Invisible disabilities are physical, mental, or neurological conditions that are not immediately apparent to others. Despite being “invisible,” these conditions can significantly impact a person’s life and require special accommodations and ongoing support.
Unlike conditions that other people can see, such as those requiring the use of a wheelchair, invisible disabilities often go unnoticed, leading to misconceptions about a person’s needs.
Examples of common invisible disabilities
Dysautonomia, also known as autonomic dysfunction, refers to a condition in which the autonomic nervous system (ANS) does not function properly. The ANS controls many crucial bodily functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, temperature regulation, and respiratory rate. When the ANS is impaired, these processes can become dysregulated, leading to a wide range of symptoms.
Post-exertional malaise (PEM) where even minor physical or mental exertion can result in severe symptom exacerbation, often lasting days or weeks.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): Fatigue lasting six months or more, and PEM
POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) is a condition characterized by a significant increase in heart rate when a person stands up from a lying down position. It is a form of dysautonomia. People with POTS experience an abnormal response when they move to an upright position, leading to symptoms that can be disabling.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME): Causes widespread neuro-immune related symptoms including: neuroinflammation, immune dysfunction, muscle pain, headaches, cognitive dysfunction (often described as “brain fog”), dysautonomia, PEM, CFS and POTS.
Patients with Lyme and tick-borne disease are often left with persistent symptoms following treatment. In MyLymeData, now with over 18,000 participants, the three most frequently reported worst symptoms include neurological-associated symptoms (84%), fatigue (62%), and musculoskeletal-associated symptoms (57%).
For years, ILADS conferences have been the only place I heard clinicians and researchers expressing an understanding and a desire to help patients with complex, infection-associated chronic conditions (IACC).
Last week, I watched the final meeting of the CDC/HHS funded “Infection-Associated Chronic Conditions – Understanding and Engagement” (ICUE) project. During that meeting, LymeDisease.org’s Lorraine Johnson, represented and gave voice to the millions of patients living with chronic symptoms following infection with Lyme and/or other tick-borne diseases. (Read her summary of that meeting here)
With all the new collaborations coming out of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) workshop on “Lyme infection-associated chronic illness or “Lyme IACC,” I have high hopes for continued progress—not just for patients with chronic Lyme and co-infections, but so many other marginalized illnesses like long-COVID, ME/CFS, and dysautonomia.
For everyone out there suffering from an invisible illness: I just want to say that I see you, I hear you, and I believe you.
LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a physical therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. She served two terms on a subcommittee of the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org.
I’m excited to share that NO MORE Week 2025 has been set for March 2nd through March 8th, the annual time when thousands of survivors, allies, employers, organizations, colleges, and communities around the world unite for the cause of ending domestic and sexual violence.
This year, our theme is NO MORE Silence. Every time we break the silence, we destigmatize conversations around domestic and sexual violence and help survivors find support. And, we help to prevent abuse by educating more people about healthy relationships and by creating a culture where abuse is not tolerated.
Now is the time to plan how you can be a part of NO MORE Week 2025. Here are some simple ways to get started:
Join the NO MORE Week Challenge:
Sign up for the NO MORE Week Challenge, a virtual Walk/Run that allows you to choose your distance—5K, 10K, or a half marathon—and complete it at your own pace in March. This year, every dollar raised will go to support victims/survivors of abuse. Rally your friends and family to sponsor your efforts, or form a team to amplify your impact.
Save Tuesday, March 4th to attend the 2025 NO MORE Week Tech Summit, “Empowering or Endangering? Tech’s Impact on Domestic and Sexual Violence.”During this free, online conference, global experts will discuss cutting-edge research, policy shifts and product development, providing a wealth of insights and opportunities for action. Early registration is now open!
Create an event – online or in person – to raise awareness on your campus, at work, or in your community. Whether it’s hosting a coffee or happy hour; holding a workplace conversation; or engaging friends on social media, every action will get more people to join the movement. Let us know what you’re planning so we can help amplify your efforts!
Check out our NO MORE Week 2025 Guide you can use to get more information and ideas. We’re looking forward to uniting once again on March 2nd because we know that we are louder, stronger and more impactful together! Thank you for your continued support.
Thank you for all the great feedback on the Blogger Highlight series. I’ve enjoyed meeting each blogger and sharing their site with you. This week, we highlight the blog of Peerless Cynic. I have followed Charlie for some time now and thoroughly enjoy his posts. I’m not usually one for poetry but his is short, makes total sense, is seamless, and not to mention the photos he adds photos that are a perfect fit.
From the serious to the satirical, modest musings on topics ranging from politics to culture to nature, with a side dish of photography. Or, an ill-defined adventure destined for great pings. In any case, how can we avoid being cynical?
My name is Charlie and I hail from Nova Scotia, Canada. I’m a semi-retired IT consultant who has traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada and also a nature photography, a hobby I started PeerlessCynic mostly as a way to express political commentary and satire, always with a good dose of humor. While I still write about those topics the blog itself increasingly became mostly about nature. Over time my love of nature photography expanded to include little vignettes or stories about the pictures themselves, a kind of attempt, for better or worse, to capture that peaceful sensibility of the woods.
My hobbies include playing guitar, reading and hiking. I am most definitely a hobby writer rather than a published writer, but I do enjoy it and hope from time-to-time others do as well.
All my photos are from my travels around Nova Scotia, the many lakes and hidden gems. I have so many favorites and each one has its own story. But a few stand out for sure. One photo under the title of ‘Faraway Woods’ is special, as that trip was one of the last I took with my father before he passed. As I took the shot, he was nearby enjoying that beautiful vista. Fishing and being in the woods were his favorite things, and I guess some of that rubbed off on me.
Another is under the title ‘Woven in the Sun’, a lovely sunset on a lake near the Musquodoboit valley in Nova Scotia. Of all the lakes I’ve visited this one stands out as the finest one for sunsets, a very inspiring place indeed.
And probably one of the most visited spots for me is a well travelled place called Triplet Lake, one in a series of lakes not too far outside Halifax, which inspired the poem ‘By the Lake’, a piece that in a way sums up my love of the woods.
I asked Charlie a couple of questions that you will find interesting.
M. How and when did you get into writing poetry?
C. I’ve always had a special affinity to nature even when I was very young, in fact as far back as I can remember. When I began the nature photography, I just suddenly had all these ideas in my mind that I had to get down on paper, which began probably around 2013. I was imaging the forest and the rivers and so on in conversation with each other, the connectivity of the natural world. So I suddenly created an interesting outlet for myself with the poetry to try and express those connections, as well as the harmony of nature. The results are mixed as you can see, but I do enjoy the challenge of creating these little stories, of recreating that feeling of peace that I’ve always had while in nature.
M. Your photography skills are breathtaking, when did you pick up photography?
C. I’ve always had a fascination with expression mainly through writing but also nature photography, a hobby I developed rather late in life.
How My Lyme Doctor diagnosed the first HIV/Aids patient in North Carolina
A second-generation physician from Illinois, curious about medical mysteries (“It’s just like detective work!”), young Dr. Joe Jemsek became an infectious diseases fellow in 1977. In 1979, Jemsek and his young family resettled in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he began a promising infectious disease practice at the renowned Nalle Clinic. Intrigued by reports of a “gay cancer,” Joe’s “detective” instincts led him to diagnose North Carolina’s first case of what would soon be known as HIV/AIDS. As the years went by, he grew absorbed by the AIDS epidemic, bearing witness to some of its most dire casualties — losing patient after patient to opportunistic infections — as well as to the first signs of hope with the advent of life-saving drugs in 1995.
I’m so proud of Dr. Jemsek, he took his knowledge as an Infectious Disease doctor and made history. Due to his commitment more research has been done and the lives on people with HIV/AIDS have improved.
What is HIV?
The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a virus that attacks the immune system, specifically CD4 cells (or T cells).
The virus is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids, anal fluids, and breast milk. Historically, HIV has most often been spread through unprotected sex, the sharing of needles for drug use, and through birth.
Over time, HIV can destroy so many CD4 cells that the body can’t fight infections and diseases, eventually leading to the most severe form of an HIV infection: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. A person with AIDS is very vulnerable to cancer and to life-threatening infections, such as pneumonia.
Though there is no cure for HIV or AIDS, a person with HIV who receives treatment early can live nearly as long as someone without the virus. And a study in 2019 in the medical journal, Lancet, showed that an anti-viral treatment effectively halted the spread of HIV.
In September of 1982, the CDC used the term AIDS to describe the disease for the first time. By the end of the year, AIDS cases were also reported in a number of European countries.
Where Did AIDS Come From?
Scientists have traced the origin of HIV back to chimpanzees and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), an HIV-like virus that attacks the immune system of monkeys and apes.
In 1999, researchers identified a strain of chimpanzee SIV called SIVcpz, which was nearly identical to HIV. Chimps, the scientist later discovered, hunt and eat two smaller species of monkeys—red-capped mangabeys and greater spot-nosed monkeys—that carry and infect the chimps with two strains of SIV. These two strains likely combined to form SIVcpz, which can spread between chimpanzees and humans.
SIVcpz likely jumped to humans when hunters in Africa ate infected chimps, or the chimps’ infected blood got into the cuts or wounds of hunters. Researchers believe the first transmission of SIV to HIV in humans that then led to the global pandemic occurred in 1920 in Kinshasa, the capital and largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The virus spread may have spread from Kinshasa along infrastructure routes (roads, railways, and rivers) via migrants and the sex trade.
In the 1960s, HIV spread from Africa to Haiti and the Caribbean when Haitian professionals in the colonial Democratic Republic of Congo returned home. The virus then moved from the Caribbean to New York City around 1970 and then to San Francisco later in the decade.
International travel from the United States helped the virus spread across the rest of the globe.
October was full of informative awareness months, and November will also be. The list is extensive, if you want to read about all the awareness months and days, click here.
Awareness Months
Native American Heritage Month
Movember
National Homeless Youth Awareness Month
COPD Awareness Month
Diabetes Awareness Month
Epilepsy Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Awareness Days
International Stress Awareness Day – November 2
World Adoption Day – November 9
Veterans Day – November 11th
Humane Society Anniversary Day – November 22
National Recycling Day – November 15
International Day for Tolerance – November 16
International Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20
International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day – 1st Saturday before Thanksgiving
Men, women, and people of all gender identities may experience depression at some point in their lives. Depression is a serious condition that affects how a person thinks, feels, and acts.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), women seem to experience depression at a higher rate than men. However, it’s thought that men may be underrepresented in these numbers.
This may be due to mix of social and biological factors that make it more challenging to notice and diagnose depression in men. They may also feel culturally pressured to act “manly” by hiding their emotions.
Because of this, it’s more common for men to have depression with symptoms that are different and sometimes harder to identify.
If you think that you or someone you love may be struggling with depression, read on to learn about the signs and symptoms that men may experience and what you can do next.
Men with depression may first notice its physical effects. While depression is thought of as a mental health disorder, it can also manifest in the body.
Many men are more likely to visit their doctors for physical issues than for emotional issues.
Some common physical signs of depression in men include:
When most people hear the word “depression,” they think of a person who seems very sad. However, sadness is just one of many possible emotions depression can cause.
In addition to sadness, men may experience the following emotional symptoms of depression:
agitation
aggression
anger
emotional withdrawal from friends, family, and colleagues
hopelessness
lack of interest in family, community, hobbies, and work
The mental, physical, and emotional symptoms of depression in men can also affect behavior. Because some men resist discussing their emotions, it’s often their behavioral symptoms of depression that are most apparent to others.
In men, the behavioral symptoms of depression most commonly include:
difficulty meeting work, family, and other personal responsibilities
drug misuse
drinking alcohol in excess
engaging in risky activities, such as driving recklessly or having unprotected sex
While discussions around mental health seem to be expanding in reach and compassion, there’s still some cultural and social stigma around depression— particularly among men.
Generally, men are socialized by society to hold in their emotions, though we know doing so isn’t healthy. In their efforts to maintain these social norms, many men may be compromising their emotional, physical, and mental well-being.
In addition, many men are never taught to recognize the less typical signs of depression that they’re more likely than others to experience.
Some men never seek help for their depression because they never recognize the signs. On the other hand, some men who do recognize the signs may struggle to discuss their experience because they fear the judgment of others.
As a result, when many men experience the signs of depression, they begin to work long hours or otherwise fill their time to stay busy, instead of addressing the depression itself.
Diagnosing depression and seeking treatment can help save lives. Suicide rates are high among men, especially those who have served or currently serve in the military. Additionally, men are three to four times more likely than women to complete suicide.
In continuing to open up the conversation, we can help men with depression recognize the signs. By seeking treatment, men with depression can live their fullest possible lives.
Depression is most often treated with talk therapy, medications, or both of these things together. A healthcare professional can help create a personalized treatment plan that works best for you.
Many men begin treatment for moderate cases of depression by scheduling an appointment with a talk therapist (psychotherapist). From there, the therapist might suggest specific types of care, such as:
However, for more severe cases, medication might be prescribed right away to help alleviate some of the physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of depression. This may be the case for someone with suicidal thoughts or who has attempted suicide.
Be aware that these medications often take several weeks to months or begin making a noticeable difference in the way you feel. Be patient and stick closely to the treatment plan.
When to seek help
If you’re experiencing one or more of the above symptoms of depression to the point that it interferes with your daily life, consider scheduling an appointment to meet with a mental health counselor.
Most insurance plans provide coverage for such counseling, and receiving care is discreet and confidential.
If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, plan to attempt, or have attempted suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, or dial 911.
While recent conversations around mental health have become more candid and inclusive, many men still find it difficult to talk about their emotions in a society that upholds traditional views about men.
It can also be challenging to identify the symptoms of depression in men, which are influenced by those same social factors as well as male biology.
By sharing knowledge about the symptoms of depression in men, we can help clear a pathway toward better, more inclusive mental healthcare.
With talk therapy, medication, or a combination of these two things, depression becomes a much more manageable part of the human experience.
That is one of the smartest things I’ve heard from any President.
Many will vote for a Presidential candidate and only for a particular party, not looking at both candidates to see who is best for America. For America to shift gears, we all must vote for who we think is best for America for the next four years. Every voice needs to be heard.
Be aware of
Last Presidential election some Republican volunteers were very aggressive at some polling places across the country. The worst story I saw on the news was about volunteers being aggressive by taking photos of people’s vehicles and license tags, taking photos of their children, getting in their faces yelling obscenities, and making threats. I didn’t experience that and I don’t think it was widespread but it is clearly voter intimidation. If you experience any intimidation tell the Polling Manager and call the police. We can’t tolerate this type of behavior.
Every American has the right to vote, please use your voice to help shape the next four years.
We are all different, yet we’re the same. I understand that many religions condemn any behavior that doesn’t fit their box and some are driven strongly by their religion. What we must not lose sight of is that we are equal.
The Early Gay Rights Movement in America
In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, founded in Chicago the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights organization in the United States. During his U.S. Army service in World War I, Gerber was inspired to create his organization by the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, a “homosexual emancipation” group in Germany.
Gerber’s small group published a few issues of its newsletter “Friendship and Freedom,” the country’s first gay-interest newsletter. Police raids caused the group to disband in 1925—but 90 years later, the U.S. government designated Gerber’s Chicago house a National Historic Landmark.
Where and when is LGBTQ History Month Celebrated?
In the United States, LGBTQ History Month is celebrated every October. Canada and Australia also celebrate it this month. It is also recognized in the United Kingdom (in February), Hungary (in February), Finland (in November), and Berlin (in June).
And this past year in May, Cuba became the first country in Latin America to celebrate it. Italy also celebrated its first one this year in April.
How It Started
Every October, people around the world celebrate LGBT History Month, a time to honor the contributions and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
The first LGBT History Month wound up sparking over 150 events across the country in its first year, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 2005, the UK became the first country to celebrate LGBT+ History Month, starting the journey towards a more inclusive world.
While it was first known as Lesbian and Gay History Month, the coordinating committee soon added “bisexual” to the title. It has subsequently become known as LGBTQ+ History Month.
Iconic Queer Figures to Honor
There are endless LGBTQ figures to honor this month, but here a few icons to start with:
Bayard Rustin, who organized the March on Washington in 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech took place
Loneliness is more prevalent than ever — especially for people with chronic or invisible illnesses. Even when it feels difficult or impossible, here’s how you can stay socially connected.
If you live with a chronic illness, you likely know that loneliness is often an unexpected side effect. A chronic illness is a long lasting or permanent condition that requires ongoing medical treatment or limits activities of daily living. Examples include Crohn’s disease, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and many other conditions.
And when your days are filled with attending doctor’s appointments, feeling too crummy to socialize, and constantly explaining your condition when you do make it out, it’s really no surprise that loneliness and chronic illness go hand in hand.
But now, this problem is becoming more prevalent than ever. The United States Surgeon General released an advisory in May 2023 calling attention to “the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in our country.”
If you’re living with a chronic illness, it can be helpful to create your own strategy for staying connected with others and preventing loneliness as much as possible. Take a look at why this is so important, as well as some accessible ideas to try.
The relationship between loneliness and chronic illness
People who live with chronic illness often feel the impact of isolation more than those without a chronic condition. Illness-related factors that can contribute to loneliness include:
being unable to socialize due to symptoms, fatigue, or pain
losing friends as a result of your illness
missing out on school, work, and hobbies
feeling as if nobody understands your condition and your lifestyle
managing a schedule crowded with medical appointments or hospitalizations
If your illness is mostly or entirely invisible, this can lead to even more feelings of isolation as you try to explain what’s going on in your body. And since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with chronic illnesses have found that their loneliness has gotten even worse as they have continued to be conscientious about keeping their already-fragile bodies safe.
Even when you’re feeling relatively well, it can be hard to socialize. Chronic illness is often unpredictable, and our society isn’t set up to accommodate it. Fear of stigma or ableism might keep you at home. Or you may find that every ounce of your limited energy goes into school or work, with nothing left over for a social life.
Consequences of loneliness
Long-term loneliness can be a serious issue. The report from the Surgeon General stated that for older adults especially, the physical health consequences of a lack of connection include:
29% increased risk of heart disease
32% increased risk of stroke
50% increased risk of developing dementia
A lack of social connection also increases the risk of premature death by more than 60%. And loneliness and isolation increase the risk of mental health conditions such as depression, creating a vicious cycle.
Tips on preventing loneliness with a chronic illness
When symptoms and appointments dictate your life, it can feel nearly impossible to increase your social connection. But doing so is crucial for your mental and emotional health. Here are a few accessible ideas to try.
Start small
If the thought of ramping up your social life feels overwhelming, it’s OK to start small and take off the pressure, thinking in terms of acquaintances instead of best friends. Even “micro-interactions,” such as waving at your mailman or thanking a cashier, can give you a boost of connection.
Send someone a message on social media instead of passively scrolling, or go to a coffee shop on your next low-symptom day so you can be around people even if you aren’t directly speaking with them. These simple actions can have a bigger impact than you might think.
Find a community
Connecting with people who also live with chronic illness can stave off loneliness by reminding you that you aren’t the only one. Look for a support group run by a hospital or nonprofit — your doctor may have ideas. Or search online for a community similar to Bezzy. You’ll find countless social media groups, forums, and Zoom events created for people who live with certain conditions or chronic illness in general (including those who don’t have a diagnosis).
As you spend time with people who have similar experiences, it will become easier to articulate and explain your condition to people who aren’t sick.
Adopt a pet
Animals can help reduce stress and loneliness, and pet ownership is associated with lower levels of social isolation in adults. A pet is great company and can help you feel loved and needed.
If you can, consider adopting a pet. If you can’t put a lot of effort into caring for a pet due to your physical symptoms, look into a low-maintenance pet such as an adult cat. Or see if you can do any of the following from time to time:
care for or visit a friend’s or neighbor’s pet
visit a cat cafe
volunteer for low-energy tasks at a local humane society
visit a dog show, dock diving competition, or other pet-related event
Find a therapist
A therapist, counselor, or other mental health professional can help you navigate the mental and emotional side of chronic illness, including thoughts like “My illness makes me unworthy of friendship” and “Connection isn’t worth it.”
Look for a therapist who specifically focuses on clients with chronic illness. Ask your doctor for suggestions or search online. If you cannot pay for therapy, look into sliding-scale options or services offered by a nonprofit or community center.
Stay in touch
Remember, your social connections don’t always have to be big. If you can make it out for a night on the town, great! But if not, make sure you’re still doing something to stay in touch with the people you love.
Use email, social media platforms, phone calls, texting, or whatever communication method works for you. Planning video calls ahead of time might work best for one chronically ill person’s symptoms and schedule, while answering text messages on their own time could be better for somebody else.
Think about the options that are most accessible to you, and tell your family and friends that you want to intentionally catch up with them on a regular basis. Connecting with others as best you can will help you feel less isolated, even during flare-ups.
The bottom line
People are important. We need each other. We can’t live without each other. And even when it feels difficult or impossible, fighting for social connection is worth it.
Use these ideas to work around your chronic illness as you prioritize connection over isolation. Your body and mind will thank you.
Rape victims receiving closure is important to me and I hope to you too. Below is the background of Joyful Heart Foundation and how they started the initiative to End the Backlog. At the bottom, you will see why I’m flaming mad due to an unacceptable situation not far from where I live. Not to mention the atrociously high numbers of backlogged rape kits in Texas.
In 2015, the Joyful Heart Foundation played a fundamental role in the creation of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), an important federal initiative for rape kit reform with then Vice President Biden. This program provided grants to communities to inventory untested rape kits, analyze those kits, investigate the resulting cases, prosecute offenders, and support survivors. This federal program has allowed jurisdictions to inventory more than 183,000 untested kits and send 90,000 kits for testing, resulting in more than 15,700 CODIS hits, almost 8,200 to serial violent offenders and 2,200 to serial sex offenders.
In 2016, the Joyful Heart Foundation launched its six pillar campaign to improve the way rape kits are handled nationwide and end the backlog of untested rape kits. Since then, we have helped pass 130 bills in 46 states affecting more than 321 million people and more than 136,000 survivors of reported rapes every year. Our campaign is one of the most successful state-level campaigns in history.
What is Joyful Heart Foundation
The Joyful Heart Foundation was founded in 2004 by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) actress, director, and advocate, Mariska Hargitay. While playing Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order SVU, Ms. Hargitay learned a tremendous amount about the crime of sexual assault. Letters from fans of the show poured in across the years; many were testimonies from survivors sharing their stories of abuse, isolation, fear, hope, and courage. As Hargitay became more informed about the topic, she was shocked and saddened by the prevalence of sexually-based crimes and how trauma impacts survivors, many for their entire lives. She felt she had to answer these survivor letters in a meaningful way. Her response was to create the Joyful Heart Foundation with the mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, support survivors, and end this violence forever. Ms. Hargitay wanted to help survivors heal and reclaim joy in their lives.
What is the Rape Kit Backlog?
“To me, the backlog is one of the clearest and most shocking demonstrations of how we regard these crimes in our society. Testing rape kits sends a fundamental and crucial message to victims of sexual violence: You matter. What happened to you matters. Your case matters. For that reason, the Joyful Heart Foundation, which I founded in 2004, has made ending the rape kit backlog our #1 advocacy priority.”
Mariska Hargitay, Founder of The Joyful Heart Foundation
While the number of untested rape kits has decreased over the last decade – the backlog was once deemed to be 400,000 – today, we estimate that there are still 100,000 untested rape kits yet to be discovered.
You can clearly see the states who have tackled the backlog and those who have not. I’m ashamed of Texas, my home state, and these numbers send a clear message that women are not valued in Texas. A message coming from Governor Greg Abbott.
Let me give you an example and you will see what set me off last night.
Fort Worth is a smaller sister city to Dallas but this week, there was improper behavior with the law enforcement. I question if the entire city is flying blind. Last light at a City Council meeting the Chief of Police admitted that the deadline for clearing rape kits had once again not been met. He took responsibility and committed to correct the situation. I won’t hold my breath on that commitment. What shocked me even more was how the City Council acted like this was the first time they had heard about it. Who is overseeing the police????
The information only came out because the local news station invested. Here’s one of the findings.
On Wednesday, an NBC 5 Investigates series, “Justice Shelved”, revealed that more than 760 times in five years, Fort Worth police were late to submit rape kits to a lab in the state required 30 days.
New state records provided by the Department of Public Safety show Fort Worth police currently have 901 untested kits that are already past the 90-day mark, leaving victims who reported sexual assaults waiting for answers.
This is unacceptable and I think many heads need to roll and many more fired.
My father had ADHD and being a teen in his days must have been horrible, the medication of choice was tranquilizers. He wasn’t diagnosed until he was a teen but the minute he moved out he stopped the medication and I can see why. The issue is he didn’t go back to the doctor as medication evolved and it affected his relationships.
I also believe that doctors are too fast to diagnose ADD & ADHD. One important factor is that Medical doctors don’t have the training to diagnose and are often the ones who diagnose first. To have a proper diagnosis, you need a Psychiatrist, and do the testing for an official diagnosis. My last Psychiatrist listed me as ADHD, with no testing, and no conversation, it just showed up on my chart. I would not be ashamed if that was a proper diagnosis but it wasn’t. My proir Psychiatrist of 32 years never once mentioned it. It’s one of the reasons I no longer see my last Psychiatrist.
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Every October is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Awareness Month, an occasion to raise awareness and support for those with ADHD.
In the United States, about 8.4% of children and 2.5% of adults have ADHD, making it one of the most common mental health conditions. Symptoms of the condition include ongoing patterns of:
Inattention, which means a person may find it challenging to focus or follow directions, but usually, it may not occur due to rebellion or challenges with understanding something.
Hyperactivity, which is when a person may feel the need to move constantly, even when it may be inappropriate for the situation.
Impulsivity, which means the person may have difficulties managing impulsive behavior and considering the long-term consequences of those actions.
Many people may have occasional difficulties paying attention, sitting still, or managing impulsive behavior. But for someone with ADHD, these difficulties tend to occur more often, which may affect how they perform certain daily activities.
During ADHD Awareness Month, communities shed light on this condition and rally to support those who have received diagnoses.
This information from the National Institute of Health has great resources and there may be more that I didn’t read on another page.
ADHD in Adults: 4 Things to Know: This fact sheet provides information about ADHD in adults, including symptoms, diagnosis, causes, treatments, and resources to find help for yourself or someone else.
Shareable Resources on ADHD: These digital resources, including graphics and messages, can be used to spread the word about ADHD and help promote awareness and education in your community.
NIMH Expert Discusses Managing ADHD: Learn the signs and symptoms of ADHD and how it is treated as well as tips for helping children and teens manage ADHD symptoms.
MedlinePlus: This resource from the National Library of Medicine provides information, research, and resources on ADHD and ways to learn more (also available en español).
Research and statistics
Journal Articles: References and abstracts from the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed
Statistics—ADHD: Statistics on the prevalence and treatment of ADHD among children, teens, and adults
Last Reviewed: September 2024
There is so much information available so don’t put off learning about ADHD, it could help direct your child or yourself to the proper help.
Thank you for all the great feedback on the Blogger Highlight series. I’ve enjoyed meeting each blogger and sharing their blog with you. This week, we highlight the blog Essence of Me. I only started following Jeiyanni in September and we struck up a conversation and I felt a connection to her. I think part of the reason is her personality, she’s positive but realistic, ambitious but knows she’s on the ground floor in her career and has big goals. She accomplished so much for her younger age and that tells me shows going straight up. She is a hard-working woman who graduated from Columbia and as she builds her career she works part-time at TJ Maxx and part-time teaching an after-school program.
I write because I have an overwhelming desire to immortalize whatever happens, or could possibly happen, onto the page. The act of writing is like a release, a form of physical therapy. I realize that one of the most prominent themes in my work is the idea of complex human emotions, circumstances, words, and actions. With my writing I feel that it is my duty to express all the things that are interesting, confusing, and difficult. I use my point of view to display a unique perspective in my pieces and characters. Overall, I just want to showcase the realities of people and human-to-human connection. I want to focus in on specific point-of-views of different characters- who’s the current main character of the story, and why do we care about their particular situation?
In this blog, you can find any and everything that embodies the essence of who I am. That includes thoughts, beliefs, pictures, pieces of writing, analytical essays, etc. If you’re interested in who I am as a person and a writer, I hope you’ll embark on this wonderful journey with me.
Ta-ta for now!
-Jeiyanni
I asked Jeiyanni a couple of questions:
M. What made you pursue a career in writing and why Columbia?
J. I think I just believed that since writing was my passion, that was what I should be doing with my life. My wish was (and still is) to be an author. So I went to Columbia College Chicago because it was a liberal arts school that was geared towards what I wanted to do in life. Because I don’t want to necessarily just be an author, but I also want to do different types of writing as well.
M. You started writing a young age, what was the draw to writing and what did you write about?
J. Initially I was drawn to writing in the second grade when I was talking crap about some classmates I didn’t like in my Winnie the Pooh journal 😆 but Idk, I think I just enjoyed that medium of being able to express myself and thus my passion for writing stories blossomed as well. But when I was younger, I would write stories on whatever topics came to mind from my little elementary school world. For example, some short books I wrote as a young child were “Granny’s Burgers” and “How to Avoid Arguments” lol.
We all feel hopeless at times throughout our lives, it is a natural part of growing but it’s a tad bit better if we have someone who understands and is in our corner. I think you will relate to her feelings on that day. Second-guessing ourselves is also a part of being young with so many directions and goals in front of us.
Be sure to stop by, say hello to Jeiyanni, pull up a chair, and stay awhile. Her personality will pull you in!
Social anxiety disorder — previously known as social phobia — is an anxiety disorder in which you experience persistent fear of social or performance situations, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (1) People who have social anxiety disorder worry that they will behave in a way that will be embarrassing and humiliating and that they will be judged by others, particularly people they do not know well.
Suma Chand, PhD, director of the cognitive behavior therapy program in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at St. Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri, says people who have social anxiety often feel they need to behave perfectly in social situations because they tend to imagine that others are superior to them and critical of them. They also have a longing for acceptance, but their fear of others’ judgment can keep them from finding it.
Social anxiety disorder consists of much more than the shyness or nervousness that many people feel in common social situations, such as going on a first date or giving a presentation (“stage fright”).
The condition can interfere with daily activities and even cause people to completely avoid social interactions, even though they often realize their anxiety is irrational. “I have often had my clients tell me how they are exhausted by social situations,” says Dr. Chand.
“This is because when they look back at these events, they see how their need to be perfect in social situations has caused them to experience high levels of anxiety before and during social situations,” she explains. “As a result, they often avoid many social situations — even though they feel bad about doing so.”
But, adds Chand, those with the disorder can learn to change the distortions in their thinking that lead to avoidance.
Signs and Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder
People who have social anxiety disorder tend to feel very anxious and self-conscious in common social situations. (2) Their fear that they will be judged by others can have a negative effect on school, work, and other daily activities, and can make it difficult for them to develop and sustain friendships.
When you have social anxiety disorder, common social fears include:
Attending parties and other social occasions
Eating, drinking, and writing in public
Meeting new people
Speaking in public
Using public restrooms
The anxiety of social anxiety disorder can also cause physical symptoms such as: (3,4)
Blushing
Profuse sweating
Nausea
Difficulty talking
Trembling
Rapid heart rate
Trouble catching your breath
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Muscle tension
According to the NIMH, when having to perform or be around other people, people who have social anxiety disorder tend to: (5)
Feel their “mind going blank”
Have a rigid body posture, make little eye contact, or speak with a very soft voice
Find it scary and challenging to be with other people, particularly strangers, and have a difficult time talking to them even though they want to communicate
Avoid places where there are other people
Signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder can also include: (4)
Avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention
Having anxiety leading up to a feared activity or event
Spending time after a social situation reviewing your performance and finding flaws
Expecting the worst possible consequences from a negative social experience
Difficulty starting conversations, dating, entering a room in which people are already seated, returning items to a store, and other day-to-day experiences
Children may cry, have tantrums, cling to parents, or refuse to speak in social situations
Intense fear and anxiety only about speaking or performing in public (performance type of social anxiety disorder)
Causes and Risk Factors of Social Anxiety Disorder
There may be a genetic component to social anxiety disorder for some people. You’re more likely to develop the disorder if your biological parents or siblings have the condition. (4) However, scientists still don’t understand why some family members have the condition while others don’t. (5)
Research suggests that being raised by parents who engage in negative parental practices, such as being overprotective, overly anxious, or rejecting, may contribute to the development of social anxiety. (2)
Some researchers think misreading other people’s behavior may play a role in causing social anxiety or making it worse. For example, if you think people are staring or frowning at you when they are not. (5)
Underdeveloped social skills may also contribute to social anxiety disorder, although many people with the condition do not have a deficit in their social abilities.
Researchers are also investigating the roles that stress and environmental factors may play in causing social anxiety disorder.
Risk Factors
Several factors can increase your chances of developing social anxiety disorder, including: (4)
Risk Factors
Several factors can increase your chances of developing social anxiety disorder, including: (4)
Negative life experiences Children who are teased, bullied, rejected, ridiculed, or humiliated may be more likely to develop social anxiety disorder. Family conflict, trauma, abuse, or other negative life events may also be linked to the condition.
New social or work demands Meeting new people, giving a speech, or having to make an important presentation at work may trigger social anxiety disorder symptoms.
Having an appearance or condition that attracts attention Facial disfigurement, stuttering, tremors due to Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions can make people feel self-conscious and may trigger social anxiety disorder.
Shy temperament Children who are shy, timid, withdrawn, or restrained when dealing with new situations or people may have an increased risk of developing the disorder. People who have social anxiety disorder commonly say they were extremely shy as children. (However, social anxiety disorder and shyness are not the same thing.) (3)
How Is Social Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed?
To diagnose social anxiety disorder, your doctor may: (4)
Conduct a physical exam to help determine whether any medical condition or medication may be triggering your symptoms
Discuss your symptoms, how frequently they occur, and in what situations
Ask you whether certain situations make you feel anxious
Have you fill out self-report questionnaires about symptoms of social anxiety
Your healthcare provider will determine whether you have the criteria for social anxiety disorder as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). These include:
Persistent, intense fear or anxiety about specific social situations because you fear you may be judged, embarrassed, or humiliated
Avoiding anxiety-provoking social situations or enduring them with intense fear or anxiety
Excessive anxiety that’s out of proportion to the situation
Anxiety or distress that interferes with your daily life
Fear or anxiety that is not due to a medical condition, medication, or substance abuse
Treatment and Medication Options for Social Anxiety Disorder
Treatment for social anxiety disorder is intended to help you function in your daily life. (2) The two most common types of treatment for social anxiety disorder are psychotherapy (psychological counseling or talk therapy), medications, or both. (4)
Psychotherapy helps most people with social anxiety disorder because it teaches you how to change negative thoughts about yourself. You also learn skills that help you gain confidence in social situations.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has the most research support among psychotherapies for anxiety, and it works just as well whether it’s conducted individually or in groups.
In exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy, you work up to facing the situations you fear most, little by little. This can help you develop the confidence you need to cope with anxiety-provoking social situations. You may also engage in social skills training or role-playing to practice your social skills.
CBT may even create positive changes in the brain. A study from 2017found that when those with social anxiety disorder participated in 10 weeks of CBT group therapy, it led to changes in parts of the brain that process and regulate emotions. (6) The changes were more pronounced when the therapy was most successful.
One of the greatest things about The Mayo Clinic’s awesome artwork collection is that it’s all donated by families or artists. Every possible type of art you can imagine is on display, and unfortunately, I could only capture a few. My husband took a few photos and I hope to provide them as well. The architecture in Rochester is very diverse so walking is a great way to capture great photos. There are many skyscrapers in the downtown area so catching a glimpse of them from an adjacent building with windows you can access is the perfect way to get a great shoot.
I get bored easily so I work hard at keeping my content fresh and up-to-date. Most of the changes are esthetic but I think they add some flair into who the person behind the words are. Please check out the updated page and share the good, bad, and ugly, I can take it.
I want to take one minute to thank all that have stopped by my blog over the years, left comments, the good conversations we’ve had, what we’ve learned from each other, and most importantly your friendship. The past 24 years of my life has been a learning journey, full of ups and downs but many of you have been there throughout the years and I send a special hug to you.
If you think something is missing in my description of my blog or about myself, please let me know that as well, that’s important information to have.
Thanks for coming along for the ride. What a ride it’s been.
Bullying is an issue that people of all ages deal with especially if they are on Social Media, bullying is not just for kids and teens anymore. Bullying when I was growing up was calling people names, starting rumors about you, and a few fist fights but nothing as life-altering as today. The worst that happened to me was I was hit in the back of the head with a coke bottle over someone starting a rumor that I was making fun of my best friend and neighbor about her cleft palate. Of course, the rumor wasn’t true but she took it personally, it wasn’t her that hit me in the back of the head with the Coke bottle it was one for her friends looking for trouble.
Nowadays are bullied at a very young age about everything from the clothes they wear, who their friends are, to whether or not they have a phone or an email, It can go as far as what car their parents drive, where they work and on and on, it there’s a hater out there, there is a bully. One of the biggest challenges is that kids and teens don’t often tell their parents before things get out of control. Nor do they talk to the school about it even if they know who is doing it. It’s the same pressure that’s always been there, being a tattle tale. We have to know how to stand up for ourselves and teach our children to do the same.
On Social Media, it is so much worse and more vicious, if they troll you they also troll your friends and their friends, start outrageous rumors, makeup conversations that never happened, manufacture photos that don’t exist, and send them to everyone you know even your employer. Some trolls make it their life obsession to ruin your life before they move on to the next person. They can make it look like a message comes from someone and not from that person.
One of the reasons I closed all my social accounts was the negativity. If you write about an accomplishment or good health news you can get bombarded with messages like “You aren’t sick”, “You’re Lying”, You just want sympathy” and the negative comments go on and on. The other issue I had is, that I only followed a short list but would still see all of Elon’s tweets about his views, overpopulating the world with children and other views I never asked to see, like him talking about sex or showing him grabbing a woman’s but. I’m no prude by any stretch of the imagination but that isn’t why I joined back in 2015. I also grew tired of the pushing of other sites I might want to follow, some may find that helpful but not me.
Of course, there is a more sinister side of Social Media but that’s for another post. What will say to parents is to monitor how much time their kids spend on Social Media, what they are looking at, who they are following, and check their Direct Messages. Teens have to earn the right to have a phone and to access these sites. They also need your guidance to know that they don’t know who is on the other end no matter what they think or what the other heart is telling them.
A scary way young adults and adults alike can be bullied is by a troll gathering info posted and piecing together your life, your photos, where you hang out, and even where you work. Now think of what a troll can do with that information and believe me this happens every day. Remember all the stories of kids being ostracized because their parents were Only Fans members?
What is National Bullying Month About?
October is National Bullying Awareness Month, a timely reminder for organizations to take action at the local level to foster safe and supportive environments. Workplace bullying—whether through hostile comments, discriminatory actions, or other forms of intimidation—should never be tolerated.
By promoting kindness, inclusivity, and respect, we can contribute to creating workplaces where everyone feels valued and respected. Together, we have the power to make bullying a thing of the past and build a better, more compassionate world.
The reason, I only included this information is everything I read was focused on kids and that’s not reality anymore.
I don’t see bullying going away but we can control it with protective measures and education.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a month that has received a great deal of attention over the years due to the tremendous donations to support new treatment options. That does not mean we should look the other way and think it has enough attention. The success rate of survival has increased but there is still so much to know about Breast Cancer.
NBCF is dedicated to delivering comprehensive, educational information on breast health and healthy living. From understanding the importance of early detection, to knowing how to prepare for a mammogram, NBCF’s online resources and guides aim to empower women and men with useful information. View guides. Click here to learn more about breast self-examination steps.
The Patient Navigator Program is a proactive approach to helping patients overcome the barriers of cost, fear, and misinformation surrounding a disease and its prevention. Find a facility.
Other Resources
In addition to the breast care services that NBCF provides to women in need, the following resources offer financial assistance for breast cancer patients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides access to breast cancer screening services to underserved women in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 5 U.S. territories, and 12 tribal organizations.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) provides resource lists for free or low-cost mammograms and financial assitance based on your location. When you go to their website, Cancer.org, look for the “About Us” tab in the top right corner. When you click on that, select your state in the “Where We Help” menu to be directed to a list of local resources.
Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP)
This state program is funded through Medicaid to provide underserved women free healthcare throughout treatment. The program is available in all 50 states. For the application process, contact your local hospital and ask to speak to a nurse or patient navigator regarding the program.
The CFAC is a coalition of organizations that help patients reduce financial barriers during cancer treatment. When you visit their website, select the type of assistance needed and enter your zip code to find resources near your area.
The Mammography Facility Database is updated periodically based on information received from the three FDA-approved accreditation bodies: the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the states of Arkansas and Texas to provide a list of facilities where mammography services are available based on your location.
Breast Cancer needs to be taken seriously by all and it starts with self-exams and reaching out at the first sign of trouble. You also need to keep your doctor aware of your family history because it can play a big role in whether to not you have the DNA makers for Breast Cancer. Always air on the cautious side.
I’m glad you joined me on Wordless Wednesday and I hope to see you soon.
This is a beautiful piece of handmade leaded glass of Dragon Flies. The first photo is hard to see becaue it mosted coved by a tree outside my office window but as you look to the sides of the galls the colors shine through. Seeing Dragon Flies always make me smile.
I’ve always questioned the value of seeing a reporting out in the hailing winds and rain trying to stand up, what is the point. We know there is a storm, the news is covering it in the studio and we have better photos of what is happening than the few feet the reporters are in.
Hurricane Milton crossed the line for me, all the major channels were reporting and it was so bad that several had close calls and one was hit in the face with debris. Is this what it comes to? Put employees at risk for their lives to show this channel will go further than the next. I drew the line.
Anderson Cooper was reporting from Bradenton, Florida, and was barely able to stand, the rain was pouring down and he reached won to show how deep the water was a was hit in the face by flying debris. He sought safety after that. the situation could have been much worse.
The National Hurricane Center reported Milton reached Category 5 status twice and had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it hit Siesta Key, Florida, near where Anderson was reporting.
Anderson was working with Bill Weir who was in St Petersburg and was washed away. Why is this acceptable corporate behavior?
Social Media was blowing up with comments of concern for the safety of the reports but where were The corporations they work for? Do they feel this is dramatic television that people want to watch so they can make more money? Bullshit! This shows a total lack of care for human life!
Anderson was not the only reporter who put their life on the line, so did: Dylan Dryer and Ginger Zee and these are the ones I’ve heard of.
We have to stand up and say enough is enough! Let CNN, GMA, and The Today Show this cruel and unusual behavior by writing to the Media Corporations, taking to Social Media, and sending letters to your local media and your local political representative. Only we can make a difference because their employers will not.
There are thousands of stories and videos to read or watch of the hurricanes should you wish to relive the carnage.
I’m disgusted that Journalism has come to being thrown to the wolves. Long gone are the days when I wanted to be a Journalist. I won’t be treated like a piece of meat.
I pray to donate to the Red Cross or other legitimate charities on the ground to provide daily needs and support.
Yesterday we spent the day driving around in the countryside looking at farms and fields of solar panels. we went to his tiny lake, but the description did not match the actual place. It was a tiny man-made lake with a shoreline that kids swim in during the warmer months. We went to The Peace Center and watched a great program on Native American Indians, tribe members from all over the country participated. There were many different ceremonial dances by women and men, live tribal music, and singing. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, I left my phone behind and so far the photos my husband took are well….not so good.
We also checked out what building we needed to be at in the morning and where to park. We’re set. Tomorrow isn’t a long day. I will meet with an internal medicine doctor in the morning and pick up an oximeter machine on Tuesday night.
We have the late afternoon free if we don’t decide to take a nap. The weather is cold here and naps feel really good.
Wednesday starts early at 6:40 AM with blood work and closer to lunch a meeting with a Hematologist. I expect at least one diagnosis to come out of this meeting since most of the blood work being done is focused on the blood itself if that makes sense. One of the problems I currently have is that my hemoglobin is low which means it’s not carrying enough blood through my body.
Unless something is added to my program, I’m off on Thursday and back on Friday afternoon to meet with the Internal Medicine Doctor, I expect a diagnosis to come from this meeting.
Take good care of yourself and I’ll keep you posted if anything new comes up.
To think for one moment about what Christopher Columbus accomplished is mind-blowing. He shaped our world, taught us about countries we didn’t know existed, and built solid teams committed to the cause. I would love to feel what Christopher felt when he landed in America, what was the emotion?
Who was Christopher Columbus?
Christopher Columbus (born between August 26 and October 31?, 1451, Genoa [Italy]—died May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain) was a master navigator and admiral whose four transatlantic voyages (1492–93, 1493–96, 1498–1500, and 1502–04) opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. He has long been called the “discoverer” of the New World, although Vikings such as Leif Eriksson had visited North America five centuries earlier. Columbus made his transatlantic voyages under the sponsorship of Ferdinand II and Isabella I, the Catholic Monarchs of Aragon, Castile, and Leon in Spain. He was at first full of hope and ambition, an ambition partly gratified by his title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea,” awarded to him in April 1492, and by the grants enrolled in the Book of Privileges (a record of his titles and claims). However, he died a disappointed man.
Christopher’s world travels lived on with many new discoveries including the Mayflower heading to America.
The memorial is very nice, it was opened in 1996 and Rochester is very proud of the soldiers who gave all.
The day was extremely windy so I was not able to get many photographs but I’m thrilled with the ones I did, The images itched into the granite are breathtakingly real.
We landed last night with just enough light to find our car and head to Trader Joe’s for some goodies. We grabbed some dinner there so all we had to do was bring half a ton of luggage into the room and eat. My husband was happy because a college football game was on. After watching for a few minutes, I laid down to rest after an exhausting day at airports, walking and pulling luggage.
It’s very chilly here compared to home so I’m glad I brought my extra warm clothes. We’ve slept in this morning and plan to head out to see a few sites. I don’t know everywhere we’re going but I have the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the top of my list. I like to pay my respect when I travel, that’s the very least I can do.
Tomorrow is Columbus Day and a holiday for many, I will write a post about it this afternoon. We have free days until Tuesday and then it’s off to The Mayo for meetings with doctors, getting blood work, testing, and leaving with a diagnosis.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a day-long fast, confession, and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services.
Observances: Fasting, prayer, abstaining from physical pleasures, refraining from work
This awareness month is critical for all ages, even the youngest of children can feel depression and even though you may think they should blow it off, it’s not that easy and you can alienate them from talking to you again. Today life is so hard on kids, from an early age they are judged for the way they look, and who their friends are, for any reason because there are so many who don’t know who to communicate with and are haters. Kids also mimic their parents, if your child is having problems, look at your own behavior.
Young girls are fed to believe that these so-called influencers are real perfect-looking people who are pumping the greatest products they have to have. It never crosses their mind that the person is not an influencer, they are made up to look like the girls want to be and they are selling a product they make money on. They don’t get it or don’t want to. They are bullied for being a certain weight or not looking like someone else’s unrealistic standards.
Mix in real life as they get older and a deeper depression may present itself, it could be short-term term or it could be from unresolved issues, one you may not even know about. The key is to get your children the help they need at every step. As they age, professional help may be the answer. Don’t let stigma keep your child from getting the help they need.
As for adults, life can get messy, people can hurt you deeply, someone you trusted can betray you and family can hurt the worst. Some people may be more predisposed to depression whereas others may be situational driven. Adults have their own stigma and don’t seek out help, some men don’t think they need help and some just don’t know where to turn because the answer is not their parents. This is where a therapist comes in, therapy can be short-term just to get over a hump or more long-term because you have many buried issues that need to be addressed.
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October is recognized as Depression Awareness Month each year. The purpose is to increase understanding, decrease stereotypes, and help educate on how depression and other mental health issues impact people.
Awareness months give people affected by a specific condition a chance to share their stories. The goal is to help increase the overall understanding of depression or other conditions and help overcome stereotypes.
Depression is a common mental health concern in America and throughout the world. Far more than just “feeling sad,” depression negatively impacts how a person feels, thinks, and acts. It can cause disruption to school, work, and personal interests.
Misconceptions and misunderstandings of depression contribute to continuing stigmas about people living with the condition, the reasons it occurs, and their willingness to seek care.
In a 2018 study, researchers conducted a survey to assess the public’s knowledge of depression and the severity of the stigma surrounding it. Key findings included:
30% reported believing a “weak personality” causes depression
58.9% reported believing that pharmaceutical interventions or medications are not an effective treatment
over 70% reported understanding the importance of rest and that a person may appear happier than they actually are when living with depression
Depression can wear you out at the exact time you need all of your strength to fight. Trying to cope is extremely tiring — and it’s often difficult to know when others are suffering. That’s why, during October, we observe National Depression Education & Awareness Month. This important holiday helps teach us about the signs, symptoms, and treatment options for depression. It also lets all of us know that seeking help — either from a counselor, a trusted friend, or your community — is a sign of hope and strength.
Signs of Depression to look for
Feeling sad, hopeless, or empty.
Losing interest in activities that you used to enjoy.
Changes in appetite, weight loss, or weight gain.
Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much.
Feeling tired and lacking energy.
Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or remembering things.
Feeling irritable or restless.
Thoughts of death or suicide.
Withdrawing from social activities and isolating themselves from others.
Difficulty performing daily activities and taking care of themselves.
Feeling guilty or worthless.
Changes in behavior, such as increased substance use or reckless behavior.
Unexplained physical symptoms, such as headaches or stomachaches.
This is not an exhaustive list but it’s a good start to start looking for when you or your child it not themselves. It’s sometimes hard to see depression in yourself and you need someone you trust to give you feedback and it can be hard to hear. Work to have an open mind.
I was floored by Rolling Stone’s cover story on Kris Kristofferson’s Lyme-induced Alzheimer’s.
Having almost died from heart failure after 12 “top” NYC doctors neglected to properly treat my own case of Lyme & Bartonella in 2014, I wanted every possible detail. I had a million questions.
I was introduced to Kris and his wife, Lisa, by a mutual friend, and honored that they trusted me to write an in-depth piece for my HuffPo column documenting his tumultuous health journey, from earliest symptoms of fibromyalgia and cardiac arrhythmias to severe memory loss, and astounding, significant recovery.
In light of the terrible news of his recent death, I couldn’t help but wonder if Lyme played a role, and felt compelled to shine light on this important story again. The media is largely ignoring it. Acknowledging the truth about chronic Lymeand the vastdriver of autoimmune, psychiatric and neurologic illness that it is, is touching the third rail.
I am also struck, again, by the uncanny overlap between chronic Lyme and LongCovid, from their dark politics and conflicts of interest, severe effects on the brain and body, to how they both can persist long after initial infection. It’s also notable that those with Lyme had worse COVIDoutcomes. There seems to be nothing a wily, misunderstood infection can’t do. Kris’s story is a perfect example.
I am forever grateful for the awareness he raised about Lyme and infection-mediated chronic illness. Sincere condolences to Lisa and the Kristofferson family.
Kris’s fierce, intuitive wife, Lisa, tells us how she shepherded him through a haze of missed opportunities and misdiagnoses and got him back.
When and how did Kris’s Lyme symptoms begin?
About 12 years ago he was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which looking back, should have been the first indication that a test for Lyme was warranted. But we suspect he’s been infected with Lyme anywhere from fourteen to thirty years because he used to have these chronic muscle spasms, which is a common symptom.
We were in LA at the time, in Malibu, and I just don’t think doctors were looking for it or aware of it there then. But now we know it’s everywhere. There are signs on my local playground that say beware of ticks.
Can you describe his fibromyalgia?
He had massive, painful spasms all over his back and legs- it was so horrible- his nerve endings were causing golf ball-sized, painful contractions that we battled with acupuncture, heat and massage, then finally a spinal cortisone shot by a rheumatologist, and a low dose anti-depressant.
This eight-month period he was in so much pain he could not work. Two years earlier he had spent six weeks in the woods in rural, remote Vermont making a film called Disappearances. He was on the forest floor for much of the shoot, being dragged in a makeshift sling and carried by his son in the film, because he had been “shot” in the leg.
So, after so many years, how did he finally get diagnosed with Lyme?
During the aftermath of that film, Kris was diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea, warranting a bi-level CPAP machine, which he tried and refused to use. He had painful knees and annual knee shots, a pacemaker for arrhythmias–which we now know could be from Lyme–so much Advil for headaches that he got anemic.
After a year of iron supplements and seeing a hematologist, he just wasn’t healthy-looking so I took him to an integrative doctor, Mark Filidei, at Whitaker Wellness Institute. Upon examining Kris and watching the muscles in his forearms constantly twitching, he announced, “He’s got Lyme disease,” and ordered a blood test. The first test from LabCorp came back suspicious, the second test by IGeneX was positive. This was in February 2016.
Excellent that the doctor knew to go to a reliable lab for Lyme like IGeneX. I also like MDL Labs. Most physicians don’t know that the tests are only about 50% accurate at the major labs and that Lyme should be clinically diagnosed based on symptoms. What did you do when you found out his diagnosis of Lyme?
Well, we got the news when we were on tour in the UK and Ireland, so immediately upon landing in the US, I went to a local pharmacy and picked up Kris’s prescriptions for doxycycline and alinia. Soon after, we also started hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the frontal lobe.
At this point, did anyone refer you to a Lyme-Literate doctor?
Yes, luckily, Kris’s cardiologist did her residency in New Jersey so she understood the cardiac involvement in Lyme and said go to a Lyme specialist. We began working with Dr. Steve Harris in California, who added antibiotic intramuscular injections to Kris’s protocol and is continuing to treat Kris.
But before this, wasn’t Kris misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s?
Yes, for the past three years, he was treated for Alzheimer’s by two different neurologists. He was on two drugs for it, Namenda and Exelon patches. But finally, a spinal tap and functional MRI ruled out Alzheimer’s, so he quit those meds and the antidepressant for fibromyalgia. They also tested him for Lyme disease in the spinal fluid and it was negative but the doctor explained to me that Lyme does not live in fluid, it lives in tissue. It bores into tissue so you would really have to do a biopsy of the brain to find it.
That’s what makes Lyme blood tests so unreliable. I always encourage people suffering with Lyme symptoms or an autoimmune illness that’s linked to Lyme like MS, RA, Alzheimer’s etc to seek a second opinion from a Lyme-Literate doctor.
Exactly. People need to know this! I can’t wrap my head around why this information is not more widespread! Since Kris was diagnosed, so many people–even close friends of ours–are coming out of the woodwork telling us their stories and they’re not being heard. This is why Kris and I are glad to come forward. If it helps anyone, then great.
Were you told Kris was going to die from Alzheimer’s?
Well, no, but eventually Alzheimer’s is fatal, as is life. What we were doing was keeping him on these medications that would keep him from declining further for long stretches of time and then he would get worse and then he would plateau again. We had a very fatalistic attitude than none of us were getting out of this alive.
Why did you start transcranial magnetic stimulation?
The TMS targets the frontal lobe of the brain that was abnormal on the MRI. His neurologist is such a proactive, positive person and when she said, “let’s do this,” I was so ready to agree.
Can you describe his memory symptoms?
He could always remember songs, music is deeply embedded in the brain. The first thing I noticed was that he lost his keen sense of smell. The next thing I noticed was his spatial awareness was off. Like, if he would come out of the men’s room in the airport, he would start looking around and having no idea where to go. I had to watch him constantly, it was very consistent with Alzheimer’s. And he would do these mini-mental status tests where they have you remember certain presidents and things like that, and he was consistently failing them.
Did Kris think he had Alzheimer’s?
Actually, he has been complaining about having memory loss to his doctors for about 12 years and my understanding of Alzheimer’s is that you’re not even aware you have memory loss. That was a big clue to me that maybe it was not really Alzheimer’s. He would say “my memory’s shot, my memory’s gone.”
What were the doctors saying?
Well, after I questioned it, one of the head injury specialists that we saw looked at me and said, with a sad look on his face, “You really don’t want this to be Alzheimer’s.” I said, “It’s not that I want it to be something else, it just does not feelright to me.” Also, Alzheimer’s patients often fight things and don’t want to do certain things and Kris has always been a very compliant patient. That was another clue to me. Subtle things.
Do you think he felt hopeless?
I don’t think he even knew to feel that way, he just kind of floated. He did a film with the director feeding him lines and a teleprompter, and he is such a soldier. He never gives up.
What has treatment been like?
We had tremendous improvement after the intramuscular injections of Invanz, the Doxy and Alinia, thirty days of hyperbaric oxygen and twenty days of TMS of the frontal lobe. How it all worked is impossible to say but I can tell you that twenty days into theTMS, his personality was back. Of course, we are not done but that’s where we are right now.
Did he have Herxheimer reactions?
Oh, God, yes. He had three episodes of the most severe herxing. I wish I had him under medical surveillance because it was so bad. The first time, he violently threw up all over the hotel bathroom- the shower curtain- and he was so confused, he kept asking, “What’s happening? Why is this happening to me?” He was so disoriented. I’m gonna cry thinking about it.
Then it calmed down til the next evening when he had another episode in the restaurant bathroom where he kept saying, “What’s wrong with me,” and the way he was saying it, it was like when a little kid is confused. He just didn’t know why. Then, his third episode gave him a tremendous amount of shaking and spasming in his body, and again, the next day, he was totally fine. It’s the craziest thing. And so scary, I almost called 911.
How is he feeling now?
He still has spatial awareness issues and short-term memory loss. He sometimes even forgets he has Lyme! He shook the hand of a lady the other day and she told him she had Lyme and he said, “Oh! Is it contagious?”
So, he really lives in the present and he feels good. We walked two miles yesterday. His physical health is incredibly good. All his symptoms of fibromyalgia, sleep apnea and twitching are now gone with the Lyme treatment. He has stayed off the two Alzheimer’s drugs and the antidepressant he was taking for the fibromyalgia. He is continuing to do treatment as needed. When I look back, his symptoms really should’ve caused his doctors to test him for Lyme and they missed it. Most doctors are just not looking for it.
It’s a balance trying to work with all these doctors and telling them that even if they don’t all agree, we have to keep Kris’s best interest and we have to acknowledge he is getting better with Lyme treatment. His internist does not trust the Lyme tests and doesn’t want him doing more antibiotics.
It’s alarming that so many doctors don’t seem to even want to understand the seriousness of this disease.
I know! You and Dr. Phillips did a great job of conveying that onyour Fox interviewlast week. Seeing that young girl on the special broke my heart. I don’t understand the stigma or lack of awareness. It’s like doctors don’t wanna touch it. I think what I am teaching doctors now is that there is no downside in testing for and treating for Lyme when you can’t find anything else that makes sense. Because not acknowledging Lyme can be so devastating.
I had one doctor say to me that unless you live in New Hampshire, you can’t have Lyme. I’m like, “Why won’t you acknowledge Lyme? What is it, a religion?”
With over five million Americans living with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, I have to wonder how many actually have Lyme and not Alzheimer’s, and what it will take for doctors to look for Lyme before giving someone a sentence like that. Malpractice suits? Complaints to medical boards?
Sadly, the average doctor doesn’t even check or test for Lyme, it’s not the norm. But they should! And now, with treating it, Kris is doing so much better than he was three years ago. I couldn’t even get certain doctors to look at his blood test and agree it was positive. But once he got his clinical assessment from his Lyme doctor, they all seemed to finally agree. And then we got him off all the Alzheimer’s meds and it was like, “I’ll be damned!”
How was Kris able to function on the road before his Lyme diagnosis?
Right before he started treatment, he had two fainting episodes where we got really worried about him. We were in Ireland and he was walking through the hotel lobby doors and he fainted. I grabbed him and yelled for help. He was completely passed out. This happened two nights in a row at exactly the same time, after his shows, walking back into the hotel lobby.
Thank God it was there because it was caught on camera and the hotel was nice enough to give us the footage to show our neurologist. Since then, I’ve learned that that is failure of the autonomic nervous system, which Lyme attacks.
Did he have any neuropsychiatric symptoms? You mentioned depression earlier. Do you think this was related?
In 1988 he was first given a diagnosis of clinical depression and he went on an antidepressant for a while but it was also in a period of a life where things were difficult. As he worked through his issues, he went off of the antidepressant and then went back on a very low dose because of the fibromyalgia symptoms.
In terms of other psych symptoms, it was more that his confusion would trigger anxiety. He would ask, “where are we going, what are we doing?” That kind of repeated thing. And that still persists today to some degree. It seems like most of the damage is in his short-term memory and spacial awareness.
Did any of that get better?
Not so much his working, short-term memory yet, but his whole personality came back after three years. I could cry now thinking about it. We were driving back from his sixth HBOT treatment and he looks over at me and says, “Wow, I feel like I’m back.” And I looked right in his eyes and I said, “OH MY GOD, HE’S BACK! It was like, WHOA!”
When you say his personality is back, what was it like before his Lyme treatment?
I think describing it as flat is the best way to explain it. Because he is such a charismatic, funny, fun person and his intellect is so amazing. Over the course of treating him for Alzheimer’s, there was a slow slipping away.
Looking back over the years, how do you think none of Kris’s doctors caught this?
All these doctors were wonderful in treating him and caring, but nobody was finding the cause or connecting the dots. The neurologist suggested anti-seizure medications for passing out, the fibromyalgia doctor was giving him antidepressants for his body pain, his cardiologist gave him a pacemaker for his cardiac arrhythmias, his knees were sore, so he got annual shots from his orthopedist.
Nobody was connecting the dots at all.
It wasn’t until I took him to the integrative doctor, Dr. Filidei, that he looked at everything and said, “This looks like Lyme disease.” I’m just so grateful that he is so much better now. And I feel really lucky that our doctors are willing to work with our Lyme-literate doctor. I know that is not always the case.
I bet he saw the best doctors money could buy.
The most expensive doctors don’t necessarily buy you the best treatment, that’s one thing I’ve learned. It’s not like he’s immortal at eighty, but there’s not that big black void ahead of us anymore. He is so much better now than he was three years ago. We are back hitting the road again.
You must be so relieved, Lisa!
I am relieved! And now we’re at a point where we can acknowledge and look at each other’s deficits with humor. I am deaf in one ear and everybody is patient about that, and we laugh about it. It’s OK, everybody has a challenge.
We understand Kris’s deficits in spatial awareness and short-term memory loss and we laugh about it all the time. We laugh at him and with him and we make the best of it because Lyme is so tragic that if you don’t have something to counterbalance the sadness of that, it’ll take you down. The more we can get Kris to laugh, the healthier he is. Being on the road, the laughter, the music. It’s great medicine. And I understand that when you have Lyme disease, your quality of life will vary with each different person. You have to just do the best you can.
Also, I tell people to exercise because Lyme can only live in a low-oxygen environment. The more you get out and do some aerobic exercise to get oxygen flowing through your body― if you are able to do that― the better.
Do you have any Lyme symptoms?
Well, I don’t, but the doctor thinks I should be tested since it potentially can be sexually transmitted and he doesn’t want me to reinfect Kris as he’s getting better.
Are you happy with Kris’s care now?
Yes! The good news is that the doctors we have now support us going to a Lyme specialist and when they don’t know the answers to certain things, they tell me to ask him.
That’s really unusual and wonderful. Certainly, that was the opposite of my experience.
Yeah, what’s that about? Again, I just don’t get it. People are coming up to us all the time now with their Lyme stories and it’s just so tragic! Doctors are not looking for this and then people end up down the road so much sicker. It’s heartbreaking. I am fortunate my doctors are willing to admit when they are unsure about something and have Kris’s best interest at heart.
What’s life like now for Kris?
We’re on the road right now with Willie [Nelson] and the Haggard boys. Kris is doing what he loves, he’s eighty and he’s healthy – we just walked for four hours in the LA Zoo with our grandchildren.
He doesn’t remember bypass surgery, and so many things, but recently, he did this big Q&A in front of 600 people and my daughter and I were scared to death about how it would go, but it turned out to be the best, funniest thing ever.
And that’s the deal now, Kris is totally present and sometimes we forget he’s battling anything. At times, he’ll still say, “where are we going, what are we doing,” but he really rolls with it now. That’s just how it is. He is right here, right now. We’re jamming with it. It’s such a weird, beautiful journey.
Dana Parish is a singer, songwriter, author, and a major advocate for Lyme disease patients. She co-authored the book Chronic with Dr. Steven Phillips. This interview and other writings are available on her Substack newsletter Third Opinion. Click here to subscribe.
Kris Kristofferson died on September 28, 2024. Here is a great article about his career and his life by The New York Times.
The newsletter talks about how to vote, the players in Texas who are up for election, and additional resources. Sometimes these newsletters publish a link, not sure why I can see the content but WordPress turns it to a link. Please click on the link or copy in paste on your computer to read. This message is important to all Texans.
October 2024
We are less than one month out from General Election Day! It is critical that Texans get out and vote as policymakers elected in 2024 will make major decisions regarding individuals and families affected by mental health conditions. Furthermore, exercising your right to vote ensures representation, the individuals we elect will be our voice at the local, state, and federal levels. When you participate in elections, we hold our elected officials accountable for their actions and decisions. Additionally, voting has the ability to drive social change as voters have the opportunity to advocate for policy reform and issues that are important to us.
Finally, voting promotes equality, providing an opportunity for all citizens to have a say in the decision-making process. Important Dates:General Election Day: Tuesday, November 5th, 2024 Early Voting: Monday, October 21st-Friday, November 1st, 2024 Last day counties can receive mail-in ballot requests: Friday, October 25th, 2024 Find out what’s on your personalized ballot by checking out Vote411.
Get involved & encourage others to do so too! The NAMI Texas team encourages you to check out NAMI National’s #Vote4MentalHealthcampaign webpage where you can pledge to vote for mental health, learn more about why mental health is more than a single policy issue and several ways to get engaged. Furthermore, the campaign provides resources like finding your voting options, requesting an absentee ballot, and planning to vote.
#Vote4MentalHealth Videos Check out this videothat highlights the importance of voting in all elections, from those at the White House to local school board elections. Additionally, watch this educational video on how votes for education, economy, and healthcare all impact mental health!
Please note: #Vote4MentalHealth is nonpartisan – the NAMI Alliance will never tell people what party or candidate to vote for; instead, it focuses on understanding how every person’s vote impacts mental health. NAMI Texas Voter Guide:
Additionally, check out NAMI Texas’ General Election 2024 Voter Guides! The Policy Team has collected information from Texas candidates on various mental health topics. This guide can be used to help you gather information regarding where candidates stand on various mental health systems and what they hope to improve upon if they are elected. Please note, that all candidates were contacted and only those who responded are in the guides.
Losing a baby is a very personal matter and one that we don’t often hear or talk about unless you’re close to someone who has experienced that loss. At 19 I had a miscarriage at 4-5 months along and my then-husband didn’t even acknowledge the child or the death, we never talked about the entire night it happened. Instead, he went out of town with the guys the next morning and there was no conversation when he returned. I was devastated, had no ride home, and didn’t have anyone to help me with the pain. I was in shock seeing the baby in the toilet at the hospital but I never grieved.
I can’t imagine the grief of carrying a baby close to term or full term and then watching them die, it has to be gutwrenching. There are many children born with diseases or a defect and they fight for their lives, but it was not to be. The overwhelming pain can only be felt by the parents who lost their baby. Think about the pain felt when the parents get home to see the baby’s nursery they planned so carefully without their baby.
These are my thoughts on what Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month is, let’s see the official meaning of the day.
When Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month was proclaimed.
In 1988, President Ronald Regan proclaimed October Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is observed on October 15th each year and includes the International Wave of Light.
In the United States, 1 out of every 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage and 1 and every 160 pregnancies end in stillbirth. These numbers do not include infant death from preterm labor, diagnosis of life-limiting conditions, or SIDS.
What is Pregnancy Loss and Infant Loss Awareness Month?
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, observed every October, is dedicated to raising awareness about the grief and challenges faced by families who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of an infant. The month provides a platform for breaking the silence surrounding these often stigmatized and unspoken losses. Through various events, campaigns, and remembrance activities, it seeks to honor the lives lost, offer support to grieving parents, and educate the public on the impact of pregnancy and infant loss. It also encourages open conversations and fosters a sense of community among those affected.
When is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day?
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is observed on October 15th each year. It is a day dedicated to honoring and remembering babies who have passed away due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. Many people participate in the global “Wave of Light” by lighting candles at 7 PM in their local time zone to create a continuous wave of light across the world.
If you’ve lost a baby or know someone who has and wants to share their memory, consider setting up a memorial website on Ever Loved. Memorial websites are free, simple to use, and a beautiful place to share your baby’s obituary, event information, collect memories, and more.
lookingforthelight.blog 