Weightloss blog update:
Weight: Same - 162.
BUT my waist size is down half an inch!
Exercise:
ChaLEAN Extreme every morning, P90X every evening (except last night).
Diet:
We are taking our meals from 100 Days of Real Food and I went back to meal planning/grocery shopping accordingly. We did go out for lunch once - pizza! I also did Shakeology for lunches. I'm still having a hard time with the taste of the shakes. I'm just not a shake person anyway, so it's a challenge for me, but I just need a kickstart to get back to better health and this seemed like an easy way. And it's expensive so I feel forced to commit to it. ;P (Only for one month. Can't do it longer than that due to budget).
That's pretty much it. I've been exercising like a mad woman and beginning to feel stronger again. Looking forward to another week of progress! :)
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
People with Mental Illness are Not Stupid
There, I said it.
You think of a psychiatric hospital and images from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next" come to mind.
People with mental illness are not stupid.
So, I plead with the mental health care system and professionals, please stop treating them as such.
The goal these days with Managed Care in mental health care facilities is "Stabilization."
When asked what "stabilization" meant, the psychologist at a Michigan Mental Health Hospital said, "Stabilization means that the person no longer shows him or herself to be a threat to self or others."
Okay, Doc... you are saying that after three short days of inpatient, group therapy, yoga classes, taking away all weapons, closely monitoring and removing all triggers.... that you have determined, in your expertise, that this is enough to say, "The patient is stable, send them home."
Then if they "decompensate", including behaviors such as not taking their medicine, harming themselves, threatening suicide, etc, they may be readmitted.
Stabilize. Readmit. Stabilize. Readmit.
This is a vicious cycle.
People that don't want help can talk their way out of it, they are not stupid. There is a reason they have come for a psychiatric counseling session or evaluation. There. Is. A. Reason. Most people don't voluntarily give up a weekend for a stay in the hospital.
People with mental illness can be charming or manipulative. They can be astute and perceptive or have a distorted view of reality, but again... There is a reason they have come for a psychiatric counseling session or evaluation. There. Is. A. Reason.
Don't be fooled because in addition to having a mental illness, they are polite, well-spoken, and kind.
This is not surprising because THEY ARE PEOPLE! They are made out to be social outcasts, but they are NOT! They are talented, amazing people who happen to have a struggle no one can see!
People with mental illness are doctors, businessmen and women, teenagers, dancer, artists, musicians, actors... Mental Illness does not discriminate, but because it is the unseen plague, it doesn't get the attention, concern, and compassion that it warrants.
When a person seeks intervention in the mental health care system, they may not appear on the outside to need any help at all. They may seem perfectly charming and even happy. But without the proper evaluation including receiving input from/interviewing this person's family or friends, one on one therapy sessions, etc, there is no way to determine stabilization.
No way at all. There has been no observation of this person in their regular environment with all the triggers that cause this person to struggle day to day with the thought of living and not self-destructing.
And as someone who has sat in proximity watching this system dramatically fail someone in my life, I see them turn away someone with a slow bleed... I have painfully realized...
My love is not always enough to convince someone that their life is worth living.
My love is not always enough to convince someone that they are lovable.
And that is when it's time for the professional medical counselors, doctors, and therapists to help the person sort out the medical and psychological issues hidden beneath the smiles that are sometimes easier to show than the wounds.
That is when it's time for the spiritual health professionals, priests, ministers, etc, to step up and share the love and mercy of God so that the patients understand their suffering in the context of a hope that can lead to the next day, and the day after that.
That is when it's time for family and friends to wrap this person in love and prayer the best that they allow you to love them.
When someone's appendix has burst, they aren't turned away from the hospital because they "seem" ok or because they are a "nice" person or given a prescription for the pain and sent home. They are given immediate and proper medical care even in the less prestigious hospitals. Only in the mental health care field are people turned away the instant they seem ok, turned away because they are nice and outwardly well-adjusted, and given a prescription for the emotional pain and sent away.
Managed Care is an insurance objective. Not a people objective. Managed Care rushes the patient out the door because of the expense of care. The more doctors and hospitals are complicit in this, the greater the chance that it is at the more costly expense of a life.
I wish the doctors we have encountered in these recent days showcased their concern for the psychological health of their patients over the rules and requirements of insurance.
This is the first of many blogs to come...
You think of a psychiatric hospital and images from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next" come to mind.
People with mental illness are not stupid.
So, I plead with the mental health care system and professionals, please stop treating them as such.
The goal these days with Managed Care in mental health care facilities is "Stabilization."
When asked what "stabilization" meant, the psychologist at a Michigan Mental Health Hospital said, "Stabilization means that the person no longer shows him or herself to be a threat to self or others."
Okay, Doc... you are saying that after three short days of inpatient, group therapy, yoga classes, taking away all weapons, closely monitoring and removing all triggers.... that you have determined, in your expertise, that this is enough to say, "The patient is stable, send them home."
Then if they "decompensate", including behaviors such as not taking their medicine, harming themselves, threatening suicide, etc, they may be readmitted.
Stabilize. Readmit. Stabilize. Readmit.
This is a vicious cycle.
People that don't want help can talk their way out of it, they are not stupid. There is a reason they have come for a psychiatric counseling session or evaluation. There. Is. A. Reason. Most people don't voluntarily give up a weekend for a stay in the hospital.
People with mental illness can be charming or manipulative. They can be astute and perceptive or have a distorted view of reality, but again... There is a reason they have come for a psychiatric counseling session or evaluation. There. Is. A. Reason.
Don't be fooled because in addition to having a mental illness, they are polite, well-spoken, and kind.
This is not surprising because THEY ARE PEOPLE! They are made out to be social outcasts, but they are NOT! They are talented, amazing people who happen to have a struggle no one can see!
People with mental illness are doctors, businessmen and women, teenagers, dancer, artists, musicians, actors... Mental Illness does not discriminate, but because it is the unseen plague, it doesn't get the attention, concern, and compassion that it warrants.
When a person seeks intervention in the mental health care system, they may not appear on the outside to need any help at all. They may seem perfectly charming and even happy. But without the proper evaluation including receiving input from/interviewing this person's family or friends, one on one therapy sessions, etc, there is no way to determine stabilization.
No way at all. There has been no observation of this person in their regular environment with all the triggers that cause this person to struggle day to day with the thought of living and not self-destructing.
And as someone who has sat in proximity watching this system dramatically fail someone in my life, I see them turn away someone with a slow bleed... I have painfully realized...
My love is not always enough to convince someone that their life is worth living.
My love is not always enough to convince someone that they are lovable.
And that is when it's time for the professional medical counselors, doctors, and therapists to help the person sort out the medical and psychological issues hidden beneath the smiles that are sometimes easier to show than the wounds.
That is when it's time for the spiritual health professionals, priests, ministers, etc, to step up and share the love and mercy of God so that the patients understand their suffering in the context of a hope that can lead to the next day, and the day after that.
That is when it's time for family and friends to wrap this person in love and prayer the best that they allow you to love them.
When someone's appendix has burst, they aren't turned away from the hospital because they "seem" ok or because they are a "nice" person or given a prescription for the pain and sent home. They are given immediate and proper medical care even in the less prestigious hospitals. Only in the mental health care field are people turned away the instant they seem ok, turned away because they are nice and outwardly well-adjusted, and given a prescription for the emotional pain and sent away.
Managed Care is an insurance objective. Not a people objective. Managed Care rushes the patient out the door because of the expense of care. The more doctors and hospitals are complicit in this, the greater the chance that it is at the more costly expense of a life.
I wish the doctors we have encountered in these recent days showcased their concern for the psychological health of their patients over the rules and requirements of insurance.
This is the first of many blogs to come...
Friday, April 25, 2014
Weight loss Blog! Update!
So... I haven't updated, because I've been avoiding confessing to you all that I haven't made any weight loss progress...
HOWEVER! I have made some muscle building progress, so that's good....
Here is when I first started:
That was 180 Pounds.
This is now:
HOWEVER! I have made some muscle building progress, so that's good....
Here is when I first started:
That was 180 Pounds.
This is now:
At 155 Pounds. BUT .... for the first time in my life EVER!!!! I have been building muscle!!!!
I am probably the strongest I've ever been in my whole life and I LOVE IT!!!!! I'm not out of breath going up the stairs! I can carry my kids! I can do pushups! (not that many, but still....)
The thing I am really struggling with is eating! I need to stop stress eating or stress eat something with fewer calories than uh... chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps. I'm feeling like I need to decrease my caloric intake as well since my son isn't nursing as much - he is eating some solids - but it is so hard because I've gotten back into the habit of mindless eating while stressed. I'm trying to work out that stress and I am thankful I have been blessed with a couple of workout buddies. Find a buddy or two to workout with - it makes it more enjoyable and makes it harder to make an excuse as to why you can't workout !
I am going to move us back to whole foods and real foods using 100 Days of Real Food blog, especially now that we are out of basically everything but bread and milk. It really is the way to go, but I got lazy. I pray the sunny weather and closing on our new house will destress things a bit... Or I'll try to stress eat grapes or even celery... never mind, not celery. gross. ;)
Also, I go right back to diet coke when I'm stressed and eating like a maniac and it is so bad for me!!!
Please say a prayer that I can continue to work on my self-control, discipline, and take care of the body the good Lord gave me!
Woohoo Amen!
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