Ecstasy, the Brain, and Serotonin (MIA) :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Ecstasy, the Brain, and Serotonin (MIA) 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or ecstasy, is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. Ecstasy is an often talked about drug due to its recent popularity and rapid spread amongst teenagers especially. Many newspapers and magazines have featured articles in the past 5 years highlighting the danger of this easily made drug, and its rampant use in the club/rave scene of almost all Western countries. The complete effects of ecstasy are still unknown, although much research has been produced that shows the deleterious effects of the drug on the brain. Ecstasy is also controversial because the content of pills varies widely; buyers and sometimes sellers don't really know what each pill consists of (1). The results of a survey published in 2002 set out with the purpose of examining the prevalence and patterns of ecstasy use among college students, and to determine characteristics, associated behaviors, and interests of ecstasy users. These resu lts showed that from 1997-1999, ecstasy use increased significantly in every college subgroup except for noncompetitive schools. The variable most strongly associated with ecstasy use was found to be marijuana. In terms of social context, MDMA users were more likely to spend large amounts of time socializing, attend residential colleges, and belong to a fraternity or sorority. The first study that provided direct evidence that chronic use of ecstasy causes brain damage was published in 1999. The study used advanced brain imaging techniques (PET scan) to show that MDMA harms neurons that release serotonin, a chemical that is thought to play an important role in memory, among other functions. The PET scans showed significant reductions in the number of serotonin transporters, the sites on neuron surfaces that reabsorb serotonin from the space between cells after it has completed its work. The lasting reduction of serotonin transporters occurred throughout the brain. This study and others suggest that brain damage and the amount of MDMA ingested are directly correlated (2). But what are the functional consequences? The functional consequences of ecstasy use have just begun to be explored in the past few years. Another study, published in 2000, found that heavy ecstasy users (30-1000 occasions) as opposed to non-ecstasy users, reported significantly higher scores on tests for somatisation, obsessionality, anxiety, hostility, phobic-anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, poor appetite, an restless or disturbed sleep. Another interesting effect of MDMA found was a significantly higher degree of impulsivity.

Belonging: ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’, ‘Migrant Hostel’ and Photo Essay ‘Belongings: Felt, Presented, Challenged’

Belonging is the ability of an individual to reconcile identity with their social environment. Peter Skrzynecki’s poems Feliks Skrzynecki and Migrant Hostel from the anthology ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ explore this concept in relation to migrants during the post WWII period and are reflections of Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory. The photo essay entitled Belongings; felt, presented, challenged transfers these same principles to a modern context, illustrating the enduring nature of the struggle humanity faces in the endeavour to belong.Feliks’ gardening in Feliks Skrzynecki can be seen as a response to the years of forced labour in Germany which left him at the mercy of bigger tides in the affairs of humanity. Once in Australia as part of the post WWII influx of migrants, Feliks devotes himself to creating an environment which he can control. Stanza one and two establishes a sense of comfort and familiarity within the niche he has created for himself . Feliks recognises that belonging is gained through the possession of particular socially valued and accepted criteria.In an Australian context, uniformity is made the criteria for belonging, something which Feliks himself does not value highly, as expressed in â€Å"Did your father ever attempt to learn English? † The condescending tone employed portrays the perceived societal value of assimilation and the representation of an unwelcoming society as seen from a migrant’s perspective. Henri Tajfel’s social identity theory states that a person’s sense of self is based on their group membership(s); that in order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong (in group) and discriminate against the groups that we do not (out group).Peter Skrzynecki presents a contradictory self-categorisation in the poem Feliks Skrzynecki. â€Å"His (fathers) Polish friends always shook hands too violently† connotes cultural exclusiv ity and the affinity of the persona with a non-Polish culture. Child voice serves to highlight the generation divide between Feliks and his son as Peter seeks to strengthen his sense of belonging in his new Australian culture by establishing his father and â€Å"his Polish friends† as the ‘out group’.Conversely and simultaneously, the persona distinguishes himself from the Australian bureaucracy through the use of derogatory, stereotypical language: â€Å"A crew cut, grey haired department clerk who asked me in dancing bear grunts†. This highlights the difficulty of establishing a sense of belonging when conflicted with two cultural identities. The poem Migrant Hostel (Parkes 1949-51) explores the alienation of and animosity shown towards ‘newcomers’ to Australian society. â€Å"Nationalities sought each other out instinctively† connotes the importance of familiarity, as expressed in Feliks Skrzynecki.Individuals are more able to reconc ile their personal identity with the inherent need to belong to a group in a known and familiar environment. The emotional and physical security provided by one’s own cultural group is evidence of the pre-programmed biological need to form ‘tribes’. The migrants are dehumanised through a lack of information- â€Å"left us wondering† and â€Å"unaware†. The migrants pose a threat to current Australian pattern of existence and the construct of social Darwinism dictates that the new threat must be eliminated.In order for the individuals to maintain their feelings of belonging, the two groups are in a constant state of competition; hence the hostility felt by the migrants is a result of competing identities. Consequently the perception that we must learn our right to belong permeates society. Belonging is not an inherent right of the human being, but something that is earned through socially valued criteria. Just as Feliks is denied acceptance by Austra lian society in Feliks Skrzynecki, so too are the migrants by â€Å"a barrier at the main gate†¦.Pointed in reprimand or shame†. The migrants are made to feel prisoners, subverted to authority and â€Å"needing its sanction† to live their lives. Due to their alternate cultural identity migrants are excluded and alienated from society, revealing that t concept of belonging is heavily based on dominant culture. Belongings: felt, presented, challenged explores perhaps the most conflicting yet thought provoking aspect of belonging; that of the struggle between society’s expectations of conformity and the individuals search for a unique sense of identity.The photo essay is compiled of images taken by victims persecuted for choosing not to belong to the popular vision of society. In the post 9/11 context, where choosing not to belong can result in civil wars and racial persecution, this simultaneous need to belong to society and an individual’s own search for identity are harshly conflicted. Individual torment and dislocation is experienced by thousands of people as they become the casualties of an internal jihad of ethics and instinct.The control exerted over these people is a gross exaggeration of the control portrayed in Migrant Hostel and represents the dire consequences of the inability of the individual to reconcile personal identity with their social environment. The ability is indeed affected by the nature of the individual’s context. The ideas about belonging communicated in Belongings: felt, presented, challenged are such that some milieu do not foster individual thought but rely solely on conformity as a basis for belonging. Any deviance from this structure results in persecution and in extreme cases, genocide.To a lesser extent, Peter Skrzynecki experienced these feelings of oppression and conveys the emotional isolation involved in the process of migration and assimilation. Migrant Hostel reveals the perception th at we must earn our right to belong and the opposition faced by competing groups. Feliks Skrzynecki further explores this concept, looking at the effects of conflicting cultural identities on an individual and the affiliation with competing ‘in’ and ‘out’ groups. Thus belonging is determined by the ability to reconcile personal identity with social environment.

Human Trafficking An Evolving Global Phenomenon

Human trafficking is an evolving global phenomenon that lacks adequate attention and information. The global issue has been around for many years, but it has been hidden and kept a secret by so many who knew it was going on. Today, there are â€Å"approximately 800,000 people trafficked across international borders† and many more trafficked from state to state (Richards 155). No longer is human trafficking hiding in the shadows of a small farm or town that is hidden away from a busy city near by. Human trafficking has made its move to all continents and ages. The global issue of human trafficking has become the world’s largest trafficking activity because of the large revenue that is made from it, as well the belief that it has become the†¦show more content†¦Moreover, Mulvihill describes the signs that a victim of human trafficking would display, such as anxiety, avoiding eye contact, depression, never seen alone, appears to be in a relationship, and various o ther red flags (67). In a similar manner, Andreas Schloenhardt, Paris Astill-Torchia, and Jarrod M. Jolly author’s of â€Å"Be Careful of What You Pay For: Awareness Raising On Trafficking In Persons† explain that the lack of educating students and law enforcement has also hindered the amount of information given out during campaigns to put an end to the phenomenon (Schloenhardt, et. all 420). Not only are students who are learning uninformed, but the general public as well. Another author, Tiffany Richards, takes a different approach on human trafficking in her article â€Å"Health Implications of Human Trafficking†. Richards’ article informs the reader of the statistics of human trafficking, as well as what the crime does to the victim mentally and physically (Richards 159). Trafficking varies region to region, however the effects of the crime have a common trend (159). Richards article presents information concerning human trafficking in a manner that educates the reader and provides useful facts to suppress the actions of this global crime. The authors of the articles all present the need to educate the world in one way or another, whether it be through campaigns or medical professionals. The differences of the authors writings is that Mulvihill writes primarily about the