Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
The MOM Movement
I am in the middle of a personal crisis regarding my weight. Up to the age of 40 I never weighed more than 120 pounds. At that time 120 pounds was fat to me. I usually hovered around 115 and was a very happy camper. However, when I turned 40, I became very ill and spent a total of 3 weeks in the hospital on I.V. steroids and then 3 months of oral steroids. Needless to say, after that I looked like a balloon. I knew it was bad the day I went to see my mom at the nursing home and was greeted with "Wow you got fat!"
Well, that was 9 years ago and I have struggled like all American women with putting it on and taking it off. Most people who look at me believe I am overreacting to my problem. But after years of fitting into size 4 clothes, size 12 is not cool. I managed to get down to 115 again a few years ago and did great but food became my enemy once again.
My husband is involved in politics which means that we are out quite often. This practice of hob nobbing means food and wine are readily available wherever we go. People do not take no for an answer. They insist on feeding us or hydrating us. The problem with that is I may as well take that food, paste it on my thighs and call it a day. Forget my liver, I may need a transplant at the rate it is going.
Today I have decided that 147 is too much. I need to drop at least 17 pounds and preferably 25 pounds. I am realistic. I am now 49 years old and cannot pass as a kid any longer but I do need to take care of myself if I plan to make it to 79.
So if I tell you I do not want another drink, or a salad is just fine, or that I really do not want the chocolate, please understand that I probably do want it but really don't need it. I don't want to offend you, I am only trying to do what is right for me and my family. I need to get motivated and exercise. I must get out of this chair so my joints don't whine so much when I move to do things.
Thank you for all the food offers but I will be trying to eat healthier and exercise a bit more. If you care to join me please post. Maybe we can start a movement. Who knows, we can call it the MOM movement (Middle-aged Overweight Mothers). Catchy huh???? Let me know if you want to join me!!!!
Well, that was 9 years ago and I have struggled like all American women with putting it on and taking it off. Most people who look at me believe I am overreacting to my problem. But after years of fitting into size 4 clothes, size 12 is not cool. I managed to get down to 115 again a few years ago and did great but food became my enemy once again.
My husband is involved in politics which means that we are out quite often. This practice of hob nobbing means food and wine are readily available wherever we go. People do not take no for an answer. They insist on feeding us or hydrating us. The problem with that is I may as well take that food, paste it on my thighs and call it a day. Forget my liver, I may need a transplant at the rate it is going.
Today I have decided that 147 is too much. I need to drop at least 17 pounds and preferably 25 pounds. I am realistic. I am now 49 years old and cannot pass as a kid any longer but I do need to take care of myself if I plan to make it to 79.
So if I tell you I do not want another drink, or a salad is just fine, or that I really do not want the chocolate, please understand that I probably do want it but really don't need it. I don't want to offend you, I am only trying to do what is right for me and my family. I need to get motivated and exercise. I must get out of this chair so my joints don't whine so much when I move to do things.
Thank you for all the food offers but I will be trying to eat healthier and exercise a bit more. If you care to join me please post. Maybe we can start a movement. Who knows, we can call it the MOM movement (Middle-aged Overweight Mothers). Catchy huh???? Let me know if you want to join me!!!!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Getting Ready for School
School is starting soon. Isn't it funny how all our lives are set up with school? My life, even though I am not a teacher or a student, is set up by semesters of school. Granted I do still have a child still in school but I "work" for a living so school should not matter to me. But over the years it has.
Back to school sales indicate the fall has started. Living in the northeast that means the leaves should be turning orange but in the southwest it meant that it was still beastly hot until late October. The other thing back to school sales indicate is the traffic is once again going to be awful. Going back and forth to work for people that get stuck behind those big yellow buses will probably not be joyful.
And what is it with these towns and cities that think no one has anywhere to go at 9 and 3. They have schools that have no where to drop off kids except on the streets in front of the schools on a busy street. Traffic backs up for miles and everyone is getting all upset. Granted it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes for the buses to load or unload but people get very frustrated.
And if that isn't bad enough, what is it with these kids who wait in the house for the bus and when the bus gets there they walk as slow as humanly possible to get on the bus. The worse part is nobody says anything to them. I would be giving my kid a good boot in the butt. "You're holding up the traffic Junior, get it in gear!" Isn't that what our parents used to say? Oh wait, our parents didn't have to say that because we walked 10 miles to school and they (our parents) walked 25 miles to school in knee deep snow. I wonder how deep the snow was in the southwest desert in September.
Then Christmas comes and we all get a 2 week break from the school bus hassles. We can get to and from work again without getting stuck behind the big yellow buses and all those slow kids. You know who I feel most sorry for; the school bus drivers. Those poor souls have to put up with the sulking in the morning when they go in and the crazy antics on the way home. They have to listen to drivers cuss them out for being in the way, they have to deal with parents who are not happy because Johnny had a problem with someone on the bus and because some idiot like me writes a piece talking about the big yellow bus.
Well after Christmas, all the college kids leave and back to school the other creatures go much to the relieve of their parents until June. Then we get a couple months off again from getting stuck behind the big yellow buses unless you are unlucky enough to live near a summer camp that uses buses to get the kids into camp. If that is the case you are out of luck, I am sorry to say.
Now after all this is it any wonder that my life still runs on a semester base. I follow those buses everywhere. I see them go by my house in the mornings, I hear them pick up the kids. I get stuck behind them at the local school. I try to plan my day so that I do not go down the road where the school is at the time school gets out but somehow I always end up there at dismissal time. I guess I should have been a teacher so that my biological clock could have been in sync with the school year. Perhaps in my next life.
Good luck to all the school bus drivers, teachers and students that will be going off to school in the next couple of weeks. Students please try to move a bit faster to the bus, you are just aggravating the world by being slow and one of us sitting in a car may be the person you sit in front of for a job someday. We may just recognize you as the slow poke who held us up in the morning on our way to work. That may not be such a good thing for you.
Back to school sales indicate the fall has started. Living in the northeast that means the leaves should be turning orange but in the southwest it meant that it was still beastly hot until late October. The other thing back to school sales indicate is the traffic is once again going to be awful. Going back and forth to work for people that get stuck behind those big yellow buses will probably not be joyful.
And what is it with these towns and cities that think no one has anywhere to go at 9 and 3. They have schools that have no where to drop off kids except on the streets in front of the schools on a busy street. Traffic backs up for miles and everyone is getting all upset. Granted it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes for the buses to load or unload but people get very frustrated.
And if that isn't bad enough, what is it with these kids who wait in the house for the bus and when the bus gets there they walk as slow as humanly possible to get on the bus. The worse part is nobody says anything to them. I would be giving my kid a good boot in the butt. "You're holding up the traffic Junior, get it in gear!" Isn't that what our parents used to say? Oh wait, our parents didn't have to say that because we walked 10 miles to school and they (our parents) walked 25 miles to school in knee deep snow. I wonder how deep the snow was in the southwest desert in September.
Then Christmas comes and we all get a 2 week break from the school bus hassles. We can get to and from work again without getting stuck behind the big yellow buses and all those slow kids. You know who I feel most sorry for; the school bus drivers. Those poor souls have to put up with the sulking in the morning when they go in and the crazy antics on the way home. They have to listen to drivers cuss them out for being in the way, they have to deal with parents who are not happy because Johnny had a problem with someone on the bus and because some idiot like me writes a piece talking about the big yellow bus.
Well after Christmas, all the college kids leave and back to school the other creatures go much to the relieve of their parents until June. Then we get a couple months off again from getting stuck behind the big yellow buses unless you are unlucky enough to live near a summer camp that uses buses to get the kids into camp. If that is the case you are out of luck, I am sorry to say.
Now after all this is it any wonder that my life still runs on a semester base. I follow those buses everywhere. I see them go by my house in the mornings, I hear them pick up the kids. I get stuck behind them at the local school. I try to plan my day so that I do not go down the road where the school is at the time school gets out but somehow I always end up there at dismissal time. I guess I should have been a teacher so that my biological clock could have been in sync with the school year. Perhaps in my next life.
Good luck to all the school bus drivers, teachers and students that will be going off to school in the next couple of weeks. Students please try to move a bit faster to the bus, you are just aggravating the world by being slow and one of us sitting in a car may be the person you sit in front of for a job someday. We may just recognize you as the slow poke who held us up in the morning on our way to work. That may not be such a good thing for you.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Resumes: What Does it Really Tell Us?
In the last year of my unemployment, I realized that my resume never fully reflected the work that I have been doing. Granted I have not been employed in the conventional sense of the word but I have been working. As a matter of fact, I have probably worked harder in the last year than I have in the last several because I have had to juggle 3 positions instead of one. Let me explain.
First, I got laid off from a job that although I enjoyed it, until I was laid off I never realized how stressed out I was. Marketing for the skilled nursing market was competitive and at the end, cut throat. At the end of my run we were all fighting for a few patients and many people were getting laid off so they were opting to stay home and take care of family members instead of putting them into a nursing facility. So my new job became looking for a job. That is a full time job in itself.
Second, while looking for work in the first few months, my time was taken up solely by that. After a bit, there was not as much time required as my sources were drying up and so I began to dedicate more time to my volunteer work with NAMI Waterbury. That started to become the focus of my life. I attended Chamber of Commerce meetings to promote NAMI Waterbury, I went out to do presentations on NAMI, I taught classes, ran support groups and so forth. Along with this I was still looking for work. In the meantime, someone asked me for help on the Salvation Army in Waterbury so I volunteered for that. Again, my time was now taken up looking for work, volunteering for NAMI and volunteering for the Salvation Army.
Third, while all this was happening a friend of mine approached me to tell me she was starting a technology company that would revolutionize the way we communicate. She wanted to know if I wanted to be part of it. Why not! So I began to help with some of the marketing materials, some of the data base development, business development, software testing, sales, design team work and so on. All this is done pretty much gratis as the company is pre-revenue. This company is working very hard on making the correct connections and will be a very important one in how the world communicates in the future. I will be a part of that group if all goes as planned which is great.
Now what I did not think of as I was still out looking for a "job" is that all of what I have done over the past year, paid or not, has been experience. I did add the NAMI experience to my resume but I never added the other experience because I did not think of it as important because it was not "paid". Is that how we value ourselves? Are we just prostitutes to the world of companies and businesses? Do we have no shame? Maybe we should be arrested as well as the ladies who walk the streets at nights if that is the way we value employees.
The work I did over the last year was more valuable than most of the work I have done in the many years I have had a "job". That reason is I was able to do things that my superiors at other jobs never gave me the chance to do. I was always held back for one reason or another. There was always someone ahead of me or someone more important that had to be in place. But now I was the person in charge that could make decisions or at the very least could follow along to find out how things were done.
I have now seen a business start from the beginning. An idea became a company and is growing into a living thing. I have looked for sales people, technology people and I have gone out on sales calls. I have lived leaner than I have lived since I was in my early 20s. I am stronger now than I ever have been although poorer than I have been as well.
Employers look at my resume and see a gap of work history of one year but they are sadly mistaken. I have worked the last year, just not in the conventional sense of the word. Not in the paid sense. Those of you who did not hire me or interview me because you saw that gap, your loss!! I am the best there is. To the company who let me go, you really lost because I am a loyal employee. To NAMI, the Salvation Army and SentryBlue, I am glad I have been able to give you my time because you appreciated every little bit I could give you and I will continue to give you whatever I can. It has been worth more than money and that is the biggest lesson that I have learned from this whole experience. Giving is definitely better than receiving, that is a lesson the whole world needs to learn!
First, I got laid off from a job that although I enjoyed it, until I was laid off I never realized how stressed out I was. Marketing for the skilled nursing market was competitive and at the end, cut throat. At the end of my run we were all fighting for a few patients and many people were getting laid off so they were opting to stay home and take care of family members instead of putting them into a nursing facility. So my new job became looking for a job. That is a full time job in itself.
Second, while looking for work in the first few months, my time was taken up solely by that. After a bit, there was not as much time required as my sources were drying up and so I began to dedicate more time to my volunteer work with NAMI Waterbury. That started to become the focus of my life. I attended Chamber of Commerce meetings to promote NAMI Waterbury, I went out to do presentations on NAMI, I taught classes, ran support groups and so forth. Along with this I was still looking for work. In the meantime, someone asked me for help on the Salvation Army in Waterbury so I volunteered for that. Again, my time was now taken up looking for work, volunteering for NAMI and volunteering for the Salvation Army.
Third, while all this was happening a friend of mine approached me to tell me she was starting a technology company that would revolutionize the way we communicate. She wanted to know if I wanted to be part of it. Why not! So I began to help with some of the marketing materials, some of the data base development, business development, software testing, sales, design team work and so on. All this is done pretty much gratis as the company is pre-revenue. This company is working very hard on making the correct connections and will be a very important one in how the world communicates in the future. I will be a part of that group if all goes as planned which is great.
Now what I did not think of as I was still out looking for a "job" is that all of what I have done over the past year, paid or not, has been experience. I did add the NAMI experience to my resume but I never added the other experience because I did not think of it as important because it was not "paid". Is that how we value ourselves? Are we just prostitutes to the world of companies and businesses? Do we have no shame? Maybe we should be arrested as well as the ladies who walk the streets at nights if that is the way we value employees.
The work I did over the last year was more valuable than most of the work I have done in the many years I have had a "job". That reason is I was able to do things that my superiors at other jobs never gave me the chance to do. I was always held back for one reason or another. There was always someone ahead of me or someone more important that had to be in place. But now I was the person in charge that could make decisions or at the very least could follow along to find out how things were done.
I have now seen a business start from the beginning. An idea became a company and is growing into a living thing. I have looked for sales people, technology people and I have gone out on sales calls. I have lived leaner than I have lived since I was in my early 20s. I am stronger now than I ever have been although poorer than I have been as well.
Employers look at my resume and see a gap of work history of one year but they are sadly mistaken. I have worked the last year, just not in the conventional sense of the word. Not in the paid sense. Those of you who did not hire me or interview me because you saw that gap, your loss!! I am the best there is. To the company who let me go, you really lost because I am a loyal employee. To NAMI, the Salvation Army and SentryBlue, I am glad I have been able to give you my time because you appreciated every little bit I could give you and I will continue to give you whatever I can. It has been worth more than money and that is the biggest lesson that I have learned from this whole experience. Giving is definitely better than receiving, that is a lesson the whole world needs to learn!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Crazy Things
Have you ever wondered how things in your life got so crazy and out of control when you used to think you had everything in control? There was a time when I was convinced that I had complete control over the way my life ran. And for the most part that was true. Then as my kids grew older, when I should have been gaining more control of myself and being able to do the things I want to do. Then life got out of control.
When my oldest was still at home, my youngest was still little. So clearly I still had control of the house. Unfortunately, when the youngest became a teenager, the oldest moved away, my step-son had graduated high school and decided to move in with us (which I do not mind at all most days) and suddenly I have lost all control of my house. I no longer have a living room. I have an office/living room/all purpose storage room. My husband's den has been turned into the hangout for the kids. The kitchen is a grazing ground. Even our bedroom is not a sanctuary any longer as they come bounding in there for advil or band aids at any time.
I purchase $300 worth of food and within 2 days it is gone. Where does it go? Well, at times it is left out so my 2 lovely dogs can devour it because heaven knows they need people food. If soda is purchased, a 12 pack is gone in a day. Now my kids are big but they are not huge, I cannot figure out where it goes. Oh I forgot the friends. They are in here at all hours of the day and night. My husband does not seemed phased by this but it drives me insane. I am trying to keep my sanity by ignoring it but it isn't working.
They also appear to think I am made of money. They cool the outside in the summer with my air conditioning and heat the outside in the winter with the heating. They must think the the neighborhood needs lights because when the middle one comes home at night, he never shuts any of the lights off when he goes to bed. They also have the house lit up like a Christmas tree when we are out at night while they are usually in the basement. I am sure that Connecticut Light & Power must love us.
Forget showers, first I couldn't get them to take them. Now I can't get them out of the shower. I am in and out in five minutes. My kids are the kings of the hour shower. The water company and oil company love us too.
Anyway, the lesson is that we have spoiled them rotten. But I am sure that I would not have done it any different. Someday they will all be gone at which time this house will be incredibly quiet, the den will be a den, the living room a living room, the kitchen a kitchen and our bedroom ours. I am sure we will be lonely. The one thing I do pray for is that each of the three gets at least one just like them. I really hope that each of them has a girl for extra punishment. That would be true payback for all they have put us through because these boys hover over anyone they love and I am sure girls would scare them silly!!
I love you boys!!!!
When my oldest was still at home, my youngest was still little. So clearly I still had control of the house. Unfortunately, when the youngest became a teenager, the oldest moved away, my step-son had graduated high school and decided to move in with us (which I do not mind at all most days) and suddenly I have lost all control of my house. I no longer have a living room. I have an office/living room/all purpose storage room. My husband's den has been turned into the hangout for the kids. The kitchen is a grazing ground. Even our bedroom is not a sanctuary any longer as they come bounding in there for advil or band aids at any time.
I purchase $300 worth of food and within 2 days it is gone. Where does it go? Well, at times it is left out so my 2 lovely dogs can devour it because heaven knows they need people food. If soda is purchased, a 12 pack is gone in a day. Now my kids are big but they are not huge, I cannot figure out where it goes. Oh I forgot the friends. They are in here at all hours of the day and night. My husband does not seemed phased by this but it drives me insane. I am trying to keep my sanity by ignoring it but it isn't working.
They also appear to think I am made of money. They cool the outside in the summer with my air conditioning and heat the outside in the winter with the heating. They must think the the neighborhood needs lights because when the middle one comes home at night, he never shuts any of the lights off when he goes to bed. They also have the house lit up like a Christmas tree when we are out at night while they are usually in the basement. I am sure that Connecticut Light & Power must love us.
Forget showers, first I couldn't get them to take them. Now I can't get them out of the shower. I am in and out in five minutes. My kids are the kings of the hour shower. The water company and oil company love us too.
Anyway, the lesson is that we have spoiled them rotten. But I am sure that I would not have done it any different. Someday they will all be gone at which time this house will be incredibly quiet, the den will be a den, the living room a living room, the kitchen a kitchen and our bedroom ours. I am sure we will be lonely. The one thing I do pray for is that each of the three gets at least one just like them. I really hope that each of them has a girl for extra punishment. That would be true payback for all they have put us through because these boys hover over anyone they love and I am sure girls would scare them silly!!
I love you boys!!!!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Another Great Read
Against Medical Advice: A True Story by James PattersonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A true story by James Patterson about a family and their struggle with their son's mental illness, their battle to find a doctor who understood it, the right medication combination and the torture his peers put him through. This is another book that should be read by teachers and administrators of school systems if they really want to understand what the "odd" kid is feeling. Those children that you think are misbaving are not always misbaving, they may have a real problem. This is written as a story and therefore is a really easy read. I would highly reccomend this if you want an insight into a families struggle with a mental illness.
View all my reviews >>
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Great Read Helps to Understand Parents Struggle With Aspergers
House Rules by Jodi PicoultMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a great book for anyone who doesn't understand what a parent of a child with autism or mental health issues goes through. It portrays how much a parent has to sacrifice for their children. This is a book mainstream teachers, principals, doctors, nurses and anyone who deals with children with special needs should read.
View all my reviews >>
Friday, March 12, 2010
JOB SEARCHES
I just watched a segment on Good Morning America about a gentleman who lost his job and is living in hotels on his frequent flyer miles and frequent hotel points. He was a middle aged man like many of us who have been laid off in this recession. He lost his house, put his belongings in storage and is using hotels as his base camp.
What a sad commentary on our world! I lost my job last year too. I was lucky to have a husband who had a good job and was most likely not going to lose it. Unfortunately for me, I worked in a very unstable industry, in the private sector, in a section of the industry where they hire and fire you like they change their underwear. I really thought I would find a job in a matter of a few weeks. It is now March, and had it not been for a close friend of mine who started a new business, I would still be unemployed.
This opportunity came along in January. It is great! We are developing a product that will revolutionize the way the world communicates. However, when you start a business it comes with its challenges such as; money being tight, getting your name out there, cold calls and all the various things you have to do to get it off the ground. This would have been much easier when I was 25 instead of 48. The good thing is at 48 I am so much wiser and so much better prepared to take on this type of endeavor. I love this and although my anxiety level is at the top right now, I am not nearly as stressed as I was when I was in the corporate world.
I guess part of the point of this blog is two-fold. One, middle aged workers are talented, experienced individuals, most are willing to learn new skills to continue their employment and most would take a paycut to continue to help their employer. Most of us are willing to work with new technology and embrace the chance to use it in the workplace. I take offense when someone thinks they can hire a 22 year old straight out of college and get the same level of experience and work ethic as they got from me (no offense to my 22 year old graduating this year. Honey, I hope you find a job.).
Two-I have been watching new businesses spring up all over the place. Most of them becoming pretty strong in a recession that is questionably diminishing. Most of those businesses are being started by people who have been laid off and cannot find work. Many of them by the middle aged worker who is being displaced. Apparently, the middle aged worker is pretty good at what they do or these businesses would not be so successful. I guess those companies that laid them off should have thought twice before they did so.
So my advice to the 20 somethings is be nice to the 40 and 50 somethings because you might be working for us. And those of you that laid us off ----THANKS--- in my case, it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I now have the best career and possibilities I could ever have.
What a sad commentary on our world! I lost my job last year too. I was lucky to have a husband who had a good job and was most likely not going to lose it. Unfortunately for me, I worked in a very unstable industry, in the private sector, in a section of the industry where they hire and fire you like they change their underwear. I really thought I would find a job in a matter of a few weeks. It is now March, and had it not been for a close friend of mine who started a new business, I would still be unemployed.
This opportunity came along in January. It is great! We are developing a product that will revolutionize the way the world communicates. However, when you start a business it comes with its challenges such as; money being tight, getting your name out there, cold calls and all the various things you have to do to get it off the ground. This would have been much easier when I was 25 instead of 48. The good thing is at 48 I am so much wiser and so much better prepared to take on this type of endeavor. I love this and although my anxiety level is at the top right now, I am not nearly as stressed as I was when I was in the corporate world.
I guess part of the point of this blog is two-fold. One, middle aged workers are talented, experienced individuals, most are willing to learn new skills to continue their employment and most would take a paycut to continue to help their employer. Most of us are willing to work with new technology and embrace the chance to use it in the workplace. I take offense when someone thinks they can hire a 22 year old straight out of college and get the same level of experience and work ethic as they got from me (no offense to my 22 year old graduating this year. Honey, I hope you find a job.).
Two-I have been watching new businesses spring up all over the place. Most of them becoming pretty strong in a recession that is questionably diminishing. Most of those businesses are being started by people who have been laid off and cannot find work. Many of them by the middle aged worker who is being displaced. Apparently, the middle aged worker is pretty good at what they do or these businesses would not be so successful. I guess those companies that laid them off should have thought twice before they did so.
So my advice to the 20 somethings is be nice to the 40 and 50 somethings because you might be working for us. And those of you that laid us off ----THANKS--- in my case, it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I now have the best career and possibilities I could ever have.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Opposing Views on Mental Illness
Last month I wrote a letter to the editor of the Republican American regarding an article about how difficult it is to be a teacher of high school students in the United States. The long and short of my editoral was that with cooperation between teachers and parents and the understanding that there may be underlying mental health or substance abuse issues, there is hope to work with these teens to make them productive citizens.
A few days later a gentleman followed up with a letter which basically called substance abusers "drunks" and those with mental illness "nuts". He stated that people did not suffer from depression they only got the blues. I am sure that Marie Osmond, in her current pain would love to hear that. I wonder if he thinks those with autism are just "dumb" or some other nasty word. It seems to me that someone who responds in such a crude and ignorant fashion are either truly uneducated or have really been hiding under a rock for many years.
This past Saturday another letter appeared from a nurse who used to work with the mentally ill and has seen the progression of the field of psychology. Her experience has seen this country go from institutionalizing people to getting them out in the community to live as productive, happy citizens. This is because of behavioral therapy, psychpharmachological drugs and other therapies available to those afflicted with mental illness. Certainly, this is proof that the system, while not perfect, has made tremendous strides in the past 50 years to make the field of psychology better.
This gentleman stated that the "new theory" of Chemical imbalances fails the test because "a simple change of environment can get rid of chronic depression." He also stated that "seasonal depression in northern climates can be caused by a lack of vitamin D" and that food allergies, undiagnosed physical maladies and lack of exercise are causes of depression. Well, sir, perhaps it did not dawn on you that any one of those activities would have an impact on the chemical structure in your body. I think you disproved your own theory.
I think that this man is a mean spirited, nasty man. He definitly is not one of the many afflicted with mental illness. I would not put him in the same category. That would be unfair to those who actually work hard to overcome an illness that can be very dibilitating. To those that seek treatment, try, fail, try agin and continue in recovery, my hat's off to you. It a journey that you will always be on and no one should ever make you feel inadequate!! I am proud of every one of you and pleased to be a NAMI Waterbury representative.
A few days later a gentleman followed up with a letter which basically called substance abusers "drunks" and those with mental illness "nuts". He stated that people did not suffer from depression they only got the blues. I am sure that Marie Osmond, in her current pain would love to hear that. I wonder if he thinks those with autism are just "dumb" or some other nasty word. It seems to me that someone who responds in such a crude and ignorant fashion are either truly uneducated or have really been hiding under a rock for many years.
This past Saturday another letter appeared from a nurse who used to work with the mentally ill and has seen the progression of the field of psychology. Her experience has seen this country go from institutionalizing people to getting them out in the community to live as productive, happy citizens. This is because of behavioral therapy, psychpharmachological drugs and other therapies available to those afflicted with mental illness. Certainly, this is proof that the system, while not perfect, has made tremendous strides in the past 50 years to make the field of psychology better.
This gentleman stated that the "new theory" of Chemical imbalances fails the test because "a simple change of environment can get rid of chronic depression." He also stated that "seasonal depression in northern climates can be caused by a lack of vitamin D" and that food allergies, undiagnosed physical maladies and lack of exercise are causes of depression. Well, sir, perhaps it did not dawn on you that any one of those activities would have an impact on the chemical structure in your body. I think you disproved your own theory.
I think that this man is a mean spirited, nasty man. He definitly is not one of the many afflicted with mental illness. I would not put him in the same category. That would be unfair to those who actually work hard to overcome an illness that can be very dibilitating. To those that seek treatment, try, fail, try agin and continue in recovery, my hat's off to you. It a journey that you will always be on and no one should ever make you feel inadequate!! I am proud of every one of you and pleased to be a NAMI Waterbury representative.
Friday, March 5, 2010
A New World for Kim
I decided to join the rest of the world and begin my own blog. I am not sure why. I am sure many of you could care less about what I think. But then again, maybe you do care. My thought on this is to keep up to date on issues that interest me and hopefully others. I am looking forward to this new endeavor.
Deciding on a name for my blog was taxing on my brain. I am not always the most creative person and thus the name not that exciting. I really wanted something exciting but Kim's View seemed appropriate. I was going to use pink as a background as I do love pink but it was overwhelming.
I believe this will give me an outlet to express myself and my views on life. There are several things that I would like to write about and this is a good forum. Mental Health issues, Healthcare issues, Politics and Children are fair game.
I look forward to blogging with all of you and hope to get comments from you back.
Deciding on a name for my blog was taxing on my brain. I am not always the most creative person and thus the name not that exciting. I really wanted something exciting but Kim's View seemed appropriate. I was going to use pink as a background as I do love pink but it was overwhelming.
I believe this will give me an outlet to express myself and my views on life. There are several things that I would like to write about and this is a good forum. Mental Health issues, Healthcare issues, Politics and Children are fair game.
I look forward to blogging with all of you and hope to get comments from you back.
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