An Invisible Sign of My Own

An Invisible Sign of My Own

Welcome to the WebQuest of "An Invisible Sign of My Own" class 10.

Since you read Aimee Bender's novel "An Invisible Sign of My Own" and encountered many situations, in which Mona Gray behaved differently from what you normally expect, your task in the following will be to focus on her behavior within your specific chapter.

You need to find out how and why the novel deals with Mona's behavior and whether this behavior might be part of a mental disorder, like obsessive-compulsive disorder.

After Mona Gray's meeting with Lisa Venus, Mona decided that she needed help in order to have a relaptionship with Benjamin Smith and to change her life.

Mr. Popper asked Mona the questions that are listed below. However, Mona did not answer them properly, which makes it difficult for Mr. Popper to help Mona.

"How are you acting within specific situations since your father's withdrawal?" 

"Why exactly did you change your behavior?"

"Are you trying to protect yourself from something or are you afraid of something? And if so, what/who is that something?" 

In order to help Mona, your task is to give Paul Popper the information that he needs in order to medicate Mona. 

Mr. Popper needs your help!

Mr. Popper: "Although I do not know very much about Mona Gray, I think she suffers from a mental disorder, like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Since you know her better, please help me to find out how the novel deals with her behavior and why you think the novel deals with her behavior like that.

Also take a look at the information on mental disorders and OCD (text under the steps) and the given webpages to find out, whether she suffers from a mental disorder."

Step 1:

To find out how and why the novel deals with Mona's behavior, scan the given chapter for important information.

Step 2:

Read the text about mental disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder and also consider the given webpages (below the steps); take notes.

Step 3:

Discuss how and why the novel deals with Mona's behavior in your group and take notes of your result.

Step 4:

Discuss whether the novel describes a protagonist that shows similar symptoms in comparison to a person, who suffers from a mental disorder (e.g. OCD). 

Find excerpts of your chapter that prove your decision for or against Mona suffering from a mental disorder.

If you think that Mona does not suffer from a mental disorder, think of characteristics of Mona's unusual behavior and prove them with excerpts from the novel.

Step 5:

Design an OHP slide (keywords) for Mr. Popper and your fellow students that shows how and why the novel deals with Mona's behavior.

Furthermore, your slide should give arguments for/against Mona suffering from a mental disorder (e.g. OCD) or state the characteristics of Mona's unusual behavior.

Prove you ideas and arguments with the help of secondary material (text below, given webpages). 

You can also work with visual elements to emphasize your message. Be prepared to present your results.

Mental Disorders and Consequences 

The term mental disorder, also called mental illness, means “a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning.” [Nami] There are many forms of mental disorder, for instance anxiety disorders, depression and bipolar disorder.

DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) states that the „manual provides a classification of mental disorders“; however, there is no definition given that „specifies precise boundaries for the concept of ‘mental disorder.’” [Stein] This is due to the fact that the “concept of mental disorder (…) lacks a consistent operational definition that covers all situations.” [Stein] However, DSM-IV states features of mental disorders that form the basis for diagnosis and will be demonstrated in the following. One feature points out “a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual” [Stein, table 1]. Additionally, mental disorders are related to suffering from distress or impairment(s) or a serious danger of for example dying, suffering from pain and lose one’s liberty [cf. Stein, table 1]. Furthermore, such disorders are not always reactions to sustain a loss or other unpleasant incidents [cf. Stein, table 1]; but they appear in “a behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction in the individual” [Stein, table 1]. Another feature clarifies that “neither deviant behavior (…) nor conflicts (…) between the individual and society” satisfy the characteristics of mental disorders except for if it is “a symptom of a dysfunction in the individual” [Stein, table 1].

Consequently, patients find it difficult to fulfill the requirements of everyday life. The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides numbers and facts about the year 2013; those facts show the dimensions of Americans suffering from mental disorders and will be exemplarily illustrated in the subsequent descriptions. Thus, one in four American adults (61.5 million) experienced mental disorders in 2013, whereas 13.6 million suffer from severe mental disorders that outlasted more than one year [cf. Nami facts and numbers]. Furthermore, about twenty percent of teenagers between 13 and 18 experienced serious mental illnesses in 2013; concerning the eight to 15 year olds, 13 percent experienced such disorders [cf. Nami facts and numbers]. The high costs for medicating, psychoanalyzing and not treating the illness shows the effects that mental disorders have upon the society. Besides, patients suffering from severe mental disorders are likely to die “25 years earlier than other Americans” and run the risk to suffer from “chronic medical conditions.” [Nami facts and numbers] Another consequence of mental illness is suicide; thus, nine in ten people committing suicide had at least one mental disorder [cf. Nami facts and numbers]. The consequences of mental disorders are fatal, especially if not being treated. This can lead to homelessness, imprisonment or committing crimes [cf. Treatment Advocacy Center]. Furthermore, many patients have troubles in school and in education in general, a greater chance to suffer from poverty and further health difficulties, problems within the society and a reduced quality of life [cf. Unite for Sight]. Moreover, the mental health issue also affects the patients’ families. Since the families often care of their mentally ill relatives, the caring individuals “are often unable to work at full capacity due to the demands of caring for mentally ill individual”, which causes a cutback in “economic output and a reduction in household income.” [Unite for Sight]

 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Consequences 

“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental illness that is listed as a serious anxiety and can have very devastating effects in anyone it afflicts.” [Thomas] As the name Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) implies, this form of anxiety disorder is closely related to obsessions and compulsions. The anxiety specialist Paul Popper describes obsessions as “recurring ideas, thoughts, impulses or images that seem pointless but continue nonetheless to intrude in to your mind.” [Popper] Usually, the returning thoughts are apart from everyday life and complicate the understanding by the social environment. The majority of the patients remembers the starting point of their mental disorder as counting everything, touching objects a multiple times or arranging their belongings in a specific way [cf. Thomas]. The system of the kids being changed leads to fear and anxiety, showing that children are often unable to cope with unstable situations [cf. Thomas]. Hence, children tend to perform rituals like covering their feet in bed to sleep without fear of monsters. However, such habits „should be suspected as signs of OCD when they become maladaptive (i.e., time-consuming or distressing) and persistent.” [Goodman] Normally, when growing up, people become more flexible; however, patients of OCD cannot develop a more flexible living and experience changes as being distressing [cf. Thomas].

The term compulsions is portrayed as behaviors “or rituals that you perform to distract yourself from the anxiety which has built up through obsessions.” [Popper] However, obsessions are not necessarily accompanied by compulsions [cf. Popper].

Compulsive behavior serves as the human reaction and solution to treat obsessions [cf. Thomas].  Nevertheless, the tension between the compulsion and the aim to stop those rituals leads to anxiety, despair as well as shame and creates a “vicious cycle” that is difficult to exit [Thomas]. Popper names “washing, checking, and counting” [Popper] as to be the most common types of compulsions.

To provide an overview about compulsions, the counting compulsion will be exemplarily explained in the following. Within the counting compulsion, people count up until a certain “save” number is reached or say a word several times [cf. Popper, cf. Thomas]. Furthermore, OCD sufferers conduct “counting rituals”, for example when counting steps or heartbeats, as “an attempt to bring order to a chaotic mind.” [Thomson] Besides structuring one’s life, the aim of this counting is to eliminate the individual’s anxiety to do harm to somebody or oneself and to prevent causing a disaster [cf. Popper, cf. Thomas]. Thomas concludes that compulsions, like counting, serve as “the physical manifestations of OCD.” [Thomas]

OCD “is very often accompanied with depression” and “preoccupation with obsessions will often wax and wane with depression.” [Popper] Additionally, people who suffer from OCD are likely to avoid situations in which they face their anxiety and rarely ask for support. Although the actions of patients seem peculiar, the individuals are aware of their actions or feelings; therefore, they are “frustrated and depressed at their perceived inability to control them.” [Popper] Furthermore it is significant to mention that the more anxious a person is, the higher the degree of OCD [cf. Popper].

According to Thomas, obsessive-compulsive disorder is also closely related to intelligence, which causes “that sometimes signals get mixed up and it leaves those with conditions like OCD in a constant state of disarray.” [Thomas] As mentioned before, the patients are aware of their abnormal actions but cannot stop their drives, although their intelligence is mostly diagnosed as being above average [cf. Thomas].   

One finds similar consequences of obsessive-compulsive disorder in comparison to the ones mentioned in the previous chapter, dealing with mental disorder. Since people who suffer from OCD find it difficult to relax when being obsessed, are anxious and therefore trying to “find relief in the self-medicating world of compulsively driving out the thoughts”, the basis for the patients to work on their socializing skills is hardly existing [Thomas]. As a consequence, OCD sufferers have a hard time participating in society or cultivating relationships. Many patients share several emotional experiences like hysterical crying, “depression, Insecurity, Panic, Sleeplessness, Extreme fatigue, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Shame, Guilt” or feelings as if they become insane [Thomas]. Furthermore, the sufferers tend to isolate and separate themselves from close friends or family. Therefore, the patients’ lives as well as those of their social surroundings are dominated by the mental health problem. The reason for the seclusion is not rooted in the desire to be alone, but rather in the try to prevent family and friends to be confronted with the patients’ abnormal behavior. If not isolating themselves from relatives and friends, OCD patients

"become masters at camouflaging their symptoms by either performing them in private, by avoiding situations likely to trigger them or, in the case of compulsions that must be performed in public, by inconspicuously integrating them with ordinary activities." [Goodman]

Goodman explains that such attempts often succeed in covering the mental state and might be a reason for obsessive-compulsive disorder to have been overlooked until recently [cf. Goodman]. Furthermore, the patients’ attempts to cover their disorders and thus to behave normally as well as to complete their rituals is very time consuming and leaves less room for the sufferers to live a normal life. Goodman concludes that although many sufferers seem to live normal lives, the patients themselves suffer from OCD and its consequences, but also their relatives [cf. Goodman]. Moreover the economy of the United States, as an example, is influenced by such mental health problems; estimations show that about eight billion dollars are spent on OCD [cf. Goodman].

Webpages

http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-impact-of-obsessive-compulsive-disorder…

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness

http://www.nami.org/MSTemplate.cfm?Section=Mental_Illness_-_Facts_and_N…

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3101504/

http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/resources/consequences-of-lack-o…

http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/resources/consequences-of-lack-o…

Good luck in trying to help Mona!:-)

	Poor – 1	Acceptable – 2	Admirable – 3	Exceptional – 4	SCORE
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because of poor organization; main points and conclusion are unclear	Audience has difficulty following presentation because of some abrupt jumps; some of the main points are unclear or not sufficient stressed	Satisfactory organization; main points are well stated, even if some transitions are somewhat sudden; clear conclusion	Superb organization; clear introduction; main points well stated and argued, with each leading to the next point of the talk; clear summary and conclusion
Verbal Delivery	Mumbles the words, audience members in the back cannot hear anything; too many filler words	Low voice, occasionally inaudible; some distracting filler words; articulation mostly, but not always, clear	Clear voice, generally effective delivery; but somewhat monotone	Natural, confident delivery that does not just convey the message but enhances it; excellent use of volume, pace, etc.
Subject Knowledge	Information is unclear	Information is not clearly integrated or connected to the topic	Sufficient information with many good points made; a few inconsistencies	Much information is presented; points are clearly made and supported by evidence
Enthusiasm	Shows absolutely no interest in the topic	Shows some negativity towards the topic	Occasionally shows positive feelings about the topic	Demonstrating a strong, positive feeling about the topic during entire presentation
Nonverbal Delivery	No eye contact, distractive gestures, obvious tension	Minimal eye contact, little movement/gestures, mild tension	Consistent eye contact, but uses notes, gestures enhance articulation	Holds attention of audience with eye contact, fluid movements, self-confident

 source:http://de.slideshare.net/practicalenglish/english-public-speaking-and-presentation-evaluation-in-class-presenation

"Thank you!"

Mr. Paul Popper: "Thank you very much for delivering me all the information about Mona Gray and your suggestions concerning her mental state. Now I will do my best in helping Mona properly."