The Negative Impacts Of Psychology: Mental Activity And Behavior

Everything people do is connected to psychology. As a multi-faceted and wide-ranging discipline, the focus of psychology the mental activity and behavior of people (Grison, Heatherton & Gazzaniga, 2016). Cognitive processes such as perception enable an individual to make sense of the endless environmental stimulus encountered in daily life (Grison, Heatherton & Gazzaniga, 2016). From reading this text, to walking a dog, reaching a personal goal, or deciding which shoes to wear, perceptions not only influence decision making, they allow an individual to navigate the world. Moreover, it is an individual’s perceptions that can affect their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Who a person is in terms of their intelligence, motives, goals,

Moreover, there is a strong psychological connection between one’s perception of themselves, and their strengths and weaknesses (Hubbard & Blyler, 2016). Since the human body instinctively reacts to anything perceived as a threat with the fight or flight response, it does not discriminate between an individual’s perception of an event, and the actual event that occurs (Bhattacharya & Bhattacharya, 2015; Grison, Heatherton & Gazzaniga, 2016). Therefore, something as simple as the fear of failing a test can provoke the same stress response within the body as encountering a bear. Indeed, conclusions established by Hubbard & Blyler (2016) indicated a significant relationship between stress and poor academic performance finding increases in absent mindedness, hyperactivity, and most importantly; difficulties with attentional control and working memory. In a similar study, Bhattacharya & Bhattacharya (2015) observed reductions in the effects of stress when students exhibited positive self-perceptions and confidence in their academic abilities. Combined, these studies suggest that the much of the stress associated with academics can be minimized by simply acknowledging its existence. By first recognizing the biological symptoms of stress, this author has begun to understand how influential the mindset and perceptions are for increasing academic

This is especially true for first responders who deal with significant amounts of stress as a job requirement. Repeated exposure to stressful conditions such as high volumes of work and long hours, can impact the cognitive functioning involved in critical thinking, memory, attention span, and problem solving (Grison, Heatherton & Gazzaniga, 2016; Schmidt & Haglund, 2017). Additionally, the physical and emotional pressures associated with witnessing violence, death, or resuscitating an unconscious patient can effectively culminate into the perfect storm for cognitive imbalances. (Groenewold, Roest, Renken, Opmeer, Veltman, Wee, & Harmer, 2015; Schmidt & Haglund,