Blog Post 2
Both of Dr. Vassileva’s lectures directly relate to each other in the sense that different personality traits can lead to more risky behavior and make you more susceptible to drug addiction. In the first lecture, she described the different results of our SURPS tests and how each category (anxiety sensitivity, negative thinking, impulsivity, sensation seeking) plays a role in addiction, what drug is usually abused, and how to treat someone when they are high in these categories. In her second lecture, she related the SURPS test and narrowed it down to just specifically looking at impulsivity, and how it relates to addiction. The likelihood of addiction was based on many factors, but the most prominent were genes and our personality, which is shaped by your environment. The interaction between the environment that was seen in Dr.Vassileva’s lecture relates to Dr.Salavatore and her lecture about relationships. They both talk about how genetic and environmental factors impact the behavior or outcome of a person, whether it’s their relationship described by Dr.Salavatore, or addiction lectured from Dr.Vassileva. However, they differ in the amount of role each factor as. From what I understood from the relationship lecture is that genes play a role but not a huge one compared to addiction.
A common element to the topics we learned is how genetics and environment play a role in our behavior. One of the first lectures in the class was done by Dr.Dick where she explained the question of what causes human behavior. The insight about how much of our genes and environment determine our behavior helped me understand in more detail when Dr.Vassileva and Dr.Salavatore gave their lectures about addiction and relationships. Also, since all the weekly readings talk, in more depth than others, about negative emotions, anxiety, and depression, the lecture Dr.Sood did help set a baseline for understanding about anxiety and negative thinking in addiction, in relationships, and in the broaden-and-build theory.
I have learned that people are suitable to addiction when they rank high in any of the SURPS. I never realized that I could be subject to addiction based on my personality and that our personality and upbringing plays a role in how we react in social settings, relationships, etc. I know that seems obvious, but I never thought of personality in the way that it was explained in the lecture where it decides everything we do. It broadened my idea of personality and how environment plays a role in that.
I plan on being more aware of what I am doing and see what influences my behaviors or thoughts. I want to get my anxiety sensitivity down and will try and do that with mindfulness. When Dr.Vessileva lectured about SURPS and personality, it opened my eyes and made me want to know more about why I do things.
I chose the photo to the left because I think it encapsulates everything that I was talking about in regards to addictions, personality, and relationships. All those words play a role in how susceptible someone is to be addicted to something. Impulsivity, anxiety, and depression are caused inadaptive personality traits making them to defined as disorders. Almost all the words in the picture play a part in how people deal with relationships, how they act in relationships, and how relationship conflicts are causes.