Mental & Emotional Health

ADHD Kids’ Brains Mature More Slowly
To summarize this article, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill University, Canada), with funding from the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Health have found that parts of ADHD diagnosed children “develop slower” than those of other children. The part of the brain that controls inappropriate actions and thoughts, the attention focusing ability, the moment-to-moment activity memory, the work-for-reward and the movement control areas of the brain may be lagging behind in development by as much as three years. (So now, when you your mother in an exasperated telephone call that you can’t get your seven-year-old to act her age, there may be a biological component as to why.)

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If you Google health information, you have the option of 110,000,000 different links to choose from. Google-ing mental health information and your results are a little more specific, but still leave you with 70,800,000 links! 110 million links? 70 million links? Where do you go to get information that you trust from experts? Where do you go when you’re looking to meet someone who deals with the same generalized anxiety disorder or the premenstrual induced migraines that you live with?

You go to WEGO Health!

You sign up***,
You read and post on the forums,
You see what sites the experts recommend and you can rest assured that you are being provided with the best health content there is on the internet.

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When you’re dealing with chronic stress, your cortisol (those steroids that get into your DNA and change your genetic expression!) is increased. Your blood sugar and your insulin levels are both increased, which can be dangerous and lead to diabetes II. Your immunity is “dysregulated.” (Today I am absolutely feeling dysregulated, I may write another entry about this later!)

There are actual tests that one can have done to see if they’re in a state of chronic stress (as though you could not already tell!). You can have a cortisol test done (normally by a naturopath). Your salivary cortisol will vary throughout the day, however, so speak with your naturopath before you settle on a final cortisol number. You can have your catecholamines tested as well.

Acute stress in females suppresses testosterone, but in other stresses, it can be elevated. Speaking with your physician about this will help you decide if a testosterone test is the best test for you.
Finally, there is a waist to hip ratio test that will work to show chronic stress as well. For women, it is best to have a waist to hip ratio of .8 or less. For men, it should be less than one. (To figure this out, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement; it’s really that easy!)

There are ways to cope with this stress (and the stress of stress). Coping is, by definition, a “response to a perceived threat in the environment or within oneself.” You can have adaptive coping (problem solving & emotional regulation - keeping yourself put together during stress & then picking yourself up afterwards) or you can have maladaptive coping (with avoidance or overconsumption - of cigarettes, food, television, alcohol and whatnot).

There are hundreds of studies available that show humans who are less stressed are more healthy. We need to learn to manage the regular stressors in our lives so they don’t turn our bodies against us

mental & emotional health, stress, cortisol, coping with stress

Are you sick of learning about stress yet? Have I stressed you out enough yet? We’re on day EIGHT of the Stressball entries. I am enjoying writing them, and I seem to be receiving a lot of comments on how people are reacting to ‘em. Guess I’ll finish things up with a bit on how stress effects your nervous system.

Your nervous system responds to stress alongside the endocrine system. It is trigger by the “subjective perceptions of threat” whether the stress/threat is real or imagined. (So even when you just think of stress, your nervous system begins to react!) There is a disruption of your sympathetic & parasympathetic branches of your body during reactions to stress.

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I’m still working on continuing sharing what I’ve learned from my recent PHE 363 lectures on stress. (I did well on the quiz today, for anyone who remembered that I had it! I think I may have even earned one of the two extra credit points!)

I left you hearing about Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome, where portions of your brain are actually increased portions of your brain due to chronic stress. Scary, huh? Well just wait until I start talking to your stressed out selves today!

(BTW, thanks for the comments lately, guys, I’ve triggered something in ya’ll with these stress posts, and it’s exciting that I get so much email about ‘em!)

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Today I’ll be spending some time continuing yesterday’s Stressball V post. I am both prepping for the quiz (all this stuff will be on my quiz on Thursday at 2pm, wish me luck if you read it before then!) and educating my blog-readers. I’m so very happy with this circle!

There are three different types of stress:
eustress: a good stress (planning a wedding, learning your planned pregnancy is going great, winning an athletic competition),
neustress: neither good nor bad stress (a tornado hitting an unoccupied land would be neustress), and
distress: a bad stress, it can be both acute as well as chronic (failing a test, not being able to pay a certain bill, being stuck in a traffic jam)

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This post was actually written on Tuesday evening … I like to do the future-post thing!

Today’s lecture in PHE 363: Chronic & Communicable Diseases was about the horrible things that stress does to your body.

Guess who left the class more stressed out than when she walked into it?

Oh, yeah, that would have been me!

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Unfortunately, the past few weeks have been highly stressful in my life. With quitting my job, taking a week off, starting school, having to write two mini-papers in the first 7 days of school, and friends moving away, you could say that I’ve had a lot on my plate. It’s been disconcerting going from a very stress free job to a job that the rest of my life could depend on. It has me thinking about how stressed I really am allowing myself to get for something that I could be more relaxed about.

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Every once in a while I start browsing Amazon.com just to see what new books are out there. Ya’ll know that I’m always reading and since I love to shop, why not browse books! I thought I’d list some of the books that caught my eye today that you all might be interested in as well! I’m very tempted to actually but these books, but am going to hold off and see if I can’t use BookMooch to get some of them instead! Free books are the best!

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300: a great movie. I enjoyed it. *nods*

300: the year the year the city of Split is built.

300: how many more hits I need in September to break my March record! Pass the word on, people!

I’m in a funk today. I’m overwhelmed, stressed out, not laughing, and just not myself. *le sigh*

I think it’s because of the major change in my life lately but I’m not sure it’s 100% that. I haven’t seen MamaDee in almost two weeks and I miss her. I am going to see her on Sunday, but still that’s been too long. School has me stressed out, I’ve had a lot of random little things to do this week and have had some snafus pop up with regards to school. I am thinking about finding a part-time job on top of everything, but with this week being SO stressful, I don’t know if that’s a smart idea!

mental & emotional health, blog hits, raising traffic, Portland State University, college, education, friends

Today was the first day of school. It was a little overwhelming time-wise on top of being brand new everywhere else. I have class on Mondays from 11:30am-6:30pm with a two-hour break in between the 2nd and 3rd class. Today I couldn’t be as productive as I wanted because a) I didn’t actually have two hours, and b) I couldn’t get online because I didn’t get all my stuff taken care of like I thought I would. Tomorrow I have a one-hour break (10-11am) and am going to try to get my student ID made as well as my ODIN (email) account secured. This will help me with future time management issues I may have. I’m really sure you all care to know what I’m doing on my “lunch” break tomorrow. *shakes her head* Sometimes I wonder about my own self.

It’s 9pm and I’m only future-posting by 11 hours. That’s rare for me. I wanted to use my two hour break to get some posts ready for the rest of the week, but that didn’t happen. I now write for two 451Press blogs, and while I am thoroughly enjoying it, time management wasn’t something I had to worry about before school started. I could write at work, I could write at home in the afternoon/evenings and I could get everything done and still have plenty of time. Learning about 451Press’ new payout schedule today (fellow 451 writers, isn’t it exciting?)

Tonight I had to get home (traffic in downtown Portland at 6:30pm is not fun) and then take care of a financial issue (just writing a letter) and then I had to do homework! Homework! For the first time in a year (I did take a class last fall, but it’s been THREE years since I had to write a paper!) I had homework. I’m spending tomorrow evening away from the house and so I wouldn’t have had time to write it then, so I tackled it tonight.

So, I need to re-learn how to manage my own time. I’ve been successful in the past with it, and hope that eventually I’ll slide back into an old routine, but today it’s been quite overwhelming. Eventually I’ll find a place to sit for two hours during my breaks and either do homework or future-post. Hopefully. Maybe.

After I write my other article tonight I’m hoping to do a little time-management “research” to see if I can’t find some great (and some silly, perhaps!) pieces of advice for the rest of you struggling to find enough hours in your day to get everything done!

[tags]mental & emotional health, 451 press, eating disorder talk, life as a Christian woman, depression talk online, time management, Portland State University, education, school, back to school, writing[tags]

So, as of this week I’ve been off Prozac for five months. I feel incredible. I still have rough days, but overall, have learned to manage my anxiety and depression with healthy habits and life-changes. I haven’t sunk into a hole and avoided everyone (unless you can count work as a hole) and I haven’t ignored my friends because of a funk. I’m pretty impressed with myself actually.

School starts on Monday and I’m really looking forward to the changes that is going to bring. I am going to be enveloped in books and class and studying and pens and tests and crazy Freshmen and it’s all going to be new, but still very familiar.

It used to be that I had a hard time making friends, but I’ve learned that it’s not so hard, and it’s not impossible for me. It’s been interesting to me to look back on the friendships that I’ve made in the past five months and see how they differ from friendships of five years ago. I keep myself and my previous struggles relatively quiet and to myself, until I think a person is “ready” to hear about them.

Yesterday I spent the day with a good friend at the beach, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We laughed so hard my stomach hurt more than a dozen times, we sang along badly to all sorts of music and it was worth the gas and the drive-time. I am proud to see myself as this changed woman, and I feel good about the way my life has been altered. My favorite thing to hear lately has been; “I don’t even recognize you!” because I know I haven’t physically changed - they’re seeing what I’m feeling.

mental & emotional health, personal, change, depression, anxiety

I’ve been tagged by Neel so now I get to have a mid-week me on Monday! It’ll be a Monday-Meme day or something!
-Pass your friends a note by leaving a comment.
-Visit them by hitting their site.
-Show them love with a link to their entry.

So here goes: Seven Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Me
1. Most of my in-person/in-real-life/see-everyday friends don’t know about this blog. Some of them don’t know that I deal with so many mental illness issues and because I work really hard to keep myself 100% put together in front of them 100% of the time, so I don’t want all of them seeing the real me. Yes, this means that you, my faithful blog readers, get to see the real me.

2. I detest being called by diminutive names by people who I’m not close to. I’m okay with nicknames from my friends, from my family, and even if I’m close to a guy I’m dating, but I hate being called “sweetheart” by the grocery store clerk. I’m not her sweetheart and I never will be; I don’t call you honey-buns, you don’t need to demean me and call me sweetheart! (I’ve been told I’d never cut it in the South because of this!)

3. The sound of ocean waves puts me in a melancholy & contemplative mood. I love the ocean, I love the water, I love the salt, I love the sand, I love the fact that I’m standing on the edge of a continent when I’m at the ocean, and it always makes me think. I didn’t see the ocean for the first time until I was 12 (I played on glaciers in AK when I lived there, but didn’t count that as the ocean) and ever since then I’ve been entranced by the feelings the ocean gives me. The ocean makes me want to write. Even just writing about the ocean makes me want to write.

4. A year ago I lived with such strong social anxiety I couldn’t make friends. I couldn’t keep friends because I wouldn’t leave the house to hang out with them, I wouldn’t call them back, I wouldn’t even write them back with emails because I was that anxious about making the “right” impression on people. I have grown so much in the past year that I have no problem making new friends, calling people back, attending concerts (I saw Willie Nelson on Saturday night and that was AMAZING!) and thoroughly enjoying myself while I do so.

5. I love to cook, but hate cooking for only myself. I make mean chicken or ground turkey enchiladas and I’ve never had anyone complain about them. I love to bake (especially sourdough and banana bread) and take pride in people complimenting my culinary abilities. Because I don’t like to cook for myself, I don’t cook hardly enough anymore though. Eating the same thing day after day can drive me crazy so leftovers (which I do love) aren’t always fun for myself. I need to learn to FREEZE stuff and then just reheat it a week later when I’m ready for it again.

6. Vacuuming is my absolute favorite chore. There is something relaxing about the back and forth motion of the electric sucking machine. Everyone I tell this to stares at me funny and I always laugh. I hate to clean the bathroom* (don’t really know why) but I do love to suck dirt from the carpets with my trusty Shark!

7. I think I have a mineral deficiency. I have recently realized that I am starting to bruise really easily, and have been doing research as to why. One of the things that came up may be that I am eating too many almonds. Almonds apparently have some of the same properties as aspirin and I’ve been eating a lot of them, so that may be part of it. I could also be lacking in Vitamin C (which might very well be the case, too). I’m going to continue doing my research and see what happens.

Now I’m supposed to tag some other people so I’m picking four people I know regularly read me!
1. Amanda at Depression Talk
2. Mad at Mad Haiku (do it in Haiku form and you’ll be even more of my hero!)
3. Mallory at Mallory In The Middle
4. Just Me at Master of Irony (when you have time, sweetheart! *giggles*)

mental and emotional health, meme, 7 things about me, personal, nicknames, pet peeves, grocery shopping, ocean, sounds, waves, writing, melancholy, contemplative, social anxiety, making friends, keeping friends, growing, learning, healing, cooking, recipes, leftovers, mineral deficiency, vitamin C, vitamin K iron, anemia

*that bathroom is NOT mine!

Everyone likes to take tests, right? No, very few people like to take tests … but what happens when they’re tests that will tell you all about yourself? I did a bit of searching and found some mental health tests that can give you some insight into yourself. I have taken each of these tests to be sure that they are accurate. *nods* Mucho scientific research occurs on my couch!

Are you addicted to the internet? - “You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.” I think I would have to agree with that. I spend a lot of time on my computer & online, but I get paid to do what I’m spending my time here doing.

Self test for Alcoholism - I answered yes to a few of these questions, but never more than three in each section, which can indicate a certain stage of alcoholism. If you’re at all concerned you may be an alcoholic, please take some time to call the Alcohol Hotline at 1-800-331-2900. It is both free and confidential.

Adult ADD/ADHD Test - “Dr. Amen suggests: “More than 20 items with a score of three or more indicates a strong tendency toward ADD. Items 1, 6, and 7 are essential to make the diagnosis.” I do not have adult ADD/ADHD and I didn’t think I would.

Screening for Anxiety - “The above answer(s) are anxiety symptoms that might be part of an Anxiety Disorder. It is advised to seek a psychiatric consultation.” I knew that. : )

Depression Screening Test - “Your answers show the presence of prominent depressive symptoms. It is advised to seek a psychiatric consultation.” I knew that, too!

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Test “You probably do not have clinically significant obsessions.” and “You probably do not have clinically significant compulsions.” Yup, that’s what I assumed. I’m anal about things, but I don’t significantly obsess about anything.

The Termperment Discovery Test “Guardians can have a lot of fun with their friends, but they are quite serious about their duties and responsibilities. Guardians take pride in being dependable and trustworthy; if there’s a job to be done, they can be counted on to put their shoulder to the wheel. Guardians also believe in law and order, and sometimes worry that respect for authority, even a fundamental sense of right and wrong, is being lost. Perhaps this is why Guardians honor customs and traditions so strongly–they are familiar patterns that help bring stability to our modern, fast-paced world.” This one is rather long, but it’s obviously true for me. If you want to check out ANY of these tests, this would be the one that you should check out!

Screening for Personality Disorders “Based on the above answer(s), your personality traits might be associated with following personality type(s): Obsessive Personality.” I wouldn’t have thought this, but the more that I read about it, the more I am able to agree.

Health Tests has quite the list of different tests including: the anger test, lifestyle test and even a sleep hygiene test!

mental and emotional health, quizzes, tests, surveys, anxiety, alcoholism, depression, personality disorders, anger tests, lifestyle tests, sleep hygiene tests

I grew up in a pretty small town. There were 20,000 people and most of them were conservative, white, blue collar workers. In this town, you either were a nerd, a jock, or a stoner. (I got to be in the “nerd” category, and still don’t mind that!) There wasn’t much to do in this town (two bowling alleys and, after my Sophomore year of high school, a roller skating rink. I mostly hung out with my friends at their houses doing random things that were “nerdy.” I didn’t think much of it until I moved away to college.

In college, I joined (approximately) 39,999 other people in a larger town, with people of all different races, ethnicities, educational backgrounds, financial situations, sexualities, and whatnot. I was blown away by these new people, and made friends quickly and felt comfortable with everyone. During my junior year at school I took a women’s studies class (that I loved) about violence against women. My professor was from Minnesota and one day mentioned that this college wasn’t very diverse. It got me thinking; I came from a little town and this new town was diverse. Professor came from a huge town and this new town was not diverse. Interesting how that works out.

The whole point of this post was that I spent my weekend with a family who absolutely understands tolerance. Mr.Cee is gay. He came out of the closet in his early high school years (in the little town of 20,000) and then moved to an even smaller town. He made friends, his family continued to love him, and nothing was too shocking for them. Mr.Cee moved to New York City where, while doing IV drugs, he contracted HIV. His family, rather than shunning him, have rallied around him and continued to show their love & support towards him. Mr.Cee started a treatment for Hepatitis C a few weeks ago and his medication has made him pretty sick and makes him feel worn out as well. He came to town for a family party, and watching his family surround him with love, even though they haven’t seen him in years, was really cool.

I feel like I lost my train of thought a million times during this post. I may address this again when I have more thoughts actually put together. Enjoy your Tuesday!!

mental and emotional health, tolerance, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, family, Roseburg, Oregon State University