January was also mental health month. Bell held their now annual "Let's Talk" day on the 28th of January as well. That being said I have been reading and looking at multiple reports about mental health and body health. I'm going to start with mental health and a report I watched on W5, a show here in Canada addressing multiple different issues in the world particularly here in my own country. What they started with was stress and teen suicide, particularly those in college and the fact that it is on the rise. They are trying many efforts to make people more aware of mental health issues and stress to lower this. However there are a lot of factors that come into play when going to college or even just an entirely new situation that thrusts you into what you feel like is "alone". I know, because I've done it several times over. But unlike me there are a lot of young people that can't handle it and have no where to turn or feel that they don't or won't speak about it because yes, it is still taboo to talk about anything wrong with you. The report spoke to one young lady who was even kicked out of her residency by vote of her peers because she attempted suicide. Instead of helping her, instead of being a friend or providing support they thrust her into a more of an alone state because of this taboo, as if you're going to "catch it". Now she does charity work and does a lot to try to help others and has graduated because she did get the assistance she needed. She suffers from depression which is also a more and more common thing now a days too among a variety of ages. I don't suffer from depression, not in the way that those diagnosed with it do. I do suffer from anxiety and sometimes social anxiety, I know several peers and coworkers that also suffer from depression and my mother suffers from schizophrenia which has been misdiagnosed by many doctors and has an even stronger stigma.
I grew up with this. I felt alone, I felt overwhelmed and I struggled through a lot. I survived. I know that there are many others out there that are going or have gone through the same thing who think that suicide is the only way out. I thought that way too. I thought that there was no one there to help me and that those that were there couldn't understand or weren't seeing what I was seeing because I was a child and they were the adult. I was being brainwashed by my mother, who at the time because of her illness would manipulate the situations we were in, to believe that my father was a horrible abusive person which he is not. I'll make it clear that he definitely is not and is one of the kindest people you'll ever meet. But in her mind, in her delusional state, that is what she led us to believe and that's what she believed and there were many times she also turned this on me. Led me to believe that I too was a horrible manipulative person who didn't care and was some kind of monster or dirty horrible person. I have low self esteem. I don't blame her per se, she couldn't help her illness, and there is a lot that was fueled by other things and some of it was my own doing as I got older, to allow other people and bullying to bring me to that state. I even wanted to run away and die in the forest near my school, and I thank a very special person, he knows who he is and I will forever be grateful , who turned me around. He came back and got me when I wouldn't come back in and told me I have something to live for. That I could make a different and that I have people who look to me like my siblings. And that's just it, you need to know there is something to live and fight for even if it's a memory of someone, to bring their story to everyone else, to help others, to do something somewhere somehow that is great and awesome no matter how small it may seem. That simple smile or laugh can brighten someone's lives! It can be that simple turning point that you don't even know about. Just helping someone pick up their groceries or when they're having a tough day, you don't have any idea what those little things can truly mean to someone. So when you think of suicide, when you think you're at the lowest low, know that there is something and someone that you can influence and that you have your part in this world and it's not over yet!
Moving on, the report also focused on soldiers coming back from war that aren't getting help. They're poor, broke and broken. Mentally, physically. They go back and their families get broken and torn apart. Why? Because of Post traumatic stress disorder or aka ptsd. They get filled with drugs and such to "help" them and this is certainly not helping. In fact it is making most worse. So there is a new program here that they are trying using service dogs. :) This makes me happy because it gives a good dog a home and they can be trained and it's helping these men and women who are coming back from traumatic and trained experiences to be on alert and watching over their back every second. Even the slightest popping sound could set them off or upset them and there are settings like malls that are overcrowded and overwhelming with people and noise and having a partner to watch your back is a comforting and great thing to have. Thing is of course pharmaceutical companies don't want to give up and want to make money so they are trying to say at one point that these dogs don't work and drugs do but they have a higher success rate than the drugs. These men and women are paying for their dog and any training etc. required because the government wouldn't pay for it deeming it not a medical item that they could cover, again because the companies want money.
I don't understand why the government, or anyone, other than control purposes and money, would want a bunch of people on drugs rather than a functioning healthy workforce/country. They want us to be all drug addicts and blinded so that they can do what they want with us. Ok ok... maybe I won't get into the conspiracy theories right now, however they are going through my head and I'm sure they go through many other people's heads too!
Moving on, speaking of armed forces and such, I read another report in the local paper a few weeks ago that indicated that our Canadian forces and Police officers are now considered overweight. They have to meet certain standards to qualify not just with mental tests but physical and most entrants can't meet that. I know I couldn't but then I wasn't aiming to be part of the military etc. however I can't even lift my own weight like I used to. I've gained too much. Thing is that we've become what you see on tv, those doughnut eating officers and some of them can't run, roll or jump or do what is expected to really protect our country and or cities/towns. I'm not expecting super abs or anything like Arnold but being fit would be expected if you are going to do these things and I would think that you would meet the tests. I can understand getting older, sitting behind a desk all day, as what I do and can attest to that you do get older and fatter sitting all day, however if you're out and about you should be required to walk and you should be required not to sit in your car all day. You should be required to go to the gym at least 3 -5 times a week as part of your regimen for these fields of work. I've seen fitter nurses and doctors than I do officers and that says something!
And that's a wrap for this week's post. I'll be trying for the month of February to do more and write again once per week. I definitely have accumulated some topics to speak about over the holidays etc. Again anyone who has suggestions can feel free to comment. Take care everyone!!
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