimination of possibility of the presence of real physical problems, Sarno accentuates the need to educate people and to assure them that the influence of repressed emotions is a sufficient condition for the reduction of the flow of blood to the affected areas of the body which leads to the pain and other troublesome symptoms, which nevertheless should not be viewed by people as those inflicting permanent damage to the body. Even if some structural abnormalities related to ordinary changes due to physical activity or aging are found, the patient should have a clear understanding of their nature. Basically, what is demanded from a patient is in no way the denial of the presence of the pain but rather the acceptance of its genuine origin. To help maintain such an attitude to chronic pain, Sarno recommends to patients who know that they have no physiological abnormalities to suspend physical therapy and to return to normal physical activity. In addition to that, patients should on the daily basis remind themselves the following points: I only have a mild oxygen deprivation and not structural abnormalities; my condition stems from repressed negative emotions and is not physically harmful; TMS exists to divert my attention from emotions; there is nothing to be afraid of for me; the physical pain is not dangerous; I will not allow pain to trouble and intimidated me; I will change the object of my concern from pain to emotional experiences; it is my conscious part that will have control, and not my subconscious mind; I have to think about psychological aspects of my life, and not so much about physical. When such a set of attitudes towards the role of one`s unconscious emotional experiences and towards one`s own body is obtained, Sarno believes that the brain that aims to contain the repressed emotions will no longer be able to fool us by drawing our attention to body. To illustrate how psychological relief may have a radica l influence on the chronic pain, the author offers examples of some practical cases. In one of such cases a patient knew about the most probable origin of her back pain but still did not have an improvement, and even had increased level of pain. According to Sarno, the worsening of the pain was brought about by the last efforts of the brain to keep hidden emotions unconscious, but when the feelings finally burst into the patient`s consciousness the pain, as if miraculously, went away. Sarno documents the account of this patient: â€Å". . . in an instant, I started to cry. . . Out of control tears, anger, rage, desperate tears. And I heard myself saying things like, Please take care of me, I don’t ever want to have to come out from under the covers, I’m so afraid, please take care of me, don’t hurt me, I want to cut my wrists, please let me die, I have to run away, I feel sick-and on and on, I couldn’t stop . . . And as I cried, and as I voiced these feelings, it was, literally, as if there was a channel, a pipeline, from my back and out through my eyes. I felt the pain almost pour out as I cried . . . I knew . . . that what I was feeling at that moment was what I felt as a child, when no one would or could take care of me . . . the feelings were there and they poured over me and out of me† (Sarno, 1998, p. 13). However, as in order to get rid of pain we have to use our insight to understand its foundation, one may wonder that if the real cause of the pain is the repressed anger, how helpful psychotherapy may be in the healing of TMS symptoms? The author says: â€Å"The therapists to whom I refer patients are trained to help them explore the unconscious and become aware of feelings that are buried there . . . When we become aware of these feelings . . . the physical symptoms . . . go away† (Sarno, 1998, p. 161). Still, according to Sarno, the need for psychotherapy should not arise too often. The author reports numerous cases when people did away with pain simply after having read the book and having followed suggestions contained there. In fact, Sarno claims that the percentage of those who report the improvement of their condition is as high as 90-95 percent, and that many of his patients had been living with physical disorders and pain for a large part of their lives and could not be treated by the traditional medical approaches. General critical observations Even though the belief that emotions and stressful circumstances are related to physical conditions of people is today generally accepted, the extent to which Sarno emphasizes the role of psychological factors will nevertheless surely seem too extreme for many clinicians. Indeed, formally speaking, the author of â€Å"The Mindbody Prescription† gives some reasons to relate him to those practitioners who denounce the traditional medical approaches as outdated ones, as he says that â€Å". . . poor medical advice . . . keep[s] your attention riveted on your body, which is your brain’s intention† (Sarno, 1998, p. 147), or that â€Å"Modern medical science studies the details of maladies but rejects unconscious emotional processes as the cause†¦ † (Sarno, 1998, p. 117). On the other hand, the effort of the author to extend the validity of his TMS theory to a range of disorders which in combination are shared by significant fractions of Western societies` populations may also seem to be too ambitious and at the same time not sufficiently verified according to strict scientific standards (Wilson, 1991). In this light, while Sarno rightfully remarks that â€Å". . . proper management [of TMS and related disorders] would alleviate much suffering and reduce the enormous cost of medical care that now burdens modern society† (Sarno, 1998, p. 126), he perhaps should also pay more attention to the fact that the majority of physicians still have doubts about the ability of psychological processes to cause chronic pain in the first place, and are more ready to agree that emotions may only aggravate physiological problems, but still in most cases should not be considered as their primary causes. In his turn, Sarno disputes that such processes as osteoarthritic changes and herniated vertebral discs are always the immediate sources of the pain and suggests that very often they may just be coincidentally present close to affected areas that due to emotional causes are deprived of oxygen. Such views further distantiate him from the conventional approaches to treatment of these disturbances. Moreover, Sarno insists that traditional medicine has no valid methods of TMS treatment because â€Å"If you thwart that purpose by taking away the symptoms without dealing with its cause, the brain will simply find a substitute symptom† (Sarno, 1998, p. 39). In any case, despite the unconventional elements of his methods of treatment, Sarno has numerous adherents who attest to the practical applicability and effectiveness of the theory of connection between psychological processes and manifestations of TMS. Therefore, I believe that even if Sarno is not able to provide a completely reliable from the academic point of view account of the mind-body connection, he may be practically exploring the mechanisms of the human body that the fundamental science is only beginning to test experimentally (Brush, 2005, p. 259). For example, consider the recent finding related to the famous placebo effect in which it was again confirmed that such a purely psychological factor as our expectations has not only psychological but as well physical effects on health. But in this particular research a new variety of the placebo effect was found, actually a kind of an anti-placebo effect, as it turned out that â€Å". . . once Alzheimer’s disease robs someone of the ability to expect that a proven painkiller will help them, it doesn’t work nearly as well. . . † (Neergaard, 2005). This fact testifies to the power of our psychology to intervene in the what might seem as purely physiological realm of our bodily functioning, and the data is being gathered to prove that at least such a psychological factor as the placebo effect â€Å". . . actually is physical, and that expecting benefit can trigger the same neurological pathways of healing as real medication does† (Neergaard, 2005). Now, this conclusion is in a perfect agreement with the principles underlying the theory of TMS origin advanced by Sarno. However, quite ironically, the specialists involved in the mentioned research were quick to point out that positive expectations â€Å"aren’t a substitute for real medicine† (Neergaard, 2005), which contradicts the reliance of Sarno on psychology as not only the cause of many physical disorders but at the same time as the only means of their healing. But I suppose that if Sarno produces an impression of being too confident in the self-sufficiency of his conclusions it could only mean that due to his extensive observational experience he may just be a little bit ahead of the vanguard of the mainstream medical science. And, after all, if we want to find what unites Sarno with the conservative part of the medical establishment it is his traditional recommendation for his patients to resume full activities of daily life, including physical exercises. Critical observations about Sarno`s view of migraine as an equivalent of TMS While Sarno devotes a large portion of his book to back pain, among other painful physical disturbances related to mechanisms that lead to TMS he mentions migraine, which is a very common condition that causes headaches, and physiological mechanisms of which are currently quite poorly understood (Cochran, 2004, p. 156). Sarno confesses his personal experience with migraine as he had had this condition for quite a long time before he was introduced to medical research which suggested that â€Å"migraine headache was the result of repressed anger† (Sarno, 1998, p. 111). As he was already amassing evidence in support of the significant influence of psychological factors on many widespread medical problems, he was inclined to test that idea. After trying to find out what anger that he could be repressing was causing his migraine, Sarno allegedly got rid of migraine headaches for the rest of his life. However, he himself acknowledged that some symptoms of migraine still continue to happen to him, which brings us to a question whether the method of the author of the book can be applied without reserve to all the types of chronic pains that seem to have no accompanying physical abnormalities. Indeed, it may be that our lack of understanding of the causes of migraine simply leaves us ignorant of possible physiological mechanisms that underlie it, and even though approaches borrowed from TMS treatment may often be effective for removal of painful symptoms, purely psychological vision of the migraine origins may hide from us its genuine cause. Besides, it may be somewhat alarming that the definition of migraine that Sarno advances is different from the one offered for example by the National Migraine Association. Sarno says that migraine is supposed to arise from â€Å". . . sudden constriction of a single blood vessel within the substance of the brain† (Sarno, 1999, p. 111), while on the website of the National Migraine Association it is stated that: â€Å"Migraine is disease, a headache is only a symptom. Migraine pain is caused by vasodilation in the cranial blood vessels (expansion of the blood vessels), while headache pain is caused by vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). During a migraine, inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain, i. e. , neurogenic inflammation, exacerbates the pain† (Coleman and Burchfield, 2006). Therefore, at least in the case of migraines it seems warranted to say that physiological mechanisms may be working to produce migraine independently from psychological processes, and that without knowing the exact causes and possible consequences of migraine-related tissue inflammation it is perhaps risky to adopt a strategy of assuring oneself that the pain is not physically harmful. The National Migraine Association again confirms this worry by pointing out that â€Å"The Migraine disease is a serious health and disability problem that affects approximately 11 to 18 million Americans .

Communities Essay - 1419 Words

Communitites When most people talk about community, they think of a location, an area in which people live. By definition â€Å"community† is a group of people living in the same location and under the same government. Community can also be defined as a group of people with the same common interests or segments in society. However, these definitions, which can be found in any dictionary, are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to explaining what community really is. Community is the memories and traditions of a certain area, as well as the interactions and responsibilities of its members. In order to truly belong to a community people must follow a set of values. These communal values are needed to provide stability among†¦show more content†¦Many times it is the responsibility of the community to speak out about problems. Communities are â€Å"the only effective power that can limit consumption, pollution, and the degradation of nature† (Ehrenfeld 21). A program such as Neighborhood Watch is a good example of people coming together on a community level to fix and prevent problems. Another aspect of good community, which can be seen in farm communities, is the idea of stewardship and treatment of the land. In the past, the communal system in farm communities was that everyone relied on each other for survival. Then with the introduction of modern economic systems, that was drastically changed in some areas. Farmers then relied more on making a profit and getting the most money out of their land. David Kline represented his ideas that one must be â€Å"a steward to the mysteries of god† (39). This example of how farm communities have changed resembles some of the problems facing large rural communities today. One major problem with communities today is that people frequently move between different areas where every house looks identical. Such communities are like packaged communities and lack dynamism. Harry W. 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