Reducing Skepticism

Prior to this assignment, my feelings from electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) solely came from images in the media. Two instances that stand out to me is the portrayal of ECT in an episode of "American Horror Story: Asylum" and from the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Although I realize media is not an accurate representation of reality, these scenes stood out to me due to the intense, emotional display of ECT's effects through the patient's eyes. Despite the unrealistic depiction of ECT, one accurate aspect of the scenes is that ECT was commonly used during the 1960s-1970s to improve mental disturbances and a variety of psychological disorders. I think the reason these scenes stood out to me was that ECT was implemented without the patient's informed consent or agreement upon the treatment regimen, utilized as a way to subdue patients into compliance. Contrary to modern use of ECT, this type of therapy was used as a form of punishment, implemented

Merchants of Doubt is a documentary movie that describes misinformation and confusion spread to many American citizens. The movie focuses on some of the most popular controversies and the public relation tactics used in conjunction. The documentary points out people who portray themselves as scientific authorities in media, but cause complete confusion about serious issues such as toxic chemicals, pharmaceutical and global warming. The film begins by talking about the tobacco industry’s tactic of getting rid of the government regulations put in place. In the film, they show this industry used various public relation strategies to make the public doubt that cigarettes caused cancer. This strategy basically was the center template by many other industries in various materials and foods. When scientist

In contemporary psychiatry worldwide, Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) continues to be useful. However, researchers, the general public and practitioners have not yet understood this therapy. Controversies continue to surround the application of this therapy, especially the long-term consequences of its legality and use in the management of some severe major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and mental illness. Particularly, a few mental health service users report adverse effects that are associated with ECT for instance, severe memory loss. Some researchers claim that the Electroconvulsive therapy is the utmost controversial treatment in the field of psychiatry. Arguably, ECT should be used in physiatrist treatment.

How do we know things for certain? How can I be certain of the things I consider to be true? The only way we can know things for certain is through doubting the things we think we know, also known as skepticism. In this paper I will argue that skepticism is the best way to know things for certain because it acknowledges the presence of cognitive dissonance, self-justification and the things we can learn by questioning. I will proceed as follows: I will outline the concepts of skepticism, according to Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, and the concepts of rationalism, according to René Descartes. Then, I will compare rationalism and skepticism by explaining how challenging the ways we think we know stuff and cognitive dissonance can affect how we perceive things through skepticism and describing Descartes many principles based off of reason and how he uses these reasons to slowly affirm the things we must know for certain through rationalism.

In this paper I will argue that the skeptic ideal for tranquility is incorrect. I will do this by presenting the case that the skeptics have not found true tranquility and that a person who holds the opinion that things can be good or bad is not always more troubled than one who does not.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), formerly known as electroshock therapy and often referred to as shock treatment, is a standard psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in patients to provide relief from psychiatric

Electroshock Therapy, also known as Electroconvulsive Therapy, made its way into mental facilities in the 1940’s and 50’s to treat the mentally disable, though this type of therapy caused many unwanted side effects it was still used. Most believe that the treatment could cure many mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia, Acute mania and depression, they even believed that it could cure homosexuality. How this treatment works is that two rods place on the temples of a patient a current of electricity is pushed through the brain disturbing the brain waves. People argued its’ use because of the abuse that was reported by the media. The question on many minds are why was it used and how could this method be used in a respected medical

Three cycles of electroconvulsive therapy were conducted out weekly. Mr S showed a significant improvement after six cycles of ECT. He no longer experienced auditory hallucination and delusion of grandiosity. However, he still had many ideas about his future, and wanted to look for volunteer posts. The doctor had interviewed him and decided to extend the ECT to a total nine cycles of electroconvulsive therapy. Meanwhile, psycho-education and family focused therapy were done in sessions.

In this text it discusses how electroconvulsive therapy was developed. It also discusses what other forms of electroconvulsive therapy was tried and failed. This book was written by four psychologists who have a medical degree and all have collaborated with each other to produce this manual for other psychologist to use. All four authors are doctors who are associates at the Duke University Medical Center that practice medicine in the behavioral and psychiatric field.

In this paper, I will show how different philosophical viewpoints may lead to different outcomes about the knowledge of pain, with a focus on the philosophical viewpoint of skepticism. From skepticism, I will claim that a person can be wrong about whether they are in pain by exploring the roots of how one understands pain and what may cause pain.

The video shows the use of electroconvulsive therapy to help a patient. We hear a lot of negative comments about this form of therapy. In the article by Scott O. Lilienfeld and Hal Ortoivitz that appeared in Scientific America, May 1, 2014, ”The Truth About Shock Therapy”,

In asylums, forms of treatment often varied but remained cruel and almost always consisted of causing pain to the patients in order to get results. One of the most common methods of treatment was electroconvulsive therapy. Also known was shock therapy, electroconvulsive therapy was mainly used to treat schizophrenia, severe depression, and homosexuality(Timeline,2). Discovered by Italian neurologist, Dr. Ugo Cerletti. He first used the electroshock to provoke repeatable reliable epileptic fits in dogs and other animals ("The History of Shock Therapy in Psychiatry "). The process involved alternating current between the skull, ceasing consciousness in the patient and causing a seizure. The treatment was typically done two to three times a week,

In the past like my grandparent’s generation in the USA, that people got married when they were early 20’s relates how they find their spouse. According the book, they found their partner form their neighbors such as people living in same building, same block or within 5 blocks. Unfortunately or not, our today’s world is much wider than the past, and because of this fact, even when we found a great person, we feel skeptical about if the person is my soul mate or there is a better person; however, they didn't concern about that. When I knew the date, I couldn't imagine how their world was

To thoroughly analyze how and to what extent confirmation bias and non-critical thinking qualities have contributed and essentially modified my overall approach to the Meeting of the Minds project, I first have to clarify the meaning of the terminologies that may need some defining and recapping, for they are not words that would come up in a casual conversation. This will be especially useful for me to be able to accurately address how these readings and discussions over the last few weeks have influenced my way of thinking. Notably, confirmation bias is the act of having a predetermined idea of a certain subject at hand that affects further decisions about that particular subject that will reflect on your already present belief. For example, a video we watched in class illustrated that someone who acts on conformational bias would likely google, “how is coconut oil good for you?” (assuming it is already good for you) rather than a someone who is not acting on conformational bias would search, “is coconut oil good for you?” Moreover, in a nutshell, non-critical thinking comprises of what is called the “sponge method” of thinking. It is the method that is useful for merely absorbing information and does not require arduous mental effort, and is presented in a clear-cut fashion. In my opinion, this can be thought of thinking without thinking – which goes against what critical thinking comprises of.

Being a skeptical listener will enhance me reaching my maximum potential because listening to “I am good” or “I am smart” will make me think positive and accomplish my goals. It has changed my Way in class as I listen and to what others say, I don’t listen to it.