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WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE HAS A MENTAL DISORDER

       It started as a typical weekday morning for the Michaels. The family of four was up and dressed for the day’s activities. Tina reminded her 14-year-old son, Matt, that it was past time to catch the school bus. What followed was completely unexpected. Within half an hour, Matt, spray-painted a bedroom wall, tried to set fire to the garage, and attempted to hang himself in the attic. Tina, and her husband, Frank, followed the ambulance that took Matt away, desperately trying to make sense of what had just occurred. Sadly, though, this was just the beginning. Many psychotic episodes followed, plunging Matt into dark world of mental illness. His five-year period of anguish included several suicide attempts, two arrests, placement in seven psychiatric facilities, and countless sessions with mental-health professionals. Confused friends and relatives were often at a loss for what to say or do. It is estimated that 1 in 4 people worldwide will be afflicted with a

THE AESTHETIC: COLORS IN NATURE

                               We have touched upon the philosophical notion of aesthetics. Actually, the various other philosophical views are principally a different reciting of the same or similar ideas. We will now consider a scientific conception of aesthetics and beauty. It is contended that we approach art through the needs, skills, and capacities of human organism. More specifically, what we need creates a desire on our part. Whatever satisfies that desire has a quality of beauty to us. In other words, whatever is pleasurable is a kind of beauty, if by beauty we mean that which is harmonious. A sound may be beautiful. A color or from may be beautiful. Even a taste or feeling can be beautiful from the pleasurable point of view. Psychology pursued further the question of whether beauty is totally subjective, that is, indwelling, or partly related to the physical properties within the object we call beautiful. In one scientific study, 4556 university student

THAT HEADACHE CAN KILL

                                                                                 Mary, a vivacious office worker, peers at the document she holds. Parts of the page suddenly appear blank. Then, flashing pinpoints of light dance before her eyes, escalating into a surreal display of zigzag lines and bizarre geometric patterns. Within minutes, Mary can hardly see. Realizing what is happening, she quickly swallows a small capsule that is designed for just this sort of emergency. Mary suffers from migraine, a condition that differs from simple headache in several ways. For example, unlike random headaches, migraines follow a recurring pattern. Also, the condition is severe enough to make the sufferer abandon normal activities. The symptoms of migraine? The pain throbs and may affect only one side of the head. The sufferer may also become nauseating and unable to bear light. The attack can last anywhere from several hours to several days. Although most people have

THE BRAIN, LEARNING AND MEMORIES

                                The limbic system’s ability to determine “this is it –this is truth,” is vital to creation of our mental realities. As “guardian at the inner threshold” it opens the heart to new understanding and facilitates the process of recollection and learning. In the human mind, perceptions presented by the FIVE SENSES are compared to memory perceptions. Through its instrument, the limbic system, the faculty of imagination harmonizes inner and outer perceptions. The images created by imagination then become material for the intellect. Thus, imagination is the intermediary between perception, memory, and thought. Indeed, thought and learning are made possible by the image making part of the soul. The sixth sense; in primitive species, the only function of the limbic system is the regulation of the sense of smell. As the brain becomes more complex, the limbic system diversifies to regulate aspects of behavior, such as emotional expression,