"SUP GOLLUM" "HEY SMEAGOL"

i am taking a course on "health behavior change." my professor is a quack. i think that he is trying to induce the development of dissociative identity disorder in his students. you know, multiple personalities and such.

each week we have an assignment to read certain passages from a mind and body health book and then write a one page report on our experience with trying the techniques in the book. most of the exercises are typical of a yoga class where you try to control your thoughts and use them to relax your body. things like putting out outside influences and concentrate on breathing and such. i have heard of this stuff but until this class had never really tried it. i dont really get much out of it. but i can see how some people might find it to help relieve stress.

well last week our "assignment" included creating a special secret place in our minds and creating a figure that is an expert with a problem we having in our lives. once the figure is there you are supposed to ask it questions and seek advise with your problem (usually an ailment, like cancer). you are supposed to follow the direction of the figure and ponder its answers to your questions. if you dont want to do that, then you are supposed to create a figure for your "pain" to take shape in. then do pretty much the same thing to it. ask it stuff like "why are your here tormenting me?"

now let me explain dissociative identity disorder. an individual has a traumatic experience. this experience is often violent and painful. in an effort to cope with the trauma, the person develops an alternate ego or personality that they can assume. this personality can be completely unrelated to the person in gender, age, maturity, expertise, etc. if this practice is repeated, over time the secondary personality can actually take complete control of the person for an indefinite period. it could be years before the original personality actually comes back into control.

i dont know about you but i see several similarities between creating a fictious cancer expert to help you cope with your disease and the development of multiple personalities. i pointed this out to my professor in the report and told him i thought the assignment was ridiculous and that he should explain himself during lecture.

i recieved full credit for the assignment and no explanation. i doubt he even read the report.

by the way, dissociative identity disorder is not the same as schitzophrenia. schitzophrenia implies halucinations but not a personality taking over the person's mind. only tormenting it.