Krista Ramiah

October 2, 2017

ENGW3307

Project 1 Final

APA Citation Style

2,266 words

Channeling My Inner Scientist

I have found myself drawn to the sciences more than any other field ever since I was a

little girl. Rather than brushing it aside, it embraces the curiosity behind the question why and

delves into the unknown to satisfy it. Ever since we were little kids, that question was burned

into our minds; we wanted to know not only the answers to our questions, but why those

answers were seen as correct. However, as we grew up, most of us lost our curiosity; rather

than questioning, we were conditioned to accept the facts and move on. Scientists are explorers

who never lost their curiosity - everything they do stems from them daring to question the way

the world works. Why is the sky blue? How do our bodies work? What are we made of?

Scientists are not only able to answer these questions, but ruthlessly continue to research the

world and everything in it; it is this mentality that captivates me.

When applying for college, I had no idea what I wanted to study. I knew that I was

interested in studying science, but I was indifferent about every subject I had taken so far in high

school; none of them ever inspired me enough to ask questions. The only science classes I had

taken were biology, chemistry, and physics, so I decided to study the one I was the least

indifferent about: chemistry. I felt good with my decision since I did not hate the subject, but the

issue was I did not love it either.

 My first year of college went by without an issue, as I was taking general courses for the

most part. However, by my second year I started to see a problem that was only going to

become worse. Classes were getting harder and more chemistry-specific and I lacked any

motivation at all to learn from them. I thought that the reason I was having such a hard time was

due to my classes being structured or taught poorly, or simply because I was taking hard

classes. After all, a lot of my friends feel the same way about their respective majors so it has to

be normal, right?

Wrong. Sure, sometimes how well you do in a class can come down to having a good

teacher versus a bad one, but in this case the root of my issue was much deeper; I was

studying a subject that I was not passionate about. I didnt understand how important that was

until I realized I lacked it. Once I came to this conclusion, I had to ask myself a question: is there

something out there that I am passionate about? I was scared that maybe I would never find

something that interested me, but it was time to start from scratch and start exploring in order to

figure it out.

The first thing I tried was business. I have always been interested in that field, but never

really knew what it consisted of. So, I decided to do a business co-op. I ended up working at a

healthcare technology company, and quickly realized that the business world just was not for

me. I adored the people I worked with, but the work I was doing was very dull and repetitive.

However, while I was there I picked up a book that my boss was reading called Behavioral

Activation for Depression: A Clinician's Guide. While I was reading this book, I realized

something. Although I had picked it up for fun, I found myself naturally looking for more
information about its content. One sentence could have me researching for hours trying to find

the answers to all my questions; it felt like a whole new world had been unlocked for me.

To make sure that I was on the right track, I enrolled into a psychopathology class while I

was studying abroad in Australia that next semester. Psychopathology refers to the study of

mental disorders, so the class went over conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar

disorder, etc. and their diagnostic criteria. To this day, it is the best class I have ever taken. It

wasnt that the material was easy to learn or my teacher was incredible, my enjoyment stemmed

directly from me. I didnt mind putting in multiple hours to learn the material, because I wanted to

learn the material. Engaging in the classroom was not difficult because I wanted to have my

questions answered. I was no longer indifferent, I was eager to learn.

We worked a lot with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th

edition (DSM-V) in order to become familiar with what specific criteria actually make up the

different disorders. This manual is a vital part of clinical psychology, but that was not always the

case. Early versions of the DSM were very general, so oftentimes two clinicians could see the

same person and diagnose them differently. Without a consensus among clinical psychologists

and psychiatrists on diagnostic criteria, the field was not taken very seriously (Frances, 2010).

Everything changed when the DSM-III was published in 1980 (American Psychiatric

Association, 2017). Robert Spitzer headed the committee at the American Psychiatric

Association (APA) and added specific criteria and distinct categories for a variety of mental

disorders to the DSM. This allowed for psychiatry to have a strong foundation on which to base

its practice (First & Spitzer, 2004).

 When first looking through the DSM-V, I was amazed. Its specific diagnostic criteria for

each condition seemed extremely comprehensive and I was convinced it was perfect. After

hearing someone who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder talk about his experience, I was

exposed to a much different perspective.

The psychopathology class I took was structured so that every week we would have a

person diagnosed with one of the disorders we were studying come in to talk to us about their

experience. The course coordinator and professor, Julie Henry, believed that in order to truly

understand how the different conditions manifest themselves in real life, we needed to hear

peoples testimonials; she was right. I cant imagine having taken that course without the guest

speaker aspect. Seeing people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe anxiety, etc. come in

and speak about their journey with their condition was life changing. In my experience, I have

noticed that most people dehumanize those with mental illnesses by simply labelling them as

crazy and ignoring them. It is not entirely their fault - society has conditioned them to be this

way. By only portraying mental illness in a negative light in media, there is no other narrative for

mentally ill people. The testimonies I heard exposed me to a different narrative. A more human

narrative. I was able to see that at the end of the day, all these people want is to live a happy

and healthy life. Regardless of the severity of their diagnosis, they deserve to be treated with

the same regard as someone who has no mental health conditions.

One speaker, Andrew, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder exposed me to some

issues with the DSM-V and the psychiatric field. He stressed the fact that he was always

opposed to seeking help from mental health professionals because of their tendency to focus on

his diagnosis rather than him. When he would talk to a therapist about his life problems, they

would always relate it back to his diagnosis rather than just listening to him. He said that out of
the nine therapists he went to see, only his last one was the type to not instantly put him into a

category. I always assumed that people did not seek mental health help because of the social

stigma around it, so hearing that in this case it was the therapists fault that turned him away

from getting help really stuck with me.

It was then that I saw a complication to the DSM. While it is important to have distinct

categories of mental disorders to unify the field, it is also important to remember that mental

health is incredibly complex and will often not be able to fit into boxes. People with mental

health conditions are first and foremost human; when all you are doing is ticking off boxes on a

list, it can be easy to forget that.

Andrew also discussed his relationship with medication with us. He told us that at first,

he was very anti-medication. When I first heard this, I was shocked. Medication has always

been something that I have viewed in an extremely positive light, so hearing him say this really

threw me off. He went on to explain that a big reason he did not want to take meds was

because he thought he did not need them; he thought his condition was not that serious and

could be cured by diet and exercise. Once he found a psychiatrist that suited him, he was

convinced to give taking meds a try and it changed his life. It was hard at first, since the side

effects really messed with him, but after things stabilized his life was able to improve.

Hearing this part of his story got me thinking about psychiatric drugs. They obviously

help people, so why are there so many people against them? After looking into it, I had a better

understanding of where they are coming from. An issue with the psychiatric field is that a lot of

doctors are quick to medicate their patients, and only medicate their patients without using any

other form of therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (Davey). This causes a number of
issues, including misdiagnosis. Instead of spending time to truly understand their patient and the

etiology of their condition, whether it be an event that triggered it or a biological reason, some

psychiatrists simply write a prescription to get their money and move on (Davey).

When I learned this, I was appalled. The main point of being a doctor is supposed to be

helping people, so why were these psychiatrists not doing their best to help their patients?

Misdiagnosing a patient is not just something that can cause psychological effects, but when

medication is involved it also causes some terrible side effects.

I had firsthand experience with this, since one of my close friends had a similar

experience with their psychiatrist at UHCS. She was prescribed an antidepressant for her

anxiety, which is a good place to start for people when they are initially diagnosed, but my friend

had been living with anxiety for most of her life. She knew what categories of drugs had worked

best with her in the past and this antidepressant was not one of them. She ended up going on

the medication and not only did she experience the physical side effects like nausea and

migraines, but she also experienced severe psychological side effects. During the month she

was taking those meds she became extremely erratic and suicidal. It was heartbreaking to

watch. Thankfully, she switched psychiatrists and started seeing one who listened to her and

took the time to understand what works best for her, not just the general population.

This idea of treating the person instead of the disease is a common one amongst many

clinicians all over the world. Now that I had found a cause that I strongly believed in, I had to ask

myself, What path can I take from here to get me to where I want to be? Two options jumped

to my mind: clinical psychology and psychiatry. The main distinguishing factor between the two

is that psychiatrists can prescribe medication to treat their patients while clinical psychologists
must use other means, like cognitive behavioral therapy. After self-reflecting and talking it out

with my close friends, I figured out my answer: psychiatry. There are so many doctors out there

who are quick to medicate, rather than actually working with person and using medication as

well as behavioral techniques to help their life improve.

Now that I have decided my path, I am looking at another 8 years or so of medical

school before being able to achieve my dreams. Although I know it will be one of the hardest

things I have ever done, the journey seems less daunting because the end goal means so much

to me. My academic journey has been a long one, but I have learned a lot about my hopes and

dreams by channeling my inner scientist - my inner explorer. I know that if I continue to do this, if

I continue to stay inspired and question the world around me, I will end up exactly where I am

meant to be.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to acknowledge by best friend Alex for allowing me to bounce ideas for this

paper off of them. I would also like to thank Kang Min Kim, Alia Heikkinen, Dr. Musselman and

then the entire ENGW3307 class for their feedback on my paper. I would also like to thank

Andrew for sharing his story with me.

References:

Davey, Graham C.L. (2014, January 30). Overprescribing Drugs to Treat Mental Health

Problems. Retrieved from www.psychologytoday.com

First, Michael B., and Robert L. Sptizer. (2004, April 1). The DSM: Not Perfect, but Better Than

the Alternative. Retrieved from www.psychiatrictimes.com.

Frances, Allen. (2010, December 22). The Most Important Psychiatrist of Our Time. Retrieved

from www.psychiatrictimes.com.

American Psychiatric Association. (2017, September 20). DSM History. Retrieved from

www.psychiatry.org.