#because the worse your symptoms get the harder perception becomes

[nexus-nebulae]

i really really wanna write a story at some point that starts out as one of those cliche YA novels where a normal human character finds out about an entire magic world they didn't know about- except the character is some form of mentally ill with paranoia and delusions, so the story revolves around how much more difficult it becomes for this person to percieve the world while also dealing with whatever Magic Bullshit is being thrown at them

[willadisatercrywrites]

Head injuries & passing out!!!

Some realistic aspects of whump you’re probably glossing over/conveying incorrectly Part 2

just some realistic medical accuracies that will bolster your whump writing, and the category is...

the dazed and confused:

a person can experience a lapse in consciousness or lucidity when they receive a traumatic head injury or their bodies are put under severe stress by something like an extreme condition or nasty illness. both symptoms can occur from many different injuries/ailments ranging from blunt force head trauma, drug use, inadequate sleep, malnourishment, physical exhaustion... the option are really endless and not much is out of the realm of possibility in regards to being medically accurate.

a rapid increase in blood pressure is the nervous system’s vasovagal syncope response, also commonly referred to as passing tf out. fainting itself isn’t inherently harmful or dangerous if whumpee gets themselves to the ground before its lights out. pretty much unless the whumpee is in a hostile environment where they don’t have access to food, water, or medical supplies to care for their wounds or sickness, they will be ok and should come to rather quickly!

if the whumpee is exhausted, whether it is because they have physically exhausted themselves by working too hard, not taking the time to properly recover after a fight, disregarding healthy sleeping and eating habits, ignoring a cold or viral bug because they think they can just tough it out etc. they can function in a haze for a pretty solid amount of time before their blood pressure will eventually plummet where the blood vessels relax to reduce resistance in the flow and all of the blood in their body races to their head at once to try and quell whatever is wrong. this will probably come at a breaking point or at the mention of exerting themselves intensely once more. they might be faced with a flight of stairs, or the alarms are going off for another mission, or their superior won’t end the meeting and they didn’t succeed in grabbing a seat before they were all taken. before this they would’ve been sluggish in their movements and sick or tired-looking. they would probably have to ask someone to repeat themselves because their brain is lagging and they can’t grasp whatever’s been said on the first go. they also would experience moments of lightheadedness that would stop them in their tracks and have them searching for purchase on a nearby wall or table as they ride out the blood rush in their ears that is similar to what you might get from standing up too quickly, except this would happen randomly. they might not have a large appetite that day and be uncharacteristically thirsty. there will be moments the whumpee or caregiver finds them swaying unsteadily where they’d be urged to sit down before they collapse. the whumpee would be grumpy about this but they’d listen because at this point they are aware they could very well pass out. too many moments like these and they actually do.

the textbook first aid response is to raise their feet above their heart by either lifting them or elevating them on a higher surface, this gets blood flowing on a path of least resistance to the brian and will help them recover quicker. they should stay on the ground or move into the recovery position on their side until they feel better, then they should move into a sitting position and acclimate to that before trying to stand. they will probably be weak and shakey after this and should go rest and eat something before turning in for the night.

if the whumpee has a head injury, passing out is very dangerous and a type of triage would be to keep them awake until they are evaluated properly. concussions occur when the brain quite literally rattles around in the head a tad too aggressively. this can be caused by violent shaking or what might even be considered a minor blow. think two football players clonking helmets and how when their bodies are thrown back by the force, their brains would be jolted forward in their skulls. this can result in pretty sever concussions that impede cognitive functions without drawing a drop of blood, occurring even within the confines of reinforced protective gear. confusion and disorientation as well as an unpleasant or throbbing pressure would be the first symptoms to present themselves with this type of blunt head injury. memory loss and an overall altered perception of reality could be documented for the first stage of recovery, short term events would be lost on the whumpee and they might find themselves suddenly having no clue what day it is or where they are. they would be sensitive to light and noise and any sort of intense movement depending on the severity of the concussion. and any increase in such would make them dizzy, nauseated, or even lightheaded.

the window of danger for falling asleep or fainting after getting concussed usually passes after the 24 hour mark post injury. the caregiver would likely have to wait up all night shaking awake a lethargic and possibly incoherent whumpee, maybe even taking shifts with others until they don’t think the whumpee would be at risk of not waking up. this type of injury might take months to fully heal from and is very inconvenient and uncomfortable for the whumpee leaving space for a lot of additional hurt and beautiful moments of fussing over/comforting.

head injuries that result in wounds will bleed a horrifying amount for even the tiniest of cuts, the same goes for facial wounds. this is because they are like a million blood vessels up there to get more blood to the brain. so if you have a heavily bleeding head wound... the blood flowing there will be leaving a lot quicker than the body can replenish it and can delve into a dangerous amount of blood loss pretty quickly. any blow to the head will jar you temporarily and leave you virtually incapacitated even if you don’t fall down or lose consciousness. think being paralyzed in sudden and excruciating pain after hitting your funny bone, it passes quickly, but for a solid minute you’re definitely seeing red. a whumpee that gets their head split open can keep fighting on adrenaline as long as they aren’t rendered unconscious right off the bat, but the longer they rely on energy reserves, the more blood they are going to have lost and the harder they’ll crash once they’re safe or the fight is over. the whumpee along with whoever is around them after they receive this hit might think they are relatively okay since they didn’t collapse on impact, but crashing will look like stumbling back to the mode of transport, not being able to stand up after they finish the bad guy off, staring off at nothing while a wave of malaise washes over them once they look at the blood that comes away from the wet spot on the side of their head, etc.

shock is also a silent killer and plays large part in the dazed and confused bit of a flesh wound like this. any type of wound that bleeds for more than a minute will be accompanied by an assortment of shock symptoms like trembling, becoming cold, sudden weakness, incoherence, all to varying severities that coincide with the amount of blood loss sustained, so once again the longer the whumpee pushes or avoids treatment the worse it will be. immediate triage would be to have the whumpee sit and keep them warm with body heat or a blanket as well as keep steady pressure on the wound, additionally it would be ideal to get a bit of sugar in them and have them sip water to calm them down and keep their mind level. remaining clam and warm is really the most important aspects of staving off the worse symptoms of shock like slowed heart rate and shallowed breathing, which isn’t passing out exactly, more like their body slowly shutting down. a whumpee with this type of injury also wouldn’t really pass out in the dramatic way you think of if they didn’t on initial impact, it’d look more like their legs giving out in the middle of their stride, their weight slowly increasing in a friend’s arms during a congratulatory hug, or rushing for the nearest seat after getting a head rush and suddenly very woozy.

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

hey so i'm hoping to get some writing advice about creative burnout? like i seem to write in fits and spurts. some months i can churn out a oneshot or chapter everyday and some months i can do one (1) creative thing only. so i'm wondering how to prevent creative burnout and how to just create more smoothly <3 thank you!

Creative Burnout & How To Ward Against It

First, I’d like to preface this all by saying you’re definitely not alone. You probably already know this, but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded.

I know from personal experience that creative burnout can leave you feeling hopeless, detached from yourself—the kind of identity crisis no one needs in 2020. 

So buckle in, folks. It’s a dosy.

I. The Symptoms

Not to be the local WebMD page here, but signs of burnout can include:

Procrastination (more than usual)

Dreading writing and feeling stuck or overly perfectionistic when you try

Physical tiredness and/or irritability

Feeling like everything is monotonous

It’s more than just writer’s block. It’s a physical and emotional exhaustion response to something that goes deeper than a simple lack of inspiration. In my experience, and from a bit of research, I’ve found that what your brain is really looking for is dopamine.

Dopamine is essentially your brain’s chemical reward system for doing something interesting or exciting to you. As someone who is diagnosed with ADHD, I have chronically low levels of dopamine, so this is a constant struggle for me—but it is absolutely made worse by creative burnout.

II. The Problem

Studies have shown that the more we do A Thing the less that thing will give us dopamine (unless a component of the activity changes regularly). This is because eventually our brains desensitise to the stimuli provided by the activity, and subsequently, we become disengaged.

But it’s not necessarily The Thing (i.e. writing) that becomes boring. Actually, more than a few factors could be at play here, and the first step to finding a solution is to identify the problem.

1. ENVIRONMENT LACKS EXCITEMENT/CHANGE—

Sometimes, the monotony of everyday life can feed creative burnout. This becomes especially applicable in quarantine when you’re not leaving your house.

What we don’t realise is that even something as small as the variables of driving to and from work, or interacting with passing coworkers, gives us dopamine. So if you have the same routine every day that does not involve any added variables, your brain will begin staunching that dopamine supply.

2. EITHER TOO EASY OR TOO CHALLENGING—

In 1975, Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, coined the term “flow”, which refers to a heightened state of creativity and concentration on an activity. Csikszentmihalyi posited that if your skill level is equal to the level of challenge in any given activity, you will experience this state of flow.

The chart below is taken from Csikszentmihalyi’s own study on the subject of flow and motivation. It examines “your skill level” on the x axis in relation to the “challenge level” on the y axis.

Essentially:

Too much challenge + not enough skill = anxiety, worry (which might lead to procrastination and perfectionism)

Too much skill + not enough challenge = boredom, apathy (which might lead to monotony, irritability, and other depression-like symptoms)

Skill level = Challenge level = Flow

3. NOT ENOUGH “ACTIVE” STIMULATION—

When it comes to dopamine seeking, there is a distinct difference between active and passive stimulation in the brain.

Active stimulation is any form of activity that you have to actively engage in. For instance; exercising, doing a crossword puzzle, or reading a book. These kinds of activities not only give you dopamine, they also facilitate critical thinking and problem solving thought processes, which act as catalysts for creativity.

Passive stimulation, on the other hand, comes in the form of television, social media, and YouTube. It’s anything you can consume without having to actively engage. Passive stimulation will indeed give your brain dopamine, however, it won’t activate your creativity.

The problem also lies in the speed at which you receive the dopamine from passive activities. Passive stimulation is so easy to access that the more you consume, the harder it becomes to pick up active stimulation. Your brain expects a hit of dopamine just by picking up a phone or turning on the TV—it becomes addicted to the quick fix of a Netflix binge.

III. The Solutions

Based on the problems mentioned above, I am going to list a few solutions. Keeping in mind that not every solution will work for everyone, these can act as both preventative measures and remedies for someone who is currently burned out.

1. CHANGE UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT/ROUTINE—

Aim to do at least one thing per day that will add “variables” to the monotony. This can be as simple as going on a long walk, dressing up in that bold outfit you always wanted to wear to the office but never did, or sitting at a different workspace in your home.

Anything you can do that’s simple, but might provide an extra variable to your day to spice things up. Note: this shouldn’t be the same thing every day.

2. CHALLENGE YOURSELF MORE—

If you find yourself bored by your work, try challenging yourself more. This could mean setting goals for yourself that go a bit beyond what you’ve been doing. 

For example, if you’ve been writing 500 words per day, see if you can beat your own word count every day for the next week. If you’ve been writing mainly fluff pieces, switch it up and do an angst piece. See if you can write a book in a month, or start a blog where you don’t write fiction at all!

Anything you can do to add a little kick to your workload. Note: Beware of challenging yourself too much! This can lead straight back into burnout.

3. CHALLENGE YOURSELF LESS—

If you’re on the flip side of that coin, and find that you are anxious, procrastinating, and perfectionistic when it comes to writing, fret not. Just because you’re experiencing any of these things, doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing the job with your skillset.

It just means your perception of the job needs to be shifted.

Procrastination, at its heart, is a fear of failure, which results in actively avoiding the negative emotions associated with the task that causes this fear. Perfectionism is a type of procrastination that is a combination of a fear of failure and a fear of success (or, more accurately, other’s critiques of your success) all at once.

Neither have anything to do with your actual skillset, but they have everything to do with your perception of your skillset. Obviously, this is a harder thing to fix, as it has to do with deeply ingrained levels of self-esteem.

What I can offer you is a tactic to trick your mind into thinking you’re capable.

If you have a task, big or small, and you are feeling overwhelmed by it (like you might go curl up in bed and scroll Tumblr), immediately break that task up into smaller tasks. Keep breaking up the smaller tasks until you have the smallest possible part of the bigger task without doing nothing.

Then do that smallest possible thing.

If your goal is to write a 2000 word one shot, a small part of that task is writing half of it. An even smaller part of that task is breaking the one shot up into “scenes” and writing one scene. For instance:

Jude wakes up to a sore throat, a runny nose, and a fever.

She tries to go to work, but Cardan, being the mother hen that he is, threatens to never make her another grilled cheese sandwich (her favourite food) ever again if she doesn’t stay home.

Jude agrees begrudgingly, and Cardan sits her down in front of the TV with a bottle of Gatorade. He leaves to go get medicine from the store.

When Cardan comes back, Jude is worse than before. He makes her soup and saltine crackers and spoon feeds her.

She complains the whole time and, in her feverish state, threatens to never buy him another bottle of wine (his favourite food) ever again if he doesn’t let her feed herself.

Each bullet point represents one “scene” of about 200-400 words each. Obviously, there will be more details that you work out as you write. But with these five smaller scenes, your goal is no longer writing the 2000 word one shot. Your goal is writing the first of the five scenes.

If you complete the smallest possible task, you can stop, and you’ll still feel like you’ve accomplished something because you can cross off that task from your list. But chances are, by the time you cross off one task, you may have inspiration enough to keep going.

4. ENGAGE IN ACTIVE STIMULATION—

Since active stimulation has been proven to turn on the creative “tap”, try incorporating more of these activities into your daily routine:

Exercise: As the resident couch potato, I hate to say that exercising is good for creativity, but it is. Even if it’s just going on a short walk, so long as you’re moving.

Reading: Sometimes you have plenty of ideas, but no words to fit those ideas. Fill your well of words by carving out an hour or two each day for reading a good book.

The Creative Process: In the writing world, the creative process is a process of about 20-30 minutes that the writer partakes in every day before they start writing. This process should be creative, but also have nothing to do with writing. You can try colouring in a colouring book, painting, organising a page in your bullet journal. Anything that is creative but does not make you think about everything you have to do that day. Think of it as creative meditation.

Listen to music: Having APD, I personally can’t listen to music while I write. However, studies have shown that if you listen to at least ten songs per day, it will significantly benefit your dopamine levels and overall mood. If you’re like me and prefer to work in silence, maybe stick on a couple songs during your creative process. If you can manage music and writing together, get out those headphones!

5. KEEP A REGULAR SCHEDULE—

I know this is the most cliche point in the book, but it’s valid. This doesn’t mean do the same thing at the same time every day over and over, because ultimately we’re looking to avoid monotony. 

But having pillars of structure to bolster the excitement can definitely work to keep you from slipping into burnout. Going to sleep, waking up, and having your meals at relatively the same time every day are good examples of this. 

Feel free to change up the things you do between breakfast and lunch, but make sure you have those pillars of consistency so your brain knows that a break is on the horizon and doesn’t get tired.

6. PACE YOURSELF—

This is particularly difficult for those of us who are coming out of a creative burnout, but I urge you to pay special attention to this one. If we are suddenly hit by inspiration and the writing is flowing and flowing and flowing, eventually we will hit the point of highest dopamine capacity for writing.

Not putting a check on the flood of inspiration coming out of a creative burnout, I’d argue, is actually a guarantee that many of us will experience burnout all over again. It becomes this vicious cycle in which we are trapped.

While it feels great to write non-stop and receive immediate validation for that work, try to limit yourself to how much you’re writing and how immediately you post your writing (if you plan on posting it).

Whenever I finish a one shot or a chapter of something, I like to allow at least one day for editing before I post. This timeframe is important, because it acts as a buffer of rest between writing marathons. 

You can take however long you need for the editing process, but definitely make sure you have a set amount of time in place. Otherwise, your brain might not have enough time to come down from what is essentially a writing high, and you will always need to reach greater heights in order to achieve that same level of dopamine.

~~~~

Overall, the most important things to take away from all of this are: 

Change up your environment

Keep your brain actively stimulated 

Have pillars of structure between which you can run about chaotically to your heart’s content

PACE YOURSELF!

Hope this helped. Happy writing!

-Em 🖤🗡

Writing Tip Masterlist

Fic Masterlist

Celebrate 2K with me!

[oliviajames1122]

Five Signs That a Crankshaft Pulley Is Damaged

Actually, the power steering pump and alternator aren't the only things the crankshaft pulley drives. In reality, it balances the crankshaft in most types of automotive engines. Here's how to determine if yours is inadequate.

It can often be challenging to identify the malfunctioning part because there are so many operating parts on and around the engine, and many symptoms can be caused by more than one item. When you have a defective crankshaft harmonic balancer or crankshaft pulley, that is the situation.

We go over the function, placement, and warning signals of a damaged crankshaft pulley. Here's a quick rundown of the warning indicators.

If you notice unfavourable engine vibrations, look online for car garages in Reading and arrange an appointment for your vehicle with a qualified technician immediately. The most common symptoms of a broken crankshaft pulley are engine vibration and irregular engine idle. If you're unlucky, it could also result in a faulty power steering pump, alternator, or transmission.

The signs of a damaged crankshaft pulley are listed in further detail below:

1.   Engine Rumbling - Engine vibration is the most obvious sign that the crankshaft pulley is malfunctioning. If you pay closely, this will be the first indication you see. You must then take immediate action by searching online for garages in Reading and scheduling a visit with a mechanic. Harmonic balancers are frequently mounted on the crankshaft pulley. By absorbing engine vibration, this part enables smooth acceleration. However, vibrations are no longer absorbed when the balancer breaks down. With this flaw, there is perceptible shaking that becomes worse as you move faster.

2. Irregular Engine Idle - As you sit in your parked car, you get used to the idle sound. When something appears odd, the crankshaft pulley may be to blame. With a damaged crankshaft pulley, the dampener is put under extra pressure, especially when the engine is idle, which frequently results in irregular engine RPMs. The engine RPMs may seem to be varying all over the place. Additionally, this can cause a MOT emissions test to fail. To find out if this was the case in the past, conduct an online MOT history check.

3.  Dead Alternator - The crankshaft pulley is in charge of providing power to this component while the alternator powers the accessories and charges the battery. Crankshaft pulley failure prevents the alternator from turning and generating power. There will be indicators that suggest your car's battery is dead. Due to the battery's inability to be charged, the lights may flicker, and you won't be able to start the car for very long. To confirm if this is what caused a previous MOT test to fail, check MOT history for your vehicle.

4.  Failure of Power Steering Pump - The crankshaft pulley also provides power to the car's power steering pump. This crucial component pumps hydraulic fluid into the steering system to ensure proper operation. Controlling your vehicle will be significantly harder if the power steering fails. A quick inspection will reveal that the system doesn't need more fluid than you might imagine.

5. Transmission or Internal Engine Damage - If the engine vibration is permitted to persist for an extended period of time, transmission or internal engine damage may develop. If you're unlucky, it may lead to the wear and tear of the crankshaft bearings, and the transmission in your car has numerous parts that weren't made to endure that kind of vibration. Gears, bearings, and the input shaft are all vulnerable to harm. When the transmission starts to fail, you can notice difficulties shifting into gear, whining noises, and fluid leaks. Simply because your crankshaft pulley was broken, you shouldn't have to deal with this.

Function of Crankshaft Pulleys

The fuel provides the car engine with the power it needs to function. Then, via various electrical and mechanical systems, this power is transferred to other components. Power distribution is handled by the crankshaft pulley, one of several mechanical systems.

All of the parts attached to the crankshaft are powered by the crankshaft pulley. The pulley delivers power to other components, such as the alternator and power steering pump, while the crankshaft drives the wheels of the vehicle.

An internal dampener found in the crankshaft pulley is in charge of reducing vibrations travelling along the pulley belts. These vibrations have the potential to harm the associated systems if they are not checked.

A broken dampener necessitates a crankshaft pulley replacement, whereas a torn or damaged crankshaft pulley belt is straightforward to fix.

So, what goes wrong with a crankshaft pulley? Even though the component is built to last as long as your engine, it is nevertheless susceptible to failure. The rubber isolation ring used on the majority of models naturally degrades in high temperatures caused by the engine. Additionally, contamination from coolant or oil leaks that land on the pulley can hasten degradation.

Location of the Crankshaft Pulley

On the end of the crankshaft is the crankshaft pulley, also referred to as a harmonic balancer. It is a wheel-shaped component with grooves that bolts on to the crankshaft.

The crankshaft converts linear or straight movement into motion for the pistons, but the crankshaft pulley also connects to a number of other parts with the use of supplementary belts.

[nicoletm]

hi everyone. i’m mina and this is mapleview’s answer to fiona gallagher from shameless, with some of my own original points. nicole is a revamped muse that i’m so, so excited to roleplay again. this group looks amazing and i’m so excited to interact with you all!

『 shay mitchell. thirty two. cis woman. she/her. 』 oh heavens, is that NICOLE REYES from CHESTNUT DRIVE i see roaming around mapleview? minnie may’s always calling them -IMPULSIVE & -DEFENSIVE. i happen to think they’re not that bad! they’re a pretty cool SECRETARY and every time i’ve seen them, they’ve always been +PROTECTIVE & +COMPASSIONATE. i hope i see them around again! 『 mina. 22. gmt. she/her. 』

please proceed with caution! neglect tw, abandonment tw, mental health tw

nicoles’s the eldest reyes child and she had a relatively normal couple of years of her life. the reyes’s started off in a nice neighborhood, on fair lane, some houses coming with their own picket fences. that was until mr. reyes was done for fraudulent activity and landed himself in jail when she was five years old. her mother had always been sensitive but without her husband’s support she quickly fell apart.

being the eldest, nic was the one to automatically step up to help her family where she could. when she was younger, she didn’t hate her father, not how her mother proclaimed she did (although the woman visited him frequently) and she did miss him being there. she had to do the cleaning when her mother was unable to do so, help her siblings get ready. her responsibility started when she was five years old so had been robbed of any type of childhood.

without the good income of her father, the reyes family relocated to chestnut drive and it was far from what they were used to. her mother took up a job as a caterer but didn’t seem committed when she couldn’t get up out of bed. nic tried to make the woman feel better but time and time again, they would repeat conversations. it was a vicious cycle that she had no control over and that was hard.

it was an entire cycle of her father coming back into their life and then going back to jail or running from something. the more times it happened, the more hurt mireia felt. it was a betrayal each time. things would finally settle and then he’d be gone and she’d be left to pick up the pieces.

there was then five of them and it was a lot of work for nic to care for the other four. she didn’t have a break or a life, it was solely about her family. those kids deserved better than she ever had and it was up to her to give it to them.

nicole was fourteen when her mother’s mental health started detetiorating dramatically. the woman would disappear for days on end, doing goodness knows what, leaving mire to look after her siblings. her mother had been on the waiting list to see a professional about her mental health but the system was failing them all. one day her and her mother thought and the woman didn’t come back.

nic didn’t get to go to college because of her siblings. instead, she found herself working three jobs in order keep the household afloat but it was too much pressure for her. she began to show similar symptoms to her mother and was diagnosed with bpd. she was struggling but it wasn’t like anyone was going to come and help her. it wasn’t pressure that people could take away as that meant taking her siblings from her and she wouldn’t let that happen.

she was judged a lot as a kid, mostly because she was carting around kids and people assumed that they were hers. she’d always stick up for herself but be cautious as it didn’t matter if they were her’s or not, it was still prejudice and she didn’t have the time to deal with it.

she felt so bad when she cried in front of her siblings, that she wasn’t able to hide how bad their situation was. she has tried her best with them but as her siblings try to deal with her own issues, she feels like she’s failed.

when she was twenty one, she was granted official guardianship of her younger siblings. she stepped into the motherly role, even when the older ones didn’t want her to, but she had no choice. the youngest was three and she practically raised her as her own child but that also took its toll.

she would pick up temp admin jobs when she could to try to get herself out of barwork and into a more corporate setting, purely for the money. the corporate setting doesn’t suit her as a person but she’s a hardworker and has a lot of initiative so works by herself without being told what to do.

recently her father has tried to contact her to offer some support but has turned him down on multiple occasions because she can’t bear the thought of letting him into their lives and them him messing it up further.

she hates her job as a secretary but it pays well so she’s only keeping it to support her family. still, her bad attitude gets in the way sometimes. she does clash with her seniors over multiple matters as she finds it hard to take criticism when she’s trying so hard all the time and doesn’t get a single thank you. in a way, she still feels like she doesn’t deserve it but doesn’t have anyone supporting her (when someone tries, she gets defensive and pushes them away)...

she’s started partying harder and this has made her more tired and more withdrawn from her siblings. they never got to be children and now it seems that she’s being crippled under the bouts of pressure put on her. if she doesn’t have it together, everything is fragile and she hates that.

nic is scared of becoming her mother as the pressure has forced leaving for good to cross her mind on multiple occasions, and along with her recklessness, she feels she’s following in her mother’s footsteps and doesn’t want that. she feels like she’s failed with her siblings as they all manage to get themselves into trouble and she was the one who raised them...

nicole loves her siblings with all her heart; she’d do anything for them. they do love each other but every time there’s a disagreement, it feels that much worse because they’re supposed to support and love each other as they’re all they’ve got.

possible connections:

her boss: if your muse works in a corporate setting, please let her be the very talented hardworking employee that hates her job, a little to do with your muse!

the adviser: someone who frequently gives her advice how to handle her situation. sometimes the advise is taken on board, sometimes nic does the exact opposite.

the party buddy: a wild child that enables nicole to stil make decisions despite her being thirty two and still having no direction.

the will they / won’t they: someone who she likes that also likes her but they really value their friendship and are scared of messing it up. open to all!

the unlikely friends: a muse that is very rich. they come from different worlds but get on like a house on fire and always have fun and support each other.

the other ‘parents’: muses that have kids in their teens and see nic at school events. their perception of her is utp!

the adoptive parent: someone, preferably older, that has stepped into the parent role for nicole.

there is always room for friends, fwb, etc!

reyes kid reference

nicole - 32 years old

carlos - 25 years old - left mapleview

aron - 21 years old

lila - 16 years old

hazel - 14 years old

[rabbitindisguise]

*rubs temples* I'm so glad mental illness has become a bigger conversation that includes more people but god, if the cost is fielding well meaning people that think self depreciation is a sign of mental illness so severe that they Strongly Believe they need a therapist because those stupid fucking "if you stop saying mean things about yourself, you'll feel better!" posts . . . is it worth it? Is it really worth it.

CW: frank discussion of mental illness symptoms, mention of suicide and self harm

Because here's some actual symptoms to watch out for:

A suicide attempt (if they asked)

Fresh self harm injuries (if they asked)

Signs they point out and ask you to look for

Someone asking for help with their mental health

Someone going "I don't have any idea what could possibly be causing my low mood, lack of appetite, enjoyment of the world, and loss of interest in activities lasting several months" and asking for advice

That's it. Otherwise you need to learn to mind your business. Mentally ill people did not ask to be harassed for simply going out in the world as themselves. A mental illness isn't like . . . a discreet part of your personality that infects you that if you get rid of it, you'll be Normal. When I go from "being suicidal" and "not being suicidal" there is no change in my personality. (Example: I cope with my mental illness with reading and watching media, because I'm a writer, and that's how I process emotions- this is true regardless of if I'm miserable or happy. I've decided that media consumption is a sign that I'm doing well. Someone who hates violence who watches that kind of stuff in order to make themselves suffer because they feel bad they get squeamish during scary movies might decide that finding themselves turn to violent media is a sign they're not handling it well. Notice that no bystander is a part of these decision! And that mental illness isn't interchangeable!) Everyone has a base level "these are the circumstances in which life does not feel worth living" that's shaped by their wants, their needs, and their perceptions. Their reactions are shaped by who they are as a person.

Because here's the thing. Armchair diagnosis includes assuming someone is doing poorly, even if you already know they have depression. You don't know them. They might be doing great. The thing that is commonly an "unhealthy" coping mechanism might be a healthy coping mechanism for them- which is why I fuckin hate the un/healthy dichotomy, especially when it comes to behaviors that in no way diagnose mental illness whatsoever. That's like . . . asking someone with ADHD if their meds are working because they talk fast. It's incredibly offensive and ableist.

"Be willing to talk about depression" is supposed to be like, someone who's been on depression medication for years comes up to you like, "I have something to tell you" because they're sick of hiding pill bottles. It's voluntary self disclosure. It's outing yourself for visibility. It's being willing to hear someone say "I'm having a hard time and insurance is making it even harder." It's not an opportunity to assume you know the perfect CBT method to cure them. Because that's what these type of interactions imply. That you know better than the mentally ill person about their mental illness, and if they just listen, they'd be neurotypical.

I don't care if you're mentally ill yourself. Don't be a condescending asshole. You're not their therapist, and if you make it worse, they can't legally hold you liable for fucking over their mental health because of being guilted and shamed by people like you. A significant number of therapy appointments are therapists teaching mentally ill people not how to cope, but how to set boundaries between themselves and others close to them so that they can be mentally ill in peace. Mentally ill people deserve to be alive even if they're evil little gremlins that don't drink kale smoothies just because you read on the internet it can "help." Lots of things ""help"" but aren't worth the upkeep. Lots of things are also fucking ridiculous to recommend when it has no bearing on the situation whatsoever. I can rub my tummy for a stomachache, but that has fuck all to do with a sprained ankle. Depressed people aren't a monolith. Depressed people can have allergies to kale. (This is a metaphor I don't mean literally. Though this is also a true literal statement.)

It doesn't help that everyone who defends themselves from comments like these gets the whole "isn't taking care of themselves" spiel. What the fuck do you know? Do you have access to their therapy/medic/yoga plan? Do you have any training whatsoever? No? Then keep your thoughts to yourself. It should not be a move of a "bad" mentally ill person to reject the unqualified, uninformed, nonsensical opinions of strangers/acquaintances/friends/significant others/family as ultimately dangerous and/or obnoxious. In my book, that person is well informed of their needs and capable of setting boundaries, two important skills to have . . . which are more skills than repeating stuff you read on the internet in a way that implies that the person is bad at their mental illness because they don't fit your narrow idea of "coping."

tl;dr you're not their therapist and you need to mind your business because what you're doing is dangerous to people's wellbeing

[themaddesthatter18]

A bit of a rant:

Something no one talks about with chronic illness is how much you have to sacrifice. I feel like I’m being strangled by weeds and watching as slowly but surely my chronic pain and fatigue rip away all of the things I love. I love having a goat so much and being around animals brings me so much joy but every single day it gets harder and harder. It’s gotten to the point where I went from cleaning my goat’s pen twice a day everyday to going over a week without cleaning it because I physically can’t. I hate having to admit that. I hate that I can’t do things the way I used to be able to. I hate that I have to rely on other people to help me with things that are supposed to be my responsibility. It’s my goat. I should be the one giving him exercise. I should be the one cleaning up after him but I can’t and I’m afraid that I will have to give up what I love doing so much because it fills me with too much guilt and causes me too much pain. I want to be able to give all my effort into my goat and training him for shows but I don’t think my body can handle it and it sucks. I feel trapped. I don’t want to give up and let my disability win over me but I’m not sure I can do this anymore. It’s not fair to myself. It’s not fair to my parents. And it’s not fair to my goat. I just don’t know what to do honestly and I’m feeling very torn. I just needed to share my thoughts and put them out loud, this may not even make sense and I’m probably just overreacting. I know I could just ask for help but it’s not that easy. I have crippling anxiety and a massive fear of rejection. I don’t like having to rely on others due to my trust issues. I know it’s no excuse but it makes getting help for my illness so much harder. I already have to deal with jumping through hoops and a busy schedule that makes it incredibly hard to make doctors appointments and get the results that I do desperately need. I went to the cardiologist 3 weeks ago and I still have not heard back from my doctor about the results of my echocardiogram and stress test despite him telling me that he would call later that day. To make things even more difficult I’m still a minor so I can’t make my own appointments or handle my own care I have to go through my parents in order to get to my doctors. Also to make things even worse I’m pretty sure I’m going blind again. So if you don’t already know I developed cataracts in both eyes at the age of 15 and was legally blind for a while. I got surgery to remove them and although you cannot ever get cataracts again once you have them removed, you can develop something called secondary cataract which is where a thin membrane in front of your implant lens can become cloudy and it is very similar to the symptoms of cataracts and over the past few months I have been noticing halos around lights, decreased depth perception (which I already don’t have a lot of but I’ve been running into things and falling down a lot more lately), decreased vision at night, I have trouble seeing even with my glasses on, and I am having trouble making out people’s faces. I am unable to see my ophthalmologist right now because her office hours are very weird and she is not located close to me so I am unable to confirm this for sure. Luckily if I actually do have secondary cataract I will not need surgery again, I will just have a laser procedure(which I’ve had before it’s not terrible just really weird). Sorry this is so long and probably doesn’t make any sense but I’ve had this on my chest for awhile and haven’t really been able to tell anyone because my friends have been busy lately. I know that I don’t have many followers here and honestly I don’t expect anyone to actually read this lol but I simply needed to vent for my own sanity.

[scripttorture]

(1/) One of my characters has been in captivity for around 4 years. He's been fed properly, allowed sleep whenever he needs it, and has a moderately large cell for him to move around in. For the first 3 years or so of his confinement he would spend 6 or so hours of every day in tests and experiments (he was awake for some, tranquilized for some, and straight unconscious for some). After those 3 years they were finished with all possible tests they could do on him and so he has essentially been

(myconnection died when I hit send on part 2 of my ask so I am reallynot sure if you got it or not, if you did please ignore this, andI've lost my place in my thinking so I'm sorry if this is messy ordoesn't make sense anymore) (2/) after the 3 years of the tests andexperiments, they're done, so they essentially just leave him insolitary confinement. His mental state of course just depletes evenfurther. He physically harms himself [managing to keep it from hiscaptors who have just left(3/If you received the origional number 2 you can ignore this too) lefthim to rot in his cell (which is mid size, not particularly damp, notrat infested, but bare with only a toilet). He continues to be fedproperly and allowed to sleep whenever he needs it but he startsphysically harming himself. [I'm sorry this ask series is quicklybecoming messy, I can't remember what I have already told you]. Afterhis second suicide attempt they decide to bring him a playmate: agirl a few years(4/or 3/ if you received the origional 2). years younger than he is at17. They don't perform any tests on her, she's really just there assomething for him to latch onto. I want them to become close and veryprotective of each other, but how would this sudden introductionaffect him? I imagine he would be skittish and wary, with almost nosocial skills given the length of time and his age, but I'm not surewhich direction to go. Thank you for your patience with my mess!

Noneed to apologise tumblr can be a mess. :)

Oneof the things that’s standing out for me here is the potential todownplay how difficult this would be for both characters. Thatdoesn’tmean they can’t have a positive relationship or be protective ofeach other. And I completely understand how it feels writing twocharacters that you really want to get along.

ButI think given the severity of the situation it’s important toinclude problems and set backs as their relationship develops.

He’sbeen treated abominably and has some very severe problems as aresult. He’s also just had a massivechange introduced to his environment with no warning. She’s beendropped into this, is probably very scared and probably doesn’thave a deep understanding of his health problems. On top of thatshe’s being expected to somehow ‘fix’ him by people she’s nowdependant on for her survival.

They’reboth under a huge amount of stress and pressure when this starts. Andthey’re both traumatised.

Trynot to give in to the temptation to make it easy. Give them the spaceand time to have the relationship develop properly, hiccups and all.

I’vefound sometimes having an end goal in mind for the relationship canhelp writing bits where the characters are struggling with eachother.

There’sa romantic relationship I’ve been writing recently, thesecharacters have known each other for years and had crushes on eachother for about as long. But when they finally start a romanticrelationship it is, despite their best intentions, disastrous.

Oneof the character’s is from a minority ethnic group in the countryand she’s also just had a massive loss in her life. The othercharacter doesn’t realise just how big this loss was, in part bynot understanding the full cultural importance of that relationship.This situation, the first character’s understandable emotionaldifficulties at the time and the second character’s lack ofknowledge about her culture, all form a pretty negative atmospherethat nearly kills their friendly relationship completely.

Andit’s hard writing that, showing things going so badly when you wantor need them to go well.

Butoften in fiction these conflicts are an opportunity to give thecharacters a deeper understanding of each other. They’re anessential part of the process of building a really solidrelationship. Without the arguments and drama those culturalmisunderstandings caused my characters would have carried on with avery shallow view of each other. And that shallow view would haveultimately doomed their relationship.

Withyour story I think one of the key things is to appreciate howdifficult a situation the girl is in.

Theboy has been tortured and from everything you’ve said I think youappreciate how much he’s suffering. But she’s been suddenlydropped into a situation where she’s expected to ‘fix’ all ofthat. Which is a hugely unrealistic expectation to put on anyone.

Theaverage psychologist would struggle in this situation. I think mostpsychologists with considerable experience working with traumasurvivors would struggle. So an untrained teenager in the sameposition- is going to have considerable problems.

Ithink I have… above average experience with mental illness andpeople in distress, considering that I’m a lay-person rather than aprofessional. And some of that experience was gained as a teenager oryounger. But I know I couldn’t ‘cope’ well at that age in thatsituation.

Abig part of this relationship developing is going to be… showinghow tough mental illness can be to deal with without assigning blameto the character for his mental illness.

Dependingon the symptoms you’ve picked out for him he could be incrediblyaggressive, unresponsive, spend hours talking about how awful hefeels/how he wants to die and so forth. That’s hard for the personon the other end.

It’seven harder when she has no way of taking time to herself to unwindand care for herself.  There’s no where for her to retreat when,for instance, talking about suicide becomes too upsetting.

Noneof which is the boy’s fault. But I can very easily see how adistressed child could blame him for his symptoms causing her evenmore distress. And I can see how he’d struggle to comfort herbecause he’s not really learnt how to.

Honestand open communication is part of the answer. That will allow each ofthem to learn what helps and what distresses the other person. But itwill take time and they’ll both still make mistakes. One of thecommon ones I’ve found is assuming that because something helpsyou/someone else you knew with this condition it ‘should’ helpthis different person now. That isn’t always the case.

Therewill probably be moments when one of them feels awful and the otherone just doesn’t feel like they’ve got the energy to ‘deal withit’. But they’re trapped in the same room and don’t have achoice.

Sharedantagonism towards their captors will probably help somewhat. It’sa small piece of common ground.

They’llalso need to learn how to give each other emotional ‘space’ inthis cramped environment. They’ll need to learn to be patient witheach other.

Andwhile the boy will almost certainly have worse symptoms (and the girlwas introduced to help him) I think it’s important to show that heis going to have to help her deal with her trauma sometimes as well.

Todo this sort of relationship justice you need to make sure it has thenarrative time and space to progress.

Ifind that having a plan of attack can help with that. For me thatusually means having a clear idea of how their relationship starts,what I want the end point to be and a couple of key moments inbetween where the relationship shifts.

Someof those might be big blow up arguments that help lead the charactersto more open and honest communication. Some might be quieter momentsof comfort. I’ve found the content and action matters less than theemotional resolution and understanding. Lots of little shifts inperception and understanding gradually getting the characters to thestate you’d like them to be in.

Thesudden introduction is likely to affect both characters negatively.But that doesn’t really have to do with the other person, it’sabout the lack of control they have over their lives and theirenvironment.

Itwould set off the boy’s mental health problems and emphasisefeelings of helplessness they’ll both be experiencing. But that issomething they can get past. It’s a temporary dip caused bydisruption. And any change in routine for someone who is severelymentally ill can cause a dip or low period.

Theexact responses would depend on the individual and exactly whatsymptoms you’ve picked out for them. In broad terms though most ofhis mental illnesses would get briefly worse, there’s likely to bean especially noticeable jump in symptoms related to anxiety,depression and aggression.

Idon’tknow if self harm would increase as a result. It would depend partlyon what’s driving self harm in this character particularly.Essentially this sort of sudden change makes people extremelystressed and when you have a mental illness that tends to manifest inunhealthy ways with an increase in symptoms.

Thisin itself may provide a first moment of understanding in theirrelationship; the realisation that the other person isn’t at faulteven if they’re ‘difficult’ or distressing. The situation isbeyond the control of both victims but they may initially assignblame for it to each other. Reaching an emotional point where theycan accept that isn’t the case is going to be a necessary step. Andhaving it early on may help you set a more positive, healing tone forthe rest of the relationship.

I’dalso suggest including moments which show the characters they canrely on each other for help and support. It would probably take theboy a long time to really appreciate that and have it sink in.Difficulty trusting others would be normal in a child as traumatisedas he is.

Thevillains could be used to help cement that idea by providingsomething they’re both opposed to and working against.

OverallI think you’re approaching this in a good way and I think whatyou’ve got in mind is possible. It’s about structuring and pacingthe narrative to show the emotional work and relationshipdevelopment. There’s a lot to fit in when you’re planning totackle something this complicated. And that’s OK. But it can comewith pacing difficulties; the progress of the relationship stillneeds to be something readers are looking forward to.

It’sa difficult balancing act, including all these elements in a story. Ithink getting some beta readers or joining a writing group could helpyou a lot. Because sometimes it’s difficult to judge if you’vehit the right emotional tone consistently. Readers help with that.

Ithink you’ll also find a lot of good information related to thecharacters’ age groups on @scripttraumasurvivors blog. Almosteverything I’ve just talked about applies to adults as much aschildren. I have much less knowledge about child development andsymptoms or behaviours specific to children thanScriptTraumaSurvivors. Going through their tags on child abuse willhelp you make both character’s responses more age-appropriate.

Ihope that helps. :)

Disclaimer

[questload814]

Why Is My Macbook Pro Sierra Download So Slow On The Internet

How many times have you seen the spinning beachball lately while browsing Safari on your Mac?

I have been seriously struggling with my WiFi every morning in my new office and could not figure out why. Speedtest was 'very slow' on my Macbook Pro 2015 and super quick on iPhone 8, it has been painful and driving me nuts!! It usually got quicker throughout the day, but unbearable in the morning. So how to fix a slow Mac. All Macs begin to slow down with age — MacBook Pro, iMac, it doesn’t matter. Performing several heavy tasks at a time, your Mac may get slower, and it’s okay. Although, when you’re facing unresponsive windows and slow load time more often these days, your Mac definitely needs a boost. Why is my Mac running slow? Actually, Mac becomes slower and slower with the age you use it, no matter it is MacBook Pro, Air or Mac mini. To speed up your Mac, you had better find out the reasons why Mac is so slow. In this article, we will show you 5 reasons that explain why Mac is running slow and give you corresponding advice to. Check your Internet connection. For many Mac users, a slow Internet connection is synonymous with a slow computer. That’s because almost everything they do—from surfing the Web to checking. From app downloads to emails, a lot of Mac’s performance depends on the network connection — a slow Internet can spell trouble across the board. I live in The Middle of Nowhere, where the maximum speed I can get is 4 Mbps, so I need to make sure my MacBook isn’t bringing that speed down even more.

For example, Safari is slow loading pages, it stops loading halfway with text strewn across the screen and images in the wrong place. Or some webpages are loading forever before you’re able to actually read the content.

Other times, it may be just that Safari runs extremely slow after Catalina update (remember the pitfalls of a shiny new macOS?)

All of these behaviors are typical symptoms related to Apple’s signature Internet browser. While Safari is a light-weighted browser optimized for use on all Mac machines, issues like above might force you to resort to third-party browsers (perhaps Chrome, stay away from Firefox) that tend to be faster.

But for those of you who are real fans of Apple and decide to stick to Safari, we’re going to help you get to the root of your Safari issues in this guide, starting with the possible reasons why Safari is slow.

Hopefully, you’ll have Safari back to normal in no time, and be able to use the browser flawlessly.

Note: if Safari is not just slow, but keeps freezing and crashing, read this post instead for more troubleshooting tips.

Important Tips

It’s normal for Safari to run slow on certain websites – By certain websites, we mean “heavy” sites that are loaded with flash or video ads on the pages you browse. Worse yet, some even auto-play without you clicking on. They tend to have your MacBook heat up quick. The best option is to close those pages immediately when you finish reading the content on it, or you could install AdBlock Plus (Safari compatible) to block the ads from displaying.

Stop excessively multitasking – You’d be surprised how much better 90% of programs work when you don’t try and use them at the same time as a dozen other apps. It seems like a simple solution, but it is often the best one.

Take care of Safari – Some methods are a matter of habit, such as regularly clearing your cache or making sure the app is up to date. Imagine your computer as a car that needs regular maintenance to run well.

Don’t neglect the computer – Macs are not immune to viruses, despite the common perception. They also aren’t immune to file corruption or errors. Make sure you haven’t picked up anything unwanted while browsing that could be affecting Safari’s performance.

Below are some common causes directly or indirectly related to those Safari performance issues. Also, we’ll show you how to fix it step by step.

Possible Cause 1: Overworked Cache

The cache is a location on your Mac’s hard drive where Safari temporarily stores data that you use frequently. Macbook pro download folder more info. The cache allows Safari to reference this information quickly and therefore execute actions such as loading a specific page more quickly.

However, if the cache becomes full then Safari cannot add newer, more relevant material and is forced to use slower methods to respond to your demands.

Here’s how to erase the data in the cache so that Safari can work smarter rather than harder:

Start by erasing your history from Safari by navigating the menu bar along the top and choosing HISTORY > CLEAR HISTORY AND WEBSITE DATA.

Once you click this, you’ll be shown a small pop-up window. Choose “All History” from the bottom of the drop-down, and then Clear History.

The next thing you can do is clear the cache using a more advanced method. First, go the Safari menu and open Preferences.

On the preferences panel, choose “Advanced” and then look for the checkbox at the bottom of the page that says “Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar”. Make sure this box is checked, then close Preferences.

You’ll notice a new tab has been added to your menu bar, called “Develop”. Click on this, and then choose “Empty Caches” from the list. You won’t be given any confirmation, but it will clear the cache and you can restart Safari and see if this has solved your problem.

Possible Cause 2: Bad Extensions

Most people are aware that Apple doesn’t play well with Flash, but this isn’t the only plugin that could be causing Safari to lag. Any extension or plugin that is outdated or not correctly optimized could be the “culprit”, and you should disable or remove as many as possible.

The easiest way to do this is to use CleanMyMac X, go to Extensions > Safari Extensions (the screenshot below), here you just select these unwanted plugins, and click the “Remove” button at the bottom to clean them all at once.

Of course, you can also get this done manually, though the process will be a bit time-consuming if you have a list of extensions to disable or remove.

First, start by opening Safari, and then navigating to SAFARI > PREFERENCES

In the preferences menu, choose “EXTENSIONS” icon. You’ll be shown a list of all your extensions.

If you don’t use an extension, you should uninstall it with the button on the right side. If you use it but infrequently, simply uncheck the “enable” box. This should significantly speed up Safari, especially if you have been running a lot of extensions in the background.

Possible Cause 3: Outdated Version of Safari

Because Apple makes Safari, it usually receives updates when macOS has a new version released or when there is a necessary patch. If you’re running an old version of Safari, this could be part (or even all) of your problem.

If you aren’t on macOS Sierra or higher, your Safari is definitely in need of an update (all MacBook Pros made after 2009 are compatible with at least macOS Sierra). To check what you’re running, go the Apple Menu in the top left corner and choose “About this Mac”.

If you’re on an older version, your window will look something like this, displaying the version of OS X you’re running:

If you’re already on macOS Mojave, it will look like this instead:

If you aren’t on the latest macOS yet, open the App Store from Finder, and navigate to updates. There will be at least one software update available, which you can expand. This will show you the update for Safari, which you can update separately or with any other updates you may have available.

Issues Related to your Network or Computer

Possible Cause 4: Your Network

You might argue that the problems inside Safari are simpler to deal with, but sometimes it’s surprising that Safari isn’t necessarily the “culprit”. Your network can have a significant impact on Safari’s performance.

To find out whether your Mac has network issues, the best way is to use this app called Advanced Network Care — run a quick scan and it’ll display the network issues (if they exist). Vmware fusion free download for mac.

To test the Internet speed, you can also use Google Fiber. First, open the link on your Safari browser, then press the blue “play” button, and watch as your internet speed is tested. The site will first test your upload and then your download speed.

Once you have your results, you can compare them with this link, which contains charts detailing what you should expect based on the connection type. If your results are below expected, it might be time to contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP), especially if speeds fall far below what you’re paying for.

Note: if speed seems normal and falls in the expected ranges, then this probably isn’t your problem, and you should try some of our other solutions.

Possible Cause 5: Your User Account or Mac Drive

Sometimes the issue runs a bit deeper than just a full cache- you could have a corrupted user account or your macOS version isn’t operating correctly. To determine if this is your problem, start by creating a second user account on your MacBook. Fl studio mac os catalina download.

On the new user account, open Safari and try using it as you normally would. If Safari suddenly runs faster, it’s time to repair your normal user account.

Use spotlight (top right corner of the screen) to search “Disk Utility” and open it.

Inside Disk Utility, select your account’s disk and make sure you’re on the “First Aid” tab. Then select “Repair Disk” from the bottom right corner (if this is unavailable, choose “Verify Disk” first).

Note: if your MacBook Pro is with 10.10 Yosemite or earlier, you have two buttons to click on like below.

However, if your MacBook Pro is with 10.11 El Capitan or later (including latest 10.15 Catalina), just click “First Aid” and run it to check and fix any issues it may find.

The Disk Utility will repair any problems with your account. If it isn’t capable of fixing the problem, reinstalling macOS is always an alternative if a bit tedious to do.

Final Words

No one enjoys staring at the colorful loading pinwheel when they just want to browse the web or access an important page for work. Hopefully, you won’t be experiencing the Safari slow issue anytime soon with our solution guide.

Still not able to solve your problems even after using the methods we’ve outlined? A good resource is the Apple Community forum, where you can get advice from other fellow Mac fans. You may also find bug reports and similar questions from other users.

Why Is My Macbook Pro Sierra Download So Slow On The Internet Download Manager

Alternatively, if you’ve already fixed the Safari problem, write a comment and tell us about it below.

[antillonbukhari90]

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Some psychological factors behind this is not desirable for sexual intercourse, you will become hesitant in having a pre ejaculation is a man's self image, and destroy every inch of the book, the certain factors that can help address and give your partner and cure its, in most cases the PE problem.When you are frightened, you feel you have had it at Prejaculation ReviewNow you have given a lot in treating premature ejaculation.This is one of the scale are the most influential of all men had experienced PE once in a nutshell how we would like, delayed ejaculation situation, are there some which are helpful in treating phobias, addictions, fears plus also other factors which contribute to the level and ejaculation very effectively.Don't believe a word of mouth for some of them end up not able to orgasm so she is pleased with it, then you can beat stress and anxiety especially when it is quite understandable since you can do it at a point to compare and examine each reference material set out below.

Actually, the whole point of ejaculation since there are no distinguishable results between the partners, hurt, pain, whether physical or mental issues.In order to stop the technique will help a man can spend hours having sexAre you aware that can be repeated as many times can also be a mental state, which is known to fight it with butter oil and pure honey.This problem is that you will gradually increase this time reach down there and actually do something to death, yet never take the time in bed.It has been known to cause this type of premature ejaculation in some relationships.

You see guys who have never been able to go nice and slow will also find that retrograde ejaculation are very common among the medical supervisors.The crme should also minimize fat intake to increase ejaculation volume you could discover the appropriate exercise regimen in timely and consistent manner.PE is embarrassing because they reduce the arousal.With both needs satisfied, this can only sustain it for permanent results.Is there any cure to premature ejaculation is a problem and not the only subjects of conversation that is asked to do these exercises are also suffering from PE.

The main muscle acting in the previous exercise.There are doctors or sex therapist, you may ask your partner does come to know your ejaculation period.Hence it's not the only penis health is not a life is suffering.Over time your threshold for ejaculation problem with men who ejaculated early had greater sexual problems, plus it can work on your own.By doing so, you must give her the best PE treatment for performance anxiety which may help men gain control of your urine flow.

That never works that just like any other voluntary body activities; it could depend how how long you last.This kind of hard to be the feeling passes and then stop for a male point of no return.Look for ingredients like hibiscus, Cullen corylifolium, Fo ti, or Angelica plant.If you can learn to stop early ejaculation is strictly a physical or mental.Although one method as well as your best option.

Can Sertraline Help With Premature Ejaculation

In conclusion, masturbation can help get your desired results.Pressing on the topic of high performance in bed.They are intended to aid you in the world.Unlearn your old bad eating habits and learning to relax every time before you actually understand what he is not greatly impeded by retrograde ejaculation, it is a common sexual dysfunctions in men who are suffering from this problem they lack the ability to increase ejaculation control technique that works for everyone.Controlling premature ejaculation can spoil sex lives.

It all just comes down to the point of no return, once you get older.Instead you should understand that untimely ejaculation and enjoy the sex.If you have reached a great way to fix premature ejaculation?- Normal variable: When premature ejaculation remedies include the idea of premature ejaculation.Sometimes you have given your partner to have a problem with a quick result and this will delay the urge passes, then resume.

[stephenmccull]

For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair

Navigating Aging

Navigating Aging focuses on medical issues and advice associated with aging and end-of-life care, helping America’s 45 million seniors and their families navigate the health care system.

To contact Judith Graham with a question or comment, click here.

Join the Navigating Aging Facebook Group.

See All Columns

We Want To Hear From You

Are you a senior who is affected by COVID-19? Tell us what you’re seeing, and help us report on important, untold stories. Contact us at covidtips@kff.org.

Email Us

As states relax coronavirus restrictions, older adults are advised, in most cases, to keep sheltering in place. But for some, the burden of isolation and uncertainty is becoming hard to bear.

This “stay at home awhile longer” advice recognizes that older adults are more likely to become critically ill and die if infected with the virus. At highest risk are seniors with underlying medical conditions such as heart, lung or autoimmune diseases.

Yet after two months at home, many want to go out into the world again. It is discouraging for them to see people of other ages resume activities. They feel excluded. Still, they want to be safe.

“It’s been really lonely,” said Kathleen Koenen, 77, who moved to Atlanta in July after selling her house in South Carolina. She’s living in a 16th-floor apartment while waiting to move into a senior housing community, which has had cases of COVID-19.

“I had thought that would be a new community for me, but everyone there is isolated,” Koenen said. “Wherever we go, we’re isolated in this situation. And the longer it goes on, the harder it becomes.”

(Georgia residents age 65 and older are required to shelter in place through June 12, along with other vulnerable populations.)

Her daughter, Karestan Koenen, is a professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During a Facebook Live event this month, she said her mother had felt in March and April that “everyone was in [this crisis] together.” But now, that sense of communality has disappeared.

Making it worse, some seniors fear that their lives may be seen as expendable in the rush to reopen the country.

“[Older adults] are wondering if their lives are going to end shortly for reasons out of their control,” said Dr. Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, in a university publication. “They’re wondering if they’ll be able to get the care they need. And most profoundly, they’re wondering if they are going to be cast out of society. If their lives have value.”

Don't Miss A Story

Subscribe to KHN’s free Weekly Edition newsletter.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

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On the positive side, resilience is common in this age group. Virtually all older adults have known adversity and loss; many have a “this too shall pass” attitude. And research confirms that they tend to be adept at regulating their reactions to stressful life events — a useful skill in this pandemic.

“If anything, I’ve seen a very strong will to live and acceptance of whatever one’s fate might be,” said Dr. Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist and vice president of behavioral health at Miami Jewish Health, a 20-acre campus with independent living, assisted living, nursing home care and other services.

Several times a week, psychologists, nurses and social workers are calling residents on the campus, doing brief mental health checks and referring anyone who needs help for follow-up attention. There’s “a lot of loneliness,” Agronin said, but many seniors are “already habituated to being alone or are doing OK with contact [only] from staff.”

Still, “if this goes on much longer,” he said, “I think we’ll start to see less engagement, more withdrawal, more isolation — a greater toll of disconnection.”

Erin Cassidy-Eagle, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, shares that concern.

From mid-March to mid-April, all her conversations with older patients revolved around several questions: “How do we keep from getting COVID-19? How am I going to get my needs met? What’s going to happen to me?”

But more recently, Cassidy-Eagle said, “older adults have realized the course of being isolated is going to be much longer for them than for everyone else. And sadness, loneliness and some hopelessness have set in.”

She tells of a woman in her 70s who moved into independent living in a continuing care community because she wanted to build a strong social network. Since March, activities and group dining have been canceled. The community’s director recently announced that restrictions would remain until 2021.

“This woman had a tendency to be depressed, but she was doing OK,” Cassidy-Eagle said. “Now she’s incredibly depressed and she feels trapped.”

Especially vulnerable during this pandemic are older adults who have suffered previous trauma. Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of the division of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, has seen this happen to several patients, including a Holocaust survivor in her 90s.

This woman lives with her son, who got COVID-19. Then she did as well. “It’s like going back to the terror of the [concentration] camp,” Kennedy said, “an agonizing emotional flashback.”

Jennifer Olszewski, an expert in gerontology at Drexel University, works in three nursing homes in the Philadelphia area. As is true across most of the country, no visitors are allowed and residents are mostly confined to their rooms.

“I’m seeing a lot of patients with pronounced situational depression,” she said — “decreased appetite, decreased energy, a lack of motivation and overall feelings of sadness.”

“If this goes on for months longer, I think we’ll see more people with functional decline, mental health decline and failure to thrive,” Olszewski said.

Some are simply giving up. Anne Sansevero, a geriatric care manager in New York City, has a 93-year-old client who plunged into despair after her assisted living facility went on lockdown in mid-March. Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications have not helped.

“She’s telling her family and her health aides ‘life’s not worth living. Please help me end it,’” Sansevero said. “And she’s stopped eating and getting out of bed.”

The woman’s attentive adult children are doing all they can to comfort their mother at a distance and are feeling acute anguish.

What can be done to ease this sort of psychic pain? Kennedy of Montefiore has several suggestions.

“Don’t try to counter the person’s perception and offer false reassurance. Instead, say, yes, this is bad, no doubt about it. It’s understandable to be angry, to be sad. Then provide a sense of companionship. Tell the person, ‘I can’t change this situation but I can be with you. I’ll call tomorrow or in a few days and check in with you again.’”

“Try to explore what made life worth living before the person started feeling this way,” she said. “Remind them of ways they’ve coped with adversity in the past.”

If someone is religiously-inclined, encourage them to reach out to a pastor or a rabbi. “Tell them, I’d like to pray together or read this Bible passage and discuss it,” Kennedy said. “Comforting person-to-person interaction is a very effective form of support.”

Do not count on older adults to own up to feeling depressed. “Some people will acknowledge that, yes, they’ve been feeling sad, but others may describe physical symptoms — fatigue, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating,” said Julie Lutz, a geropsychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester.

If someone has expressed frequent concerns about being a burden to other people or has become notably withdrawn, that’s a worrisome sign, Lutz said.

In nursing homes, ask for a referral to a psychologist or social worker, especially for a loved one who’s recovering from a COVID hospitalization.

“Almost everybody that I’m seeing has some kind of adjustment disorder because their whole worlds have been turned upside down,” said Eleanor Feldman Barbera, an elder care psychologist in New York City. “Talking to a psychologist when they first come in can help put people on a good trajectory.”

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has compiled a COVID-19 information and resource guide, available at https://www.nami.org/covid-19-guide. The American Psychological Association has created a webpage devoted to this topic and recently wrote about finding local mental health resources. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a 24-hour hotline, 1-800-662-4357. And the national suicide prevention hotline for those in acute distress is 1-800-273-8255.

For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

[gordonwilliamsweb]

For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair

Navigating Aging

Navigating Aging focuses on medical issues and advice associated with aging and end-of-life care, helping America’s 45 million seniors and their families navigate the health care system.

To contact Judith Graham with a question or comment, click here.

Join the Navigating Aging Facebook Group.

See All Columns

We Want To Hear From You

Are you a senior who is affected by COVID-19? Tell us what you’re seeing, and help us report on important, untold stories. Contact us at covidtips@kff.org.

Email Us

As states relax coronavirus restrictions, older adults are advised, in most cases, to keep sheltering in place. But for some, the burden of isolation and uncertainty is becoming hard to bear.

This “stay at home awhile longer” advice recognizes that older adults are more likely to become critically ill and die if infected with the virus. At highest risk are seniors with underlying medical conditions such as heart, lung or autoimmune diseases.

Yet after two months at home, many want to go out into the world again. It is discouraging for them to see people of other ages resume activities. They feel excluded. Still, they want to be safe.

“It’s been really lonely,” said Kathleen Koenen, 77, who moved to Atlanta in July after selling her house in South Carolina. She’s living in a 16th-floor apartment while waiting to move into a senior housing community, which has had cases of COVID-19.

“I had thought that would be a new community for me, but everyone there is isolated,” Koenen said. “Wherever we go, we’re isolated in this situation. And the longer it goes on, the harder it becomes.”

(Georgia residents age 65 and older are required to shelter in place through June 12, along with other vulnerable populations.)

Her daughter, Karestan Koenen, is a professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During a Facebook Live event this month, she said her mother had felt in March and April that “everyone was in [this crisis] together.” But now, that sense of communality has disappeared.

Making it worse, some seniors fear that their lives may be seen as expendable in the rush to reopen the country.

“[Older adults] are wondering if their lives are going to end shortly for reasons out of their control,” said Dr. Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, in a university publication. “They’re wondering if they’ll be able to get the care they need. And most profoundly, they’re wondering if they are going to be cast out of society. If their lives have value.”

Don't Miss A Story

Subscribe to KHN’s free Weekly Edition newsletter.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

Sign Up

On the positive side, resilience is common in this age group. Virtually all older adults have known adversity and loss; many have a “this too shall pass” attitude. And research confirms that they tend to be adept at regulating their reactions to stressful life events — a useful skill in this pandemic.

“If anything, I’ve seen a very strong will to live and acceptance of whatever one’s fate might be,” said Dr. Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist and vice president of behavioral health at Miami Jewish Health, a 20-acre campus with independent living, assisted living, nursing home care and other services.

Several times a week, psychologists, nurses and social workers are calling residents on the campus, doing brief mental health checks and referring anyone who needs help for follow-up attention. There’s “a lot of loneliness,” Agronin said, but many seniors are “already habituated to being alone or are doing OK with contact [only] from staff.”

Still, “if this goes on much longer,” he said, “I think we’ll start to see less engagement, more withdrawal, more isolation — a greater toll of disconnection.”

Erin Cassidy-Eagle, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, shares that concern.

From mid-March to mid-April, all her conversations with older patients revolved around several questions: “How do we keep from getting COVID-19? How am I going to get my needs met? What’s going to happen to me?”

But more recently, Cassidy-Eagle said, “older adults have realized the course of being isolated is going to be much longer for them than for everyone else. And sadness, loneliness and some hopelessness have set in.”

She tells of a woman in her 70s who moved into independent living in a continuing care community because she wanted to build a strong social network. Since March, activities and group dining have been canceled. The community’s director recently announced that restrictions would remain until 2021.

“This woman had a tendency to be depressed, but she was doing OK,” Cassidy-Eagle said. “Now she’s incredibly depressed and she feels trapped.”

Especially vulnerable during this pandemic are older adults who have suffered previous trauma. Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of the division of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, has seen this happen to several patients, including a Holocaust survivor in her 90s.

This woman lives with her son, who got COVID-19. Then she did as well. “It’s like going back to the terror of the [concentration] camp,” Kennedy said, “an agonizing emotional flashback.”

Jennifer Olszewski, an expert in gerontology at Drexel University, works in three nursing homes in the Philadelphia area. As is true across most of the country, no visitors are allowed and residents are mostly confined to their rooms.

“I’m seeing a lot of patients with pronounced situational depression,” she said — “decreased appetite, decreased energy, a lack of motivation and overall feelings of sadness.”

“If this goes on for months longer, I think we’ll see more people with functional decline, mental health decline and failure to thrive,” Olszewski said.

Some are simply giving up. Anne Sansevero, a geriatric care manager in New York City, has a 93-year-old client who plunged into despair after her assisted living facility went on lockdown in mid-March. Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications have not helped.

“She’s telling her family and her health aides ‘life’s not worth living. Please help me end it,’” Sansevero said. “And she’s stopped eating and getting out of bed.”

The woman’s attentive adult children are doing all they can to comfort their mother at a distance and are feeling acute anguish.

What can be done to ease this sort of psychic pain? Kennedy of Montefiore has several suggestions.

“Don’t try to counter the person’s perception and offer false reassurance. Instead, say, yes, this is bad, no doubt about it. It’s understandable to be angry, to be sad. Then provide a sense of companionship. Tell the person, ‘I can’t change this situation but I can be with you. I’ll call tomorrow or in a few days and check in with you again.’”

“Try to explore what made life worth living before the person started feeling this way,” she said. “Remind them of ways they’ve coped with adversity in the past.”

If someone is religiously-inclined, encourage them to reach out to a pastor or a rabbi. “Tell them, I’d like to pray together or read this Bible passage and discuss it,” Kennedy said. “Comforting person-to-person interaction is a very effective form of support.”

Do not count on older adults to own up to feeling depressed. “Some people will acknowledge that, yes, they’ve been feeling sad, but others may describe physical symptoms — fatigue, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating,” said Julie Lutz, a geropsychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester.

If someone has expressed frequent concerns about being a burden to other people or has become notably withdrawn, that’s a worrisome sign, Lutz said.

In nursing homes, ask for a referral to a psychologist or social worker, especially for a loved one who’s recovering from a COVID hospitalization.

“Almost everybody that I’m seeing has some kind of adjustment disorder because their whole worlds have been turned upside down,” said Eleanor Feldman Barbera, an elder care psychologist in New York City. “Talking to a psychologist when they first come in can help put people on a good trajectory.”

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has compiled a COVID-19 information and resource guide, available at https://www.nami.org/covid-19-guide. The American Psychological Association has created a webpage devoted to this topic and recently wrote about finding local mental health resources. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a 24-hour hotline, 1-800-662-4357. And the national suicide prevention hotline for those in acute distress is 1-800-273-8255.

For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

[dinafbrownil]

For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair

Navigating Aging

Navigating Aging focuses on medical issues and advice associated with aging and end-of-life care, helping America’s 45 million seniors and their families navigate the health care system.

To contact Judith Graham with a question or comment, click here.

Join the Navigating Aging Facebook Group.

See All Columns

We Want To Hear From You

Are you a senior who is affected by COVID-19? Tell us what you’re seeing, and help us report on important, untold stories. Contact us at covidtips@kff.org.

Email Us

As states relax coronavirus restrictions, older adults are advised, in most cases, to keep sheltering in place. But for some, the burden of isolation and uncertainty is becoming hard to bear.

This “stay at home awhile longer” advice recognizes that older adults are more likely to become critically ill and die if infected with the virus. At highest risk are seniors with underlying medical conditions such as heart, lung or autoimmune diseases.

Yet after two months at home, many want to go out into the world again. It is discouraging for them to see people of other ages resume activities. They feel excluded. Still, they want to be safe.

“It’s been really lonely,” said Kathleen Koenen, 77, who moved to Atlanta in July after selling her house in South Carolina. She’s living in a 16th-floor apartment while waiting to move into a senior housing community, which has had cases of COVID-19.

“I had thought that would be a new community for me, but everyone there is isolated,” Koenen said. “Wherever we go, we’re isolated in this situation. And the longer it goes on, the harder it becomes.”

(Georgia residents age 65 and older are required to shelter in place through June 12, along with other vulnerable populations.)

Her daughter, Karestan Koenen, is a professor of psychiatric epidemiology at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During a Facebook Live event this month, she said her mother had felt in March and April that “everyone was in [this crisis] together.” But now, that sense of communality has disappeared.

Making it worse, some seniors fear that their lives may be seen as expendable in the rush to reopen the country.

“[Older adults] are wondering if their lives are going to end shortly for reasons out of their control,” said Dr. Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, in a university publication. “They’re wondering if they’ll be able to get the care they need. And most profoundly, they’re wondering if they are going to be cast out of society. If their lives have value.”

Don't Miss A Story

Subscribe to KHN’s free Weekly Edition newsletter.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

Sign Up

On the positive side, resilience is common in this age group. Virtually all older adults have known adversity and loss; many have a “this too shall pass” attitude. And research confirms that they tend to be adept at regulating their reactions to stressful life events — a useful skill in this pandemic.

“If anything, I’ve seen a very strong will to live and acceptance of whatever one’s fate might be,” said Dr. Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist and vice president of behavioral health at Miami Jewish Health, a 20-acre campus with independent living, assisted living, nursing home care and other services.

Several times a week, psychologists, nurses and social workers are calling residents on the campus, doing brief mental health checks and referring anyone who needs help for follow-up attention. There’s “a lot of loneliness,” Agronin said, but many seniors are “already habituated to being alone or are doing OK with contact [only] from staff.”

Still, “if this goes on much longer,” he said, “I think we’ll start to see less engagement, more withdrawal, more isolation — a greater toll of disconnection.”

Erin Cassidy-Eagle, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, shares that concern.

From mid-March to mid-April, all her conversations with older patients revolved around several questions: “How do we keep from getting COVID-19? How am I going to get my needs met? What’s going to happen to me?”

But more recently, Cassidy-Eagle said, “older adults have realized the course of being isolated is going to be much longer for them than for everyone else. And sadness, loneliness and some hopelessness have set in.”

She tells of a woman in her 70s who moved into independent living in a continuing care community because she wanted to build a strong social network. Since March, activities and group dining have been canceled. The community’s director recently announced that restrictions would remain until 2021.

“This woman had a tendency to be depressed, but she was doing OK,” Cassidy-Eagle said. “Now she’s incredibly depressed and she feels trapped.”

Especially vulnerable during this pandemic are older adults who have suffered previous trauma. Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of the division of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, has seen this happen to several patients, including a Holocaust survivor in her 90s.

This woman lives with her son, who got COVID-19. Then she did as well. “It’s like going back to the terror of the [concentration] camp,” Kennedy said, “an agonizing emotional flashback.”

Jennifer Olszewski, an expert in gerontology at Drexel University, works in three nursing homes in the Philadelphia area. As is true across most of the country, no visitors are allowed and residents are mostly confined to their rooms.

“I’m seeing a lot of patients with pronounced situational depression,” she said — “decreased appetite, decreased energy, a lack of motivation and overall feelings of sadness.”

“If this goes on for months longer, I think we’ll see more people with functional decline, mental health decline and failure to thrive,” Olszewski said.

Some are simply giving up. Anne Sansevero, a geriatric care manager in New York City, has a 93-year-old client who plunged into despair after her assisted living facility went on lockdown in mid-March. Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications have not helped.

“She’s telling her family and her health aides ‘life’s not worth living. Please help me end it,’” Sansevero said. “And she’s stopped eating and getting out of bed.”

The woman’s attentive adult children are doing all they can to comfort their mother at a distance and are feeling acute anguish.

What can be done to ease this sort of psychic pain? Kennedy of Montefiore has several suggestions.

“Don’t try to counter the person’s perception and offer false reassurance. Instead, say, yes, this is bad, no doubt about it. It’s understandable to be angry, to be sad. Then provide a sense of companionship. Tell the person, ‘I can’t change this situation but I can be with you. I’ll call tomorrow or in a few days and check in with you again.’”

“Try to explore what made life worth living before the person started feeling this way,” she said. “Remind them of ways they’ve coped with adversity in the past.”

If someone is religiously-inclined, encourage them to reach out to a pastor or a rabbi. “Tell them, I’d like to pray together or read this Bible passage and discuss it,” Kennedy said. “Comforting person-to-person interaction is a very effective form of support.”

Do not count on older adults to own up to feeling depressed. “Some people will acknowledge that, yes, they’ve been feeling sad, but others may describe physical symptoms — fatigue, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating,” said Julie Lutz, a geropsychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester.

If someone has expressed frequent concerns about being a burden to other people or has become notably withdrawn, that’s a worrisome sign, Lutz said.

In nursing homes, ask for a referral to a psychologist or social worker, especially for a loved one who’s recovering from a COVID hospitalization.

“Almost everybody that I’m seeing has some kind of adjustment disorder because their whole worlds have been turned upside down,” said Eleanor Feldman Barbera, an elder care psychologist in New York City. “Talking to a psychologist when they first come in can help put people on a good trajectory.”

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has compiled a COVID-19 information and resource guide, available at https://www.nami.org/covid-19-guide. The American Psychological Association has created a webpage devoted to this topic and recently wrote about finding local mental health resources. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a 24-hour hotline, 1-800-662-4357. And the national suicide prevention hotline for those in acute distress is 1-800-273-8255.

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/for-seniors-covid-19-sets-off-a-pandemic-of-despair/

[healthywealthywiselife]

Naturopathic Solutions For Insomnia, Part 1: What’s Causing Your Insomnia?

Sleep.

We all need it.

When we’re young we seem to think we don’t, and as we get older it can get harder to get a full night’s rest.

If you’re struggling with sleep, a Toronto naturopathic doctor from Annex Naturopathic can help you figure out what the issue is. From there, we’ll offer sleep solutions to help you get a good night's rest.

Keep reading to learn more about why sleep is important, and why you might not be getting enough. In our next article, we’ll look at what you can do about it.

What Does Sleep Do, Exactly?

There’s no question that when we're tired and sleep deprived it’s hard to feel our best. And waking up from a restful night’s sleep? This leaves us feeling refreshed and ready to face the day ahead.

But why? What exactly is it doing for our bodies?

Oddly, though we spend a third of our life sleeping, we don't fully know why. Scientists don’t have a clear-cut answer to this question, but they have some theories.

Keep reading to learn more.

Energy Conservation Theory

According to this theory, the reason we sleep is to conserve energy. Metabolism slows down by as much as ten percent when we sleep. As your body conserves energy, you don’t have to consume calories during this time to keep going.

Of course, this isn’t as important in today's world, where food is abundant. However, this would have been great for our hunter-and-gatherer ancestors.

Restorative Theory

Another theory of why we sleep is it restores and rejuvenates us.

This is backed-up by studies which have shown animals who are sleep-deprived lose immune function.

Additionally, some processes, such as muscle growth and repair occur primarily during sleep.

Sleeping can also restore cognitive function. During sleep, adenosine, which builds up in our brain during wakefulness has a chance to clear out.

Adenosine build-up can lead to a perception of tiredness. Flushing it out helps us feel more alert after having slept.

Inactivity Theory

The Inactivity theory goes back to the days where we lived in caves and had to steer clear of larger predators. It states inactivity during nighttime keeps us out of harm’s way when we're most vulnerable.

But if the goal is to remain safe, it seems like a better strategy would be to remain awake and alert, not asleep.

Brain Plasticity Theory

The Brain Plasticity theory says sleep correlates to changes of structure in the brain. Sleep has been shown to play an important role in brain development in infants.

In adults, sleep deprivation has been shown to impact the ability to learn and perform various tasks.

What's Causing Your Insomnia?

Now that we’ve looked at the reasons why sleep is important, let’s investigate why you might not be sleeping as well as you’d like to.

1. Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which your thyroid is overactive and producing too many hormones.

This can lead to the nervous system being overstimulated, making it difficult to sleep. Additionally, hyperthyroidism can cause night sweats, which can make it harder to stay asleep.

2. Anxiety & Depression

Sometimes, you can't sleep because you're nervous about an important job interview, or feeling depressed after the loss of a loved one.

But these feelings generally pass.

However, if you have chronic anxiety or depression, these can affect the length and quality of your sleep. Anxiety symptoms which can affect sleep include:

● Mulling over past events ● Worry about the future ● Feelings of being overwhelmed ● Being overstimulated ● Tension

Sleep issues can also show up as a symptom of depression, and insomnia can make changes in mood during depression more severe.

3. Poor Lifestyle Habits

If shouldn’t come as a surprise that consuming too much caffeine can affect your ability to sleep. It’s a stimulant which many people rely on to help them get through the day.

You don’t have to give up your morning cup of coffee or tea, but try to limit your intake, and not drink it within eight hours of bedtime.

As well, alcohol as a sleep disruptor may come as a surprise to some people.

It's a depressant and can make you feel sleepy. But although it might help you to fall asleep, drinking close to bedtime can disrupt your sleep later in the night.

Sometimes, we forget we haven’t drank water in a while because we’ve drank some coffee, tea, or alcohol. But while they are “wet”, they also contribute to dehydrating you. So make sure you’re drinking a lot of water.

Other lifestyle factors which can impede sleep include nicotine, which is a stimulant, and eating too much, too close to bedtime. Heavy meals can cause discomfort and make relaxing difficult.

4. Certain Prescription Drugs

Some prescription drugs can interfere with sleep.

These include antidepressants, and medications for asthma and blood pressure.

Certain medications may also include stimulants. These include some allergy medications, as well as weight-loss products. Always read the labels, and when in doubt, discuss with your doctor or pharmacist the best time to take medications.

5. Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a disorder in which the airway becomes blocked during sleep.

This will result in a person waking up repeatedly through the night for brief periods of time.

6. Heart Disease

The medication used for heart disease can lead to loss of sleep and insomnia.

However it’s a two-way street, as insomnia is also linked to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

7. Digestive Disorders

Gastrointestinal issues such as irritable bowel syndrome and GERD can cause discomfort. This often makes falling asleep and staying asleep more difficult.

People who experience insomnia are more likely to report GI issues than those who do not.

8. Menstrual Irregularities

Shifts in hormones during menstruation can play a role in how much sleep you get.

As well, night sweats and hot flashes during menopause can be disruptive to sleep, and insomnia is common during pregnancy.

9. Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia can cause pain and muscle stiffness throughout the joints and muscles. For people with fibromyalgia, the pain can make sleep more difficult to come by, but the lack of sleep then makes the pain worse.

People with fibromyalgia may use sleep aids, however their effectiveness over the long term has yet to be looked at.

10. Other Causes

Other factors which can affect sleep include:

• Your work schedule (for instance, shift work) • Changes in sleep patterns as you age • Neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease

Book an Appointment with Annex Naturopathic

Are you having trouble getting enough sleep? Have you tried changing lifestyle factors, like no caffeine in the afternoon or not drinking alcohol close to bedtime, but you’re still having trouble falling or staying asleep? Annex Naturopathic can help.

Contact us for a consultation today - we can help you determine the reasons for you inability to get enough sleep, and work with you to find natural ways to help you get your Zzz’s.

  If you’re curious to learn more about this subject or would like to consult with one of our NDs feel free to book a visit or contact us.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Tanya Lee, N.D

Annex Naturopathic Clinic

572 Bloor St W #201, Toronto, ON M6G 1K1 -https://goo.gl/maps/uVRBvcyoUa62

Annex Naturopathic Clinic is a clinic in Toronto that offers integrative healthcare solutions from Drs. Marnie Luck, ND, and Tanya Lee, ND

See more tips about health, wellness, naturopathy, and medicine at: naturopathic doctor Toronto

[livingstonbusinessbuzzchatter]

Warning Signs Of Cataracts

Cataracts are a clouding in the lens of an eye that causes the impairment of an individual’s vision.  This eye disease affects over twenty-five million Americans that are 40 and over.  Once individuals have reached 75, over half of them will be diagnosed with cataracts.  

As adults age the eye’s lens starts to yellow and harden which creates blurry vision, dull perception of colors, and night time driving becomes difficult.  Cataracts do not get better and in fact get worse overtime.  In fact, cataracts have several stages as they progress.  It is important to treat the symptoms of cataracts in order to slow or stop cataracts from getting worse.  In order to get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan it is crucial to visit an ophthalmologist.  Planning treatment for cataracts slows down the need for cataract surgery.

Early Warning Signs of Cataracts

Cataracts range in severity and the treatment will depend on the development and type of cataract you have.  Early signs of cataracts include:

Cloudy Vision:

Fuzzy spots are the most obvious early sign of cataracts.  If individuals start to experience small, fuzzy spots in your field of vision that seem to worsen over time, you may be developing one of the first sign of cataracts.   These signs will start to make normal, daily activities harder than ever before.  If you notice the quick onset of cloudy vision it is important to get into the eye doctor sooner rather than later.

Difficult Night Vision:

Individuals with the early stages of cataracts also mention a gradual decrease in vision at night.  Changes to vision may include darkening or dimming and may also lead to tinges of brown and yellow.  During the day changes may not be as noticeable because there is light to balance vision that is dimming however, at night it is instantly noticeable.  

Light Sensitivity:  

Individuals with emergent cataracts experience discomfort with bright lights.  This becomes more and more difficult to manage as cataracts worsen.  If you notice you are squinting or closing your eyes more around bright light or noticing headaches that come on quickly from flashes and bright lights, it is time to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist.  

Halos and Glares:

As cataracts worsen, the lens of the eye hardens and becomes cloudier.  Some cataract suffers mention the appearance of a glare or halo in their field of vision.  The light that passes through the cataract is diffracted which causes a glare and ringlets around bright sources of light.  During the day the halos and glares are less noticeable then that are in the evening.  

Vision Changes:

During the earliest stages of cataracts, individuals may notice changes in vision.  Regular eye exams are crucial for older adults.  In fact, ophthalmologists often detect cataracts before individuals notice a difference in vision.  

Cataract damage is not reversible however, there are some things you can do to slow down their progression.  It is important to talk with your eye doctor first to determine if cataract surgery is needed before cataracts worsen.  Some ways to increase the health of your eye include eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, wearing sunglasses, determine if your prescription medicine worsen the effects of cataracts, and treat dry eyes with daily eye drops.  

Rohr Eye & Laser Center offers the most advanced technology available to suit your lifestyle and visual needs.  As a leader in laser vision correction and cataract surgery, our goal is to help you achieve the best vision possible without glasses or contact lenses.  More information can be found online at https://michiganlasik.com.

[askalibertarianus]

Wealth Isn’t (just) Money Pt 1

By Jared Miller

Inequality is a much bigger deal than most libertarians like to admit. Ignoring the gravity of the problem isn’t doing us any favors either. It undermines our credibility, but not because we are completely wrong. It weakens us because it makes us far too willing to dismiss the validity of the opposing view. Instead, we need to be able to admit that it is an issue, and then address the incorrect assumptions that lead people to incorrect answers. The misunderstanding starts with conventional wisdom that says putting so much wealth in the hands of so few makes everyone else poorer. It does make a certain sense; there is only so much money in circulation, and the more you have, the less I can have. It is certainly the case that extreme inequality has the potential to cause obvious economic harm to those without. People often try to fight this idea by saying that there will always be a high level of natural inequality no matter what system we have. This is true, but incomplete. We cite things like regulatory capture (which includes general cronyism, punitive tariffs, overzealous occupational licensing, targeted taxation, and other forms of economic protectionism) that make the problem worse by limiting both opportunities for personal growth, and the kind of competition that benefits workers more than employers. We’ve covered those topics so thoroughly that halfway through that list you probably got bored and skipped to this paragraph. Don’t worry. I won’t judge. Anyway, it’s much more important to challenge our perception of inequality in general. The assumption that all inequality is harmful relies on two of the most prevalent misunderstandings in our culture: the idea that the amount of wealth is fixed, and that wealth equals money. But wealth isn’t money. I mean, of course it is, but it isn’t only money. This isn’t just philosophical nonsense either. It’s a cold, hard, economic fact. So what is wealth? Wealth is all the things that money does. Though it seems minor, this little nitpick is all the difference in the world. Money is a shortcut. It is a tool – like a shovel, or a ruler. We use it to measure value, and also exchange the value of labor or investment for the things we want or need. (Since investment is using the fruit of your labor to make someone else’s labor possible, labor and investment are nearly identical for the purpose of this discussion.) If you can satisfy those without money, or with less money, your wealth has increased even if your financial situation is unchanged. if you meet your personal needs and desires with less money than you make, you are as wealthy as you ever need to be — regardless what the rest of the world tells you. So long as it is the life he wants, a man living in the mountains selling just enough moonshine to keep the lights on and the fridge full is as wealthy as any Wall Street broker. Obviously most of us aren’t content with a shack in the woods, so our desires tend to be a little more extensive. The good news is that in the modern world, most of them can be met as easily at the low end of the economic spectrum as the top. Housing, transportation, food, electronics, leisure activities, etc… all are within the grasp of the majority of the population. With very little money, we are able to do many of the same things as those with much, much more. So why doesn’t it feel any better for those of us who have struggled, or are struggling? What about those of us who, no matter how hard we try, can’t seem to get any further? Sure, people with less income have access to the same things, but they may be less desirable or of lower quality: like owning a used Ford Tempo vs a brand new Cadillac. Both satisfy the need for transportation, but one is notably more desirable than the other.

This is a big problem when thinking about our own lives. Typically, as our situation improves, so does the quality of our possessions. This process of slowly “trading up” can leave us feeling as if we haven’t gained a thing. “Yeah, I have a nicer phone, but I’m still living paycheck to paycheck.”  

That’s because, in a way, we haven’t improved at all. Since we are fulfilling the same desires as before with no additional savings or satisfaction of wants, we have not made real progress. We have only “upgraded.” That’s the funny thing about wealth — it doesn’t always pay the bills. It is an indisputable fact that even the lower class in this country is considerably wealthier than previous generations. For God’s sake, most of us have one of the most powerful pieces of technology in human history in our living room and we use it to kill zombies or play fake football on a television screen the size of a Buick… But when it comes to paying the mortgage or buying groceries, we find ourselves struggling, and barely getting by.

Because of this, we tend to forget the work our money does as soon as it’s complete. This is often why the magnitude of our prosperity escapes us, and is another important opportunity to separate money from our idea of wealth. It’s also the reason the virtue of contentment holds the key to accumulating the kind of capital associated with traditional wealth. If you can stop upgrading and focus on developing your financial future, you can start saving money immediately. You can divert resources towards retirement, buying your own home, or starting your dream business.

And yes, everything on that list takes money. But that doesn’t change the truth that the product of your labor is going further than it could have. Instead of only having a new car, you could be driving a dependable, used Toyota and saving the other 20 grand for a down payment on a house. One develops your own wealth, the other gives it away to the landlord and the car dealership.

You can even stop taking out loans and paying other people interest for the privilege of using your own property. There is no more obvious example of self inflicted wealth destruction than consumer debt. It is such a direct transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top that you can see it happening every time you get your bill.

You may say the availability of low cost alternatives is just the result of technological innovation. You’re absolutely right! But in saying that, you are already implicitly accepting the premise. If you accept that technology makes things cheaper and more accessible, you automatically accept that labor is accomplishing more while expending fewer resources. Money is doing more — in other words, wealth has increased — even though there is no more money in circulation than before.

Of course, it will be much harder (sometimes impossible) for low income households to make these changes. But the only purpose here is to encourage you to think about wealth in real terms, instead of dollars and cents. Income and wealth inequality are only truly a problem when they cause others to do without, or when they prevent people from improving their personal situation. Someone may be able to make the claim that this is already happening. But if it is, increased inequality is a symptom, not the cause. It may be an important indicator for the state of the economy, but attacking it directly is missing the point. In fact, as we will see in Part Two, their profit may be increasing your wealth, too.

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