Category Archives: mental health

Right to an Education VS Right to be Safe

Would you give your toddler a balloon to play with? No? You’ve heard they can be deadly, right? Well, in at least one school district in the United States, your child has double the chance of dying by their own hand than from choking on a balloon. In this school year alone, eight students have committed suicide in a Kentucky school district. Eight students out of 95,000. That’s about 1 in about every 12,000 kids with the most recent being a ten-year-old. This student was so bullied that he believed taking his own life was the only escape. Even after repeated complaints by the boy’s parents, the bullying never ceased. Why do we allow this to continue to happen? Why do these bullies get to stay in school with other kids?

My eight- year-old son came home a couple of weeks ago with a write up from school. The note simply said that Bryan had thrown another student to the ground. Because of this, he lost points towards rewards for good behavior (no Skittle from the teacher for him this week). I asked Bryan why he did this, and he told me that so and so was hitting my friend, so I threw him down to make him stop. Ok. Defending those smaller than yourself. Perfectly fine in my book, but because of the school zero tolerance for any violence, I told Bryan that he can’t do that. He can’t hurt people. He needs to tell an adult what is happening and not get in trouble himself.

Flash forward two weeks later. Bryan and I are hanging out and I ask him how school was going. He tells me that today a kid in his music class knocked him down, jumped on his stomach, and ran out of the room while he was laying on the floor screaming and crying. He then told me about being kicked, hit, bit, and pushed down on the playground repeatedly. In shock, I asked him what he did to defend himself and make it stop. You know what he said? He said he did nothing. You know why? Because I had told him he couldn’t hurt people. My heart broke because he was right. He let himself be hurt so that he wouldn’t get in trouble. I did that. I made it so the bully could win and leave my child defenseless. The worst thing about this whole scenario? Though adults at the school witnessed these things, they never contacted me.

I went to the school and asked the principal why I was notified when Bryan threw a kid to the ground but not when he was injured and didn’t fight back. He admitted that I should have been. But the thing that shocked me the most from the principal? He sat there and told me that he doesn’t know what is wrong with kids today. That he has kids in kindergarten that choke others regularly. That violence is a regular thing among these elementary school kids and that there is nothing that he can do. He can’t expel students because every kid has a right to a public education. What about my kids right to feel safe there? What child can learn iN such an environment?

Don’t Let SAD Drag You Down This Winter


From Guest Blogger Kimberly Hayes

First comes the joy of Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving and the greatest celebration of all, Christmas. During that period, when most people’s spirits are up, others find themselves burdened with an unwelcome visitor: seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD.

This mental condition leaves its victims crippled with a host of symptoms that include fatigue, insomnia, hopelessness and depression. For some, getting through the day is a constant struggle as they drag themselves out of bed, go to work and come home in a state of misery.

If you suffer from SAD, you want to find a way out. If you know someone who does, you want to help. Here’s how to do that.

Exercise

This is going to be tricky, as this is about the last thing a sufferer wants to do. The trick is to not make it too difficult; a simple walk around the neighborhood would suffice for starters, and that’s even easier with a friend tagging along or a great playlist to jam to. This may get the ball rolling, after which they can make the workouts more difficult until back in summer form.

Team Sports

“Isn’t this just more exercise?” you’re probably thinking. But no, it’s much more than that. Sure, it burns calories, but joining a basketball, volleyball or soccer team also provides a dose of friendship and camaraderie that are hard to find elsewhere. It may involve paying a fee or buying some quality equipment, but bolstering your mental health is worth the small investment.

A Healthy Diet

A dietician speaking with Everyday Health emphasizes eating foods high in fiber, like beans, oats and brown rice, along with fruits and vegetables to maintain an optimal blood sugar level and keep your energy up. The protein found in chicken and fish also aid in that endeavour.

Quality Sleep

There’s a bit of a contradiction here, as it’s often the condition itself that’s preventing sufferers from getting a good night’s rest. However, there may be a way to break the cycle, and it could be as simple as keeping the bedroom cool and dark while avoiding stimulants like caffeine and sugar late in the day. A healthy diet and exercise help as well.

A Routine

Once the sufferer has broken the cycle of tossing and turning all night and feeling groggy during the day, they should stick with that same schedule, waking up at the same time, day in and day out, even on the weekends. They’ll fall into a natural rhythm as their body tells them when it’s time to go to bed in the evening.

A Dawn Simulator

As for waking up in the morning, this device can help. It’s far from complicated. It’s just a bedside lamp that wakes the sleeper up by gradually increasing in intensity, mimicking the rising sun during the springtime. That alone dispels some of the winter doldrums.

A Light Box

The condition is brought on by the longer nights and the absence of the sun’s brightening rays earlier and earlier in the day, but they can be replaced by this device. It’s used as a form of therapy, with sufferers of SAD turning it on and facing the light whenever they feel down.

Meditation

According to one writer with Headspace, this ancient practice helped him emerge victoriously following a long struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. Though difficult, his regular sessions of mindfulness allowed him to accept his demons, then gradually distance himself from their grasp and reach a state of contentment. It could do the same for you or your loved one.

Aromatherapy

How this lifts someone’s mood is still a bit of a mystery, but scents have been used for this purpose over the course of millenia, so it may be worth some experimentation. That involves diffusing essential oils in your home, with lemon balm, sage and lavender coming highly recommended.

These methods may take time to be effective, but with a little patience, they could also put the joy back in winter.

Things I Didn’t Know About the U.S. President


Over the last week, I have been researching and writing a blog for this page about federal gun control and mental health as there seems to be a lot of misinformation and confusion out there. Come back next Tuesday to read it!) Along the way, I have learned many surprising and somewhat unrelated things. Continue reading →