Suicide

I was intrigued when I read that although suicide; as we all know is one of the most tragic consequences of mental illness, it is actually the most easily compared across cultures. The diagnostic criteria around the world is well defined and statistics regarding suicide are kept. Another shocking statistic, that is happening in our backyard is the fact that in Canada, the suicide rate for First Nations adolescents is 5 times higher than that of mainstream adolescents. As a nursing student, I learned about mental health this year, and these statistics have me wracking my mind wondering "why?"

This past school year, I did a project on the lack of mental health services in high schools. I was shocked thinking back to how little I actually knew about mental health in high school. It is still so stigmatized, and it is important that we continue to educate ourselves on these important topics.

Happiness

While watching the documentary "Happy :)," I was constantly feeling guilty. I felt guilty at the fact that people with much less than me, seemed to have greater happiness. One thing that really stood out to me in this documentary was the breakdown of why some are happier than others. I was actually very surprised to learn that 50% of our happiness level is affected by our genetic make-up, and that 40% if affected by the things we choose to do. This was surprising because, well that only leaves 10% to come from our circumstance. This shocked me, because basically my whole life, I have spent striving towards good grades, so I could get into the university I wanted, to ensure I was able to get the career I want, so I would make good money, and be able to have a nice house, and support a family and a marriage.

When I sat down and made a list of ten things that made me happy, my list greatly reflected my last statement. After watching the documentary, I reflected on my list, and actually wanted to change many of them. I think our culture has become so consumed by materialistic goods, and having to prove yourself through what you have to show. I was however, enlightened at the fact that things as little as changing up your daily workout routine can result in greater happiness. I think it is worth finding things, people or experiences, that truly make you happy.

Fear of Fatness

As many of us are very aware of, our world seems to have become consumed by beauty and its unrealistic standards. This topic grabbed my attention when reading about the study done by Lee, Ho, and Hsu (1993) which found that the influences of anorexia nervosa and bulimia differ between cultures. In this study focused on the differences in influences between Hong Kong, and western cultures. It was found that patients in Hong Kong were more likely to report these illnesses due to a loss of appetite or being bloated. However, the main reasoning reported from patients of western cultures was found to be the fear of being fat.

My biggest assumption is that the reasoning behind the differences in influences, and the reason behind westerners having fear of being fat is because of media. The saddest part, is that I was not surprised by these facts whatsoever. If you take two minutes, and browse social media, you're already feeling guilty about the fries you had last week. There have been ridiculous fads such as the "thigh gap." People would do or try pretty much everything to achieve one, not knowing that in fact, it really depends on how you were born. There is so much pressure in our society to look perfect and strive to have the ideal body. We have to have smaller waists, bigger breasts, a big behind, but small thighs, big lips, and perfect hair... the list goes on. The standards we hold ourselves up to are so ridiculous, yet unstoppable. There isn't a day goes by where either my self, or someone close to me isn't criticizing ourselves because we aren't perfect. It is so sad to me, because in my lifetime I have known more people than I could count on both hands that have struggled with an eating disorder, and some who may not even have known it. Something has to change!

Motivations & Choices

What is it that drives us to do the things we do? I've always been interested in motivation, and how and why people are motivated to do certain things. Heine, 2012 talks about how motivation in simple terms can be described as trying to pursue the things that we want. As humans, it is common that we all strive to pursue things that improve our quality of life. I think about where I am in life now, and why I am here. I can still remember all of the dreams and plans I had set out for myself. While many of them have become reality, there are a select few where "life" got in the way. Somethings you just cannot control, or maybe result from "trade-offs" of other life choices. Like basically everything else, our motivations and choices are defined by our cultures, environments, and how we were raised. I was brought up in a competitive yet caring environment. Coming from a family of 6 children, I constantly felt the need to prove myself, and work hard so my achievements would be noticed. I think that growing up this way, has helped motivate me to continue to set goals for myself and constantly be looking for ways to achieve them.

It is quite obvious to me that I come from an individualistic society; as I am more concerned about my own goals than the goals of others. I could relate to when Heine, 2012 wrote about how Westerners are consumed by just a few key aspects of life; a job, love, children, and where to reside. At this point in my life, I am focusing on my future career. However, when I look around me; my grandparents, parents, siblings, neighbors, and some friends-- seem to have fulfilled these goals, or are striving towards them. As I am graduating from University, with a bachelor of science in Nursing next spring, I feel a lot of pressure to figure out some of these choices. Having a significant other can make this challenging, and sometimes unnoticeable change the choices you would have likely made, had you been deciding on your own. There are so many influences that can affect out motivations and choices, both positive and negative. It can be stressful at times, constantly wondering if you're doing the right thing or making the right choices.

Acculturation

Acculturation is the process of relocating and therefore having to adapt to a new culture (Cheung et al, 2010). Before this course, I had never heard of the term acculturation, which I thought was quite sad. Therefore, I wanted to discuss a bit about it. There has been studies done on whether or not age is a dependent factor of ones ability to adjust to a new culture more quickly. I think that there are so many factors that could play a role in this, and only reading two studies about it didn't quite catch all of the ideas I came up with. I think that an important point would also be the new cultures attitude towards the immigrants, as well as whether the person is in public, private, or a home schooled setting. I do think that age would play a role in how one adjusts to a new culture, but I think to fully understand this subject I would have to look further into it. 

What Happens When People Move to a New Culture?

Coming from a rural area, I was always interested when interacting with people from different culture. I can't imagine how over whelming it would be to move to a completely foreign culture. There are so many different aspects you would need to adapt to; language, values, beliefs, all the while trying to hold on to your heritage culture. You would have to create completely new relationships, and adapt to different interpersonal and social behaviors. I think that the most intimidating thing would be being a part of a minority group. Until last year, I did not have the slightest idea what it was like to be a minority. I have the privilege of traveling to Grenada on a service learning trip, the experience in a whole was eye opening as to how little I know about our world and the cultures among us. One of the most eye opening parts of the trip, was when we were exploring the town of Grenville one afternoon. All of the children had just been let out of school, and were running around the streets. I was busy taking in this new culture I was surrounded by when a child ran by tapping each of us on the leg saying "WHITE! WHITE!" and in that moment I realized, we were in fact a minority in this situation. I know this is minuscule compared to actually moving somewhere, and having to adapt to being part of a minority every day, but I can understand how and why it could be intimidating.

Explicit versus Implicit Communication

I have come to learn over the years that communication goes far beyond speech. Communication can be expressed in non-verbal gestures as well; facial expressions, and voice tone. However, our generation has come to be very friendly with communication through a device; e-mail and texting (Heine, 2012). When we are communicating through a cell phone or computer, we can't see whether the other persons facial expressions are, and we can interpret the persons tone of voice completely wrong. Growing up, I as always nagged by my parents to put my phone down and embrace my surroundings. At the time, I didn't fully understand why, but our generation has come to a point where EVERYTHING is done through a cellphone. Whether it is arguments, or spreading good news through text message or Facebook... It is so easy to misinterpret how people are actually feeling internally. I know I am guilty of hiding behind my phone when having a conversation about something I would be to uncomfortable bringing up in person. Face to face communication is slowly becoming foreign to our generation, and although in some ways technology is beneficial to our lives, it can also be very dangerous.