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#and juggling my rapidly declining mental health
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The semester is finally over, maybe I'll actually have time to work on OC stuff 😅
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missazura · 3 years
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an update
It’s about time I make an official statement on how I’ve been doing for the past month.
My mental and physical health has been... rapidly declining. After a couple of traumatic incidents that happened this month I realized that I haven’t been the best version that I’m capable of being. I keep getting triggered by the smallest, harmless things and it’s been putting me on hypervigilant mode 24/7. I’m trying not to blame myself about it, because through those incidents it woke a huge fear in me; losing the people I love and care for. My sister could have died that day and the thought has been constantly haunting me. 
I keep thinking about my relationships with my family members, closest friends, how all consuming those thoughts have been recently to a point of obsession, how I’ve probably made them feel like they have to walk on eggshells interacting with me now, and its bringing back so many unpleasant thoughts in my life. I’m terrified of losing them, I’m terrified of loving them- love, love itself terrifies me now. 
I’ve grown afraid of caring. And I’m scared, I’m scared that means I’m going to start sabotaging my relationships, whatever I have now, out of fear of getting hurt- I started writing this post with the thought of making it an official goodbye letter to everyone who knows me, but deep down I know I don’t want this one good thing in my life to end so prematurely. I’m so scared that I’ll do something I’ll regret later that I can’t fix or get back. I don’t want to be alone. And I certainly am having one hell of a time trying to juggle with these fears, tugging between ruining everything I have and not doing so. I feel like I’m constantly torn apart and its much worse than the ones I’ve dealt before.
I don’t know how but someway I HAVE to earn money and go to therapy again. I can’t deal with this on my own, and it’s not fair for my friends to have to take the punch so often when they’re struggling with their own demons. I know I owe a lot of unfinished commissions still, and I’m not about to bail when I still have that on my list, it would be a horrible business practice if I ever were to do so. I will be back, I don’t really know what I’m about to do after this- I’m lost and afraid and I need to find a way for me to be okay again. 
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dearvoidwhatsleft · 4 years
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2020-Feb2021 has been really difficult. My brother’s mental health declined rapidly and he spent all of 2019-2020 in and out of mental hospitals. When he was home he was very toxic and unstable. COVID happened and my boyfriend and I lost our jobs. We were then evicted from our house not long after. We had to move in with my parents. I became my brother’s caregiver while my parents continued to work. At first we looked for new jobs, but after a few months we stopped looking and I decided to do school full-time. Juggling school and my brother was very difficult. He needed care nearly 24/7 and I missed a lot of class and some assignments. Somehow I got through. Christmas happened and my family dog that we have had since I was in elementary school passed away on the 26th. We had to put her down. I never had to put down a pet before. It was really hard. Even though I knew that she was old and in pain, I felt like we were murdering her. I felt so guilty that I turned away when the vet didn’t. I regret not looking into her face. A week later we had to put my childhood cat down. Different illnesses, both age related. It was traumatic. She wouldn’t pass and the vet had to inject her a few times in a few different places. It was horrible. My brother’s mental health got worse. He spent more time in and out of hospitals. Then he got physically sick and spent even more time in hospitals. My boyfriend became very depressed. He felt trapped in my toxic family home, as did I. He felt worthless because we didn’t have any money and we couldn’t find jobs. He stopped taking care of himself. I tried to hang in there and cope. I tried to keep it all to myself but finally vented to my friends about how hard a year it has been. They became uncomfortable, didn’t know what to say, and they haven’t spoken to me since. That was back in December. Last year, my best friend of over a decade decided that we shouldn’t be friends anymore. I’m still recovering from that. Tonight, my boyfriend got multiple texts. I’m naturally jealous because I have abandonment issues and not much trust, but I tried not to ask. They kept on coming and finally I just blurted it out, “Who’s texting you?” And it was the reply that settled at the pit of my stomach. A long pause then, “an old friend.” I knew what that meant. I wasn’t dumb. What scared me most is when he turned his ringtone on silent, but I could still hear him picking up the phone and setting it down over and over and over again. I never really thought he would ever cheat on me. Now, I’m not so sure.
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About First Time Mom Gifts
Life as a brand-new mother can be a bit chaotic, to claim the least. As a brand-new mother gets used to a various routine, transforming top priorities, as well as how to best take care http://edition.cnn.com/search/?text=gifts for mom & new born of her brand-new child, it's very easy to fail to remember to take some time to take care of herself. A thoughtful, valuable gift can make a mom's job easier, give her a beneficial chance for self-care, as well as leave her feeling pampered, as well.
But developing presents for brand-new moms isn't very easy, which's why we have actually located 25 excellent gift suggestions to help you start. The presents in this guide are useful and commonly functional. While every mommy is various, chances are you can find the excellent gift for a brand-new mother in the ideas below.
Considering that you can hold a Kindle with one hand, a new mother can review her favorite publications while nursing or bottle feeding. Mother can likewise easily throw a Kindle right into her bag when avoiding to a physician appointment, making it an optimal gift for busy parents. When running on little sleep as well as trying to take treatment of a brand-new baby, household chores can get pressed to the base of the to-do listing.
Getting The Gift Ideas For Expecting Mothers To Work
Parents will have one less point to stress about and can enjoy a clean home, also. Since the quantity of time that new moms reach sleep is limited, it is necessary that they obtain high quality sleep whenever possible. This heavy covering produces a relaxing, relaxing feeling to assist Mama drop off to sleep rapidly and also easily, whether capturing a fast nap while the child sleeps or kipping down for the evening.
These stemless glass come in handy not only for taking beverages on the go, but additionally for around the house when juggling child and also attempting to finish a cup of tea or coffee. Finding time for a shower, total with cleaning and also styling your hair, can be a difficulty for new mothers.
With the Immediate Pot, dish prep is fast as well as hands-off. The Instantaneous Pot prepares foods 70 percent much faster than traditional food preparation techniques, saving parents time on dish prep. It can operate as a rice maker, yogurt manufacturer, slow stove, and also much more, and is suitable for a busy moms and dad's way of living. A cozy, soft pair of pajamas can aid to keep new mamas comfortable.
The Facts About Pregnancy Gifts Uncovered
They make a great present to welcome brand-new moms home with. Maternity and also inviting a baby can produce several feelings, consisting of anxiety in brand-new mamas. This workbook can assist moms-to-be as well as new moms to browse their transforming lives as well as feelings. Composed by mental health and wellness specialists, the workbook can assist mothers to really feel heard, comprehended, and also not so alone.
Seven handmade grains can aid to soothe teething pain, and also the necklace's style enables it to couple well with almost any kind of clothing. Helpful, comfortable, as well as supplying generous above-the-waist coverage, these leggings supply brand-new moms lots of advantages. Nursing moms can appreciate full belly insurance coverage when nursing, as well as the helpful layout of the tights is ideal for C-section recovery.
With many last-minute needs for a brand-new infant, new mommies make sure to locate lots of means to place an Amazon gift card to utilize. The first years of an infant's life are hectic ones for parents, but this publication offers moms a possibility to believe around and also record a few of the most vital elements of their child's early years.
First Time Mom Gifts Fundamentals Explained
Being a parent contains shocks and also lots of concerns. This book can assist brand-new mommies browse their very first year with a new infant, and also it can develop their confidence at the exact same time. This is a must-have book for any type of expecting parent or new mommy. Ecologically pleasant and washable, these nursing pads make an excellent gift for eco-conscious mommies.
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The pads are made from organic bamboo, so they're both soft and also premium. Moms require to be able to make the most of any type of possibility to rest they obtain, and this sleep mask. Its 3D design indicates it does not create stress on Mommy's eyes, however rather efficiently shuts out light as well as lets her go to sleep even when she's trying to snooze in the middle of a bright day.
Incorporating warm with deep working massage, this massager can soothe aching neck muscle mass from holding a baby or can help a mom unwind to prepare to get some much-needed remainder. New mamas usually get lots of gifts for their children, yet this gift is developed with Mommy in mind. An all function salve, recovery body butter, newborn salve, and also lip balms provide Mother lots of ways to treat herself, and also a Postpartum Balancer natural tea features herbs that assist new moms with their postpartum healing.
First Time Mom Gifts Things To Know Before You Buy
Mother can take it with her as well as use it in the automobile, in a rocking chair, on the sofa, and anywhere else to assist relieve muscular tissue stress and also pain. It's excellent for usage while nursing or shaking a baby. For nursing mothers, this caffeine-free organic tea supports breast milk production as well as promotes lactation.
Treat a brand-new mother to a comforting massage therapy with a Spafinder Health gift card. A brand-new mama can utilize this card at a time when it's practical for her, and also can enjoy a selection of pampering services, consisting of massage, facials, and also much more. This thoughtful gift provides a brand-new mama the ideal reason to take a little much-deserved time for herself.
Whether reading while she rocks her infant to sleep or delighting in some silent time to herself with a good publication, a new mother can enjoy the insights and also observations on the emotional side of mothering from an award-winning writer. Functional and also sure to be put to good usage, this nursing cover and scarf can increase as a coat, shawl, car seat cover and also wrap.
Getting My New Mother Gifts To Work
The cover supplies privacy when nursing in public locations, aids to color a child from the sun, and produces a comfy nap space, too. This top quality pair of sandals will certainly keep a brand-new mama comfy around the home, whether looking at the baby in the evening or making breakfast in the early morning.
These slippers have a rubber sole, so they can increase for outdoor use, also, such as getting the paper or making a fast journey out to the cars and truck. Checklists become a hectic mommy's buddy, and also this recyclable note pad provides a reliable and also environmentally friendly means for moms to maintain every one of their vital notes in one location.
The Rocketbook app sends notes to the cloud for simple accessibility as well as storage, perfect for the mom on the move. With a brand-new child, it can be tough for Mommy to get up as well as change the thermostat temperature, decline the songs, or examine the weather condition. The Amazon.com Mirror Dot can do every one of those things for her as well as much more.
The Facts About Gift Ideas For Expecting Mothers Revealed
This present is certain to see lots of use while the family has a new baby in the house, yet it's also a gift that family members will certainly continue to utilize for many years ahead. For even more great gift-giving suggestions, make sure to examine the added resources listed below.
Inside: If you want to make a brand-new mommy feel special, avoid the flowers and give her one of these significant brand-new mama presents that will certainly stand the test of time. Reward: These gifts for brand-new moms are really for her EXCEPT the child. Newborns need a great deal of stuff.
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Unknown Facts About New Baby Gifts
Yet in the thrill to get all the newborn should riches on the infant's windows registry, it's easy to forget something: The mom-to-be is in for the trip of her life. Not just is the new mommy regarding to experience among the most literally painful experiences of her life, however after the baby comes, she'll be stuck on what feels like a neverending emotional roller rollercoaster.
How New Mom Gifts can Save You Time, Stress, and Money.
But if you intend to support a new mommy in your life by unexpected her with the present, what do you obtain a person who's super emotional, sleep-deprived, and has absolutely no downtime? I've had 4 infants, so loved ones frequently ask me for suggestions on what's the most effective gift to obtain for a brand-new mother: flowers, a card, or? Because although an industrial-sized pack of disposable nursing pads would be valuable, a lot of people would like to know the best brand-new mom presents that will in fact make the brand-new mommy feel special and enjoyed.
After each of my babies were birthed, I was to get a couple of thoughtful presents that made my life as a mama easier throughout those very early newborn days. Those gifts weren't the common brand-new mom presents that you become aware of, but they made such an influence on me that I wished to pay it ahead and also share them below.
But I additionally combed checklist after checklist after checklist to find meaningful presents for new mothers, after that hundreds of mamas who subscribe to my newsletter shared their favored new mama gifts, also. If you intend to make a new mama feel unique, avoid the blossoms as well as offer her among these significant brand-new mama presents that will certainly stand the examination of time.
Getting My Baby Boy Gifts To Work
Surprise her with this fun coffee registration box where she can example new roasts as well as find a new favorite. Kind of like a red wine sampling however with coffee as well as delivered straight to her door. To round out this present, you can add a spill-proof shielded coffee cup such as this happy tumbler.
( Side note: Several nursing professionals agree that nursing moms can have coffee in small amounts.) Practically every mother I surveyed claimed they loved this new mama gift: Make your finest supper or soup you can ice up, and also offer it to the mama to utilize on an evening when the family members is also exhausted to make supper.
A couple of points to think about for this gift suggestion: Pasta is generally the top talented meal, so if you have another terrific dish you can gift, the new mother will probably value some variety! Incentive if it's a dish she can consume one-handed while holding the baby, and also incentive if you drop it off in a brand-new baking dish and inform her, "Do not fret about returning the dishit's your own!" To be on the side, you might desire to check in advance of time to learn if there are any type of food allergies or hostilities.
A Biased View of Maternity Gifts
As one mama told me, "I yearned for cheeseburgers for several weeks postpartum!" As another alternative, present cards to Grubhub or Uber Consumes make fantastic brand-new mom gifts since the household can choose out specifically what they desire. A few mommies told me they really valued when friends used to bring a meal the first month or more due to the fact that offers of aid have a tendency to run out by after that, but it's still a tough time for the new parents.
You can partner with the mommy's various other liked ones and also arrange a meal calendar where you all take transforms going down off dishes. "A former colleague organized like 20 days of dinners that were gone down offIt was virtually every evening for two weeks or so, as well as it was unbelievable! Some brought hot meals right at supper, some brought points early that I can freeze or appear the stove, one צעצועים לילדים ordered pizza for us, one asked for our Panera order and also dropped it off ALL of it was remarkable!" Sarah Nothing beats a fresh, home-cooked dish, however the new mom might not have time to search for healthy recipes as well as do the grocery buying to get all the components.
They send you a proven, easy dish and also all the components, as well as you just need to toss everything together. If you want to attempt it out, below's a voucher code to obtain $30 off your initial order from Blue Apron. Initially glance, I thought The Initial Forty Days: The Important Art of Nurturing the New Mom was a publication of postpartum dishes.
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bigyack-com · 4 years
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Married E.R. Workers Fear the Worst: What Would Happen to Their Son?
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A few nights ago, after their 18-month-old son Nolan went to sleep, Adam Hill and Neena Budhraja sat down on the living room couch in their apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Pen and paper in hand, they turned their attention to a pressing need: figuring out who would be Nolan’s legal guardian if the coronavirus swept them away.They aren’t just anxious parents. Adam, 37, is an emergency room doctor at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. Neena, 39, is a physician assistant in the emergency room at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn.Elmhurst and Woodhull are among the New York City public hospitals that have been most overwhelmed by the virus, and for the past month, the couple’s days and nights have been a blur of intubating terrified patients, navigating stretchers in crowded hallways and searching for clean equipment.The pandemic is putting unimagined strain on medical workers, exposing them to dangers and emotional stress unlike anything they have ever experienced. At least 100,000 people in the city, and probably many more, have been infected with the virus. More than 13,500 have died of the virus or are presumed to have, at least 26 of them public hospital employees.Adam reads a Facebook page for emergency health care workers and sees how everyone is struggling. One couple sent their children to live with relatives. Another doctor has decamped to his basement, where he Facetimes with his children upstairs. Yet another is living at an airport hotel.Adam and Neena don’t have those options. They take turns diving into harm’s way and then returning to each other and to Nolan. Neena has thought about quitting, and then lashed herself for doing so. “I would feel like I am abandoning everyone,” she said.She paused, and then added: “But it's not so simple.”One of Adam’s emergency room colleagues at Elmhurst died in the past week. Neena recently showed up for a Sunday shift to learn that a longtime colleague had died after battling the virus for two weeks.The woman left behind a daughter, a freshman in college. Before she learned she had been infected, Neena’s colleague told her that what worried her most was that she might bring the virus home and make her family sick.Neena had the same worry. They all do.“It’s all very emotional and it’s already such a stressful time to have that on top of everything else,” Neena said. Since the woman’s death, a second colleague and a retired one have died of the virus as well.
An Adrenaline-Fueled Life
The couple met while working in the emergency room at Woodhull, a hulking public hospital that towers over a set of elevated subway tracks at the intersection of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick and South Williamsburg.Adam is from a large family in Southern Illinois. His brother was a Marine in Iraq and served with the Navy in Afghanistan. Adam views himself as a similar kind of grunt, although one who heals sick patients.Neena, who grew up in Woodhaven, Queens, graduated from one of the city’s top public high schools, Brooklyn Technical High School, and then from the City College of New York. Her parents moved to New York from New Delhi in the 1970s just a few years before she was born.She and Adam were married in 2017, and they lived the kind of high-adrenaline life favored by so many who work in emergency rooms, where they have spent their entire careers. They trekked to Machu Picchu and then climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.They grew accustomed to what Neena called the “predictable unpredictability” of E.R. life. A drunk patient once landed a karate chop to Adam’s chest. An intubation tube sprayed bloody sputum into Neena’s eye. Because the patient it was attached to was H.I.V. positive, Neena took anti-H.I.V. medication for a month as a precaution.She was nearly four months pregnant at the time.Nolan was born three months premature with fragile lungs that put him at high risk of infection. He weighed just 1.5 pounds. Fearful for his health, Adam and Neena had only recently begun to take him to playgrounds. Then the virus hit, and the family hunkered down again.To Adam, it was clear by early March that something was wrong. Men in their 30s and 40s who were otherwise healthy were showing up at the E.R. with fevers or trouble breathing. They would deteriorate rapidly, gasping for air within a few hours.A few weeks ago, he said, he felt “overwhelmed but pretty optimistic, that we will get through this, and I still have that same optimism. But it is definitely becoming clouded by fatigue.”“Also, there’s a sort of looming shadow over … ” His voice trailed off as he began to choke up.The hospital recently installed huge fans in the emergency room to suck out dirty air and hopefully keep the virus from spreading. The fans are “so, so loud,” Adam said. Alarms go off constantly from equipment that is monitoring the breathing of patients on ventilators. Adam wears a respirator that a friend bought him at Sherwin Williams. He and his colleagues are losing their voices from yelling over the noise of the fans and the alarms and trying to be heard through the equipment covering their faces that muffles their voices.“It’s sadly comical,” he said.At Woodhull, Neena puts on her own armor. She covers her scrubs with a gown that hides her wrists. Her long black hair is tied in a bun. She wears an N95 mask, a face shield, a cap and gloves. She uses the same face mask for two straight shifts, instead of changing it between patients as standard protocol calls for.When her shift ends, she tapes her N95 mask to the inside of her locker, and wipes down her face shield and stethoscope with alcohol. She changes out of her scrubs in a bathroom, leaves her sneakers and takes a packed subway or bus home. The trains are uncomfortably crowded these days because of the drastic service cuts since the outbreak began.When she gets to the apartment, she runs away from Nolan, throws her airtight bag of dirty scrubs into the laundry room — where they will sit for at least 48 hours before she washes them — and takes a shower.Until early last month, which seems so long ago, the couple had the typical routine of exhausted young parents: juggling work schedules with child care, one covering the other’s day off. When they were home at the same time, they would put Nolan in his stroller and walk through nearby McCarren Park.Neena’s mother helped out sometimes, but that stopped because of the virus. So it is just the three of them now.Adam’s sleep is terrible. Sometimes, Neena moves to the couch in the middle of the night so that she doesn’t wake him.Late at night, he scrolls through a Facebook group of fellow emergency room doctors. One doctor wears gloves and a mask in his own home to protect his family.“I read these and it makes me second guess myself,” Adam said. “But only for a few seconds.”
Thoughts of Quitting
The day Neena learned of her emergency room colleague’s death was the worst so far. She called it a turning point for Woodhull: the overcrowded emergency room, the lack of isolation rooms, the hallways jammed with people on stretchers waiting days for a spot in intensive care to open up.“It just felt like a battlefield,” she recalled. “It felt like everybody was on vents and everyone was so sick and there was no room and wasn’t enough staff. It was very chaotic.”Emergency room staff members are used to seeing their interventions make a difference. Now, she said, “it feels like you are not making any progress.”When she came home that day, she told Adam that maybe she should quit.“But then what — Adam would live in a hotel and I wouldn’t see him for months?” she said. “He wouldn’t see his son for months? To take him away from him, when he comes home looking shellshocked after every shift, it doesn’t feel right. ”“There comes some guilt too,” she said, choking back tears. “This need to help all these people, but at same time what if doing so you are hurting your own family? It’s tough.”If anything were to happen to Nolan, Neena said, “it would be devastating.”So they all take their temperatures twice a day and hope for the best. On their days off together, they take Nolan to the park.The night they sat on the couch ironing out a will and deciding on a guardian for Nolan, they had to go three deep: Who would take care of Nolan if the appointed guardian died? Who would take care of him if the second relative also died?They wonder if Neena and Nolan were infected in mid-February, when they both had low fevers, body aches and dry coughs. Neena acknowledged that this could be “wishful thinking.”On Tuesday, the couple spoke via FaceTime to a lawyer who was taking the old bank statement they had scrawled the information for a will on and turning it into a proper legal document.They have always planned to practice emergency medicine their entire careers, possibly someplace smaller than New York. Dealing with the pandemic, they said, had only strengthened their commitment.Over the past 10 days, they have seen a steady decline in new virus patients at their hospitals. But the fear that they will get sick remains, particularly as colleagues test positive. And doctors at Elmhurst worry that if people stop social distancing too soon, a second wave of cases will inundate the hospital.A few days ago, after Neena left at 6:30 a.m. for her 12-hour shift, Adam got out of bed, gave Nolan his bottle and breakfast and let him run wild around the apartment.“It usually gives me enough time to make a coffee and sit down,” he said.But this time, he said, he found himself “crying uncontrollably, just finally letting out all the emotions from the past month.”“Right when I am crying he happens to crawl up on the couch and put himself in my lap and started talking nonsense,” he continued. “It just brought me back.”“If I didn’t have Nolan and Neena here to be with and sort of remember why we do all this to begin with, it would be much more difficult than it already is.” Read the full article
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bintaeran · 7 years
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Friday Q&A: Possible Cognitive Problems
Friday Q&A: Possible Cognitive Problems Nina Zolotow
Q: I have a question related to aging and yoga, but from the perspective of the teacher. I teach 2 classes weekly for an aging population. A good number of these students have come weekly for a few years, so I get to know them pretty well, and I get to see their progress. I have noticed that one student seems to struggle with some of the cognitive aspects of the practice, but not consistently. Here's an example. Very commonly, we do Supta Padangusthasana (reclining hand to big toe pose). I teach it with a bit of detail (that the strap goes over the ball of the foot, that the front hip points are level, etc.). Some weeks, this student is right on it, getting the whole pose put together with the details. Other weeks, she's much slower, starts on the other side, puts the strap over her heel, keeps her knees bent, comes out of the pose, then looks around and realizes we're still in the pose. I often have to start her from scratch, while the rest of class is already set up. I find myself addressing her more often than anyone else, not because she may need an extra moment to get there, but because she doesn't seem to know where we're going.  I have asked her to sit in the front and in the center, in case her hearing was the issue. I instruct most of the class directly in front of her in case she needs to see me. I have no problem with speaking louder, repeating myself, and demonstrating the pose before the group tries it out. These all go with the territory of teaching. I expect that my students won't remember all the details form week to week, so I'm no trying to progress them rapidly through advanced asana. My concern is that occasionally, she seems very out of sync with my basic expectations of understanding instruction, and I don't know if I am observing some sort of cognitive decline. I am a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist, so I know the scope of my profession. It's not my place to diagnose. What I wonder is, how would a yoga teacher go about having a conversation that would ask delicate questions about cognition or memory? I have double-checked with her on hearing, vision, and overall suitability of the class for her needs. She loves coming, and I know how much the class has improved her achy hip and low back. Have you ever encountered this particular teaching conundrum? How would you look at this? And, if she is beginning to show some cognitive decline, at what point would a gentle level yoga class become inappropriate? She does have to drive to get to class!   A: For all the teachers out there, especially those who are working with older adults, this is a very relevant question. In fact, I have a student who is occasionally displaying similar signs of cognitive changes, although most classes, she is following the class instructions nicely. However, it has been noticeable enough at times that I have asked a colleague of mine who also teaches this student if they have observed the same distracted, inattentive, and tendency to get lost behavior that I have. And, indeed, this teacher noted the same occasional tendency, a definite change from the many years this student has been in our classes. We have even discussed approaching one or two classmates who seem to be friends of this student to see if they have observed similar spells of poor cognition, but have not yet moved forward with that possible next step. For now, we are practicing concerned observation.  Periodic mental lapses, like the ones you are observing in your student, can be some of the first signs of changes that could fall into the realm of what is now called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). In this condition, changes in memory and other aspects of brain function, such as decision making, spatial awareness, and others, become apparent to both to the individual having them and to family and close friends. These changes are bad enough to be noticed by sufferers and family, but not serious enough to interfere with daily activities. Some, but not all, people with MCI can go on to develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. But the earlier the condition is identified, the better, as there are some reversible causes of cognitive and memory changes (mentioned below). And earlier diagnosis can allow the person who may go on to develop dementia time to be able to more fully participate in decisions about their future care, as well as the opportunity to include or increase activities and treatments that could delay full onset of more profound symptoms. The challenge for friends and family is that people who start to become suspicious they are developing dementia can become quite fearful and often experience denial. So a gentle approach may be required to even broach the subject. It could certainly be argued that addressing these changes with your student is not your job as a yoga teacher. And yet you are not diagnosing a condition, so much as noting a change in abilities that could very likely benefit from further attention. And if your student is noticing these temporary lapses in memory and attention, she may already be worried about dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, but may want to deny their presence for any number of reasons. As a concerned teacher and friend, you could share your observation of her “easy distractibility” and ask if she has noticed this as well. Instead of directly addressing dementia, you could mention that you have read (here!) that there are several reversible causes of poor attention and memory lapses, such as thyroid imbalances, medications, undiagnosed urinary tract infections, and B12 deficiency that might be worth getting checked out with her family doctor. You might also ask her if any friends or family have mentioned noticing these temporary lapses as well, and if they have expressed concern and what they have suggested she do, if anything.  And as I have considered for my student, if your student has a close friend in class, perhaps you could ask the friend if they have noticed any of these changes lately, just to help you get a better picture of the frequency of these episodes.  If your student sees a doctor and is diagnosed as having MCI, there are several recommended strategies in our yoga toolbox that may delay onset of more serious cognitive changes (although the research jury is still out on the full impact of these strategies):
Exercising regularly with an active asana practice for heart, cardiovascular system, and brain health benefits (see Featured Sequence: Brain Health Practice).
Controling cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high  cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes, smoking, being overweight or obese, and unhealthy eating habits, by using other yoga tools, such as stress management techniques and using restorative yoga to rest your heart (see Techniques for Improving Heart and Cardiovascular Health).
Engaging in socially and mentally stimulating yoga activities that keep the brain healthy (see How to Foster Brain Health with Yoga and How Yoga Sequences are Brain Aerobics). 
These are all areas which yoga can address nicely, either alone or more likely as an adjunct to what her health care team prescribes. So, it makes sense to try and keep our students in classes for as long as their condition permits. It does call on us as teachers to be able to “juggle two classes at once,” giving some special attention to the person who might be having a day of poorer function while also engaging the rest of class. In all likelihood, most teachers out there have been doing this already for some time, but this kind of challenge may require more patience and understanding than other issues you have worked with in the past.  And it may be that at some point your class may no longer be appropriate for this student, when she requires too much of your time in a public class setting to stay safe and be redirected. So it might be worthwhile now to start looking for classes or yoga therapists in the community that specialize in working with people with early dementia to have a referral ready for the student and her family if that time arrives. In the meantime, keep offering the wonderful opportunity to all your older adults to do yoga together—it’s good for their brains!  —Baxter  Note from Baxter: If I observed that a student seemed truly confused throughout class, I’d certainly check in with them directly after class to make sure they seemed oriented enough to drive home. If it were clear they were not, I’d make arrangements for them to be driven home, regardless of what the cause.  Note from Nina: I have a slightly different take on this. I think that if someone is showing possible cognitive problems and they are still driving a car, this is situation that calls for urgent action. You could be saving lives! Of course, taking action on this problem is awkward and uncomfortable—and it’s especially difficult bringing up the subject of stopping driving with older people—but because you mentioned that the student in question is still driving in general, I would encourage both you, the teacher who has written to us, and any other teachers out there in the same situation to move forward with taking action on your concerns about possible cognition problems as soon as possible. There may be some resistance—or it could be that you turned out to have misunderstood the situation—but at least you will have done your best.  As for her staying in your class, I think it's your call based on whether or not you are able to easily keep her safe—you should not have to keep watching her at every moment—and whether she is  distracting the rest of the class. Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect Friday Q&A: Possible Cognitive Problems http://ift.tt/2pi0VO9 themostdangerous1 http://ift.tt/2oyUB6q via IFTTT
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