Summer Work

So somewhere between finishing up the introduction, writing the formal proposal, proposing to my committee, and submitting to the IRB, I forgot to update.
     Everything has been approved as necessary, which I am very excited about. This means that I can begin data collection first thing in the fall as soon as the SONA research participation pool opens for the semester. Another bonus is that I will be able to run multiple participants simultaneously if lab space allows. I'm very relieved to hear this, and am eager to begin collecting data.
    It is strange to me that a year of graduate school has flown by. This leaves me with just one more year, and while part of me is ready to spread my wings and experience the work force, another part of me feels like time has gone too fast and there's a feeling of nostalgia surrounding the idea of graduating.
     So the plan for the next couple of months includes: setting up the survey account for data collection in the fall and finishing revisions on my introduction/methods section as necessary. More updates to follow.

Weekend of Productivity

     After a lull brought on by some issues I was dealing with, I decided to make this weekend a giant cram session.  After printing some new articles, I decided to pack up and head to a secluded spot to get as much work done as possible.  After reading a few of the articles, I knew it was time to get to the important part, writing the introduction.  I've written research papers before, but for some reason, this introduction seems to be the hardest one I've ever had to write.  It's shocking to me because I've already read so much and seem to be able to explain the concepts verbally, but for some reason, bringing it all together in written form is an arduous task.  Never the less, I've laid the ground work for all but one of the sections I plan to write, so for the most part, I should just have to go back and supplement the information I've already written.  I don't want to say the hard part's over just yet, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (at least for the introduction).

     Amidst the chaos of my writing, I also took the time to work on some other pieces of my thesis, such as the demographics section and the vignettes I plan to use.  As much as writing this thesis is hurting my brain, it's really cool to see the pieces start to come together to form what is hopefully going to be an interesting study.  My advisor believes that no matter what we find, this thesis should provide me with another opportunity to present at the conference for the Eastern Psychological Association next spring because it's not something that's commonly studied, yet seems very important to not only clinical psychology, but also social psychology.  I'm also hoping this can have some practical implications for those who are responsible for organizing Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month (which is now officially the foundation of my thesis) in hopes that we'll have feedback on how the general public is receiving information about BPD.

Outlining

     Another week has slipped away and my reading about Borderline Personality Disorder still continues to pile up.  While the articles are interesting, my eyes want to cross looking at the pile.  Five hour energy will be my new best friend while I attempt to get everything finished.

     I settled on a finalized outline for my thesis introduction:

1. House Resolution 1005- Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month
2. What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
3. Gender Issues in Borderline Personality Disorder
4. Stigma and Labeling in Mental Illness (general perspective)
5. Stigma and Labeling in Borderline Personality Disorder
6. Limitations of current literature/purpose
7. Hypotheses

After playing with some different options for a while, this seems to be the most cohesive outline to date, so for the sake of time and sanity, I'm sticking to it.

     It's strange to think that I'm officially more than halfway finished with this semester and almost halfway finished with the program.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I walked in for orientation, having little to no idea what to expect.  Now that I'm here, I know that I picked the right program.  That's all for now, need to begin to prepare for a lab meeting for my thesis.  Here's to hoping I make sense when I get there!

The Beginning...

     So this is my first post.  If you're reading this, chances are you already know who I am.  If you don't, I'm a graduate student who is simply working to gain a Master of Science in Experimental Psychology degree.  Now you know.  When I was an undergraduate student, I conducted most of my research primarily on music and emotion regulation as it relates to music consumption in college students (by definition, "emerging adults").  Nowadays, I'm doing something totally different...clinical psychology research.

      The topic: Boderline personality disorder.  Specifically, I'm interested in whether or not this is considered to be a 'gendered' disorder (do we look at men vs. women different who are diagnosed with this disorder?), and how labels and social stigma play a role in this.  After reading countless articles and book chapters, and even getting my own shiny new copy of the DSM-IV-TR (the bible of almost all that is abnormal psychology/clinical), I'm still eager to jump into this thesis topic.  Some people have asked me what caused me to make this change in my interests.  The answer is simple: I knew someone with this disorder once, and I want to understand it more.  Before I met her, I never knew what Borderline personality disorder even was.  It wasn't until I took abnormal psychology in my undergraduate days that I began to understand it from an academic perspective.  All I knew is that I couldn't understand why one moment she could be laughing and happy, and the next she's depressed and saying that she wants to die.  I wanted to help her, but I had no idea where to even begin or what to do or say, and often found myself afraid of saying the wrong thing because it might make her upset.

     So far, I'm enjoying my reading and am looking forward to working on this new study.  Stick with me...things can only get more interesting from here. :)