Washing and Constant Cleaning, an Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) E

Washing and Constant Cleaning, an Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) Abstract Washing and constant cleaning, an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD often goes undiagnosed. Patients obsessively wash, check something or hoard things to relieve themselves of an overwhelming anxiety, and are fully aware their behavior is abnormal. This research studies a 23-year-old married woman who sought treatment for a severe washing and cleaning problem and how the patient was treated. I will discuss how the patient was diagnosed, and treated with a form of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy or CBT (exposure and response treatment) and what medications can be used for treatment. Vickie, a 23 year-old married woman arrived with the company of her husband. Vickie had a problem with severe had washing and cleaning. She would wash her hands up to 30 times a day for at least 5 minutes each time. She always had the feeling that her hands were not really clean, she might touch the side of the sink after she rinsed her hands and then think they were dirty again. She also took two showers a day for up to 50 minutes or until all the hot water was gone. Other things she did to make herself feel clean is use alcohol to wipe things down that she would come into contact with, like her car seat before she set in it. She has been unable to seek employment as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) due to her symptoms. I conducted four initial sessions, session one and two were to seek information about the history of her symptoms, obsessional content, including external and internal fears cues, beliefs about consequences, and information about passive avoidance patterns and types of rituals (Levenkron, 1991). I also requested Vickie before our next session to record all washing and cleaning that she did, including wiping things with alcohol. She recorded every time she washed, how long she washed, what made her wash, and how anxious she was before she washed. This kind of record will help us identify any sources of contamination she may have gotten and we can also use it to measure her progress during treatment; the third session was devoted to personal and family history; the fourth session was devoted to treatment planning. During the first three therapy sessions Vickie talked about her experiences of recurrent and persistent ideas, thought, impulses, ... ... to obtain anti-obsessional effects. Studies done to date suggest that the following dosages may be necessary: Luvox (up to 300 mg/day), Prozac (40-80 mg/day), Zoloft (up to 200 mg/day), Paxil (40-60 mg/day), Celexa (up to 60 mg/day), and Anafranil (up to 250 mg/day), (Jenike, 1999b). References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author Engler, J. & Goleman, D. (1992). The authoritative guide for making informed choices about all types of psychotherapy. The Consumer’s Guide to Psychotherapy. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster/Fireside Levenkron, S. (1991). Treating & Understanding Crippling Habits. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. New York, NY: Warner Books. Jenike, J. (1999a). How to select a Behavior Therapist. Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. Available: http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf_0003.htm Jenike, J. (1999b). OCD medication: Adults. Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. Retrieved November 18, 2001, from http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1050a.htm Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation: How is OCD treated. Retrieved November 14, 2001, from http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1030a.htm

Divergent by Veronica Roth Response To Text Essay Essay

The novel â€Å"Divergent† written by author Veronica Roth is a thrilling story about the love and sacrifice of two teenagers (Tris and Four) living in dystopian America. This novel follows the hardship of citizens living in a community where everyone must be separated into groups called factions. The members of each faction must live their lives according to the value of their faction, whether it be Bravery for Dauntless, selflessness for Abnegation, knowledge for Erudite, honesty for Amity or peace for Candor. When each faction member turns 16 they must choose a faction they wish to live the rest of their lives in, whether they choose to remain in the faction of their birth or join a completely different faction is up to them. I found this novel to be very rich in important ideas or themes that can be closely linked to today’s world. Themes, such as love and sacrifice or separation of the social classes. In this book I find it interesting how author Veronica Roth has managed to include today’s ways of social separations into this novel and emphasizes it to a point that shows all the â€Å"flaws† that there are in the way in which today’s society judges and separates everyone into different rankings on the social ladder. The book shows that even though each faction is supposed to be equal to one another there is always one faction that believes they are better than the rest because they believe their way is the â€Å"right† way of life. The Erudite faction believes that knowledge is power and because they have more knowledge than everyone else that they are superior. The feeling  of superiority becomes more than just a feeling for the character Jeanine Mathews, head of the Erudite faction. She believes that because of their knowledge that they must rule the factions and remove those who she feels are â€Å"not worthy† for her new way of life. This aspect of the book greatly reminds me of Hitler and how he was aiming to achieve one master race. Hitler believed that the Jews were inferior and were considered less than human therefore he did not want them to be a part of his â€Å"master race.† Jeanine Mathews thought that the Abnegation faction was not worthy enough to be a part of her plan for a new community and way of life therefore she launched an attack on the Abnegation. Throughout history you see many leaders, groups, races and religions trying to take the metaphorical throne of superiority and try to live above the rest of society. I believe that all of this is caused by one thing, separation. In today’s society no one is equal and we are all being discriminated against by each other. It is through our judgemental ways that we continue to stay separated. Even now if you look at the wars in countries such as Iraq, it is the separation of different religious beliefs that is causing many deaths. It became clear to me that, author Veronica Roth has similar views on seperation. I felt like this after reading her quote where she talks about the effects the separation of the factions had on some of the characters, â€Å"Because it forced people to become narrower, twisted versions of themselves, and they ripped each other apart.† This quote really does sums up what I believe the separation of the factions did to the character Jeanine Mathews . I think that this novel really depicts the theme of separation and the problems it causes in a strong way that really sends a message of equality to the reader. This theme is not only prominent in this novel; the theme of separation plays a large part in other novels such as â€Å"The Hunger Games† trilogy written by Susanne Collins. In â€Å"The Hunger Games†, much like in â€Å"Divergent†, everyone is separated into 12 different districts with one district (The Capitol) ruling over the others. I believe that the idea of equality and how badly we need it is summarised by this quote from Joss Whedon, an American actor and director. â€Å"Equality is not a concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women.† This quote points out that the human race will not be able to progress through life if  we keep separating ourselves, discriminating others and putting ourselves in different groups. I feel that â€Å"Divergent† has really shown this in a way that really connects to the readers. I have found that, author Veronica Roth, has really developed her characters throughout the plot of her book. She also shows the effects that one character can have on another and how other characters can influence the character development of another. It was the character Four that has really given me a sense of this development. At the beginning of this novel Four was portrayed as having a hard â€Å"exterior† and not having much emotion. It is not until the character Tris becomes a part of Four’s life, does he start to develop into a more affectionate character. As Tris and Four’s relationship grows into something more than student and instructor, you can see Four becoming softer and really starting to show his emotional side. Four has been living in the Dauntless faction since he left his birth faction (Abnegation) two years ago. In the Dauntless faction the transfers from Abnegation are bullied just because they came from the faction that is least well off. Because Tris has also come from Abnegation that Four feels sympathy for her in the sense that he has had to go through the same â€Å"bullying.† Four feels that he can relate to her because of this and I think that it is this that really kicks off their relationship and is why Tris and Four become such a strong pairing. By Four finally being able to relate to someone, he feels that he can open up to Tris and â€Å"lower his walls.† This really shows how the character Tris has had an impact on Four and how Tris has developed Four into a â€Å"two dimensional† character by bringing out his softer sides. This change in Four is not only noted by the readers but even by some of the characters in the book. This is told when the character â€Å"Christina† says to Four â€Å"The person you became with her is worth being.† This q uote really shows that it was Tris that has changed Four and that this change is a positive one. The idea that a person can influence a change in another is not just something that happens in books but in reality too. It doesn’t always have to be a person that you know that can influence a change in someone’s life. It is quite often that, celebrities or other public figures that can influence a change. For example, when I was going through a tough time in my life, it wasn’t family members or friends  that helped me through it but the supportive words of celebrities I look up too. Again it was all about connecting with someone who you can relate to. In my case it was my favourite musician. This musician had been through similar things and I felt as if they understood, even though we had not met, let alone even spoken to each other. This also shows what a big influence media has on people of today’s society. The media’s opinion and views on how people should live their life are everywhere; in magazines, television shows and on social media and are hard to be ignored. So it is not only people that can influence a change in someone’s life but other things su ch as media. To conclude, â€Å"Divergent† is an exciting novel that is rich in themes and will keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat. The theme of separation showed many links to today’s society and even to events in history, as well as pointing out many problems that occur with separation in our society. Veronica Roth has not only given a huge amount of depth to her themes in this novel, but has been able to develop her characters throughout the story, morphing them from what you would call a â€Å"one dimensional† character into a â€Å"two dimensional† character. A character, with more than one side to them. This novel has really made me think that how, as an individual, can I not take part in this separation. Whether it is separation of social classes, religious groups or even the separation of people through lifestyle, I believe that everyone should be viewed as equal and not be discriminated against. This novel has also shown me (through the character development of Four and how the character Tris influenced this development ) that people or other things that we find we can relate to or care about, can play a large role and influence some of the personal choices we make as well as influence how we grow as people. Veronica Roth has written this novel in a way that really gets the reader thinking about the themes and/or main ideas as well show important links in these themes and ideas that can relate to the outside world.

Smart Grid Resolution, London Waste Dump Site and Maladroit’s Cosmetics Essay

One of the benefits of investing in this $100 million project includes rerouting power around bottlenecked lines. This allows Xcel Energy to deliver electricity to areas in Boulder that have a very high demand that the previous conventional electrical grid was unable to service effectively. This smart-grid system also enables Xcel Energy to detect and reduce power outages, identify false alarms more quickly and read customer meters remotely. This in return will lead to a reduction in the number of times the service crews are sent out to those locations, thus making the service crews more productive. Combining the efficiency of the smart-grid electrical system and the reduction of outages will allow Xcel Energy to capture cost-savings more appropriately. Additionally, this electrical smart-grid allows customers to monitor their individual power use reducing household usage by up to 30% in some cases, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction. Although this may lead to a decrease in revenue for Xcel Energy, the smart-grid system enables integration of renewable generation, an increase in overall system efficiency, a more robust electrical system and an ability to recover under-utilized and wasted energy. We can’t say for sure, but this may actually benefit Xcel Energy in the long-run as they will recover lost revenue through their decreased operational costs using the smart-grid electrical system. What conflicts do you suspect might have occurred between all the different stakeholders in this project? In any project there are four main stakeholders. This includes Client, Parent Organization, Project Team and the Public. In the case of Xcel Energy’s smart-grid project, both the client and public would be the population of Boulder, CO. The Parent Organization is Xcel Energy and the project team includes representatives from Accenture consulting for engineering, energy industry consultants, leading technologists, business leaders and IT experts. Accenture provides consulting solutions in many major industrial sectors. According to the text, Accenture consulting for engineering was hired. Additionally, IT experts were also brought onto the team. Accenture provides IT solutions as part of their consulting portfolio so there may be some conflict between the two parties due to their different backgrounds and methods of doing business. Also security and privacy were of utmost importance to protect intellectual property, so it is in the best interests of the project team and the parent organization to control how much information they gave to the public and local media. However, the latter of the two recipients may have wanted more information, specifically, how this affects their electricity costs and demands in the long run causing another source of conflict. Internally, members of the project team will experience conflict caused by belonging to two different teams – their project team and functional team. Often, the head of the teams are two different people with different motives and goals, and the members have the responsibility to report to both and are therefore pulled in two different directions. The members of the project team experience almost total conflict as they compete for project resources and leadership roles. This is caused in part by the different backgrounds, attitudes and biases of each member. This would be especially apparent in the Xcel project where members from many different companies and departments are brought together, each with a unique way of accomplishing the tasks and work packages of the project. Turning London’s Waste Dump into the 2012 Olympics Stadium Which of the â€Å"triple constraints† seems to be the uppermost here? Which constraints was Crockford trading between? The text says Crockford â€Å"quickly† assembled a project team of over 1000 individuals in order to meet the mid-2011 completion date. A constant referral to time is also observed. The start date of construction was noted as May 2008 and although there was a delay due to re-designing the roof, the text ends by stating that the project was still on track to be completed by mid-2011. Therefore, Schedule is the triple constraint uppermost here. The design team for the 2012 Olympics Stadium planned a highly-compact field of play requiring a steel-beamed roof and on discovering that the steel-beamed roof as designed would create turbulence on the compact field, a lighter, more flexible roof was redesigned, which was made in part from recycled materials. This roof required less steel and cost less than the initial steel-beamed roof designed. Thus, Crockford traded between the Scope (Required Deliverables) and the Cost (Budget limit). Was the life cycle for this project S-shaped, J-shaped, or something else? Considering just the purpose of the river dredging as a project itself, what was the shape of its life cycle? The completion of London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium consisted of selecting the project team (consisting of over 1000 members), cleaning up the chosen site, design of the stadium, construction, delays and finally construction until completion. Therefore, the project life-cycle most likely followed a stretched S-shape curve similar to housing construction projects. The S-shaped curve is categorized by a slow start, followed by a quick build-up and a slow finish. This is a result of the changing levels of resources used during the successive stages of the life-cycle. The slow start in this case would be the clearing of the site and design of the stadium. Construction would also begin slowly but would quickly ramp up once all the raw materials are shipped to the location and base infrastructure completed. There is a delay (not uncommon – almost expected) when the team realizes the steel-beamed roof would create turbulence on the compact field. Finally, construction will slow down as specialized parts are ordered for the final touches (luxury spectator rooms, confectionary stands etc). The river dredging project followed a J-shaped curve. This is characterized by a slow start followed by an exponential increase in project completion over time. Moreover, the expenditure of resources has little correlation with overall progress. The team removed 30,000 tons of silt, gravel and garbage from the river. Getting the cranes and other heavy machinery used to remove garbage from the river would take time, but once there, they can quickly and effectively remove the waste from the river. Were there any ancillary goals for this project? What might they have been? The Olympic Delivery Authority’s goal to use recycled materials in the building of the 2012 Olympic Stadium can be considered as an ancillary goal. The use of recycled materials to build a lighter, more flexible roof creates opportunities whereby a stadium can be completely built from recycled materials in the future. An ancillary goal of making 55,000 of the 80,000 seats temporary would create a profitable stadium in the future because the cost of maintaining the area containing the seats is grossly reduced. Furthermore, a successful stadium results in a successful 2012 Olympics and ultimately increases tourism in England. Finally, Ian Crockford has greatly increased his reputation and experience as a project manager (as well as his subordinates and parent company too) which drastically increases his chances of managing future projects on this scale and beyond. Which of the project-defining factors in Section 1. 1 were active here. The project was identified as important by the Olympic Delivery Authority composed of politicians and other high-ranking members of society. The scope was clearly defined from the beginning of the project and was divided into sub-tasks to achieve the project goals. The due date of the project is also clearly defined as Mid-2011. Many interdependencies were at play such as the recycled metal from the police department and dredging of the river. The project was unique in that it had a temporary seating design, a lighter more flexible roof and designed specifically for the 2012 London Olympics. The budget was limited to ? 32 million and not unlike the Xcel Energy case detailed above; conflicts existed between the different stakeholders of the project. Therefore, all 7 of the project defining factors were active in the construction of the 2012 Olympics stadium. Maladroit Cosmetics Company Which of the three choices do you recommend and why? The third choice, that is, the company that manufactures the machines can handle the installation project for a fee close to what the installation would cost Maladroit is recommended for a number of reasons. The first being hat Maladroit becomes the customer in this transaction, and the company installing the machines would be performing the job and would have to do it according Maladroit’s specifications including any unseen delays not identified in the scope. We are also unsure of the qualifications of the members of her staff and if they capable of undertaking such a high risk project worth $4 million. Finally, she cannot handle the project informally out of office because the project is very important and she would not be able to devote as much time to the project as well as her current duties. If the project was one small machine at a total cost of $4,000, would your answer be different? Yes, we would recommend that she assigns the project to a member of her staff that could potentially be suited for a managerial role in the future. This low risk project would be an excellent test to see how well he or she is able to complete the project deliverables in a cost-effective and timely manner. Discuss the relative importance of the capital investment required versus the role of the investment in machinery. Capital investment can be defined as a commitment of the owner’s money to land, buildings or machinery. In this example, it is the commitment of the owner’s money to the installation of 6 machines worth $4million (note: the plant manager does not necessarily own the machines, rather, the shareholders or owners of the actual company do). The role of the investment in machinery is to replace the filling machines that have become obsolete within 6 months so that the company can continue to produce cosmetic products and generate revenue.