neuroticism

Neuroticism - a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology. It is an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, guilt, and depressed mood. They respond more poorly to environmental stress, and are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They are often self-conscious and shy, and they may have trouble controlling urges and delaying gratification. Neuroticism is associated with low emotional intelligence, which involves emotional regulation, motivation, and interpersonal skills. It is also a risk factor for "internalizing" mental disorders such as phobia, depression, panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders, (traditionally called neuroses).

Emotional Stability - On the opposite end of the spectrum, individuals who score low in neuroticism are more emotionally stable and less reactive to stress. They tend to be calm, even tempered, and less likely to feel tense or rattled. Although they are low in negative emotion, they are not necessarily high on positive emotion. That is an element of the independent trait of extraversion. Neurotic extraverts, for example, would experience high levels of both positive and negative emotional states, a kind of "emotional roller coaster". Individuals who score low on neuroticism (particularly those who are also high on extraversion) generally report more happiness and satisfaction with their lives.

Measurement - Like other personality traits, neuroticism is typically viewed as a continuous dimension, rather than as a distinct type of person. People vary in their level of neuroticism, with a small minority of individuals scoring extremely high or extremely low on the dimension. Because most people cluster around the average, neuroticism test scores approximate a normal distribution, given a large enough sample of people. Neuroticism is one of the most studied personality traits in psychology, and this has resulted in a wealth of data and statistical analysis. It is measured on the EPQ, the NEO PI-R, and other personality inventories.

Physiology - Neuroticism appears to be related to physiological differences in the brain. Hans Eysenck theorized that neuroticism is a function of activity in the limbic system, and his research suggests that people who score highly on measures of neuroticism have a more reactive sympathetic nervous system, and are more sensitive to environmental stimulation. Behavioral geneticsresearchers have found that a significant portion of the variability on measures of neuroticism can be attributed to genetic factors.

A study with positron emission tomography has found that healthy subjects that score high on the NEO PI-R neuroticism dimension tend to have high altanserin binding in the frontolimbic region of the brain — an indication that these subjects tend to have more of the 5-HT_2A receptor in that location. Another study has found that healthy subjects with a high neuroticism score tend to have higher DASB binding in the thalamus, — with DASB being a ligand that binds to the serotonin transporter protein.

Another neuroimaging study using magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain volume found that the brain volume was negatively correlated to NEO PI-R neuroticism when correcting for possible effects of intracranial volume, sex, and age.

Other studies have associated neuroticism with genetic variations, e.g., with 5-HTTLPR — a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene. However, not all studies find such an association. A genome-wide association study (GWA study) has associated single-nucleotide polymorphism in the MDGA2 gene with neuroticism, however the effect sizes were small. Another GWA study gave some evidence that the rs362584 polymorphism in the SNAP25 gene was associated with neuroticism.

Geography - Neuroticism, along with other personality traits, has been mapped across states in the USA. People in eastern states such as New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Mississippi tend to score high on neuroticism, whereas people in many western states, such as Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Oregon, and Arizona score lower on average. People in states that are higher in neuroticism also tend to have higher rates of heart disease and lower life expectancy.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroticism

unchanging, undying©

I'll take back what I've said

A chance is all I need now

Return to days we both felt alive

Reach out with me, remember who we are

We can break the walls that cause this pain

Mopping up this mess with picture perfect smiles,

Wouldn't change how I feel

Because I know that inside, you're still the same

Don't make all of my decisions for me

I admit that what I'd chosen was wrong

But I'd do it all again for you

Whenever I see your tears,

I feel my heart starts to bleed

Time I spent thinking of you,

Leaves me hoping for so much more

All you have to do is try

For our lives are too short to be uncertain

Please all I'm asking for is love

To cure me of my sickness

This irrevocable longing for you

Yet you never seem to have enough

Why can't you just love me back?

Just one more time

C. M. de Leon

(2008)

blind girl story

I woke up so early this morning, I was stumped on what to do. I showered, went for a short run, had some fruit, and logged on to see what I've missed on Facebook. I saw a new status update from the fan page, "When I Miss you, I re-read our old conversations and smile. :')", and I just started to span back to earlier statuses. I eventually stumbled on this one...

Once there was a blind girl. Everyone hated her except her boyfriend. She's always say to him. "If i was able to see, I would've married you." One day, all of a sudden, someone donated eyes to the girl. She opened her eyes just to find that her boyfriend was also blind! The boy then asked her, "Will you marry me now?" She rejected him. The boy just turned and began to walk away, he said in a low voice, "Please take care of my eyes."

I cannot believe how tragic this story is. Though there is a lesson to be learned here, I chose to disregard it and feel sympathetic to the boy who gave up the ability to see, just to feel his heart break when it should be the exact opposite. Fiction or no, I send out my regards to that boy; no matter what life throws at you, always take it in stride and don't let others hold you back.

As a side note, I'm getting extremely busy lately, so when I can't reflect or write a lengthy post, I'll just have a poem, quote, or song review up instead. Maybe even a 'to do' list. I really enjoy making those!

Until next time. Au revoir!

sad: seasonal affective disorder

A group of friends and I were having lunch earlier today, and we got into the discussion of how in the winter season, half if not a majority of people we know (including present company) seem to fall into a pattern every year. When the weather is pleasant and there's plenty of outdoor activities, just bout everyone is very agreeable, but when the sun practically disappears and it's very outcast, those gentle-tempered people turn introverted at some level. Out of us discussing it, my friend DL and I were told to be most affected by this type of mood disorder. I suppose that could be the reason why I lost some of my "energetic personality" since I came back from my vacation at the Islands. Which, by the way, has 85 degree winters. If I look back at my time on holiday, I did have much energy and I didn't need an alarm to haul myself off of bed in the mornings. In fact, I actually slept! This is a big deal considering here in the States, I'm pretty nocturnal; my bouts of insomnia spans for a few weeks at a time. Probably because of the heat, unlike the days, it's not very humid at night. So I had 6 or 7 hour nightly sleep, which was heaven compared to none or 3 to 4 hour nights. I also lost most of my appetite, which is amazing since sometimes I still inhale food when I'm bursting in the seams. Man, I didn't need to go to the gym! Just walk outside for a bit and I'm drenched in my sweat (ewh. I know).

Anyroad...when DL and I listened to our friends' semi-amateur 'analysis' (one was a Psych major), it really made sense to us. DL and I usually wait for events, activities, or friends to contact us before we "go out and have fun" around wintertime. While in the sunnier weather, it's usually the 2 of us planning all the shenanigans that go on within our immediate circle. I think it's bout time we do something to change this little predicament we're in. I for one should get out more often. I've been hiding in my room or bookstores whenever there's a party or such that I get invited to. I've even been skipping out on trips to the beach when it's not raining. Though it may be freezing beyond belief, it's nice to run away to the beach in between classes. Gotta the freedom to pick the time for your classes in college. I think I've exhausted this topic enough for now. I definitely will be coming back to review this again in a few days.

Oh, and for those of you who do read my posts, sorry I haven't been to able to blog much the past few days. And I won't be able to for the rest of the week. At least not until the weekend. Too much to do for the moment to get ahead. As for the SM updates that seem to entertain some of you (okay, just LS), I'll have a post dedicated to my progress in the series so far. But I gotta say, I'm past the halfway point. I just couldn't help myself and watched diligently when I'm not napping at night. There goes my "resting periods".

don't make it rain©

I'm drowning in my sorrows

Bury me in my secrets

I'm being left in my pain

And my dreams are being taken away

I never said it would be easy

It's tough and it gets tougher

Falling down where you belong

Was never suppose to end like this

I wish I could be you

Happy and only getting happier

Never felt a rush of pain

Always walking in the rain

Though your absence makes me sad

I've always been jealous of what you've had

Guess it wasn't meant to be

It was never you, and always me

C. M. de Leon

(2002)

nocturnal yoga

It's time for another Yoga class! As always, I came over an hour early just have some reading time in the library on campus. I just started on Mary Carter's 'Accidentally Engaged'. It's a story bout Clare Ivers, a psychic who gets tangled up with an engaged man after trying to return the bride-to-be's rock of an engagement ring. Did I mention that Clare accidentally talked the bride out of the engagement? Well, I hope my prediction of how the story ends up playing doesn't happen in the way I'm thinking it would. It'd be more exciting if there was a plot twist, but I guess I'll have to wait for that seeing as I'm only on page 9.

Continuing on to Yoga; for class, we only had to do sun salutations and a small bit of a fitness test. So we would be getting out half an hour early today. Depending on how quick you are. The sun salutations took bout 20 minutes because we repeated the whole sequence 5 times. As for the fitness test, it's just flexibility and step ups. It was great fun to watch both classes do all that at once. I wish the class was Monday to Thursday, but then again, that's summer school hours. I'm really looking forward to taking it in the summer again! Along with Pilates. It'll be a productive and healthy way to keep out of trouble this summer.

In the case with my post from yesterday, I will now include an update of my "Sailor Moon relapse". I watched some more episodes of Sailor Moon right when I got home. I reached up to episode 19 and stopped for the night. Considering I left off with 14, I feel accomplished. Probably because I can't wait for the revelation of the characters' identities, that I can't keep myself from slowing down from watching.

Now I think it's time to get some more reading done, so that I can return the book to the library soon and check out another novel that caught my interest the other day.

PS: I'm really getting hooked on the SM beginning theme song! Even though it's Japanese. I'll be seeing that on my playlist as soon as I get a new USB cord for my iPhone.

day of overflowing love

Why are we subjected to showing affection to people we love on Valentine's Day? Is it really necessary that we should buy chocolates, jewelry, and all sorts of gifts just to prove our love? No. It is just another hyped media thinking that's gotten the consumer in all of use. Boyfriend or no boyfriend, I still don't like the purpose of this so-called holiday. I'd rather receive a greeting than a gift. It's the thought that counts right? And case in point, my close friend SY called twice just to greet me a "Happy Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year." Now THAT is what counts.

I predicted that I would cancel plans with my friend for today since last Thursday, and I was right on the point. Don't doubt me when it comes to a topic I strongly feel for.

Now that I've ranted my piece to no one in particular, I shall indulge in good food, a bowl of Ben & Jerry's, and a series of horror films.