My Autobiography: Socialization And The Cycle Of Depression

Has depression ruined your life and taken away the enthusiasm and zest you once oozed? Have you forgotten what it is like to feel true happiness?

While I was able to apply almost every concept from the course to some aspect of my own life, I believe that the most important thing was learning to recognize just how much privilege I have experienced. At the very beginning of the quarter, Professor Roy used the example of the fish not being aware that it lives in water. I think that translates perfectly to my experience – as it should for many of us taking this class. While I recognized the privilege of having basic needs like food and shelter taken care of, other things like my race, gender and education really hadn’t resonated with me until I took this course.

The belief people lack knowledge, skills, and experience to manage the encounters of racism, biases, and barriers that cannot be turned on and off with people of color are not aligned with my own beliefs and values. I believe people are inherently good and support and guidance can be found in their own spiritual path. Then again, I recognize not everyone knows their own path to spirituality. Alessandria (2002) asserts many similarities and differences between two groups we focus on the client in front of us rather than making generalizations about groups. As I am female and cannot fully understand the life choices of a male, Alessandria's position with the counseling values of "respect for client, genuineness, use of empathic understanding, the communication of empathy, clarification and delineate the counselor's role" will center the client's basic humanness (2002). In socioeconomic status, Laszloff (2008) contends an unawareness of my own privileges or benefits can attribute to trouble understanding racial experiences. Yet, it is my own personal attitude, beliefs, and cultural identity that make it possible to achieve culturally competent counseling

In addition, I was able to understand how religions are not abstract and definite. They are complex

Three myths about depression include that antidepressants are the only thing you need to cure depression, that men do not get depression, and that it is not a real illness. Some people believe that an antidepressant can cure depression and that they could simply take a pill and feel better within hours ("10 Depression Myths"). Unfortunately, this is not the case because depression affects every person differently, so it may not have the same effect on two different people ("10 Depression Myths"). Also, people that take antidepressants will not experience the effects for at least six weeks as the body adapts to the changes ("10 Depression Myths"). This is important to know because many people will take antidepressants and not see a result quickly,

A significant milestone in my psychological history is the absence of my biological father growing up. While my mother was pregnant and for a little time after giving birth, my parents were together but with the presence of my father’s addictions and mental health issues they separated. At the age of three, my mother remarried a white man and my siblings and I were now being raised in an interracial household. This change in my upbringing and surroundings left such a profound effect on my identity that I was no longer being raised in a traditional home environment. Also, the significance of being raised by someone of a different race impacted how I viewed myself, interracial dating and the world.

There is a lot of things that I have learned about myself in the past few weeks of this course. I have learned many things about myself that I would have never known if it was not for this course. I have learned about my; self concept, attitudes and feelings. I have also learned about social influence, group dynamics and relationships. I learned about myself and how to describe the way that I am and the way that I think.

This course changed my perspective and views about current day. I’ve grown to be more appreciative of the progress we’ve have mad as Americans. With all the things going on with present times from how the election further divided our nation to the influx of racist incidents. I found it easy to get caught as an African American. However, reading the stories of Fredrick Douglass and Olaudah Equino who have experienced so much made me realize the privilege. Life for my foremothers and forefathers were horrendous. From reading a few of the stories such as Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” allowed me to see not all slave owners were bad. Still, my views on slavery remain the same. Reading “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, Invisible

1. No matter how hard we try to prepare ourselves for challenging experiences and try to stay positive, it becomes harder to do than planned when the time comes. It was the end of the last semester and I was on the verge of emotional depression that totally overwhelmed me. During the exam period, I wasted my weekends on the Internet, chatting and Facebook-ing. I needed to submit an important paper on Tuesday morning. On Sunday night, after wasting so much time of mine and having a little red eyes because of so much exposure to electronic screens, I sat down to write my paper. Only then did I realize that the paper was due the next morning, not on Tuesday. I was extremely nervous because it was too little a time to finish it. Moreover, I was so angry with myself that I wanted to cry. It was a realization that I was off course in my study habits and that I had not overcome my habit of willingly putting myself in difficult positions. The more I thought about being in that mess, the angrier I got with myself. I got even angrier thinking about how it was not the first time in my life that I put myself in such a situation. I could not concentrate on my paper because of that emotional response. Then suddenly I thought that I just needed to talk to someone and calm down. I called my classmate and just told her about everything. She said that the instructor had actually extended the deadline until Thursday. It was such a relief. I thanked her profusely and decided

Every time I get in one of these low-grade depressive cycles where I'm excessively pensive and melancholic rather than catatonic and wishing for death, I quickly develop this one-off obsession with the sea that I can't explain. I'm either lusting to swim it, or having nightmares of drowning in it every other night.

All in all, this course was greatly informative. I especially loved the C.S. Lewis quotes, and the little articles and newspaper clippings that supported the ideas we were discussing. The encyclical readings were sometimes difficult to accomplish in time for class, but I did enjoy reading them. In fact, I would say that my favorite part about the course was reading the Gospel of Life. Also, thank you for answering our many questions and for being flexible in the discussions and topics.

Religion has always been of interest of mine. For me there has always been a fascination with the religious beliefs of different cultures and where these beliefs originated from. I find it interesting to view the different parallels and connections that exist among different religions. One of the more interesting religions I studied in this course was Buddhism.

Before taking this course, I had no idea that I had a worldview. I know my worldview didn’t change, but my understanding of myself, others and what that means changed enormously. I learned something very useful and important about the way I perceive things and gain knowledge; I learned about things I didn’t know previously.

I have learned so much in this class to prepare me for a successful college experience. There were some topics that caught my attention more than others. Such as, time and stress management, University resources, and critical thinking.

Throughout the course, Religion and Sexuality, I have gained new insights on religion and its relationship to sexuality, further, I have learned skills on how to approach people about such topics (religion and sexuality) and how to critically evaluate these subjects efficiently. Lastly, this course has enabled me to discover new qualities about myself.