#and it like includes mentions of pregnancy so ive been keeping up with my research so i dont like write any misinformation and shit

[bitchapalooza]

What if I gave into temptation and wrote married zosan smut. Except one is pregnant. Idk lmao would anyone want that? (I literally already have 1,202 words written but I might abandon it unless anyone really does want it lol)

[teachersofeducationhu-blog]

**Social media- **what is and what it does

I have since a very long time been monitoring the use of social media.

To be honest growing up i was quite hesitant to be on social media as i thought it would drown my brain.

But today we're here with you to discuss the good and the bad of social media that are used in todays adolescents.

First of we need to  know what social media is:

Social media refers to websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time.

Social media is also seen as a platform for many groups and ethnicities.

For many it is seen as  as a show case of talents, entertainment,personalities, characteristics, and especially their voices.

Next we need to know the platforms they used:

the youths that we've primarily come across upon use the social media outlets:

Instagram

Snapchat

Twitter

Facebook

Whatsapp

Tik Tok

Youtube

Tumblr

To begin with comprehending our youth we need to understand what they use their outlets for.

You can see many of todays youths on social media. Some using it as their personal platform others using it to conceive trends, observing nearly worshipping their idols, forms of communication, its also a look into the daily lives  of each other.

For instance: celebrity crush and idols

they are the people kids look up to and use as their role models or envision themselves in that role one day whether be reality or a dream.

It gives them something to reach out to, sort of like a goal

As for media entertainment

we all know the use of memes and the use of it for our personal comic relief.

We all spend countless hours looking at memes and youtube videos but what if we could use this entertainment to stimulate and help evolve the adolescent brain development.

In the form of generating their own memes or social vids that are informative.

Gaming and YouTube has vastly taken over the social platform stage.

They are also some of the more novice lucrative ways of making money on a social platform.

Take for instance that recently there was a video game tournament for fortnite where a young teen won over a million dollars by becoming its first tournament winner.

And what better way to broadcast that same tournament but on YouTube.

Where millions of viewers logged in and the broadcaster got paid by the sum of viewers he/ she had.

Psychoanalysis was founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).  Freud believed that people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining insight.

The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e., make the unconscious conscious. It is only having a cathartic (i.e., healing) experience can the person be helped and "cured."

Click here for a video on the theory of psycho analysis

psycho analysis is crucial to understand because if we do then we know our brain develops even in our sleep. And if teens constantly are on social media or social networks and video games it can affect their sleep and the wake up restless, or even worse more dedicated to the social outlets as not to feel left out.

One way we can help beat this is 3 hours before bed time all phones away and give the brain a stimulating activity so that it can function up to speed and breathe and eat knowledge as it is meant to .

Implement family night with boardgames or trivia or a fun activity outsides that can help build your social recognizance.

Giving your body and brain diversity keeps it sharp and uplifting and gives you those extra tools for life.

For instance some of the social idols for todays teens can be what we call social influencers.

A social influencer is someone who uses their social media status to push products on their young audience to buy said product on their social media page for what said influencer is paid for by the brand.

See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SOFSjlU0fM

on a site called mom junction I found 11 positive and negative influences of teen on social media

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/positive-and-negative-influences-of-media-on-teenagers_00107975/

I will just use 2 of each:

Help Develop Social Skills:

Many teens are socially awkward. Media gives them the chance to groom their social skills. It also gives them the chance to expand their social circle and develop new friendships. Other benefits include social confidence, heightened literacy in the media, and more social support. Social media diversifies your teen’s social skills, which in turn helps him navigate successfully through modern society

Inspire Them:

When your teen watches an action flick, don’t just despair about the violence. With a little guidance, they can use the movie as inspiration! Maybe your teen will decide to take up martial arts training, all thanks to a Bruce Lee movie! Teenagers look up to celebrities, and when a celebrity tells them to stay off drugs, they just might listen.

Negative theories

Risky Sexual Behavior:

Teenagers are just discovering their sexuality. It is very normal for them to be interested in everything sexual. But the amount of sex in media today can make a teenager confused. Sex without responsibility – that seems to be the message being beamed at teenagers. This can lead to irresponsible sexual behavior and unwanted pregnancies.

[ Read:Teenage Social Media Addiction]

Making Everything Commercial:

Happiness comes at a price. At least that’s the message teenagers get through media. Their life would be perfect if only you’d buy them that hot new game, that happening dress. Advertisers target teenagers to ramp up their revenues. But teenagers fall prey to the idea of commercialization of happiness.

According to Erickson’s Developmental theory, an individual faces a developmental crisis at each stage ( a conflict between a positive alternative and a potentially unhealthy alternative). “…The emphasis on ones own identity at a point in time when the way forward was no longer determined by ones parents or by society…resulting in a crisis of identity”. (westenberg 2008:2)​

​

Now that we have that tackled, let us discuss some of the good of social media:

Ive mentioned previously above that social media is a platform:

for instance the parkland shooting in the united states where a group of students took to social media to voice their opinions after surviving yet another tragic massacre and became activist in their own rights to fight against NRA and force a national debate.

https://www.vox.com/2018/2/26/17054408/parkland-shooting-activist-teens-gun-control

if we were to apply Urie Bronfebenner's theory  of Ecological Theory of Human Development.

Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917 – September 25, 2005) was a Russian-born American psychologist who is most known for his ecological systems theory.[1] His work with the United States government helped in the formation of the Head start program in 1965.[2] Bronfenbrenner's ability research was key in changing the perspective of developmental psychology by calling attention to the large number of environmental and societal influences on child development.

Or young high school or college students  or athletes using their popularity on  social media to spread the knowledge of  social injustice

As you can see young adults have used social media to help lead them along the way to do great things these are the most beautiful forms of social media.

Then of course there is the ugly.

Social media is also an open platform, for some  it can allow you to be subsequent to

for instance research has shown that spending to much time on social media can lead lead to depression .

As noted by such research sites such as ivesciences

https://www.livescience.com/51294-cyberbullying-social-media-teen-depression.html

Don't get me with twisted everything in this life there are the good and the bad.

Take for instance social media have given us the means to reach millions if not billions of people across the globe to relay our message but it can also allow you to portray just a an image of yourself but factual and superficial.

CYBERBULLYING

Do you know the dangers of cyber bullying?

Cyber bullying has taken on one of the worst form of emotional en mental damage to it's victims.

There have been an extreme amount of cyber bullying that  has led to the victims committing suicide.

I don't know about you but no child should have o go through so much that they rather take their own lives because of such cowardly behavior from another that hides behind a  sometimes fake profile.

Here is an article from lie science backing thees findings:

https://www.livescience.com/51294-cyberbullying-social-media-teen-depression.html

For instance in adolescents cat fishing has been major issue.

For those who don't know catfish(ing ) is pretending to be someone your not on he internet/ social media .

The most cat-fishers claim to show interest in you and try to either make you fall in love with them or to manipulate you for their own personal cause.

https://socialnewsdaily.com/11296/catfishing-infographic/

Cat-fishing is often employed for romance scams,on dating websites. Cat-fishing may be used for financial gain, to compromise a victim in some way, or simply as a form of trolling or wish fulfillment.Sadly the study found that cat-fishers will use traumatic experiences such as cancer, accidents and death to avoid meeting their victims in real life.

As we look into the psychological make up of cat-fishing its almost always done by one person making of a fake social media platform. It is because it is so easy to mask our through selves behind the windows of social media. Another bad reference is that it is now easier for bullies and psychopaths to reach our youth online through social media.

Other platforms with social media use

Lets take a look into the platform that our adolescents role into.

For instance youtube, youtube was seen for many years as just a media outlet where we could watch short documentaries and comedy stints and especially watch music videos.

Nowadays youtube has a huge role into social media and social development of todays youth.

Yes i know the argument would come as wow really (sarcastically) and others would say thats always been the way it has been ( true) but never like before.

Just a few insight as to what goes on you tube you can see stuff like live video gaming  where you can talk to and relate your skills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft54bgeMBlg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-vvpFft2c

https://video.fosterwebmarketing.com/fosterwebmarketing.com/httpdocs/evm/1080_fosterwebmarketing_017_gina_youtube_h264_640x360.mp4

Also where the can communicate with anime pages, show their life with life vlogs and star in their own reality clips, put on their own personal showcases with live interaction.

The've built up a platform where they can showcase their many talents.

For instance Justin Bieber himself was discovered on youtube and signed a record deal as a teenager.

But social media can also lead to the a substantial difference to the development of the adolescent brain, if you click on the lick here under you can see a couple of test run on teenagers who are on social media and how their brains develop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QWoP6jJG3k

**Where do i belong **

We have seen an outstanding amount of  young people all searching to find their peers and to adhere to whatever social group.

Take for instance such support groups that help them deal with their sexuality, ideology and identity

LBGTQ

Feminism

race

beliefs & religion

sex & sexual experimenting

social experimenting

every teen wants to find his or her social group or spot in society; and social media in its various forms helps to steer them to that source.

We should always pay attention to our students and kids for they are discovering their paths be it good  or bad they will find person or social peers who share their interest.

Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development.

Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years

Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7

Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11

Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

The Sensorimotor Stage

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

The infant knows the world through their movements and sensations

Children learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and listening

Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be seen (object permanence)

They are separate beings from the people and objects around them

They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them

During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses.T

The Preoperational Stage

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects.

Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others.

While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend to think about things in very concrete terms.

The foundations of language development may have been laid during the previous stage, but it is the emergence of language that is one of the major hallmarks of the preoperational stage of development

The Concrete Operational Stage

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete events

They begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example

Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete

Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a general principle

While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point in development, they become much more adept at using logic.2 The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear as kids become better at thinking about how other people might view a situation.

The Formal Operational Stage

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems

Abstract thought emerges

Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning

Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information

The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas.3 At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.

In theory we as teachers should not fear the use of social media but instead learn to harness its powers.

To use it as our umbrella to educate by implementing it into our lessons we can control it for the mos.

For instance the making of a social media  portfolio where they can use social media better in there english class and basically amy skill set you want to embody on todays adolescents.

For some of us with teenage students we can find it off putting but by my observations there are some differential factors in the use of social media and their personal development from said social society.

Some of the factors are :

Culture/ region of upbringing

Race

Morals and values

Religion

and of course age

With all of these factors we should always monitor our children/ students and have them take time for a detox.

We should also try not to hover over them but enlighten them and instead of nag give them a sense of responsibility where then their brain can develop in multiple ways. Think of it as exercise for the brain.

**Live Long and Prosper  & Remember to Elevate and Educate **

[nerdygaymormon]

Reaction to “Truth and the Plan” by Dallin H. Oaks

I finally read the talk from October 2018 General Conference that has everyone worked up. I’m not surprised that Elder Oaks talked about the Family Proclamation and gender, those seem to be favorites of his. I’m also not surprised he spares no words of sympathy or love for LGBT individuals. I am upset that Elder Oaks essentially said anyone who disagrees with him is confused and under the influence of the devil.

—————————————————————

Elder Oaks begins his talk by saying we have access to a lot of information and we need to think critically about the source of that information. What expertise or qualification does that individual have in that subject area? What is their motivation?

This is a valid point. Not all opinions are equal and some people misconstrue or selectively choose facts to support a particular point of view.

—————————————————————

Part I

Elder Oaks teaches that spiritual truths and non-spiritual truths are separate, we should not look to “secular” sources for spiritual truth. Mentions that people who rely on scientific truth risk losing their faith.

In the temple it’s taught “all truth may be circumscribed unto one great whole.” In other words, scientific knowledge is valid and goes together with spiritual truths, they inform each other.  

He teaches that spiritual truths help us understand who we are, the meaning of life and what happens after death, things which can’t be learned by scientific or secular methods.

I agree with Elder Oaks on the purpose of spiritual truths, which is to give meaning to life, not to undermine the truths we learn from other sources.

—————————————————————

Part II 

God is the father of our spirits.

Gender is eternal, we all lived as male or female spirits before being born.

God created a Plan for us to receive a physical body and make choices between good and evil.

The Savior provided an atonement, making it possible for all people to be saved.

Most of my trans friends speak of their gender being eternal but not matching their biological sex, but Elder Oaks uses these words to mean the opposite of that. He gives no credence to the truths shared by transgender, genderfluid and nonbinary individuals about their reality. 

Elder Oaks says that exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom can only be obtained by an eternal marriage between a man & a woman.

The purpose of the Church is to “qualify” God’s children to be exalted. For people who don’t desire that or don’t qualify, God provides other lesser kingdoms of glory.

Given the purpose of the Church is to help people become exalted, it seems as a gay man I’m not wanted because even if I live the rest of my life celibate and do the best I can to keep within the Church’s rules, I won’t qualify for exaltation. My presence is a distraction from the Church’s purpose.  

—————————————————————

Part III 

We honor individual agency and we promote religious freedom around the world.

Individual agency is good. I largely support the idea of religious freedom for individuals but too often “religious freedom” is code for discriminating in public against LGBT individuals, and that I have a problem with.  

The church sends missionaries to the world to teach our spiritual truths. The church also gives money to humanitarian aid to help people regardless of their religious affiliation, we don’t tie it to our missionary efforts.

We do send missionaries around the world. And I’m pleased we contribute to humanitarian causes.

Life is sacred so we’re required to oppose abortion and euthanasia.

Opposing all abortion goes further than the Church’s official position. This change means the life of the baby is worth more than the life of the mother in all circumstances. I’d like if the opposition to abortion included support for things shown to reduce the number of abortions including providing teenagers with comprehensive sex ed, easy & affordable access to effective contraception and for the pregnant woman to feel she can afford to raise the child.

He didn’t specify these restrictions on abortion or euthanasia are specific to humans, so can pets be euthanized? Given all mortal life is sacred, why no comment about war or murder? 

The paragraph about marriage and children says the church cannot retreat from traditional marriage or make changes that confuses gender or homogenizes men & women.

The church will fight the legal and social acceptance of marriages it doesn’t approve of. This seems much in conflict with his idea that people have individual agency.

People who don’t agree with their assigned gender or conform to their gender norms are “confused.” Here’s an instance of scientific/secular knowledge being disregarded. Rather than accepting this is a proven reality and finding a spiritual meaning for it, he dismisses trans, non-binary and genderfluid individuals as “confused” because they don’t match his theology. 

I don’t even know what he means by the homogenization of men & women. I can think of a number possible meanings, most of which I find problematic. People deserve the ability to pursue opportunities and have legal protections regardless of which sex they are. There are biological differences among people that should be noted and accommodated, but not serve as disqualifiers. 

Having children is a duty of “those given power to participate in it.” Children are the ultimate treasure on earth and heaven. We must provide the best conditions for the development & happiness of all children.

WOW. I think he just implied only people who can create children via sex should have children. What do his words mean for Infertile straight couples, single individuals and gay couples who use artificial insemination, surrogate pregnancy, or adoption?

The best conditions for children, I presume he means they should have a mother & a father. Studies show that children raised by same-sex couples do no worse than those raised by straight couples, and actually often do better. Having two moms seems to be optimal for children. Two gay men also works well. Actually, research is showing family situations with straight men are often the least advantageous for children as those men tend to focus on careers and let it distract them from nurturing their children. Straight men are prone to be more violent or abusive than other types of individuals. But recognizing this reality would mean accepting secular truths. 

The church’s positions on these topics provokes opposition. Opposition is Satan’s part of The Plan as he seeks to destroy God’s work. Satan operates by discrediting the Savior and his authority, discourages repentance, gives counterfeit revelation, opposes individual accountability. Satan seeks to confuse gender, distort marriage and discourage child bearing.

He just said any concerns or doubts about what he taught are from the devil. I think this also means people who are gay or trans are doing Satan’s work or are under his influence. Under this logic, when LGBT people point out that we’re excluded from the Plan, ask if there’s any accommodation for us or share our experience and realities, we are seeking to destroy God’s work. The revelations that many LGBT people have received confirming their orientations and gender and that they should pursue loving relationships – all are counterfeit by definition.

—————————————————————

Part IV

Being repentant would mean not trying to change the church. If you have issues with what was taught, hold on to what teachings you can believe and stay strong until you get more knowledge.

Once again, the Church is not wrong, it is inerrant. If you have disagreements or other understandings, don’t leave and hopefully you’ll come to see it our way.

The purpose of our creation is joy and is to be obtained by the “covenant path.” 

Except that whole groups of people have been excluded from this covenant path unless they deny essential characteristics about who they are and how God created them.

I don’t believe that loving Heavenly Parents created people to have these alternate ways of experiencing life and not allow them to express it, in fact, even if they keep quiet and deny themselves of much joy & happiness in this life they are not good enough to be exalted in the next.

[actuallyaccuratescience]

Introduction

This guide focuses on common inaccuracies you’ll find in media and how to avoid making the same mistakes. Just as a disclaimer, the things I point out are based on my own experiences at a well-run, somewhat well-staffed hospital. Procedures are different from hospital to hospital. If you’re writing a poorly staffed, overcrowded hospital in the slums of a large city, there may be large differences from what I have written here.

Getting every single detail accurate is a hard thing to do and nearly impossible given the fact that procedures vary from place to place. The least you can do is make an effort to get most things as accurate as possible. If things aren’t accurate, it isn’t believable for those who know the truth and it distorts the reader’s view of things.

I know that you may be tempted to forgo research and just read guides like this one, but you need to do your research. If you search tumblr’s tags for specific things like “PICC line” or “nursblr”, you can find a lot personal experiences and resources to help you learn more about the topic.

Doctors don’t draw blood or do IVs.

This fact is mostly the same across the board. Nurses (and sometimes certified nursing assistants aka CNAs) will perform IVs while phlebotomists or other specially trained individuals will draw blood. Why don’t doctors do those two things? Little things like IVs and blood can be taken care of by other trained individuals, doctors need to focus on diagnosing patients and performing tasks that others are not trained to do.

That’s not to say that doctors can’t draw blood or insert an IV, it’s just that they do not do those things in a normal hospital or office setting because they busy people. If your doctor character is in the woods, performing emergency medical care, then there would be a situation suitable to have a doctor draw blood or insert an IV.

PROMPT: A doctor has to deal with an emergency situation which requires them to insert an IV. The problem is, they haven’t done that since medical school- which was years ago. Describe how they conquer their fear. Do they end up doing the IV correctly or do they have to try again? What is the patient doing during this? Describe the patient’s emotions.

Orderlies exist- but that’s not really the best term to use.

If you don’t know already, there are different types of licensed nurses. CNAs, which I mentioned earlier, may be the lowest rank on the nursing totem pole but they are very important. The title “CNA” can be interchangeable with the term “orderly”. They both do the same thing: provide basic care for patients and transport them using wheelchairs.

If you’re thinking about making your character a nurse, perhaps you should consider making them a CNA or at least consider that they may have been a CNA before they became a nurse. A CNA’s duties include: bathing patients, moving patients around, taking vital signs, cleaning patient rooms, and dispensing prescribed medications. Their interactions with patients are extremely important and help to make the patient more comfortable.

Sometimes, hospitals will give them special training so they can perform more tasks than their school trained them for. For example, in a hospital system nearby, the CNAs are trained to draw blood so they don’t have to hire phlebotomists for the patient floors. CNAs do not receive this training from their schools but rather from the hospital. The CNA cannot practice phlebotomy outside of that specific hospital system or risk being sued.

PROMPT: Your character befriends the CNA who has been taking care of them. One day, the CNA disappears and is replaced by someone who is rude, poorly trained. Describe how your character reacts. Do they question the CNA’s disappearance or do they accept this new person? Why do they react this way?

An IV is not a needle in your arm.

It is a very common assumption that an IV is a needle in your arm and that the needle stays there for the duration of treatment- but that’s not the case. When an IV is started, a needle is used to pierce the skin. Once the nurse determines that it is in the vein, the tube (called a “catheter”) is further inserted into the vein. The catheter is connected to more tubing and to the IV drip itself. 

The most common type of IV placed is a peripheral line. These are what you see in the ER and other places in the hospital. These catheters can be left in place for about 72-96 hours and then it will have to be removed and replaced. Other types of IVs will be discussed further down.

PROMPT: Describe the first time your character must have an IV inserted. What is the situation? Is it in the emergency room or somewhere else in the hospital? Who is there with them?

Ripping out an IV is terrible.

I know that you have seen someone on TV rip their IV out and I am here to tell you that it hurts like absolute hell and most people are smart enough not to pull out an IV. Some patients, like those with dementia or who are severely disorientated, may try to pull out their IV or successfully do it- but most patients won’t. An IV is inside of your vein, the IV administers medication and fluids directly into your blood stream. If you rip that IV out, you’re going to do a bit of damage vein and there will be blood coming out all over the place. Like every other wound, the blood won’t stop flowing until pressure is applied or a clot forms. Afterwards, you’ll have a lovely bruise for well over a week or two.

If you really want to know what it looks like to rip an IV out, here’s a video. Don’t try this at home, kids.

PROMPT: Your character sees a loved one rip out their IV. How do they react? Do they faint or try to stop the bleeding? Describe them coping with the bloody scene and how they talk to their loved one.

For patients requiring long term IV treatment, a special IV may be used.

This is a bit tricky because this all depends on what a doctor and treatment team decide, but since this is fiction, you can influence their decisions. As stated above, an IV is basically a tube (catheter) placed under the skin to administer fluids and treatment into the blood stream. If you have to keep repeatedly taking an IV out and putting a new one back in all the time, the vein will become damaged and may collapse. Being repeatedly stuck with a needle also becomes bothersome. That’s not a good thing!

For people that are receiving treatment every week or more often, a special IV may be put in place. These special types of IVs are: central venous catheters (CVCs), peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines), tunneled lines, and ports. PICC lines are commonly used for chemotherapy and TPN treatments.

Obviously, if you decide that your character will have one of these lines, you really do need to perform research. Search of these terms in the tumblr tags and online to see people’s experiences with these. Each type of IV comes with its’ own hazards and responsibilities. The site where the IV is inserted requires special care and the tubing itself must be taken care of to prevent infection and other issues.

PROMPT: Using the research you’ve conducted, describe a character’s experience with having a PICC line taken out. Don’t focus on the character’s thoughts and emotions, try to focus on the character’s senses. What does the room smell like? Does the doctor or nurse have a gentle touch? Is the room old and grimy or new and clean?

Tests and imaging take time, not everything takes place under one roof.

Testing samples and reading images can take a lot of time for different reasons. Sometimes there is a backup of things because of under-staffing or laziness, other times hospitals have to send out samples for special tests or they have to send out images because they do not have people at the hospital to read them. However, there are a few tests that can be done in minutes.

Tests that are labelled “CLIA waived” can often times be complete within minutes. They provide immediate, accurate results without breaking the bank or taking hours to do. You can also do lengthier tests in the lab, but these tests can be used instead of those. A few waived tests include: flu swabs, strep tests, HIV tests, cholesterol levels, some drug tests, glucose levels, mononucleosis testing, and pregnancy tests. Glucose levels and pregnancy tests are the common, everyday tests that can be done at home.

PROMPT: The results from a rapid pregnancy test come back as positive for someone who should not have a positive test. Two more tests are performed, they’re all positive. Describe how the staff member deals with this. Do they run even more tests? Do they ask for help or question the patient? Is there something wrong with the batch of tests or the patient?

Lab staff don’t always wear lab coats.

This differs from place to place but at a lot of hospitals and laboratories, lab staff do not wear traditional white lab coats. Instead, they wear these blue coats. Aren’t they cute? They come in different colors, but most are blue. It might seem strange but the reason is simple: the blue coats are disposable. Think about it this way: if you accidentally get sprayed with a stranger’s blood, you can throw the disposable coat out. Would you want to bring home your lab coat and wash it in your washing machine to get the stranger’s blood out? No, that’s gross. 

PROMPT: Your character is splashed with blood while opening a tube of blood! Describe their reaction to the incident and how they process what has happened. Do they scream? Do they freak out? Are they calm and collected as they clean off? What are they thinking during this ordeal?

It’s very hard to steal a baby and get away with it.

Security at hospitals has become heightened over the years due to the overall increase in violence that has made its’ way into hospitals. You’ve heard about strangers stealing babies, drug dealers shooting people in the ERs, etc. Hospitals have teams of security personnel and special procedures in place to deal with these events. One of these special procedures is having emergency codes which assign a color or special word to a certain event. At the hospital I volunteered at, they used “code rainbow” to denote a missing or kidnapped child.

The colors differ from hospital to hospital, as does what happens after the code is announced. A hospital may go into complete lock-down or just the maternity ward. With my hospital, we were instructed to go outside the building and surround it so that no one can get out of the building. I suppose that doesn’t work too well if the person kidnapping the child intends to harm the child rather than leave the hospital with them.

Stealing a baby is especially hard because many maternity wards are secure areas. You have to use a badge to get in or you have to use an intercom to buzz in. You tell the intercom people your name, the person you are visited, and the room number they are in. The person running the intercom will decide whether or not to let the person in. The mother who has just given birth can as the staff to admit only certain people on a list or exclude certain people. That means the mother can ask for them to deny her stepfather or angry ex-fiance from visiting!

PROMPT: A baby disappears from a hospital and when the security team reviews footage and other items, they can’t find a single trace of someone taking the baby. In fact, they can’t find any proof there was a baby in the first place. What has happened? Does the baby actually exist? 

It’s also hard to steal drugs.

As I’ve said before, some hospitals may be...worse (?) than others but many hospitals make it so that you have to have a badge to get into the pharmacy and a special badge to take out specific medications. The badge readers that let you in will also collect information so they will know when you went into the pharmacy. There are also cameras recording your every move. So your character may be able to steal drugs but they definitely won’t get away with it. If you want them to be able to steal drugs, they should either work in the pharmacy or be buddies with someone who works there.

PROMPT: One night, the hospital pharmacy is empty for a few minutes. When the pharmacists return, all of the medication is gone. Every single bottle, vial, and bag has disappeared. Describe how the pharmacists deal with this event and the chaos that ensues as the staff rush to figure out what has happened.

Pediatric hospitals are a lot different than adult ones. 

While children can be treated at adult hospitals, if they need specialized treatment or have access to a pediatric hospital right away then they’ll go there. Practices will differ from hospital to hospital as will the specialties available there (here’s an example at VCU). Some pediatric hospitals make it so that the child’s room is needle-free (or as needle-free as possible) and procedures involving needles will occur in a separate room. That way, they do not associate pain with the room they are sleeping in.

Often times, if the child’s hospital stay is known about in advance, the hospital will let them tour the hospital and the section they will be staying in. Virtual tours may also be available. Most pediatric hospitals have extensive information online for parents and caregivers on how to talk to children about what is going to happen as well as information for themselves.

One thing that is common throughout pediatric hospitals is that security tends to be tighter than at adult hospitals. A lot of times there is also a greater emphasis on the psychological impact of a hospital stay and how it affects the patient and family. 

I should also note that pediatric hospitals- and most hospitals really, are not like in The Red Band Society and other shows. Being in a hospital it not fun, it is not glamorous, it sucks and it is difficult. That’s not to say there will be moments of laughter and fun, but TV is very different from reality. 

PROMPT: Research a pediatric hospital close to where you live. Look at pictures of the interior, look at the FAQ sheets, find a list of specialties for that hospital, and then read some patient experiences and stories. Write a patient experience/story for one of your characters (they don’t have to be a child).

You can’t just walk into (some) patient rooms.

Yes, you can walk into most patient rooms without any issues but depending on what’s wrong with your character or where they work, they might have to deal with extra precautions. Transmission based precautions are a set of procedures that dictate what you need to wear and what you need to do (or avoid doing) when interacting with a patient infected with something dangerous or highly infectious. There are three categories of transmission based precautions: contact, droplet, and airborne precautions.

It sounds complicated but the basic gist of it is that if someone is infected with monkeypox or SARS, you can’t just walk in there and treat them or visit them. You have to follow a specific set of instructions to keep everyone safe. Staff treating the patient must wear PPE that is specific to the precaution indicated. You can use this CDC chart to see what illnesses require specific precautions and this page describes the different types of precautions.

PROMPT: Your character walks right into a room they really shouldn’t have walked into. A short while later, they start showing symptoms. What are they infected with? Describe how they realize they have become infected.

[nakedfullmonty-fr]

Whats othrias story?

ahh yes Othira!! its about time i mentioned her honestly. ill try keep this to bullet points bc yall know i ramble too much by now haha man i was wrong about that huh. there was gonna be more but i decided ive spoiled enough already

One of the bigger antagonists within my lore

She’s a guardian; her charge is a physical, somewhat-sentient manifestation of a shade curse (specially the curse on Niet), known sometimes as The Sibylline

Her home and birthplace is an underwater city named Omache. Growing up she had no relevancy or special position, she was just a city resident.

She never sought out her charge, but instead it came to her when she was around 13 years old. To begin with she never saw it physically, it only appeared to her in her dreams, but she recognised it immidately as her charge and so was not unnerved by it.

The Sibylline itself came to her on the instinctual knowledge that she would be important. The Sibylline is only semi-conscious - it has no real thought process nor ability to chose right from wrong, it exists only to fulfil its existance as a curse, but has enough intelligence and awareness to be able to plan ahead.

The Sibylline used her natural connection to psychics as a Water dragon (i know on-site shes light but finding her colours w the right eyes was a pain) to begin feeding her visions. It brought her false prophecies of the Omachan royal family turning on their people, visions of rich tyranny and poor people dying in the streets from poverty and neglect.

Othira began to spread these visions, but caught attention very quickly due to her young age. What had started out as a young girl telling her friends and family of the strange dreams she had very quickly spiralled into a mass following, and the Omachan people began to grow more and more wary of their royalty.

The growing mass hysteria soon hit breaking point, and a revolution began under false pretences, spearheaded by Othira, her parents, and a small group of particularly charismatic and intelligent allies. It was not a long revolution, for there were few remaining who had faith in their rulers, and they were quickly overpowered by sheer numbers.

The Omachan Royal Family fled, choosing to save themselves and their children than to die for a country and people that no longer wanted them. The leaders of the revolution formed a republic, with the rebellion leaders as the elected council, known as The Scarphagia

Things settled within Omache and things within the city remained relatively unchanged. During this time, Othira aged a few years, and came to realise that her visions and charge were Shade-influenced. Trusting The Scarphagia, she told them, and they agreed to keep it a secret amongst themselves. However, realising the Shade had given them their freedom and power, the counsel began to worship the Shade as a God of Chaotic Freedom.

During her time in Omache, there was a peculiar incident where a dragon she’d never met before climbed several stories, persued by guards, to her bedroom within the Palace the Scarphagia now resided in. In the brief moments they had contact, he explained he meant her no harm, but had heard that a beautiful girl resided within the palace and simply had to see for himself if it were true. She introduced herself as Othira and asked if he was dissapointed; he introduced himself as Kaydu, and replied that he was not.At that moment, the guards caught up and arrested the man, who no longer attempted to resist them. However, bemused by his eccentric ways and overt flattery, she spoke with the Counsel and asked for his release, wanting to speak with him more.

The two of them kept in contact, sometimes she would leave the palace to meet with him, or he would come to her (properly, this time). Over the course of the next few years they fell in love, and ultimately decided to have a child together.

Due to its location at the bottom of the ocean, there are a great many supplies that are unavailable, and while the city does have some trade, Omache is very much a raid-based clan. Kaydu was one such raider, so Othira wasn’t unused to him being away for times, but mid-way through her pregnancy she recieved the tragic news that this time he would not be returning. Heartbroken, she receeded from the world to mourn alone for a long while, but ultimately decided to carry on for the sake of her child, knowing that her mate would live on in part through them. Her egg became her only comfort, and If one listened carefully, you might’ve been able to hear her sing softly to it through the palace windows.

Her egg hatched after a time, providing her with a son, a guardian with the same stark white scales as his father, who she named Otzi. She treasured the new light in her life above all else, vowing to protect him no matter the cost, even if it brought her ruin. Only a few days after he hatched, she noticed her son’s health was degrading quickly, leaving him sickly and frail.

Othira, using the entirety of her wealth,commissioned the help of every doctor and healer in the city and nearby area to try and save her child. Ultimately, it was decided upon that nothing could be done, for the baby had no discernable illness, but was simply born with a body too weak to sustain itself, most likely due to complications caused by the stress of Othira losing her beloved whilst she was carrying. The doctors withdrew, and Othira spent what remaining time they had alone with her child, doing what little she could to comfort him. Otzi passed away a few days later.

Grief-stricken, but unwilling to let go, this time Othira took action. In secret, she met with an Ice mage within the city and, paying them for both their service and their secrecy, had them freeze Otzi’s body, to preserve it. She then fled Omache the very next day without a word to anybody, and headed Northward, where the Shade is strongest.By now, Othira was well aware of her relationship with the Shade, and knew that if there was a way to bring her son back, it was through that.

She began her research during her travels, gathering any book or rumour she could come across that might be of help. She encountered tales of bodies preserved to almost perfection for thousands of years within peat bogs, and turned her focus towards this. Othira eventually took up residence deep within a marshland type area between the territories of Shadow and Nature, thawing her sons body and burying him within the peat as til such time as when she could revive him. She built herself a small cabin there, and began her research.

Occasionally she would journey out, chasing rumours or collecting scrolls and books that may be of use. She spent years within the bogs, studying her materials and the surrounding flora and fauna for anything that may be useful. She began experimenting with everthing from potions to magic to summoning shade creatures, going as far as to conduct tests on weary travellers that wandered too close. As expected, she found herself having most luck with the Shade, and after her years of isolation and study, she found she could summon and control the Shade with ease. After many more studies were conducted on various nobodies (including one dragon in particular), Othira decided it was time.

In her many years of study, Othira had learnt that when the Shade was orignally cast out, a large chunk of its essence had escaped to a dimension which neither mortal dragons nor The Eleven could access, known as the Orphic Realm. However, her connection and control of the shade was unprecedented, and she had been chosen by the shade rather than the other way around, so she was resolute in her belief that she could get there.

On the night of a new moon, she conducted the rites, and forcibly tore her way through the fabric of reality. The Shade took notice of the intrusion immidiately, and demanded that she leave, or be consumed. Instead, Othira stood firm and made her case as one chosen by an aspect of the shade, having shown nothing but loyalty and servitude towards it for her whole life. The Shade congratulated her on allowing bitterness and spite to consume her so, and stuck a deal with her,

When she was expelled from the Orphic Realm and returned to her body within the mortal plane, she was returned to her senses by the cry of a child. She looked down and where there had been nothing previously, a swaddled hatchling, her son, Otzi, now lay in her arms. He was cold, and his heart did not beat, but he was alive, and in that moment of unadulterated joy she pledged herself to the Shade in full, and that no God, beast nor mortal would stop her from fulfiling her side of the bargain.

Othira returned to Omache then, her son’s life kept secret to the public but worshipped as an act of mercy from the Chaos God to its loyal followers by the council. For years she raised him as if nothing had changed, but all the while plotting how to deliver on her end of the agreement with the Shade and consummate the will of The Sibylline.

Soon she realised a plan that would allow her to kill two birds with one stone, and turned her eyes to Ogygia.

[pirirps]

Piri’s Ultimate List Of Horror Recs (2017 Version)

my go-to compilation of ever single horror/horror-related media i’ve ever enjoyed, including slashers, paranormal, thrillers, creature features, and much, much more 🎃

note: this list has trigger warnings but i am operating under the assumption that you are okay with the standard level of explicit sexuality, vulgarity, violence, and gore present in mainstream horror

horror

original nightmare on elm street series, but especially 1, 3, 4, 6, and freddy vs. jason (tw for implied pedophilia and explicit child murder, tw for rape in #6)

friday the 13th (original and remake)

honestly all the friday the 13th sequels are A Treasure but if you want The Core Canon watch 1-3

my bloody valentine (original)

psycho (original) and tbh all its sequels (tw for sort-of-kind-of incest vibes)

psycho ii and psycho iv are my favorites because (1) meg tilly is adorable in psycho ii and (2) psycho iv has a harley quinn/norman bates cameo and nobody can convince me otherwise

child’s play, child’s play 2, bride of chucky, maybe some sequels after that idk i haven’t seen them yet :(

scream franchise

not the mtv scream series

i mean s1 is decent but there are definitely other horror shows that i would recommend more (will show up later in this post)

1-3 are the best, 4 is worth watching if you really like the characters but as a concept the series has p much run its course by then

tw for rape mentions in scream 1 and 3

predator

peeping tom

kenneth branagh’s frankenstein (tw for a graphic depiction of death in childbirth)

james whale’s frankenstein

bride of frankenstein

the phantom of the opera (1925)

the phantom of the opera (1989) (tw for mild body/surgical horror, general grossness; personally speaking, this is one of my all-time favorite phantom adaptations, because 1. robert englund as the phantom hello oh my god, 2. although it’s much more of a slasher movie than a gothic romance, it does an amazing job of portraying the tragedy in erik’s backstory and his attraction to christine, without implying that he is entitled to christine’s affection and that her love will magically fix him, as some phantom adaptations do)

the phantom of the opera (1943)

alien franchise

the wolfman (2010)

darling (tw for rape)

house on haunted hill (original and remake)

final destination franchise

medium raw: night of the wolf (tw for pedophilia and child murder)

the babadook

the final girls [horror comedy]

the shining (tw for implied child abuse)

the cabin in the woods

hellraiser (tw for incest-y vibes for very brief periods of time)

heathers (tw for eating disorders, suicide, everything high school kids are insensitive assholes about)

from dusk til dawn

an american werewolf in london

the guest

it follows (tw for dubious consent)

nightwatch (tw for implied necrophilia/descriptions of necrophilia, self-mutilation)

re-animator (tw for rape, pedophilia mentions)

carrie (original) (tw for child abuse, religious iconography)

the remake had some interesting like... subtext/imagery but other than that it was pretty *wet fart noise*

the awakening

the craft

the blair witch project

honestly i loved the book of shadows: blair witch 2 bc it kind of parallels the crucible but i can admit that objectively it is Terrible

elvira, mistress of the dark [spooky comedy]*

american mary (tw for rape, (consensual surgical) genital mutilation)

fright night (original and remake)

jaws

listen. this is a horror movie. it was a horror book before that. it was specifically written and later adapted for the purpose of scaring and entertaining people. real life is nothing like this. real sharks are nothing like this. there’s nothing wrong with this movie scaring you but there is everything wrong with using this movie as an excuse to advocate for the wholesale slaughter of animals. sharks are quite possibly the most graceful and beautiful creatures on this earth and i will personally fight anyone who says otherwise

halloween franchise

1-5 are the best imo but no matter what skip #3 because it literally has nothing to do with any of the other movies

not the rob zombie remakes, those are awful

let the right one in [swedish (?) film, watch with subtitles]

rosemary’s baby (original)

night of the living dead (original)

28 days later

suspiria

silent hill (tw for child molestation)

crimson peak (tw for incest)

the lost boys

interview with the vampire

the ring

one missed call

the raven (2012)

repo! the genetic opera

teeth (tw for rape, incest, it’s??????? about a girl who literally has razor-sharp teeth in her vagina and it’s a very tongue-in-cheek commentary on religious repression???? so idk like it’s a wild ride and i love it but watch at your own discretion)

american psycho (tw for rape, general misogyny)

sweeney todd

speaking from experience, this is much better live, the movie sucked out all the fun and humor that wasn’t literally written into the lyrics, so i recommend watching the original broadway cast on youtube or something

there’s also a 1936 movie which i haven’t seen so i can’t speak to its quality BUT i would recommend it on the basis of it being made before the musical was created and thus being based more directly on “the string of pearls” novel which is where the sweeney todd urban legend was originally documented

abott and costello meet [insert universal horror monster here] [spooky comedy]

little shop of horrors (original and remake) [spooky comedy]

the last man on earth (1964)

adapted from the same book i am legend (2007) was adapted from but the last man on earth stays much closer to the original book imo

c. h. u. d.

ghostbusters (1984 and 2016 versions)*

ghost ship

sick girl (tw for bugs, pregnancy horror)

misery (tw for torture)

puppet master series (tw for rape, nazism)

the haunting in connecticut

zombieland**

jurassic park series

lizzie borden took an axe

wolf creek (tw for rape)

it (1990, 2017)

i have........ some nitpicky issues about putting it on this list, because neither movie adaptation really did justice to the whole concept of “derry itself is an extension of an eldritch horror and the real scary part of the story isn’t the clown, it’s the horrible violent tragedies that have repeatedly occurred and then been dismissed throughout derry’s history, leaving the entire town in a large-scale sort of cycle of abuse” so ????????????? idk like i truly do recommend reading the book as well as seeing the movies for The Whole It Experience(TM), but i totally get that not everyone is gonna do that

the 1990 version tells more or less the complete story, but because of that it didn’t have time to include a lot of fun details

the 2017 version only tells the childhood portion of the story, which leaves it time to include fun details. i was really hoping to see more of derry’s backstory or more development on mike and stan as members of marginalized groups -> how that influences their life in derry, but we didn’t get much of that? mike’s importance to the losers (researcher, somewhat of a skeptic/hardass at times to keep the others together) was removed, his healthy family dynamic was removed (mike, richie, and possibly stan are the only characters in the book with healthy family dynamics, somewhat underscoring the concept that derry itself is trapped in a cycle of abuse), and derry’s history of racism is never touched on aside from the kids mentioning “the fire at the black spot” a couple times in passing. overall it was a fun movie and you can tell everyone making it had a blast but compared to the book it’s like. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

BASICALLY what i’m saying here is that the book is really deep wrt social issues, and while neither movie really touches on those concepts in-depth, they are still good horror movies on their own and ofc a part of american pop culture

house of wax (1953)

marnie (tw for rape, abuse and coercion in a marriage dynamic, animal/pet death, graphic depictions of psychological abuse, graphic depiction of a violent death involving a child)

cabin fever (tw for sickness horror/body function horror/unsanitary horror, occasional slurs)

mega shark vs. giant octopus

i don’t even have a real reason for listing this i just can’t believe it exists and i want the whole world to know

texas chainsaw massacre (1974), texas chainsaw massacre 2, texas chainsaw 3d

ju-on: the grudge

phantoms

the plot is pretty ehhh imo but the effects are great; rose mcgowan is gorgeous as always, peter o’toole’s character is great, and ben affleck’s character lowkey has some batman circa arkham knight vibes going on. also, liev schrieber becomes a tentacle monster. i couldn’t make this shit up if i tried y’all

vamps*

this movie. this movie

krysten ritter and alicia silverstone are a couple of vampires, sigourney weaver is their hot mess of a vampire mom, dan stevens is krysten ritter’s boyfriend, wallace shawn is van helsing but he’s basically just vizzini: vampire hunter au and it’s GOLD

it’s literally the cutest and funniest vampire media i’ve ever seen in my life as well as one of the most detailed when it comes to vampire lore i cannot recommend it enough

bram stoker’s dracula

death becomes her**

what we do in the shadows**

disturbia

frankenstein (2004 miniseries, more like a 2-part movie than a tv show)

flatliners (1990) (tw for drug use, uncensored depictions of cadaver dissection)

the cabinet of dr. caligari

the limehouse golem (tw for sexual assault and csa)

repulsion (tw for sexual assault)

the trial (1962)

*spooky comedy: a comedy movie with a spooky premise that i am categorizing with horror movies due to the genre overlap, but that lacks the intense violence, gore, etc. of a horror movie

**horror comedy: a spooky comedy that does not lower the level of violence, gore, etc. that is standard in a horror movie

thrillers

stoker (tw for incest, has a scene in which the protag’s mother verbally abuses her)

m [german film, watch with subtitles] (tw for themes of pedophilia/child molestation/child murder, but it’s worth noting that the whole point of the movie is to condemn and demonize pedophilia)

also one of if not the very first detective movies

nightcrawler (tw for rape)

the vvitch/the witch/however the fuck it’s spelled

rear window (1954)

zodiac

hannibal lecter franchise (tw for cannibalism, obviously)-- the silence of the lambs, hannibal, red dragon, manhunter

manhunter is adapted from the same book red dragon is (red dragon) except manhunter was made before anthony hopkins became The Iconic Hannibal Lecter(TM) so it focuses much more on will graham and francis dolarhyde

hannibal rising is worth watching for gaspard ulliel’s performance but the book was much better

the hannibal movie adaptation changed the ending of the hannibal book while still maintaining a really good and really compelling storyline so the book and movie are definitely both highly recommended by me

gone girl

shutter island (tw for asylum horror)

pan’s labyrinth

tiger house

the champagne murders

the plot and pacing are a little ehhh; in my opinion there was too much tension buildup between characters and not enough actual plot development. BUT, anthony perkins is in it so it’s worth watching if you love him like i do

documentaries

cropsey (documentary on child murders)

urban legends (another documentary, by the same people, talks about how real-life crime affects the american psyche and lives on as urban legends/horror tropes)

the poisoner’s handbook

h. h. holmes

nightmares in red, white, and blue

his name was jason

never sleep again: the elm street legacy

american ripper [currently ongoing tv series]

television/youtube

bates motel

ahs s1 (tw for... literally everything)

slasher

similar basic premise as ahs, but imo ahs is v exploitative and builds the plot on violence and vice, whereas slasher builds the violence and vice on the plot

supernatural (LISTEN........ LISTEN....................... conceptually it’s the bees knees okay)

penny dreadful (tw for constant explicit sexuality, religious iconography/sacrilege, asylum horror)

criminal minds

bbc broadchurch

bbc river

bbc sherlock but literally only ep. 3.4 “the abominable bride”

rosemary’s baby (2-part made-for-tv movie)

unedited footage of a bear

marblehornets

true detective

frankenstein (2004 miniseries, more like a 2-part movie than a tv show)

tbs’ search party

podcasts

the black tapes podcast

small town horror

alice isn’t dead

king falls am [spooky comedy, more sci-fi than horror but there is One Episode that positively screams “love letter to 80s horror movies” so i can’t leave it out with good conscience]

limetown

welcome to night vale [spooky comedy]

the dark tome

video games

until dawn

outlast series

five nights at freddy’s

dead by daylight

bioshock

[patrickamadeu]

Tips to Naturally Reduce Stress … Starting Now!

Stress kills. No, really… Even if a person has all the other factors right, high levels of stress can derail health. Unfortunately, just knowing stress is a problem doesn’t fix it. If you’re like me, the need to reduce stress just adds another item on the “to-do” list. Laundry… check. Dishes… check. De-stress… not so much. While I’m far from perfect at this step in my own quest for better health, it doesn’t stop me from searching for answers… Reducing Stress: The Silent Killer You can eat all the healthy organic food in the world and take all the best supplements, but if you’re stressed, it will undo it all. Chronic stress keeps stress hormones elevated, suppresses the immune system, and can put you at higher risk for heart disease or cancer. If high stress levels continue over extended periods of time, this puts you at higher risk for many diseases and can shorten your lifespan. Elevated stress hormones will interfere with the body’s ability to properly digest and assimilate food and even lowers insulin sensitivity, which can lead to weight gain or pre-diabetes. Factors besides just mental or emotional stress can create the same physical reaction. Toxins from our food, water, and air can create a stress reaction in the body, as can an unhealthy diet or lack of sleep. What Causes Stress? Physical, emotional/mental, or chemical factors can trigger stress reactions. Bad news for us, since these sources are abundant these days! So why does everyone seem to be so stressed out? There’s a lot of factors, but several come to mind: Poor diet – We have a wide range of processed food to choose from these days, grown from soil significantly lacking of nutrients, which makes the body think it is in famine mode. Concentrations of toxins – These come from food (Diet Coke anyone?), personal care products, and the environment around us and they cause a legitimate stress on the body and can interrupt normal bodily functions. Emotional stress – If you’re a parent, you’re familiar with this one I’m sure! (If you’re pregnant right now, probably even more!) Research also shows emotional stress can follow us from childhood. Physical stress – This can come from obvious factors like injury or trauma, but also from less obvious sources like lack of good fats (which are needed for proper hormone production), constant input from digital devices, and lack of sleep. (Repeat: lack of sleep can cause physical stress!) Add up all these factors, and it is quite logical that we are under more stress these days than when life or death situations (like invaders, wild animals, or famine) presented themselves daily. The truth is, we don’t know how to get rid of stress … because we don’t know how to fight a threat we can’t see. What is very visible and definitely not a figment of the imagination is the negative effect stress has on our physical health. What Stress Does to the Body As I mentioned before, stress causes tangible physical reactions in the body that prepare it for dangerous situations. This is the classic “fight or flight” response designed to make us stronger, faster, and more resilient in the face of a threat to our physical safety. This response is appropriate and valuable in the case of true danger (like a bear about to eat you or Hun invaders riding over the horizon). In order to achieve the burst of strength needed to outrun said threat, the body turns off some normal functions. This is why stress can suppress seemingly unrelated factors like fertility. For instance, the body uses progesterone to manufacture cortisol in the adrenals during periods of stress. Progesterone is also needed for the body for successful ovulation and hormone balance (not to mention carrying a pregnancy). Ovulating wouldn’t be a priority for someone running for her life, but for a woman with chronic low level stress who wants to conceive, this can be devastating. In these periods of chronic stress caused by not sleeping enough, not eating quality foods, inadequate exercise, toxins, and/or mental/emotional stress, the body will let certain aspects of health deteriorate because it thinks it is keeping you alive in a period of danger. (Even if the danger is just being late to the pick-up car line or a missed deadline at work!) What Stress Does to Hormones The stress reaction is controlled by hormones and the endocrine system that produces them. This system functions as a whole rather than in isolated parts, and so chronic stress affects much more than just the adrenals. An overabundance of adrenaline and cortisol can interrupt other hormones like serotonin, melatonin, and fertility hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, etc.) and cause problems like anxiety, depression, insomnia, muscle problems, infertility, and menstrual disturbances. Prolonged stress also contributes to aging and weight gain, which no one is a fan of! Weight gain around the mid-section (especially in women) is actually often a symptom of impaired adrenals and the low progesterone that results. When Stress Made Me Sick It’s confession time. Think I have it all together? The truth is, no one does. Stress and sleep are the big gaping holes in my own health. Sure, it’s easy to write about them, and I know what I need to do to optimize them, but with little ones, homeschooling, a blog, a podcast, and getting healthy meals on the table day in and day out, the execution is often difficult. And even if what’s on your plate doesn’t look exactly like mine, I know if you’re a mom you practice an equally challenging (read: rewarding, glorious, exhausting, infuriating) balancing act every day. Several years ago, my stress materialized in a way I couldn’t ignore and reached a level that drastically impacted my health. Here’s what happened… Facing a Family Threat It all came to a head when my husband had an emergency appendectomy. The doctor said his appendix had likely been calcified since childhood. The original surgery required a 2-day hospital stay (and it was the first time I’d left my baby overnight). He came home and felt awful for another week. He was still in pain, wasn’t eating, wasn’t sleeping well, and couldn’t do much of anything but lay on the couch. At his follow-up appointment, the doctor discovered my husband had developed a secondary infection that he’d picked up in the hospital during his surgery recovery. They found an abscess where the appendix had been and drained about 8 ounces of puss from it. They put in a drain that stayed for about a week. A culture of the puss revealed 4 types of bacteria (picked up in the hospital) including the flesh-eating bacteria c-diff. This time, he had to stay in the hospital for 8 days, and was on IV broad-spectrum antibiotics every 6 hours. (I cringed for his poor gut every time they brought them in!) For me, this meant another week of being away from the kids, and in the hospital with him. When I started getting a sore throat and flu-like symptoms, I was put on an antibiotic too, to make sure that I hadn’t picked up any of his resistant bacteria and that I wouldn’t carry it home to the kids or my nursing baby. He finally got discharged from the hospital, and both of our symptoms were clearing up, so we got to go home. He was still under the weather and hadn’t been able to work for about a month thanks to the surgery and infection. I was taking care of the kids, the house, and him, plus trying to keep up with both of our work deadlines to make ends meet financially. I was definitely stressed, to say the least, but I’d always worked well under pressure, so I brushed it off and figured I’d relax and catch up on sleep when things got back to normal. Until… My Body Said “Enough” Then, I started having numbness in my fingers, toes, and lips. My heart was racing. My blood pressure and pulse were high and my whole body shook. I called the doctor, since I’d had allergic reactions to antibiotics in the past and was afraid I was having an allergic reaction. The doc checked and told me that none of these symptoms were listed as side effects or allergic reaction symptoms to this antibiotic, and asked what my stress level was… I laughed… After a follow-up, it turns out that I was on the verge of a panic attack. The remedy? “Learn to relax and reduce stress.” (Yeah, right, I’ll just add that to my to-do list!) Since then, things have calmed down, my husband is recovered, the kids are sleeping normally again, and my blood pressure is back to normal, but my brush with it all really re-enforced how much stress can affect your physical health. How to Lower Stress and Start Feeling Better (Today) We all know that reducing stress is important to optimal health, but how do we do it, practically speaking? Since we can’t truly function at our best with chronic stress, this is an important factor to address in the quest for good health. 1. Eat Foods That Reduce Stress You’ve heard this one a lot if you’ve read anything else around here, but it rings true again. Poor diets full of processed foods, grains, sugars, and chemicals put a tremendous stress on the body. For many people (some experts estimate close to 85%) grains can put a huge stress on the body as they can cause an immune reaction, damage the intestinal lining, and lead to serious disease. Excess carbohydrates can cause this problem too, since the sugars in carbohydrates cause increased insulin if they aren’t immediately used as fuel. For a stress-reducing, adrenal-nourishing diet, focus on getting your nutrients from fresh, real foods in as close to their natural source as possible. Drink a lot of water and, yes … even avoid the caffeine. 2. Reduce Exposure to Toxins This step goes along with the step above, as unfortunately, our “food” supply can be a major source of toxins. If the body is in a state of stress, the liver and kidneys are also not functioning optimally, making toxin removal slow and ineffective. Other sources of toxins include chemicals in toothpastes, personal care products, deodorants, medicines, and cleaning chemicals. Our exposure to large amounts of plastic, especially plastics that have been heated in the microwave, can also cause toxic build up in the body. Top steps for reducing toxins include: using only natural beauty and personal care products avoiding plastics and storing food in glass drinking enough water to make sure toxins are being flushed out avoiding processed foods full of chemicals using only natural cleaning products avoiding environmental toxins like pesticides and herbicides 3. Get Enough Sleep Sleep is one of the most important steps in stress reduction, and most moms find the hardest. Historically, the body is used to sleeping when it is dark and being awake when it is light. When we stay awake long after the sun has set and don’t get enough cumulative sleep, we interrupt the body’s natural time for restoration and removal of toxins. The optimal time for regeneration during sleep is roughly between 10 P.M. and 2 A.M. Many people don’t sleep during part or all of this time, causing a backup of toxins and hormones in the body. The body also has a delicate balance of hormones and depends on serotonin and melatonin to regulate good sleep and alertness during the day. Lack of sleep or interrupted sleep can disrupt the balance of these hormones, making you groggy during the day and restless at night. Poor sleep can also (logically) lead to fatigue, brain fog, memory troubles, and additional stress on the body. Need some motivation to make sleep a priority? Listen to this podcast on why sleep is more important than diet and exercise combined. 4. Learn to Say No Another logical step that I’m guessing most of us are all bad at (me especially). I’m not just talking about saying “no” in a parenting sense (though that could be good too… I recommend “No, you many not eat that candy bar/Happy Meal/Ding-Dong/fill in the blank.”) Many of us have a commitment list as long as our arms, and the stress level to prove it. It is wonderful to help out whenever we can, but make sure you make yourself a priority and realistically evaluate what you can handle while keeping stress low and quality family time high. (Confession: I am really bad at this step myself and have resolved to do better this year!) 5. Exercise, Even If It’s Just a Little Exercise is really helpful in reducing stress in the body. It releases endorphins, helps the body regulate insulin, and improves hormone levels. Exercise also boosts your immune function and helps the body use up excess stress hormones. Try to mix it up and try weights and high intensity exercise instead of strict cardio. I use this 10-minute home workout to make it easy to fit in even on busy days. When in doubt, a vigorous 10-minute walk outside in the sunshine and fresh air is one of the best things you can do to lower stress and improve physical and mental health. 6. Get Enough Good Fats A low-fat diet can actually be a stress on the body, as it won’t have the raw materials it needs to function at its peak. Fats are present in every cell in your body and are necessary for enzymatic reactions and hormone production. There are many kinds of fats, and while your body will use whatever it has, some are certainly more beneficial that others, and some are flat out dangerous. Your body needs the right fats (coconut or olive oil, omega-3s, and fats from healthy grass-fed animals) to produce new cells, manufacture hormones, coat the lungs, for optimal brain function, and many other reactions. The body also needs quality fats to produce, utilize and store vitamin D, a necessary nutrient for immune function and disease prevention. 7. Take In More Antioxidants In the face of stress, the body compensates by speeding up adrenal production. This uses up the vitamins and minerals we take in at a much faster rate and can lead to depletion if not replenished with antioxidant and nutrient rich foods. You may want to consume additional vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, and potassium in times of stress especially. I list the best supplements I’ve found to help manage my stress in this post. I also like to use herbal teas for some of these nutrient needs especially in times of stress or illness. Green tea, yerba mate tea, and even peppermint tea contain high level of antioxidants and vitamins that may be beneficial for stress. Bonus: Sipping tea is often connected with sitting down with a good book or chatting with friends … good self-care activities that give you a break from the things stressing you out! 8. Talk to Yourself (and Others) It’s not crazy … we all engage in inner conversation with ourselves all day long! The question is, what are we saying? Stress is not totally objective. We can play a part in telling ourselves — to borrow some famous words — “every little thing gonna be alright.” A growing body of evidence on the positive health benefits of gratitude tells us that the more we emphasize the positive in our minds, the more our physiological responses will follow. This is one reason I take 5 minutes and journal 10 things I’m grateful for every day. Other ways to talk yourself into a better mental frame of mind: Acknowledge what you’re feeling, but counter it with a positive statement — even try this technique to retrain your response to incoming problems and stresses. Flip through a photo book of a favorite vacation and relive some of the experiences with the family or friends you shared it with. Share how you’re feeling with someone you trust — that sense of connection and support may put you back on the right track. Shape your environment by adding positive input and motivation. Hang quotes that inspire you, pictures of family that make you smile, and reminders of positive achievements. Bottom Line: Stress Doesn’t Have to Win It’s my hope that as moms we can beat the stress monster and create a safe space within the walls of our homes where there is enough time and we are enough. I’m not sure I achieve this every day (or even every week!) so if there are ways you’re making this happen in your home, please share with our Wellness Mama community… and help all moms know they’re not alone! Do any of these stress busters work for you? What are three ways that you’ve found help reduce stress levels in your life? Share below!   Enjoy this blog and join our 12 week transformation program here: www.PatrickAmadeu.com/evolution Read the full article

[endowarrior877]

A formal introduction to Endometriosis.

I'm going to do something a little different today. Instead of focusing on how endometriosis is effecting me at this current moment in time, I'm going to just talk about endometriosis and what it really means. There are a lot of misconceptions and a lack of awareness swirling around endometriosis which can be one of the reasons women go so long struggling to get a proper diagnosis. This disease effects approximately 176 million women all over the world and considering the amount of people suffering with this awful condition there still isn't enough knowledge out there. The sad truth about endometriosis is that we wait years to be finally diagnosed, trying treatments that don't work and won't work, even though we don't actually know what's wrong with us. We live in constant pain which stops us from doing simple tasks like cooking, cleaning and for some even unable to go to work.

I suppose one good thing to mention about this illness is that its not life threatening or terminal, however there is no known cure and just treatments to help manage symptoms. This disease can be managed very well if found early and dealt with properly giving many woman a sense of a normal and relatively pain free life. There isn't enough knowledge about endometriosis, it's causes, symptoms and treatments and that's something that needs to change within the medical sector and also within the general public. Maybe if we were educated on this topic in our younger years we could push for better care right from the beginning and first sign of symptoms.

Endometriosis (en-doe-me-tree-o-sis) is when the tissue of your uterine lining or the lining of your womb is found in other parts of your body. It can be found in the bowel, rectum, bladder, ovaries, kidneys, pouch of douglas and pretty much any where else in the body. There have been reports of endometriosis being found on the lungs, diaphragm and even the brain. The endometriosis tissue acts like it would normally and thickens throughout the month and breaks down. There is no where for this tissue to go and it becomes trapped. This causes pain, adhesions, scaring, infertility and can also lead to fusion of organs. It can effect woman and girls from an early age but normally effects girls from around 14 years and onwards after their first period.

For many woman symptoms can include;

* painful period cramps

* painful abdominal cramping

* heavy periods

* irregular periods

* pain when moving bowels

* pain when passing urine

* pain during and after sex

* painful lower back and pelvic area

* blood in stool or urine

* Nausea and vomiting

* Spotting or bleeding in between periods

* Extreme tiredness or fatigue

* Constipation

* Diarrhea

It is important to speak to your doctor if you are concerned about anything mentioned above. One thing to highlight is that periods shouldn't cause extreme pain and if you are experiencing a lot of pain during your period it's important to speak to your doctor. Cramps are normal to some extent but they shouldn't ever stop you from being able to do something or cause you to cancel plans.

There are many treatments that are available and they can range from birth control to surgery. Treatment will depend on the level of endometriosis present. It's hard to say what should be used because we all respond differently to treatment. In most cases it's just trial and error until something works and that's normally found in some form of hormonal treatment which aims to stop the body producing estrogen. Some people find relief when using birth control or from being induced into menopause. Some woman only find relief in the form of surgery by either a laparoscopic procedure or through a hysterectomy. It's important to do plenty of research to make sure you know the pros and cons for all treatments. I cover some treatments in a previous post so won't spend to much time going into detail about what's available.

As well as treatments offered by the doctors there are some things you can do at home to try and minimize symptoms experienced. These will not cure endometriosis but can offer some mild relief from symptoms. The things mentioned below shouldn't be used as a replacement for any medical advice and if you're interested in knowing more please as always speak to your doctor and do your own research. The results from these can vary from person to person so something may be more effective for someone else and it may have no positive results for another. Personally for me acupuncture was great at relaxing my mind but it didn't take away my pain. Ive spoke with some endo ladies and they have had very good results with acupuncture. Some holistic approaches that have been used to help ease symptoms are;

* Acupuncture.

* The endometriosis diet. Cutting out red meat, alcohol, gluten, caffeine, dairy and processed foods.

* Meditation.

* Crystal healing.

* Herbal remedies. Cinnamon, turmeric and ginger and really good. Herbs can sometimes interact with prescribed medications so please always check with your doctor for possible interactions if unsure.

* Adding omega fish oils to your diet.

* Tens machine.

* Art therapy.

* Essential oils can be helpful and used in a variety of ways. Be sure to do your own research as there are so many it's down to individual preference. Frankincense and lavender are 2 of my favorites.

* Yoga

* Exercise

* CBD oil

* Heat packs or hot water bottle

Endometriosis is not a new disease that's been found recently and has been plaguing woman for some time now. It's important to remember that pain caused by endometriosis may not be cyclical and pain may be felt throughout the month as the body goes through its cycle. If you're experiencing any symptoms then keeping a pain diary is a good way of keeping a track of what's going on and can be helpful for finding any triggers. Without the proper treatment and because of how long it takes to get a diagnosis, woman will continue to suffer in silence for longer than they need to. Considering the fact that it is very possible to have endometriosis and have a relatively pain free life, it's not acceptable that so many woman around the world are experiencing some of the worst imaginable pain. As well as all the physical symptoms endometriosis brings there are also mental health issues that can arise. As well as managing the pain it's important to make sure mental health issues are looked after too. Below are some facts about endometriosis;

* Endometriosis is not contagious.

* Endometriosis is not a sexually transmitted disease or related to STDs.

* Hysterectomy is not a stand alone 'cure' for endometriosis and really there is no cure yet - if you have endometriosis elsewhere in your body getting a hysterectomy will not cure you of the pain being cause in other places.

* For some woman fertility is a huge issue and some woman struggle to get pregnant and/or suffer multiple miscarriages.

* Endometriosis can create and supply its own estrogen.

* Pregnancy is not something that should ever be used or even suggested to help manage symptoms and in some cases endometriosis symptoms do not fade away but get worse. Don't be forced by any health professional who tells you to have a baby just to stop endo pains.

* Endometriosis pains are not just 'normal cramps'.

* Endometriosis is as common as diabetes.

* Most woman find themselves being diagnosed with IBS which although isn't the correct diagnosis, endometriosis can make you have IBS symptoms. This is frustrating for many woman as being misdiagnosed costs years of unwanted and unnecessary pain.

* It's estimated that around 1 in ten woman suffer from endometriosis.

* There's some debate around the exact cause of endometriosis but the main theories are that it's present in the fetus during development. The environment plays a part and being exposed to too many dioxins can cause reproductive issues such as endometriosis. It's caused when the menstrual flow goes backwards and implants itself in places it shouldn't.

* Endometriosis has 4 stages which do not relate to amount pain felt but is based on fertility. Someone with stage 1 endometriosis can have extreme pains and someone with stage 4 have minimal symptoms.

* Symptoms of endometriosis usually start to show after you have your first period but can go unnoticed for years.

* Most ladies go undiagnosed for many years and on average can take between 7-10 years for a diagnosis.

* In the U.K. Endometriosis is the second most common gynecological condition.

* Endometriosis is an estrogen dependent disease which makes treating it difficult as endometriosis creates its own estrogen.

I think we'd all be surprised at how many woman actually have endometriosis. A lot of woman have endometriosis and don't even know and only find out when they have gone for a surgical procedure and it's been found by accident. They have no symptoms and it doesn't cause any problems. A woman may also have a small amount of endometriosis and be in the worst imaginable pain possible. This is why treating this disease is difficult because no two women will have the exact same symptoms. The only true way to diagnose endometriosis is by laparoscopic procedure. For this you are put to sleep and cameras are inserted into holes made by the surgeon to look for endometriosis. Sometimes ultrasound scans or MRIs will be used to diagnose this condition but in most cases endometriosis does not show up on these scans and shouldn't be used as a diagnostic test. As women have to wait years to even get to the stage of being offered a laparoscopy, I think that is something that needs to change too. The quicker we have a diagnosis then the quicker we can try and get on top of symptoms and stop wasting years of our lives.

To end this id just like to say that ultimately we know our bodies better than anyone else. If you think something isn't right then don't stop pushing until you get answers. If I'd have just accepted my IBS diagnosis I honestly don't know what life would be like now and don't want to think about it too much if I'm being honest. We all have the right to a pain free life, unfortunately some of us just have to fight a little harder to get that. Even though that's not fair, it is what it is. Hopefully through means like this we can share our knowledge with each other and even though I can't get back the years I've lost to being in pain, maybe my new found knowledge can help someone and save them a few years of unnecessary pain.

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