malyx017: April 2012 Archives

An interesting thing I'll remember five years from now is what the placebo effect is. All of my life, I've been given medicines that will "drain out my sinuses", or "cure this headache". After reading chapter 2, I have realized that this is not necessarily the case. As defined by the book, the placebo effect is "improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement".

Although I know drugs such as Advil are pain relievers, I am also aware of the fact that at least a little part of me starts feeling better before the drugs really kick in. The throbbing pain in my temples begins to go away simply because I swallowed the Advil, because I'm expecting a relief to my pain. Because of this information, I've already noticed a decrease in the amount of Advil I consume. I am now aware that simply thinking about something else in order to get my headache out of my mind will help me feel better. This will be important for me to remember in the future because taking too much of one drug can be harmful for a person's health. For example, taking too much Advil can lead to stomach ulcers, which I would really prefer to avoid. Reading this little bit out of the textbook may lead me to better health in the future.

Growing up, my parents were pretty permissive. I've never been grounded, and I was rarely restricted from any activities. In my opinion (and hopefully everyone else's), I've grown up to be a mature, responsible, and well behaved adult. But according to Diana Baumrind's three major parenting styles, I should have grown up to be a rebellious teen with emotional and behavioral problems. Below are listed the three parenting styles, along with the child's predicted behavior that corresponds with each.

• Permissive: Permissive parents are lenient with children, rarely discipline them, and shower them with affection. According to Baumrind, these children should be rebellious and unstable.
• Authoritarian: Parents are strict and give little opportunity for free/play time. They also show little affection towards children. Baumrind claims that these children also have behavioral problems.
• Authoritative: these parents combine the best features of permissive and authoritarian parenting. They are supportive of their children, but set firm rules/limits. Baumrind found that children of authoritative parents are found to exhibit the best social and emotional adjustments.

However, these findings clearly can't be applied to every family, mine included. There are other factors that influence behavior, such as genetics. Also, a child's behavior influences the parenting styles that their parents use. For example, if the child is naturally calm and well behaved, parents may not have to set so many rules. In my opinion, every family should find a parenting style that best suits their child. No one child is the same, so parents must adopt techniques accordingly to keep their children healthy and happy.