admin November 4th, 2009
It’s on T.V., it’s in the paper, everyone is the schoolyard is talking about it and it is most certainly overwhelming. What am I talking about? H1N1. I don’t know about you but if you suffer from anxiety than you’ve probably been overrun and overwhelmed by all the news about this new flu. Well, I have started avoiding watching the news and will skip past all the articles about the virus. Don’t get me wrong I am perfectly aware of what the virus is doing it’s just that every 5 minutes I don’t need to be reminded that my children might die or I might die if I contract H1N1. So in my google alerts this morning I found an article that was a bit of a light in a very dark scenario and it made me breath a little easier. Take a look at some really good advice for those of us who suffer from anxiety and even those who don’t.
Throughout the course of history, people have coped with a variety of illnesses and diseases that have been severe and widespread. Along with the physical impact of such illnesses, each widespread disease or epidemic has brought various levels of social anxiety, stress, and in extreme cases near panic. While our society today is nowhere near this level of public anxiety, it is important to keep a balanced psychological approach to this issue.
High levels of public attention and media coverage are necessary to help prevent the spread of influenza. However, these frequent messages can inadvertently raise our anxiety and lead to high levels of stress or feeling somewhat helpless. The following tips will help you deal more effectively with the psychological stress associated with flu season.
Read the full article
admin October 19th, 2008
Well, I discovered tonight that there are four different types of stress and I believe that I have suffered most from chronic stress. In my lifetime I’ve seemed to maintain a good level of continuous stress with having older parents and caring for them as time went on. Seeing my the death of both of my parents one quickly one very painfully slow. Having a daughter with social anxiety and dealing with my own anxiety. My life can be encapsulated as one big ball of stress, a train ride if you will that I have had little success getting off. So I wonder why I’m feeling tired, have a thyroid problem, suffer from panic attacks and lack drive (in many areas). If you read the article about how stress affects our health http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/stresshealth.htm the amount of stress that most of us endure in our daily lives is not all that good for us and is quite taxing on our bodies.
Hmm…so the fact that it’s 10:30 p.m. and I just finished sending out an email to Sydney’s teacher in order to get our week established doesn’t seem that stressful. Well, in some ways it isn’t..I mean how hard is it to send email and it’s not uncommon for people to send out emails at ungodly hours but there is a difference when it’s a one off email and when it’s part of everyday life; that being “on” all the time and always having to be one step ahead. Well, that’s what life is like for me. We decided (the BAT team and I) last week that we should start easing Sydney into the idea of staying for lunch instead of coming home. So as of this week on Tuesday we were supposed to start implementing her staying at school by me going into to the classroom to be a classroom monitor. There physically but not intentionally for just her. I would be staying for the whole duration of lunch for the first four days and then moving 5 minutes back each 4-5 days.
Well, I was just sitting in bed writing out my to do list (because if I don’t I miss things that I really shouldn’t) and discovered that this week on Wednesday was picture day. Oh glorious picture day. For some, picture day is all about neat clothes, perfect hair and smiles that are bright. In our house picture day for Sydney usually develops as a proof of three different crying positions. Some with hands on face, some with side profile of hands on lap and hair in front of face and last years pose was head tilted down, hair in the face and tears streaming down. For Sydney this day is absolutely traumatic. I’m hoping that this year since we’ve had such a more positive experience that perhaps at least the group picture will have Sydney standing beside the teacher looking ahead. In the grand scheme of things there are lots of other photo opportunities and this doesn’t faze me a bit, I just hope that the photographer just shoots when she sits down and ends it quickly for her. Kind of like taking off a band-aid, the quicker the better.
So here it is nearly 10:30 and in reviewing the week the thought occurs to me that she’ll be just a day into the transition of staying for lunch which involves staying for first recess (yet another terrifying thing for her) and then she has the dreaded picture day. Yikes! I immediately emailed the teacher and told her about the failures of previous years and explained what might work better and then proceeded to explain my reasoning for pushing the lunch thing until Thursday. What difference is two days going to make really? I have faith that like everything else this year we have met eye to eye on everything and the understanding of Sydney’s fears and anxiety is tremendous so I’m sure we together will work it all out.
But back to the idea of how stress directly affects our health. I suppose I could leave the “thinking” stress alone and not be so anticipatory of things to come it the future but it’s just better for all of us if we think things through. That’s the most difficult thing I think for me these days is that I always feel “on”, planning, preparing, anticipating. I suppose that’s why late at night when my husband and I have a couple minutes to ourselves when the kids have gone to bed I want the sounds of either the TV, or music or even us talking to be quiet because by the end of the day I’m feeling very tired of everyone wanting a piece of me..of my brain for remembering, of my hands for healing cuts and scrapes, of my arms for holding and picking up things. I don’t think I’m at the chronic stress point anymore as it states in the article but stress, that runs a plenty in our house for me.I’m sure it does for most parents. It states some key points on how to eleviate that stress and thankfully for me between seeing my naturopath (of whom I absolutely could not live without) and working on this blog I find a couple minutes peace in my day. Now to encorporate some YOGA…hhmmm where in the world should that go?
admin July 4th, 2008
So all of the boxes are packed the mattress slip into the plastic protectors and on Friday night we are officially out of the house in the evenings. It was a humid night, the kids were upset, I was fighting back tears with each box and bag I put in the car and it was one of the worst nights ever. I can understand why they say moving is the biggest stress on people and I know why I’ve never wanted to do it before. I’m hoping this will be one of the last.
Our in-laws have graciously invited us to stay with them and that has made it easier for the kids. I think there is great comfort in the fact that they are able to see them every day. Thank goodness they were away camping while all was happening because it looked like we were moving our whole house into theirs. With the help of a good friend my husband brought over a truckload of things while I attempted to find a temporary place for our suitcases and boxes without overtaking the house. The kids sat watching TV and being patient onlookers.
Oddly enough this transition has been fairly easy for Sydney. She’s had her moments of unexpected misery but nothing too drastic or anything I didn’t foresee. So the evening started with my husband closing the garage door and misjudging where it came down and clunking him smack dab in the nose. Ouch! Ice was put on, I made a funny remark and Sydney was sympathetic that Daddy had been hurt. Other than the kids being a little tired I never expected what came next. Sydney suffers from some pretty severe food allergies and try as best as I can something sometimes manages to pass through and next thing we know at 2:OOa.m. we’re in the bathroom with a bucket. Well, my stomach had already been tied in knots that evening so I lied down around midnight beside Ehren while Sydney decided she wanted to be in the other room with her daddy. Sure enough at 2:30 a.m. only a mere few hours before we had lied down Sydney went to the bathroom and her poor little stomach decided to mass evacuate all the contents from that evening. Not to get too graphic but it was one of those times where it literally took her breath away. Once the nasty stuff was done we came downstairs and turned on the T.V. which helps to take our minds off the event that just occurred. I opened the windows to get us some fresh air and at 5:30 in the morning the thunder and lightning began and the rain came pouring down. I walked over to the window just behind the couch that Syndey was lying on and tried to pull the window shut. Instead of being in front of the window I was slightly off to the side of it and it came out of the sill and landed right on my upper lip. At that moment other than being extremely painful it didn’t faze me until I tasted blood. I went to the bathroom-and sure enough-it left a good gouge. Thirty minutes later with a swollen lip, husband who had a bruised nose and daughter that was finally sleeping from the worst vomiting I realized that if this was a test of my ability to cope I suppose I passed. What I wouldn’t do for my own house, my own bed, my own garbage can for those “just in case” moments. I think that when that day comes in July we’ll all appreciate the new house so much more. They say things come in threes so hopefully we’re finished for now.
admin June 10th, 2008
So today was for sure a low and I think we’ve hit a bit of a low point. Over the last couple days we’ve gone through moments. These moments involve unexplainable bouts of crying and mood swings. We are all experiencing it to be honest. Syd’s put up a good front so far but now the countdown has begun and the stress of the end of school combined with people around her saying how much they’ll miss us I sometimes feel like crying. But we have to move forward and if there is anything that I’ve learned lately it’s that I just have to ride the wave. Understanding that each day for the next little while might require a little more cuddling and a moment to let her just cry. I’m beginning to see the fog come in and I sure do hope we can all ride past it and come out the other side!
