Mental, Physical. One big riddle, many parts. Interconnected. Mind and Body equals Health. Each impacts on each other.
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Psst!! There ARE helplines! Phones, live chat, web counselling; Some have mobile Apps. So check it out for a friend Might just help you too, my friend.
On January 28, let’s talk. Bell will donate 5¢ more to mental health initiatives for every:
Text message sent*
Mobile and long distance call made*
Tweet using#BellLetsTalk
Facebook share of our Bell Let’s Talk image
*By a Bell or Bell Aliant customer only
So even if you are with a different phone provider the tweets and facebook shares will donate 5 cents…so share, share, share and let’s talk about mental health to remove the stigma so more people, youths and adults will get help. There is treatment, there is recovery and there is always help.
Guilt is often an emotion we tell youths to use as a guide, a barometer helping them guage right from wrong but what are the negative long term effects? In a civilized, organized society we may say Guilt can keep people in their places…what about the torment, anguish of those who never forgive themselves and carry this guilt? What about the righteous politicians or clergy who feed on this guilt? Guilt can destroy, guilt can serve a positive purpose when Sally puts back that lipstick on the counter, but did she do it out of fear, good values or not being able to live with the guilt? There are so many avenues to travel on these discussions of “guilt”…
Read on this particular perspective on Guilt….Cheryl-Lynn, October 5, 2013
Guilt? Ah geez, Sreejit Poole, your prompts make me really work hard!! My thoughts overwhelm me for hours before I find my voice…to contribute. Sometimes I come close to say, screw it…I’ll pass this week. But, I am attracted to challenge and drawn to self-actualization and inner growth.
This is one emotion that can fester for years, and I struggled as to what I would contribute to the prompt on this 8th week of Dungeon Prompts. Is guilt darkness or lightness? Is a good thing or is it a useless and damaging emotion? I know I am not alone to think like this but yet…tormented still, today, from so many past circumstances that continue to thrive on my guilt, that I seem to have difficulty to let go. The more I feed it, it thrives like that damn EverReady bunny!!
Her test results had just come in
this time they all were sure
There wasn’t much to do for her
Except hurt and endure.
She looked the same
despite the news
the doctor diagnosed.“
They haven’t found a cure just yet”
Said he, “but there’s still hope”
she thought perhaps with research
…she just will try to cope.
She looked the same despite the news the doctor diagnosed.
She grabbed her purse
he tailed not far
she wished he could disperse
and not get in her car.
She named him her tormentor
he stalked her every day;
Everywhere she went
he always had his way.
He leaned up close where
he could hurt her
she cried out of despair
rubbing her throbbing knee.
When she got home
he trailed behind
and struck out at her knees
she cried in pain
And fell down hard
she’d dropped her purse and keys.
The school bus came
she had his treats
he squealed with joy
and hugged her tight
She beamed at her ‘lil boy.
That night she ran a bath
to help relieve her pain
She wondered if her prayers
for cures would only be in vain.
She looked the same despite the news the doctor diagnosed.
That night she called her sister
to talk about her day…
the verdict was sinister
the fact she had RA.
And yet she looked the same
despite she had RA.
No one could really see
she suffered so much pain
with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
She looked the same despite the news the doctor diagnosed.
Let’s hope and pray
that research may
find a cure some day
so those who are in pain
their prayers won’t be in vain.
———————————————————————————————————-
After reading an article on the invisible pain of mental illness, it reminded me that there are many other conditions that cause pain that are not visible or obvious to people. A person living with chronic pain does not necessarily walk with a cane, have their arm in a sling nor get around in a wheelchair.
This past week my pain has increased and I had to pick up several items at the drug store late one night. It’s a 24 hour pharmacy I pass by after my late shifts. I set my recycled bag at the end of the counter and for the first time, the cashier just left all my purchases on the counter and proceeded to serve the next person in line. She never asked me if I could fill my bag either. I found that curious as they are supposed to fill it for you. I guess it was passed midnight and she was trying to keep her energy for her night shift…but still. The items were heavy and I was in pain. Of course I didn’t say anything to slow things up for the other patrons waiting in line. We were ALL tired. But it bothered me because if I had my arm in a sling or had a cane, the cashier may have been more accommodating.
By the time I got in the car I was in a lot of pain, tired and pretty agitated. But stress does NOT help either…just upsets you and actually increases the pain.
The next time you see someone who seems to be opening a door at a mall or store, a bit too slow for you, try not to sigh with impatience but rather offer to help or open the door. You have no clue by just looking with the naked eye what a person is feeling.
This was an ad on Facebook a while ago…you know on the right hand side to catch your attention? They did a survey, (Facebook did) and mostly women click on those pesky and annoying ads. Well, to see this photo to attract mostly women, is an insult. Perhaps it was to attract the sensitive type, or maybe it was to shock the healthy type who thrives on a healthy body, not the size and shape it should be, or maybe just maybe it was to attract a vulnerable person whose self depends only on what media portrays and a fragile person perhaps, whose body mass equates to her self-worth or another person who never accepts the body he/she has been graced with.
Well, the photo angered ME because I could see how it would attract any vulnerable person and the name Dr. …. Well, it seems to endorse the article because one would think a medical professional “knows best”. You would think…(And yes, I know the doctor had nothing to do with this particular image….personally). But it’s THERE right out in the Facebook public!! So pardon me for taking a few moments to rant at my leisure.
I don’t care what the article is about! I don’t give a care why the advertisers did it…what sickens me is to see such an image to shock, hurt, attract, tease, tempt or scare anyone into reading the darn article.
Keep holding on if you are battling with an eating disorder, if you are in treatment, if you are in recovery…if you have friends or family struggling with this…tell them…to remember to keep holding on.
So many people at some point in their lives, whether young or old are confronted with challenging experiences that force them to face, feel, live and suffer through difficult emotions. I hear many youths in my work who share such strife and make no mistake on the severity of their pain! They HURT!
It is so easy to say, “Aw, they’re young, what have they got to worry about?” or “They are of the cyber generation and know not what work is.” Oh, yeah?! I beg to differ.
Again, we (as a society) tend to generalize, label…and there’s that word again….Stigmatize. Youths are not less or more…they ARE human beings that have not been on this planet as long as adults.So What? They are living in a world that we, YOU, adults have created…so I beg you, could we be more open-minded…please!
I hear from youths who struggle with screw ups they endured at the hands of situation often caused by other youths yes, but mostly by ADULTS…
So let’s all try to put our heads together…young and old and figure out a way to release some of the pain. It may not heal but it could offer some respite…some relief for a little while. You know the lapse between counselling sessions, doctor’s appointments, group therapy, psychiatric evaluations and appointments as well. What I’m talking about are COPING strategies “tween times” and eventually to enable YOU to manage YOU and YOUR emotions just a bit better.
– What do some of you do that works to unleash intense emotions that sometimes paralyze you?
– What has worked to finally get you out of bed in the morning, in the afternoon, or just to get up and have a few bites to eat?
– Share here what has worked even if briefly, it is still a reprieve, right?
– Do you mediate?
– What is your mantra?
– Do you exercise? Please tell me what physical activity that does not demand too much dexterity..{hey, that rhymes!!!} I would love to learn more physical activities but yes, I daresay, I am maladroit. I love to dance and have no care what I look like because I am OLDer now and would care less. So for me, dancing to my favourite music can release the youthful and happy spirit in me. I just let the music fill my ears, my head, my mind, my heart and soul and magically my body responds in jerks, and swings, and steps and sways…but oh, how it feels great anyway. {YaY! another rhyme…I’m on a roll today!}
– Another thing that helps to relieve pent up emotions that I have discovered is Writing! I used to journal and that helps too; I’ve ascribed a name to my journal. This way she seems more like a caring friend/listener and I call my friend, Emily. She listens, does not judge, she embraces my words and I feel unburdened after our little chats.
So what do you do to release the endorphin, that amazing natural chemical that makes you smile …even if just a little smile…or that the frown has disappeared just for a little while.
– Do you draw?
– Do you paint?
– Do you take a glob of clay (sculpting) and pound the hell out of it, releasing some rage?
– What works for you?
– Do you listen to music? Play an instrument? Or perhaps you sing? Please share here what works for you.
I have tried some chanting and dancing a few steps I saw on APTN … the Aboriginal instructor was showing us how the simple steps of dancing at a Pow Wow are actually good for cardio and a great way to exercise and tone the body. Who would have thought that? We Caucasians have soooo much to learn!!
I heard many years ago, somewhere, that some Aboriginals recommend that you cry every night before going to sleep. Now don’t quote me…I heard it somewhere in the 1970’s and surely I missed important directions in that saying. However, I, as a woman, and a person who cries easily, find that shedding those tears DO make me feel better. It release a lot of pent up emotions that sometimes I never realized were there.
– Massage therapy can help…A few months ago I went for a massage and at one point, one part of my body reacted to the pressure and touch and a burst of tears gushed out…my massotherapist, in the Ange Gardien, was not alarmed by this as he knew too well, that it was simply a release of tension in some of those “knots” in my body.
Last week I overheard on the radio a scientist discovering that in the tears of a women who was upset compared to the tears of a woman cutting an onion differed greatly in the chemicals within said tears. The emotional tears had many neurotransmitters…so science has finally caught up with the wisdom of First Nations People…That actually makes me smile…my goofy smile, that is.
– Self-talk and trying to manage the thoughts racing through your mind is certainly another way but oh so challenging! (More on this CBT – Cognitive Behaviour Therapy another day).
I often use the same exercise with people either on the phones, in a group session, with children, teens and adults alike…it does seem to work. However YOU have to find what works best for you.
In the past few months I have used a combination of mindfulness & breathing to relax along with a guided imagery exercise. Even when I respond to a web post on-line, I will share the exercise so youths can give it a try. N.B: it only works if you praise at least twice a day for several weeks and when something does upset you…it may help to bring you to a place where you can, at least , function.
CAUTION: Do not practice this exercise operate heavy machinery or drive.
So what has worked for you?
Here is something I just wrote that explains what writing does for me as a person working in the helping profession:
“I met an angel the other night She freed my soul of misery She helped unburden, thus feel light No longer do I feel despair of souls who talk to me most nights Of broken hearts beyond repair. the angel freed me of the pain Now I can sleep again tonight. Now I can sleep again tonight.”
Stop the Stigma 