Kate Luna

Psych 1010

Reflection

For this reflection, I will be reflecting on my signature project. My signature

project was about the misuse of opioids in the USA. I chose this topic because I think

it’s something that should be talked about, we should be more aware of it, and we

should teach it to others. What really surprised me about this project was the statistics

of people misusing opioids or overdosing on them or dying from them. What’s more

surprising is the age group that misuses opioids. There are teens and young adults who

use opioids and their parents don’t even know. Many people misuse opioids because

they either get addicted to it, they’re depressed or bullied and they want to escape from

that reality for a bit, or they’re thinking about committing suicide. Some unexpected

challenges that arose was that from the research that I did, all of the websites that I had

opened all had the same thing as the previous site that I read, but it was just worded

differently. It was a bit difficult to find some new information because nothing else would

appear when I would search it up on google. How I might apply my findings in life is to

be more aware of this situation and help others so that they don’t fall into the dark hole.

I haven’t met anyone or known anyone personally, who has misused opioids other than

celebrities. I hope I never have to deal with someone I care about abusing opioids, but if

I do, I will try my best to help stop it.

What I enjoyed learning in this class was how our memory works. Memory is a

tricky thing. I always thought of it as a recording camera, but turns out it’s not that. Our

memory is so complex that we don’t even know it. We have many memories stored in

our brain that can’t recall those memories because they’re stored deep inside and once

something triggers it, you’ll then be able to recall that memory. How memory relates to
Kate Luna
Psych 1010

my signature project is that you can blackout when abusing opioids and not remember

what happened. It is pretty common for this to happen when you’re abusing any kind of

drug.

One psychological principle that I plan on applying in my life is self regulation. I

need to step away from school or whatever it is that is causing me stress and just relax.

My grandparents have a cabin up in the mountains that we sometimes go to just for the

weekend; like a little getaway. I kept asking if we could go up there because I really

needed to get out. We went there after Thanksgiving and it was the best thing that

could’ve happened. I was so stressed out about school because the semester was

ending, finals were coming up, etc. I got to relax, go on a walk, go on a hike, and I

played lots of pool. After we came back, I felt better mentally and physically. I wasn’t

stressed out anymore. Going there made me realize that I need to get more and that

being out in nature really helps me cope with stress.