This assignment started out by completing the unit 13 review sheet. Following this, I took a screenshot of the overview of my current unit for the term project, and included it in a document in which I explained the work I have done so far for my term project. After completing these things, I had to upload them to canvas through an assignment link.
As the usual assignment goes, the review sheet was cumulative. So, before completing the page for unit 13, I first had to fill out the pages for units one through twelve. Once I arrived at the 13th page, the first thing I asked me was to briefly explain why psychiatrists are unsure whether there is such a thing as Internet addiction.
I stated that according to the lecture video from assignment 1 of this unit, there is considerable debate about if internet addiction exists, the first reason being because all new technology has been feared. She describes that something new comes along, people do not think it will catch on, but when it does, it is called a fad, and when this fad becomes very popular, people call it an addiction. For example, we have talked about how people have feared things such as novels, television, and the telephone to be addictive, when in reality, this does not seem to be the case.
Additionally, even if people are addicted to things on the internet, the internet acts as a medium, rather than the addiction itself. For example, some people are addicted to internet shopping, internet gaming, internet gambling, and internet pornography, but these people were likely addicted to the offline versions of these activities beforehand. The internet is likely not the addiction, but just the way people can access other addictions.
For these reasons, even though the internet is very popular in today’s society, it seems unlikely or at least questionable that internet addiction is a legit thing.
Next, it asked me to briefly describe what Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is. I said that according to an article and a video from assignment 3, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is a form of mental health counseling that includes attending a limited number of sessions, helping you to become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking, and sometimes helping to treat mental disorders. It does not always work, but can generally help people manage difficult life situations.
CBT allows people to change the way they think about things, which in turn can affect the way we behave. This is why it is called Cognitive-Behavioral therapy, because our thoughts and behavior can affect one another.For example, you may have a negative thought about a certain aspect of your life, which could lead to negative behaviors, and over time this turns into a cycle. The goal of this therapy is to break the cycle, to change the thinking and the behavior, leading to an improvement in mood. CBT can be hard work, and it is not for everyone, but it can be helpful for many. CBT can take place either in person or online.
Finally, it asked if internet-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy works as well as in-person administered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. To this I answered yes, which we learned based on the abstracts of 2 meta-analyses from assignment 3.
Moving on to the term project document, I explained that my term project is a daily journal that includes itemizing the course content along with my detailed reflections, through a blog on this site, Word Press.
Documenting the work I have done so far, as of today, I have made 77 blog posts. There is one post for every single assignment throughout the entirety of the course. These blog posts have occurred at a rate of at least one per day, and earlier on in the project, I would often make 2 to 3 posts a day.
Now that I have caught up to the current unit and assignment, I generally just make one post each day. If I have already blogged about all of the assignments, I create a unit review post, which I had to do for the first time in unit 12.
As always, I spend more than 2 hours per unit on the term project, as each blog post is carefully thought out and constructed. At the bottom, I added the screenshot of the list of recent blog posts, which includes the post titles as well as when they were each posted.
Reflecting on this assignment, the review sheet once again was a good way for me to review both some main points from this unit, as well as some big points we were supposed to learn each unit along the way. Seeing them again and again each week does a great job to ensure that this material enters our brain each week, which in turn will likely lead us to remember it for longer. Even though it can get boring to type the same information each week, it still serves a specific, productive purpose.
As for the term project document, this is even more similar each week, since it just asks for my progress. So, essentially, I give an update of the number of total blog posts I have made, and make some minor adjustments when explaining my project and what it is like. However, as I have said before, it is cool to see the updated number of blog posts. 77 blog posts is a lot, and a lot of time went into each one. It makes me proud of all the work I have done!
It is crazy to think that one week from now, I will be submitting my last review assignment and making my last blog post! It has been quite the semester!
Nicky's Blog 