Hoarding Disorder: A Simulation

The second unit of Disease was a pretty filled one, focusing on mental disorders this time around. Disease is a class where we learn about diseases that affect people in some way; usually a negative one.  I searched for a mental disease that I had interest in researching, and I came across a few that I liked, such as Kleptomania, and Narcolepsy. I ended up deciding on Hoarding disorder; a disorder that is estimated to affect 5% of the U.S population. This unit was very interesting, it brought up a lot of concepts that I didn't think could be a disorder. I created multiple sources to help recognize and understand what Hoarding disorder is and how it feels. The lesson plan is what is being demonstrated in the video, so feel free to replicate my simulation at home. I hope you enjoy.

The International OCD Foundation defines Hoarding Disorder (HD) as a mental health disorder where people have difficulty getting rid of possessions that are no longer useful to them.
Signs of hoarding disorder include:

• The persistent difficulty of parting with an item 
• Discarding the hoarded items causes significant distress 
• The hoarding has accumulated and clutters living areas
• The hoarding causes significant distress

Ceci Garrett
Ceci was only a child when she had to endure living with her clutter-filled home because of her mother's endless hoarding. She is now the founder and Executive director of Lightening the Load, a ministry that helps people unclutter their homes, and helps keep relationships attached. In 2015 she held a TED talk, where she spoke about her experience with hoarding, the issues of hoarding, and her mission to improve hoarding situations. " My mom's need to save had a bigger meaning. It wasn't about stuff, it was about challenges, fear, grief, problems processing information. Decades passed before I learned that hoarding is not a house problem, it's not a stuff problem; hoarding is a mental health issue." This quote from the TED talk shows impactful hoarding can be on the person with the mental disorder and the people around them. Hoarding disorder can hurt more than one person.

The Affected Brain
The brain is a very complex system that is made up of separate parts that all perform separate functions. The prefrontal cortex is a large part of the human brain that controls executive functions like personality, complex planning, coordinating, and impulse control. When people with Hoarding Disorder go out to collect more items this is their impulse thing to do, much like OCD. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for all of that impulse control, and it tends to be a little less controlled in people with OCD or Hoarding Disorder.

Flier
I created a flier about Hoarding Disorder to help readers and others understand what hoarding disorder is and how to help lessen the symptoms of the disorder in a safe way, all references are cited at the bottom of this blog post. The flier also includes a very common myth about people with Hoarding Disorder, why the myth isn't true, and a few statistics about the disorder.

"Hoarding Disorder flier" IF 2018

Demonstration Simulation
This video of me putting two of my classmates through a simulation of Hoarding Disorder that I created, is intended to show the difficulties of having Hoarding Disorder. Over time people with Hoarding Disorder collect more and more items that build up while continuing their normal lives. I pass my classmates items as they complete a worksheet to demonstrate the collecting of those items as a hoarder. This is pretty interesting to watch, so enjoy.


Lesson Plan
View this lesson plan in order to endure the same simulation that I performed in class. The lesson plan should produce the same results as shown in the video.



Graph and A Piecewise function
In this unit, we also explored math concepts that related to the presentation/simulation of out mental disease. The first photo shows a graph of brain waves that a student would go through while participating in the simulation. The brain waves only range in the Beta and Gamma range. This is good because of Gamma and Beta waves mean they are attentive to the simulation and not near to or asleep. The second photo shows a piecewise function of this graph.

"Lesson graph" IF 2018

"Piecewise work" IF 2018

Conclusion
This was a very enjoyable unit as well as an informative one. The action project was also very enjoyable and included a lot of pieces that seemed to fit well together. Though I struggled with the completion of this action project, it did help me get a good grasp of the content learned in this class. We did have one field experience in this class, where we able to speak with a medical student who helped us understand what diagnosing and helping a person is like in the medical field. I found this to be a very neat and productive conversation, that was, once again, useful and relevant to the class. I'm glad that I had this class, and the amazing experience it brings with it.

Citations 

“How to Help a Loved One with HD.” Hoarding, 21 Apr. 2017, hoarding.iocdf.org/for-families/how-to-help-a-loved-one-with-hd/.

Parekh, Ranna. “What Is Hoarding Disorder?” What Is Hoarding Disorder?, July 2017, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/hoarding-disorder/what-is-hoarding-disorder.

“Prefrontal Cortex.” GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog, 18 Aug. 2015, www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/prefrontal-cortex.
TEDxTalks. YouTube, YouTube, 24 Nov. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0c33pemjLw.

The Effects of Spina bifida

In this first unit of our exciting new STEAM class Disease, we learned and discussed about all types of diseases that can affect a person physically, what systems of the body that disease interferes with, why some disease affect certain people more, and how to complete a square. Completing the square is a math concept that helps us turn a quadratic math equation into an x= equation. In my action project, I wrote about an interview I did with my cousin who was diagnosed with Spina bifida and I've drawn out a diagram showing what and where Spina Bifida is really affecting in her body. The Patient Profile is about her experience living with Spina Bifida. Another section is more focused towards the disease itself and what traits and common symptoms this disease has. Throughout this class we will be exploring and learning all about diseases, so with this first action project, I hope you enjoy!

Patient Profile
My cousin Julia was born with Spina Bifida, a disease that would drastically affect anyone’s life. Because she was born with Spina Bifida, she has never been able to walk; For all her life, she has been restrained to a wheelchair. Spina Bifida is a birth defect that Julia has had to live with for 15 years, without the ability to walk, with constant assistance by her side. “It’s hard for me to get dressed without the help of someone else, like my mom or a nurse.” She told me in an interview. She also explained and pointed out some of her symptoms which included muscle weakness in her legs and muscle stiffness in her right hand. “As you can probably see, my hand doesn’t move as much as this the one.” She said as she pointed to her other hand.

Julia has also been receiving lots of treatments all throughout her life. When asked how many she has had, she responded briefly with and a tired look on her face by saying, “A lot”. My cousin has Myelomeningocele - A severe type of Spina Bifida, that occurs because there are multiple openings in the spine. Spina Bifida is also caused by a Folate deficiency which is a lower than usual amount of an important vitamin for a developing child. Julia has had continuous therapy sessions in January where she had been subject to one major surgery to help her with her symptoms and some of her pain. Several years ago Julia was getting treatment for her disability of walking, Julia received a walker that traveled from the bottom of her feet to the upper middle of her back and reached down her arms. This was part of her exercise to get her muscles stronger for surgery and for life. Though Julia didn’t like this procedure, she still went forward with it and struggled a lot, so that exercise wasn’t part of her life for much time at all.

Spina Bifida is a neural tube defect - which is the defected structure in the spine along with the tissues that surround it, Spina Bifida is a neural tube defect. Spina Bifida is a birth defect that happens when a child’s spine isn’t formed correctly before birth. Spina Bifida is also a genetic disease that can happen to any child as they are born, this disease cannot occur to anybody that is already born, which also means that Spina Bifida cannot be transmitted to other people. There is no way to catch Spina Bifida because it is a birth defect, although it is more likely to happen if a parent has Spina Bifida or has family history with Spina Bifida. To my knowledge, Spina Bifida is not within my family’s history, so Julia just was a case where it could happen to anybody. Julia is paralyzed from the waist down (causing her to be restrained to a wheelchair) and stiff muscles in her hand and wrist. Her affected body systems include her muscular system (because her unused muscles in her legs and her stiffened muscles in her wrist), her nervous system ( her lower half is paralyzed, she is unable to move her legs) and her skeletal system (her weakened bones that are attached to the muscles but, aren’t being used been used).

Diagrams

"Affected Nervous system"
IF 2018

"Affected Muscular system"
IF 2018

"Affected Skeletal system"
IF 2018

Conclusion
I really enjoyed this unit, the math wasn't super difficult but was still challenging. Researching and learning about disease isn't the easiest subject to get into, especially when you write about somebody who is close to you. I look at this unit as a window of discovery to different people's lives who have a disease that can go as far to life-threatening to a disease that is very minor. I learned a lot about the person in my action project, a good example being: I've known her all my life and yet this whole time I never knew the name of her condition. This was a very applicable learning experience that I hope to replicate in the other units of this exciting journey in Disease.

Citations

“Spina Bifida.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Oct. 2016, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/spinabifida/facts.html.

F, I, and J M. “Spina Bifida interview.” 10 Feb. 2018.

“Spina bifida.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 26 Jan. 2018,