week 10 assignment

intro

Theory one emotional processing

the basic definition of this theory was formed between the 1950s and the mid 1980s. This theory began from the normal applications of behaviorism to fix what was then called “Shell Shock” which turned into the clinical term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

From the aftermath of WWII 1938-1945 then the immediate Korean War Jun 25, 1950 – Jul 27, 1953. The soldiers who returned from one or both wars were obviously suffering from traumatic stress due to the battlefield conditions they were forced to be part of. However it soon became apparent than the old “Behaviorism” techniques which did not work in the previous decades was not going to work then or in the future.

There was only one solution to bring into the treatment of Traumatic stress in differnet ways, the field of cognition seems to be the best way to address the emotions which seem to be a key factor in the persons response to trauma. The treatment is to work from a standpoint of the emotional reacts to the events, not from a pure logical and scientific part of the mind.

(aka, information processing theory) is a theory developed around 1986 in order to provide a solid and substantial foundation to explore the emotional side of anxiety disorders, which PTSD is in that area of scientific exploration. championed by among others  Dr. Foa .

On the surface from a basic examination of the evidnece, IPT was developed suing Behaviorism as a loose base but soon took on a huge amount of the discipline of cognition in identification and treatment. Which in some cases has a great deal of merit. On the other hand, in the short run the treatments are still just metaphorically a band aide on a gunshot.

Cognitive in general can be traced to the post WWII applications of the computer regarding how do things process thought. Although in the literature their seems to be a circa 1950 all these advancements and ideas from the field of computers seemed to come out of no were, however the facts are that before being called Computers they were called Turing Devises. It appears the same mathematical processing equations and in some cases algorithms used in computations formed the new base for cognitive psychology from what did not work in behavrism. Be really interesting to find out in the early stages of the recreation of cognitive how mmuch of Alan’s work formed the basis of the new psyhclgoy research. Of course Alan Turing was in part inspired by the works of Rene Decarte who was educated in part in Paris. which has its own clandestine history as to exactly where he was to learn all that he did regarding “how to think”.

the previous versions of treatment for what PTSD has been labeled in the past were almost exclusively come from Behaviorism. Since those tools are designed for population control. To fix the “Shell Shock” one of several previous names for the current PTSD scientific identification was to force the soldiers back onto the battlefield to face the trauma first hand. The old phrase “if the horse bucks you, get right back up on the horse and finish the ride”.

In general this is a good idea for the general non-violently traumatic events. But when an entire situation turns from just a bad situation to violent trauma, example in the movie “Saving Private Ryan” the Ryan character during the height or the battle over the bridge, with most of the guys sent to get him out were KIA (Killed in Action), he collapses on the ground pulls up into a ball and screams/crys reacting to all the chaos around him. about 8 soldiers against about 500 with heavy equipment it is a wonder more of them did not crawl into a ball and scream/cry. But by then most of those directly in the battle who were not old hands had already been killed.

The upper brass were not interested in “shell shock”, they wanted to get their infantry back on the lines and stop acting like cowards. So behaviorism techniques were used to force the point.

It would be fascinating to dig into the research of the battles to find the soldiers who had started to slip into traumatic stress, how many of them committed battlefield suicide. They acted heroic, but in truth were wanting to be killed by the enemy. So they charged machine gun nests, or volunteered for missions which had a very low survivability factor, etc. They could not be treated so they had no other option for their pain and emotional issues, they had to be hero’s and thus suicide.

So the field has little choice but to come from a foundation of behaviorism. Battlefield commanders want results, not what they determine are “cry babby’s”. Said techniques have been used since the trojan war when psychology was still “The Classics”.

the interesting part is wundt suffered for a long time with his own PTSD in a war which was entirely clandestine. He was not allowed to talk about it, even decades later. it was a War between the Prussians and the British in Ohio. William James learned about the events and he traveled to where Wundt had done the bulk of his research and his actions and journey are also classified. Where he went and what he learned neither men talked about or even really mentioned.

How is it possible to prove where Wundt was to acquire PTSD in a clandestine battle. The Prussians had spent the previous entire centuries seizing control of every library in Europe they could get their hands on. The results were futile to say the absolute least. The key books and technical manuels for the weapons including psycolgoy the Prussians had been searching for and committing genocide since 1130, they di dnot find. They only found then after onquering a very specific library on the other side of the Atlatnic in a very specific Valley the Prussians had been fighting over control of that valley since the French and Indian War aka the 7 Years War, it has another name but that is irrelevant at this point. However how many special operations soldiers come out of secret battles and have violent sympoms, how many of the civilians affected by the so called “secret battles” remember what happened because it happened in front of them and there behavior patterns become textbook PTSD regarding attacking the people who brought violent trauma to their home.

Statistically speaking there is a mathematical equation which can be created regarding western culture soldiers suffering from “shell shock” etc changes per generation unless the current scientific name sticks aroudn for a few more decades. They are sent into battle and in a yet to be studied sufficientely to prove it, how many of them go back into battle and commit “heroism suicide”. An entire episode of MASH in the late 1970s discussed this exact topic. A half Asian half western culture soldier put himself through unending jeopardy and instead of being killed/suicide he survived. Had a chest full battlefield metals for his attempts. But that is where his sub-conscius PTSD presented itself in a suicide attempt in the hospital.

Immediately upon the PRussianas gaining access to the library they had spent the previous more than half a millenia killing any and al who got between them and the technology they had been demanding to sieze and control. They immediately put the technology to work, within 10 years of the library being seized form its rightful owners, the library was used to create the Indistural Revolution. Within either a few miles of the library for a few of the key inventions, 100 miles for some of the seoncary inventsion.

The extreme jump in technology is what the Prussians had been demanding access to since day one. The second they gained access is the second they put the tools and weapons into play. If they ahd been gained access previous, in other locations the library books had been stored. They would have done it then. That is the scientific proof regarding the location the library was, and that the battles were entirely clandestine/secret.

Those same parameters can be used to uncover other historiography secrets to allow both the individuals and communities to explore and heal. The longer things remain secret, the more mental health damage they cause.

It is interesting that a field both men did not like which was birthed from patriarchal cultures which only care about instant results turned the PTSD Wundt may have suffered from over to a sub-field to come up with treatments for. It is like handing one of yoru best tools over to someone yu cannot stand, but the commander does. So your tool now belongs to someone you do not like because the person you do not like uses the tool the way the commander does like.

however if emotional processing was handled the way Wundt wanted it to be, through the nervous ystem, specifically starting in the synapses and neuropathways. That would have produced a real and solid solution to the long term health of those suffering from PTSD. The field of emotional processing in the 21^st century is starting to dive into where Wundt wanted treatment to start in 1860.

Although in all hard reality as treatment moves away from behaviorism and towards cognition. A large part of the field of cognition is moving at various speeds towards neuropsychology. which is hwere Wundt wanted it to be in the first place. Short term solutions are good for what they are good for, but long term treatment requires tacking the issues in the brain and thinking patterns aka cognition.

Theory two dual representation

Treating PTSD

no matter what theory is used, it can and will produce a medical issue. Medicine the first thing a doctor will do is take the patients history. In psychology this is no different at all.

However the history of the function and structure of psychology specifically the base ideas involved with how to treat traumatic stress have gone from behaviorism to cognitive, and now they are venturing into neuropathway research. Which neuropsycholgoysi hwere the field should never have left in the middle of the 1800s. But that was then this is now.

While researching this subject, it became almost instantly obvious that the work of Rene Descarte and of course Alan Turing combined to create algorithms which aided in the reintroduction of the analytical portions in the treatment of emotional issues. Which PTSD is an emotional reaction of any given event. Some people react find to an event, others react badly, while still others will be affected by their emotional reactions to the same event for various long periods of time after the event is long over.

Alan Turing began to publish some of his equations he developed in the last 1930s to crack the enigma code. Those mathematical equations became incorporated into the treatment of PTSD in the early 1950s. As Turing devices name changed into Computers, and the computer industry took off. So did the “do computers think” type thinking, and associated equations began to circulate into the scientific fields, including psychology. However it appears that said work to Turing and hwere he researched his machines and equations which became the machines Operating System, was all but totally removed by the time the information and equations entered the field of psychology.

Much to the extreme detriment of both. Working together both fields would have been able to make advancements much faster. Since both fields were trying to “invent the wheel” privately, when they are working on the same basic invention.

In the present the different fields of science are still just guessing how to deal with PTSD, the most resent “stab in the dark” has come in the form of a mild hallucinogenic aka THC. Which admittedly does strongly work on the emotions, it is not called “dope” for no reason. However this has huge limitations and of course continues to ignore the base neuropathway issues which caused the patient to have such a negative reaction to the traumatic event in the first place.

conclusion