HEALTH & WELLNESS

To stop police shootings of people with mental health disabilities, I asked them what cops – and everyone – could do to help

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

To stop police shootings of people with mental health disabilities, I asked them what cops – and everyone – could do to help

After Shukri Ali Said left her house during a mental health crisis on April 23, 2018, her sister called 911 for help. Police found Said standing at an intersection holding a knife. Officers shot her five times in the neck and chest, killing her. That same month, in New York, officers answered a 911 call about a black man waving something that looked like a gun. In fact, it was a pipe. But when Saheed Vassell, a 34-year-old father with mental illness who was well known in his Brooklyn community, pointed it at police, they shot him dead. Vassell and Said are among the hundreds of people with intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses in the United States killed by police every year. According to The Washington Post, 142 of the 752 people shot by police so far in 2019 have had a mental i...

The Fear of Fat: Our Last Acceptable Bias

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

The Fear of Fat: Our Last Acceptable Bias

A sexist, racist history of anti-fatness and a for-profit “health” industry has left the U.S. with a weight problem—but not in the way you might think. The U.S. has a problem with its weight—but not in the way you might think. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese, but there’s another side to the “obesity epidemic” that isn’t spoken about enough: fat bias. Americans who aren’t fat live in fear of becoming so. An estimated 45 million are on some kind of diet. According to a Gallup poll, 45% of Americans fret about weight, and in one study, almost half of girls ages 3 to 6 said they worried about being fat. This is not new. The 20th century opened with a rip-roaring debate about corsets. S...

Strategies for handling back-to-school stress

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Strategies for handling back-to-school stress

With the start of a new academic year come increased appointments, chaotic schedules and new environments. Millions of high schoolers and college students are already back in classrooms. With the start of a new academic year come increased appointments, chaotic schedules and new environments. Helpful strategies minimize stress and frustration build-up. Real Simple’s tips include: ‒ Get enough sleep. High schoolers need a solid eight to 10 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation. ‒ Plan ahead. A whiteboard in a prominent place, featuring a week’s worth of appointments, practices, classes, tutoring, etc., is a visual reminder. A study of 197 college freshmen published in 2017 by the National Institutes of Health determined that ”... increased stress level was significantly assoc...

Eating bugs: Nutrition is proven but not their effects

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

NUTRITION

Eating bugs: Nutrition is proven but not their effects

Nytimes.com last September shared that the American market for edible insects exceeded $55 million in 2017 and is expected to keep climbing as more companies create nutritionally appealing products. Bugs: We squish them, spray them and shoo them. But eat them? A large percentage of the world’s population — an estimated 2 billion people, in fact — already eat insects because of nutritional content and accessibility, according to anthropology resource sapiens.org: “In Thailand, street vendors push carts stocked with trays of deep-fried grasshoppers, water bugs and other seasoned insects. In Mexico, chefs mix cream-colored ant eggs into omelets and whip up guacamole with crunchy grasshoppers. In Zambia, the Congo and other parts of Africa, locals snack on insects harvested from the wild.” How...

What to know about EMDR therapy for PTSD

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

What to know about EMDR therapy for PTSD

While there is medication and counseling to assist individuals who suffer from PTSD, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is also a treatment option. Post-traumatic stress disorder is so common there is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs center devoted to understanding it and sharing information with the public. In fact, around 8% of the population will have PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the National Center for PTSD. And while there is medication and counseling to assist individuals who suffer from PTSD, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is also a treatment option. The American Psychological Association informs that the therapy focuses directly on the memory, “to change the way that the memory is stored in the brain, thus reducing a...

Alzheimer’s in the US: Women more likely to develop disease

11Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE, VIDEO REELS

Alzheimer’s in the US: Women more likely to develop disease

Two-thirds of the people living with Alzheimer's in the US are women. New research is telling us why women in the United States are more likely to develop Alzheimer's. Almost two-thirds of those with the disease are female and understanding why this is the case is key to improving treatment. by Kristen Saloomey Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York, in the US.

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SLEEP

Can’t sleep? Here’s what to do

There are ways to minimize agitated nights of tossing and turning. For many individuals, anxious nights are commonplace. Often, life’s pressures mount mentally when physical bodies are at rest. There are ways to minimize agitated nights of tossing and turning. Psychologytoday.com’s strategies include: ‒ Write it down. A to-do list, whether necessary for work or personal life, when written down wreaks less havoc on the mind. Plus, anxiety can be heightened by simply trying to remember all that needs to be accomplished. Writing items on a piece of paper or making a list on a smartphone alleviates some mental pressure. ‒ Focus on something positive or inspirational that can be taken care of the next day or in the future; write that down as well. ‒ Pray, meditate, count blessings, reminisce....

Solutions to overcome FOMO (fear of missing out)

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Solutions to overcome FOMO (fear of missing out)

FOMO contributes to a person’s dissatisfaction with their own social lives FOMO is a pervasive modern anxiety perpetuated by social media. Noah Webster, in his first “American Dictionary of the English Language” published in 1828, had no reason to include the word. Yet in 2003, MySpace launched and was followed by Facebook in 2004. Thousands of people began sharing posts of daily life. Before 2004 closed, FOMO was a real word defined in the dictionary that still bears Webster’s name as “fear of not being included in something (such as an interesting or enjoyable activity) that others are experiencing.” In an April 2018 report, businessinsider.com expounded ”... FOMO contributes to a person’s dissatisfaction with their own social lives ... It triggers negative feelings like boredom and lon...

Kakeibo: A new, old-school way of budgeting

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

Kakeibo: A new, old-school way of budgeting

Currently “kakeibo” — pronounced kah-keh-boh — has captured America’s attention as a money-saving method. Customary practices ancient and new in Japan continually influence America’s cultural trends. “Hara hachi bun me” is a Confucian philosophy of eating until 80 percent full. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo has motivated many to clean their homes. And, “ikigai” focuses on the reason for being — touted by some as the secret to a happy life. Currently “kakeibo” — pronounced kah-keh-boh — has captured America’s attention as a money-saving method. In November, Penguin Publishing Group released “Kakeibo: The Japanese Art of Saving Money” by Fumiko Chiba. The book was published and released a year earlier in Europe and t...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

Sunburn do’s and don’ts

Individuals who “cook” themselves, as the character Kramer so famously declared in an episode of “Seinfeld,” can get relief. Sunburns can happen any time of the year, but during hotter summer months, when the sun’s rays hit the Earth at a steeper angle, chances increase for the painful condition. Individuals who “cook” themselves, as the character Kramer so famously declared in an episode of “Seinfeld,” can get relief. However, suffering Kramers often choose the wrong methods to alleviate sunburns. Men’s Health shared “5 Surprising Things That Will Make Your Sunburn Even Worse”: 1. Failure to hydrate. Drink at least eight glasses of water. (Avoid alcohol when sunburned; healthline.com in May pointed out that alcohol is a diuretic, causing the body to remove fluids from the blood through ...