I decided to begin my search this week using Metacrawler because we were given this exciting new information-retrieving tool and I was anxious to play with it.
Because I have been doing researching very medically related topics, I decided to search for a more psychologically related topic, so I chose one of the subtopics listed under "Health Related Internet" on our handout from Dr. James. I chose to do a sear
ch on "popular self help psychology". This led me to a whole plethora of choices, but I chose to search under Mental Health which included a listing of on-line journals, institutions, a
nd mailing lists and newsgroups. I chose to look under Specific subjects from affective disorders to violence. This included topics such as Alzheimer's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, eating disorders, psychotherapy, and schizophrenia.
I chose to look under Serotonin
First, I looked under
Medication and Transmitters, which lists under it
such subtopics as articles, information provided by manufacturers, and depression FAQ. Each subtopic was further divided by subtopics, and these sub-subtopics were the ones which ha
d links. Under the subtopic "articles", I clicked on Serotonin -- The Neurotransmitter for the '90's and found a highly scientific article that even included a diagram of the serotonin molec
ule. This article contains long, scientific names for various compounds and while informative, I did not find it particularly enjoyable nor easy to read.
Next I looked under the sub-subtopic
of Prozac under the subtopic of "Information provided by manufacturers". This was another bit of information similar to the serotonin article. Like th
e serotonin article, there was a diagram of the actual prozac molecule, not to mention the use of very long scientific names for various compounds. If you have not figured this out already, I do not really care for chemistry and prefer to avoid these mol
ecules when possible. If you don't know what an enantiomer is, I would suggest avoiding this page.
Finally, I looked under Depression FAQ and was pleasantly surprised to find something that was more for the average Joe and not for the organic chemist. This section lists the frequen
tly asked questions and provides links to the answers, and the answers have links to other related questions and answers. The topics arranged by Medications, ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), Interactions, and Seeking help, and there are also links to oth
er resources. Have you ever felt extremely depressed, but weren't sure if you should seek help? If so, you might want to check this page out.
Now for my most
exciting find of the week. Under the subtopic of "Odd
Stuff" was only one listing: Connecting with nature. I must admit, I was very curious because it was, after all, listed as "odd stuf
f". Well, as it turns out, this was a page dedicated to "Project nature", which is involved with discovering how our excessive separation from nature warps our thinking and stresses our natural selves. These people apparently feel that in today's societ
y, we are too disconnected from nature, and therefore from our true selves. The aim of project nature is helping us to overcome dehumanizing societal boundaries so that we may connect with nature once again, thereby connecting with the natural self as it
was meant to be.
I think this is
absolutely wonderful! I think society needs more
programs like this. I totally agree with this dehumanizing theory. Here's the thing: society removes us from our true selves because we get caught up in the monotony of every day life a
nd neglect nurturance of the inner self, the soul. With our busy schedules, we never take the time to just sit and be with ourselves and take the time to be quiet and introspect and reflect on who we are and where we are going. When we do have free time
, we either sleep, or do something that we find pleasureful, but rarely do we chose to just sit and be aware of our inner selves and I think it is this which we lack in today's society. Perhaps is everyone were more connected with their inner beings, the
core of which I believe is goodness and light, perhaps we wouldn't have such dissatisfaction and violence as we do. Who knows? Maybe when we connect with our true natures, we will finally find the true source of happiness and peace.....but alas, easier
said than done!
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