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Sunday, February 26, 2012
and now for something completely different...
Day of rest...not so much.
Hello, there friends and fam. I had a good time at church this morning. Did you? I hope so. I concluded a while ago that if you don't feel better (not necessarily GOOD, but perhaps encouraged, challenged, validated, or just that you've learned something) after church, you're probably in the wrong one. For you, anyway. So, today it was good. Our Pastor mentioned right at the beginning something about how the gospel isn't about US. We're so self-centered (humans, I mean) that Preachers figured out that they need to sell religion according to the "what's in it for me?" mentality....
Several folks asked where the Big Guy was (he'd opted for grabbing a little bit more sleep) and I told them he'd stayed in bed...yesterday afternoon, I got a text from him saying "First altercation. Only threw a guy over 2 tables, though." ? I asked for more info, and he replied "Someone FLEW over 2 tables for being a dumbass. Oopsie!" So, that made him feel a little better than he had been...anxiety meds aren't doing anything for him anymore... and how are you this bright afternoon?
Several folks asked where the Big Guy was (he'd opted for grabbing a little bit more sleep) and I told them he'd stayed in bed...yesterday afternoon, I got a text from him saying "First altercation. Only threw a guy over 2 tables, though." ? I asked for more info, and he replied "Someone FLEW over 2 tables for being a dumbass. Oopsie!" So, that made him feel a little better than he had been...anxiety meds aren't doing anything for him anymore... and how are you this bright afternoon?
Friday, February 24, 2012
Crazy? Ill? or maybe both?
2-23-12
So, it’s been a
while since I updated you on things here.
The Big Guy had an EEG done (it showed nothing unusual, which is the
norm, I guess)and last week they did a 24-hour EEG. Well, things were going along pretty well there for a little
bit, and now tonight it would appear that he’s having another “seizure”. I’ve
never seen one like the ones he’s having, but the best way I can think to
describe them is that he’s clumsy, disoriented, has slurred speech, and he’s
just not himself. And the next day, he won’t remember most of it. Essentially,
the Big Guy has a black-out for 6-8 hours when a seizure occurs.
What I know about these things is (not much), that they
start in the afternoon/evening, and the most recent few have lasted for 6 hours
or more. (Before we had any idea what was happening, he told me a couple of
times about “losing” a few minutes here and there, but it was a momentary
thing, so we didn’t think much of it.) Also, since he was working at the pizza
place for the last year or so, during which time these things began, there was
reason to suspect that they might be tied to the work environment. Now he’s
been working at the new place for a month and they’ve begun to happen again.
I called the Dr.’s office this evening to try and get some
idea of what the test results said, but of course by the time I realized that
it was happening, the Dr.’s office was closed.
Which leaves me here: watching the Simpsons with Little Bit
and attempting to keep myself from freaking out…
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the
difference.
Ok, so let’s think about something else for a minute. Hey! I
got an Apple iBook with the grant money from the class I’m taking. WOO
HOO!! : )
Now as soon as I can figure out how to manage the
differences between this and the pc/windows that I was raised on, I’ll be in
business. Yeah, I’m feeling a little bit lost, but I know that learning new
things will be really good exercise for my brain, and I did need a new laptop.
So, this is a good thing. I’m not going to put effort into doing my schoolwork
on it, for now, but I do have a “Switching from a pc to a Mac - for Dummies”
that I found @ ½ priced books…so there is hope.
that I found @ ½ priced books…so there is hope.
Little Bit won’t allow me to write much more until he’s in
bed, and I’m not sure if I’ll have the will to write more at that time, so for
now I’m signing off. I know God’s in charge and everything will be fine, but it
just doesn’t FEEL like it right now.
<sigh>
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Smart or crazy? Sometimes it's hard to tell.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”Albert Einstein
School, and actually LEARNING!
I found this as I was working on the last class required before I can get a Technical Certification...It raised some good things to think about. I thought you might think so, too.
Depression has run rampant in my own family for generations, like the writers'.
I have a personal relationship with depression. The depressive periods in my life are highly situational in so much as in the past they occurred after my divorce and most recently since the death of my mother. However, I am no stranger to the effects that chronic depression can have on a person and the people in their lives. I am certain that along with having difficulties with anxiety, my mother suffered from depression – never really addressed clinically or in any other way. The man I married when I was in my twenties was most certainly depressed – like so many others I recreated in my adult life what was familiar to me as a child. He, also, do this day has never addressed his depression – or chronic basic unhappiness. I have been affected by depression and so I am interested in what this condition is and ways to combat it – and in another sense, ways to accept it and actively deal with it.
Depression is clearly defined by a list of symptoms in the DSM-1V and will certainly be defined, again if differently, as a list of symptoms in the upcoming DSM-V. Certainly, these criteria will aid counselors and other mental health professionals in the pursuit of helping their clients. Diagnosis is made with the use of the DSM – but there are many differing views of what depression is, how to treat it and if it really exists at all.
That being said perhaps we can, for the moment, rethink depression much the way William Glasser, the founder of Reality Therapy does. Glasser maintains that we need to take responsibility for what we are and what we are experiencing. He states that being depressed, being anxious, even having a headache are expressions which avoid our responsibility in behaving in these ways. We choose to be depressed and hence, when depressed, we are depressing. We choose to have a headache, and hence, when we have a headache, we are headaching. He uses verbs to describe these conditions because we are choosing to experience this. This viewpoint does not support treatment with a medication.
Depression through the lens of Dr. Martin Seligman, the developer of positive psychology, changes the focus from what’s wrong to what’s strong. This ideology views the fight against depression as a journey through which the client accesses creativity and strength to endure and overcome deep unhappiness. Through these actions meaning can be found.
Eric Maisel is a creativity coach has who has written a book “Rethinking Depression” and previously wrote an article for Psychology Today exploring depression. Like Glasser, Maisel takes a nonclinical look at depression and goes as far to declare that there really is no disorder of “depression” and that unhappiness, chronic or otherwise, need not be looked at from a medical model of pathology. Maisel makes a great case for this way of thinking and mentions how pharmaceutical companies have a lot to gain by making any state of human emotional or physical discomfort labeled as a disorder. Often depression/unhappiness is a normal reaction to what is occurring around you and is no way a disorder. Maisel’s goal is to help a client look at her unhappiness and aid her in making changes in her life.
Considering these ideas as a counselor in training I have to say I am absorbing them all like a sponge – and slowly formulating my own viewpoint regarding this issue. I’m strongly attracted to a non-medical model on which to build my practice. But what about a client who is so depressed they can’t get out of bed or function in any meaningful fashion? What if he or she is driven to suicide by unrelenting unhappiness? Would medication be a welcome component of therapy? Is a clinical definition of depression necessary? Human beings are meant to experience discomfort – even misery – often as a catalyst to change.
This is a fascinating subject and counselors in training have all points of view available to them. The more we know the better we’ll be able to serve our client. Here is on point of view.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-psychology/201202/rethinking-depression
Susan Jennifer Polese is a counselor in training, a personal coach and a freelance writer. Her areas of interest are mindfulness, divergent thinking, and creativity in counseling. www.evolutionlifecoachingstudio.com
Depression has run rampant in my own family for generations, like the writers'.
A Catalyst to Change – Rethinking Depression
Susan Jennifer Polese
Depression is clearly defined by a list of symptoms in the DSM-1V and will certainly be defined, again if differently, as a list of symptoms in the upcoming DSM-V. Certainly, these criteria will aid counselors and other mental health professionals in the pursuit of helping their clients. Diagnosis is made with the use of the DSM – but there are many differing views of what depression is, how to treat it and if it really exists at all.
That being said perhaps we can, for the moment, rethink depression much the way William Glasser, the founder of Reality Therapy does. Glasser maintains that we need to take responsibility for what we are and what we are experiencing. He states that being depressed, being anxious, even having a headache are expressions which avoid our responsibility in behaving in these ways. We choose to be depressed and hence, when depressed, we are depressing. We choose to have a headache, and hence, when we have a headache, we are headaching. He uses verbs to describe these conditions because we are choosing to experience this. This viewpoint does not support treatment with a medication.
Depression through the lens of Dr. Martin Seligman, the developer of positive psychology, changes the focus from what’s wrong to what’s strong. This ideology views the fight against depression as a journey through which the client accesses creativity and strength to endure and overcome deep unhappiness. Through these actions meaning can be found.
Eric Maisel is a creativity coach has who has written a book “Rethinking Depression” and previously wrote an article for Psychology Today exploring depression. Like Glasser, Maisel takes a nonclinical look at depression and goes as far to declare that there really is no disorder of “depression” and that unhappiness, chronic or otherwise, need not be looked at from a medical model of pathology. Maisel makes a great case for this way of thinking and mentions how pharmaceutical companies have a lot to gain by making any state of human emotional or physical discomfort labeled as a disorder. Often depression/unhappiness is a normal reaction to what is occurring around you and is no way a disorder. Maisel’s goal is to help a client look at her unhappiness and aid her in making changes in her life.
Considering these ideas as a counselor in training I have to say I am absorbing them all like a sponge – and slowly formulating my own viewpoint regarding this issue. I’m strongly attracted to a non-medical model on which to build my practice. But what about a client who is so depressed they can’t get out of bed or function in any meaningful fashion? What if he or she is driven to suicide by unrelenting unhappiness? Would medication be a welcome component of therapy? Is a clinical definition of depression necessary? Human beings are meant to experience discomfort – even misery – often as a catalyst to change.
This is a fascinating subject and counselors in training have all points of view available to them. The more we know the better we’ll be able to serve our client. Here is on point of view.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-psychology/201202/rethinking-depression
Susan Jennifer Polese is a counselor in training, a personal coach and a freelance writer. Her areas of interest are mindfulness, divergent thinking, and creativity in counseling. www.evolutionlifecoachingstudio.com
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Happy February!
Hello from Wonderland!
There is a tiny bit of movement, here, these days. Not enough to tell exactly what it will turn out to be, but there is definately a shifting...
Recently, Mom told us about a house in the town where the Big Guy works, which is for sale. Hm. We're loooking at the end of our lease in the apartment ending in just about 3 months, so this piqued our interest. (Being the more OCD of the bunch, it fairly kept me captive until we'd gotten to look inside.) Oh. That's what it looks like for a house to be 80 years old without ever repairing or replacing the walls, stairs, or windows in an efficient manner. Although the size and location were very appealing, it'd cost much more to get it to where we'd like it to be, than we have to work with.
Mom states that she'll co-sign for us, and we've yearned for a piece of our very own earth for many years. Now, I don't know that OUR land is going to be within the paramiters of an actual town or city, since the Big Guy and I are very much looking to escape what has been called (It's funny now, isn't it?) civilization.
But, until we get that memo from The Lord God, we're not going to be signing anything. Hopefully we're not going to have to wait YEARS to get out of the populus, but....<sigh>
Like I said, stuff is happening, and I'm excited to see what He's gonna do.
Love and hugs to all!
abs
There is a tiny bit of movement, here, these days. Not enough to tell exactly what it will turn out to be, but there is definately a shifting...
Recently, Mom told us about a house in the town where the Big Guy works, which is for sale. Hm. We're loooking at the end of our lease in the apartment ending in just about 3 months, so this piqued our interest. (Being the more OCD of the bunch, it fairly kept me captive until we'd gotten to look inside.) Oh. That's what it looks like for a house to be 80 years old without ever repairing or replacing the walls, stairs, or windows in an efficient manner. Although the size and location were very appealing, it'd cost much more to get it to where we'd like it to be, than we have to work with.
Mom states that she'll co-sign for us, and we've yearned for a piece of our very own earth for many years. Now, I don't know that OUR land is going to be within the paramiters of an actual town or city, since the Big Guy and I are very much looking to escape what has been called (It's funny now, isn't it?) civilization.
But, until we get that memo from The Lord God, we're not going to be signing anything. Hopefully we're not going to have to wait YEARS to get out of the populus, but....<sigh>
Like I said, stuff is happening, and I'm excited to see what He's gonna do.
Love and hugs to all!
abs
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