All of Applesauce's Comments + Replies

hello!

I am trying to make sense of this. You explained it very well and to me it seems like you are creating an association with something already familiar to you so that you may remember certain things?

0Elo8y

yes that's a part of it. I didn't invent mnemonics but I wanted to describe what it's like to use them. Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic The general idea (which is hard to find a guide for) is to use to link to . That might include full sensory perceptions (smells, sounds, moods, location maps), or anything you know really well. If you knew all the pokemon and wanted to learn to connect them with the elements, that would be doable. As I said to lifelonglearner the Trigger Action Plan looks like:

Applesauce8y10

a) the DSM isn't perfect

Of course not... I wonder when/if the DSM 6 will come out...

practitioners who may not being using the tool appropriately

Example Intermittent Explosive Disorder... The names speaks for itself in that some children become totally enraged and..explode.

Sometimes used to label kids and be done for the day. The implication of this is that, this diagnosis can act as a band aid and not getting down to the root of things for WHY the child is upset. This is how a person can fall through the cracks.

0ChristianKl8y

Most of the problems with the DSM are institutional. I would expect the DSM 6 to have them as well. The way forward would be for another institution to provide a new medical diagnostic system. The European medical establishment might do this. http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/oe0/predictionbased_medicine_pbm/ might also lead to an organization that has the capability to develop a new and better diagnostic system. An organisation that could easily provide treatments for stupidity.

That is a more approachable way. ..and still preserves the respect of others.

yes. Forced treatment might not end well...in terms of emotional scarring, loss sense of identity.

Against willpower as a scientific or otherwise useful concept (Nautilus Magazine)

Yes, calling stupidity as a mental illness is very offending and dangerous... This can be seen as verbally attacking someone because of its aggressive lying undertones.

4PhilGoetz5y

It's only offensive if you still think of mental illness as shameful.

Thank you for eleaborating. And I agree, a person's schema does influence their thinking as you described in your examples.

I do not mind PMs at all. I am still getting a feel of the LW community and how things are in terms of posting articles... to be honest I have no clue on how I would post an article featuring people's accounts. And yes I would leave out details that would allude to a person's identity for sure.

3Viliam8y

Well, another option is to post it as a comment in Open Thread.

Against willpower as a scientific or otherwise useful concept (Nautilus Magazine)

Applesauce8y60

Thanks. And no I did not lie to her. She had no means or intentions of taking care of a child...foster for the baby was the best option she had.

I do not lie to patients/client. Nor do I give them advice. I offer their options but ultimately it is their decision.

And yes. Social field is very interesting. There are a lot of horror stories out there for sure and inspirational ones too.

If you would ever like to hear more real life commentaries , just send me a PM :)

2Viliam8y

Too many people would be sending PMs I guess. Please post an article. I don't mind even if it's off-topic to LW, I will upvote it anyway (and downvoting is disabled). Though you may want to sufficiently anonymize it.

2Elo8y

Maybe it's worth writing a book? Or something creative? To take your mind off it? will PM

Planning 101: Debiasing and Research

I could be wrong but those cognitive processes you refer to might be "elaboration likelihood model" basically:

Central processing is when the person thinks deeper about something.
Peripheral or side processing is when someone thinks quick and makes a decision based on how attractive the situation is presented, reframing the question as you said.

0Viliam8y

I just quoted the article, but it makes a lot of sense to me that people probably use "willpower" to refer to a few fundamentally different things, which is why we still have neither a solid theory of "willpower" nor ways to train it reliably. There is probably the component of "does this person react immediately, or do they slow down and consider things first?" Which may be partially a habit, and partially biological. Then there is a question of the mental model the person has. If one person believes that "X means Y", while other believes that "X means Z", of course they are going to react differently when X happens. This model may refer to external or internal world. For example, if you make a decision to stop smoking, but then you forger and smoke one cigarette, does your model of the world suggest that "it's okay, mistakes happen at the beginning, the important thing is to throw the rest of the cigarettes away and persevere at your decision", or does it say "well, this means you failed completely, you might as well smoke the remaining 19 in the box, because you are a loser anyway, it doesn't make a difference anymore"? But other example, perhaps more relevant for the marshmallow test is "when other people tell me that if I do X now, I will get a reward in the future, are they usually telling the truth, or are they usually lying?" Because if the child e.g. has a parent who is a habitual liar, with such experience it is rational to grab the one marshmallow while it is there, instead of trading it for a promise of two marshmallows in the future. Which means that the ways to "increase willpower" would include, perhaps depending on the situation: * general techniques to "cool down", physiologically, such as breathe deeply, take a walk, always sleep before making an important decision; * techniques to overcome cognitive biases, especially the ones you happen to be more prone to, for example write down the alternatives, or call a trusted friend and talk with th

Very nice especially distraction time. I call it "structuring chaos" when dealing with patients/client who are having a hard time getting things done.

Applesauce8y40

Okay let me see if I answered your question right...please let me know so I can.

The other day a seemingly well mother came to terminate her parental rights. She was well dressed, healthy looking, and had an educated background. She terminated her rights and gave the state her infant because she spent the past few years prostitution and using drugs. I validated her by telling she is doing what is best for her baby by allowing the baby to be in a nurturing enivironment (hopefully in good foster home).

New workers had reactions of being agasted at how someone... (read more)

2Elo8y

yes. That's incredible! I find real life much more interesting than a summary like; "the more I understand people...the more I become numb." When you told her - was it true? Did you have to lie to her to make her comply? Desensitised in the sense that the actions of the mother no longer made you feel aghast-ed? but you recognise that at the start of the job you were aghast and now it's like this every day. I think the same could be said for professions like ambulance officers, who would see many kinds of injuries and at some point injury is just injury. and say; IT support where at some point the dumbness of computer users is just more of the same thing over...

Haha! Seemed like a grand ol time.

Applesauce8y10

oh yes! Bless their souls with having to scrap melted skin off their suits.

I did not think of morbid jokes as a typical symptom...This explains a lot. Thank for pointing that out.

Oh yeah most people do, no doubt about that. Eventually I will take a break from this field perhaps in the next few years.

Also it makes me wonder if you are drunk and on lesswrong you must read a lot on here?

2Viliam8y

Heh, I do spend here much more time than would be optimal, but the Friday was like this: First I got drunk at a company party. Then I received a call from a customer; they found a bug that was threatening something they needed to do on Monday. So, being at the company building, I went to fix the bug, and while compiling I read some LW. Had to type shortly, because these days computers compile pretty fast. :D Don't worry, I don't "drink and browse LW" as a way to cope with my problems.

Sorry I am new here...are you asking ME to give you specific examples of being desensitized?

2Elo8y

Can you be more specific about the situation that you experienced this time. Or was that actually a recount?

Yes there are...such as self care, understanding compassion fatigue, always use supervision to keep yourself in check, and I always encourage all mental health staff to have a therapist. After pondering on this thought and then going to bed and waking up to revisit it, I think it is more useful than bad:

You cannot bring other people's troubles home with you. This is a recipe for disaster if you were in everyone's lives 24/7.

"We are trained to respond not to react" type of trainings. "crisis prevention intervention" CPI...might be an ex... (read more)

0Viliam8y

Most people have horrible lives, completely needlessly, full of suffering. Not your fault. Blame god. But there is no god. Sorry, I'm drunk. (Still perceive reality better than 99% of people.)

Applesauce8y70

I learned something new.

As a social worker, clinician, psychiatric counselor for detox/behavioral disturbances/mental illness to I've been with refugees, immigrants, and the forgotten ones, to attempted murder to young teenaged mothers...all the way from infants to stellar 90 year olds... the more I understand people...the more I become numb. Perhaps I am desensitized as I encounter crisis, having to section someone in, someone dying right there and then, etc. I no longer feel the same way. It's like watching a horror movie over and over but no longer fearing them. I think I need to figure this out.

5Lumifer8y

As far as I know this is entirely normal. Essentially it's a psychological self-defence mechanism: if you don't become numb you'll burn out in short order. A very similar thing happens with ER doctors, many first responders, etc. A typical "symptom" is developing a repertoire of jokes which to outsiders sound morbid, cynical, and horribly tasteless :-/

2Viliam8y

I think what you described happens to many people. So... I guess there are already standard solutions to this problem, so you should ask an expert. As an uneducated opinion, I'd ask: (a) does this "becoming numb" influence your professional output negatively, or (b) does it have a negative influence of your personal life? Depending on the answer, solve the specific subproblem. If it is a professional problem, surely many other people in your profession have it, and your profession already has standard solutions. If it is a personal problem, either find a therapist, or take a break. You have seen parts of reality that most people don't see, don't want to see, and they would probably argue with you if you tried to explain. That happens, and it creates a communication problem. You will probably need to find a place where you talk about these things, and accept that most of the world is not such place.

2Elo8y

can you be more specific?

Death - an essay

Applesauce8y-10

I don't think he was taking a stance on death as he stated the essay may not hold a position in the end.

Whose says death is bad? Only those who believe death is a bad thing.

The perspective of death lies within cultural context. Is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

Also #2, there might be a chance no suffering in some form of quantum immortality. And #3 there are such things as peaceful deaths too. I agree with #4 and #5 though. Losing information draws some setbacks unless their knowledge was recorded somewhere.

Death - an essay

Although I am not a Freudian...(different discussion)

He once believed that the basic instincts involved life vs death...Eros vs Thanatos. Freud thought that people who have had rough lives will probably want to suicide but the pleasure principle (life/eros) outweighs the thanatos urges; which then produces this whole war inside a person. He once said "The goal of all life is death"...in his Beyond the Pleasure Principle book 1920. Kind of conflicts with the cryonic people.

Why fight the laws of entropy?

"What Happens When Doctors Only Take Cash"? Everybody, Especially Patients, Wins

Have you ever forgotten that you put the actual paper slip in your pocket for reminders?

0[anonymous]8y

It's not too bad. I check my pockets fairly regularly (I also keep my pen in there). Otherwise, I'll just do the paper-under-watch thing.