ClydeStyle

Category: mental health

  • Please, allow crazy to be crazy!

    As mental health awareness month comes to a close, I want to encourage everyone to empty your lives of as much drama and craziness as possible. You have been carrying it or them for too long!

    There are some lives that follow social norms and others that don’t. Although anyone can experience a trial or tribulation at any time, it seems that the more logical thinking people tend to avoid strife better.

    As for others, drama seems to follow bad decision making. It also follows bad relationships. Have you ever met someone who loves to argue? And they argue about everything. There are extreme in their thinking, they have a sense of entitlement, and they don’t seem to be happy unless they are trying to control you!

    These same people masquerade as our friend until things don’t go their way. We waste a lot of time trying to apply logic to these relationships to no avail. These people are not logical, so no logic can be used in dealing with them.

    Now, I realize that some of these people are relatives, and you’re wondering how can you abandon the family? Well, how can you keep strife around?

    My professional advice is to give these illogical people some time to miss you. Don’t make a big production about it, just easy up on your availability. You will find that living with less stress is worth it.

    A Yale University study found that chronic stress can shorten your life. Also, researchers from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare calculated the effects of multiple risk factors, including lifestyle-related ones, to the life expectancy of men and women and found that  being under heavy stress shortens your life by 2.8 years.

    Further research has shown that overreacting, constantly worrying, and living in a state of perpetual anxiety can reduce life expectancy.

    So for this cause, when someone proves to lack judgment and  be a destruction to their own life, you owe it to yourself to allow them to just be.

  • May is mental health awareness month

    The month of May has been designated as the time that mental health professionals share and discuss nearly 300 mental disorders that are listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

    America still has not accepted the fact that our nation is mentally sick and there is just so much that a person can take. Many other civilized nations have already begun to consider their citizens and have created laws that make counseling available and even mandatory in some cases.

    China, Italy, Japan, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany are among the leading countries who have decided to make mental health more than a talking point and have made laws in the best interest of its citizenry.

    A mental illness is a health problem that affects mood, thought, behavior, or perception. It would affect a person’s ability to function at work, in relationships, or in things you do every day.

    There are many disorders. People are suffering from mood disorders like depression; anxiety disorders; personality disorders; psychotic disorders; eating disorders; trauma-related disorders; and substance abuse disorders. The saddest part is that there are many folks in prison who were arrested for committing a crime associated with a disorder. In America, we put people like this in jail instead of giving them the help that they need.

    What’s worse is that we allow folks suffering with a mental health disorder access to automatic weapons.

    We need to continue to solicit our government to make policies that help those suffering from mental health issues and not ostracize them in our society. May is the month to make us more aware. Will you do your part?

  • Vengeance doesn’t belong to us

    Humans are capable of great fits of rage. When anger is kindled there is a loss of level thinking, blood runs high and irrational behavior follows. Some of the dirtiest deeds in the world have come from human anger.

    Biblically we were told that vengeance did not belong to us. It was a property of the Almighty! The creator of the universe promised that he would repay. I wonder is that because he knew that we were not equipped to deal with anger?

    When a person gets anger the worst of that person can be seen. They feel the need to be vindictive by any means necessary. People who are more vengeful tend to be those who are motivated by power, by authority and by the desire for status. They basically don’t want to lose face. A person described as vindictive is usually someone who holds a grudge and who always tries to get back at people who they think have wronged them in some way.

    Vindictive people retaliate against others for any insult or perceived slight. Vindictive people do not let things go but rather must seek revenge to satisfy a burning sensation within to play God.

    Psychologically speaking, revenge is more of an emotional state that is triggered when one feels they have been attacked or wronged by another party. It runs on impulse and if not controlled it will destroy whole families and friends.

    The best way to handle your anger and prevent yourself from possible legal trouble is to examine the potential stressors in your life and decide if they are absolutely necessary. Look at the things that matter to you the most and see which areas you are most vulnerable. Some people are very sensitive about their personal life. If you are one of those people then you probably should not have pictures of your family displayed at work and double check your social media privacy settings to make sure you are in complete control over your content.

    Moreover, it would be wise to review your friendships and decide how much access to you they can have. Make sure that you separate your very close friends from mire acquaintances and have close friends who you can talk to when life gets stressful.

    Above all, work on your de-escalation skills and make sure you drink plenty of water and definitely get enough sleep. Regular exercise needs to be apart of your daily routine. Try your best to live peaceably with everyone.

  • Our mass shootings are home grown

    Every time there is a mass shooting eventual the conversation turns to something being done about mental health. But nobody is really talking about making meaningful mental health legislation no more than a person who hits themselves in the head and says, “I could have had a V8?” — they didn’t mean that either!

    You see, America has always needed to take mental health serious. The founding father weren’t smart enough to consider the effects life would have on people through just living it. Our country was birthed after the Revolutionary War. Before the flag could get used to flying in the sky, it was layer more across caskets. We tried to morn but the puritanical concepts we labored under would encourage you to be strong as defined by keeping a “stiff upper lip!” No time for weeping, crying was a sign of weakness and to carry on with grief beyond the funeral did not fit the societal norm.

    As a result we kept things to ourselves and turned our anger inward. This caused a great silent depression in the US. Our solution: Medication! We tried to take pills for everything. Fast forward to today and we now have an extremely angry, entitled, spoiled, immature nation who uses privileges so prideful that will can kill without remorse. And the killers aren’t old people, retired vets, abused middle aged folks — it’s kids! They haven’t even been here long enough to be so angry — yet they are.

    Our society creates these characters. I know I always thought that America was invincible because we spend much money on defense to protect the outside of us. We never invest on the inside so that’s where our cancer grows.

    Our country will never starve itself to death. Nor be wiped out by a disease. We won’t lack water or any other resource — we will just neglect ourselves to death. America is the largest ocean, but it’s citizenship lives in aquariums.

  • Disorder danger

    In an effort to provide helpful information for families dealing with trauma, I want to discuss dissociative disorders today. It is very important when parenting to provide a literal safe-haven for your children. Home life should be care-free, loving, supportive and encouraging. It should be a place where your children can feel safe and secure from harm and be able to escape the pressures and worries of life. They need to be a part of an environment that is designed with them in mind.

    Normally at the beginning of their life we make sure the house is safe — especially as they become toddlers and begin to walk. We put things in place so they won’t get hurt. We lock cabinets and plug outlets to ensure safety and we try and have them follow a route everyday so they know what to expect and there are very minimal surprises. As they get older we stop thinking so much about their safety and docus more on their independence. Well, dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity. People with dissociative disorders escape reality in ways that are involuntary and unhealthy and cause problems with functioning in everyday life.

    The cause has to do with trauma normally in their youth. It could be natural disasters, death of a loved one, molestation, physical, emotional or sexual abuse or even war. Because personal identity is still forming during childhood, a child is more able than an adult to step outside of himself or herself and observe trauma as though it’s happening to a different person. A child who learns to dissociate in order to endure a traumatic experience may use this coping mechanism in response to stressful situations throughout life.

    The adult version of this gets worse. The disconnect from emotions starts and is stimulated by stress. Memory loss, a perception of the people and things around you as distorted and unreal and a blurred sense of identity. Significant stress or problems in your relationships, work or other important areas of your life and an inability to cope well with emotional or professional stress. And of course mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors will manifest itself in adulthood.

    It’s not all do and gloom though because psychotherapy and or medication have proven to be extremely successful treatments. If we could only move the stigma of mental health counseling being a negative, more people could get help. This condition effects every part of adult life and it makes relationships very difficult. The result end with people seeking alternative ways of dealing with the disorders. They self medicate, use drugs, having eating disorders and major depression.

    There is help available and the people suffering with this disorder are not alone. Seek professional help or visit http://www.clydestyle.org for answers. I am here for you!

  • A network of togetherness

    There is something to be said for being together. Our closeness or unity or connection to another person or group of folks quenches the thirsty we have for belonging. As humans we need to be a part of something — good or bad we need to belong. We yearn for inclusion and to be entangled with other people.

    Togetherness is defined as a state or feeling of closeness and happiness among people who are together as friends, family members, etc. Some have several groups they associate with. In these groups you should find all you need to balance your life such as encouragement, support, wisdom, intimacy, family, networking and entertainment.

    Togetherness is so important that we should have a societal rule that everyone must be a part of a crew. You choose your own crew but your Togetherness will also be charged for trouble you get in. That alone would make us choose our friends more closely and truly be our brothers keeper!

    Togetherness greatly helps with mental health issues and it single handedly lowers suicide rates. In fact, overall crime goes down in areas where people cluster together in unity. Many foreigners to this country take their togetherness to a foreign land and excel! They live in close quarters together for a time to save money and get ahead. So two families may move together and live together here. All able-bodied individuals work and the money made is shared with the cluster. Each family helps the other get ahead and they slowly bring in more families as others advance.

    This just proves that we are better together. We were created to be a part of a pair that would have the ability to increase it’s nunber and the. They would all work together and look out for each other. We also call this a family!

    I remember the crew I had in junior high, high school and college. Then I had a different group of professionals when I entered the workforce. As far back as I can recall, I have never existed without a crew. And all of my groups were successful. How about you my friends? Do you have a crew? Do you support your crew? Is your group successful? Can you rely on them? These are very important questions if you plan to get by with a little help from your friends!