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This article dated January 23, 2012 was found on the TimesLeader.com website. The article discusses a seminar that police and other first responders in Luzerne County will have the chance to attend that to help them tell the difference between someone with a mental illness who is off their medications and someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Posted in Pennsylvania, Mental Illness, awareness
Tagged Mental Illness, Mental Health, mentally ill, mental disorder, United States, mental health awareness, first responders, first responder training, Training, mental, police, awareness, first responder, emt, parmedics, firefighters, ambulance crews, emergency responders, emergency personell, seminar
This article appearing in the Centre Daily Times on December 17, 2011, talks about the role of Peer Support Specialists also sometimes called Peer Specialists. I feel it gives a good overview of what a Peer Specialist does and how their role benefits others they come in contact with.
Posted in Pennsylvania, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Peer Support
Tagged Mental Illness, Mental Health, Recovery, treatment, Peer Specialist, peer support, recover, mental disorder, Certified Peer Specialists, mental health recovery, Health, support, recovered, personal medicine, Centre Daily Times, Peer support specialist, peer, recoery
This article dated January 23, 20 12 and found on the CentreDaily.com website offers ideas of potential places to look for low-cost outpatient mental health treatment. It isn’t specific to Pennsylvania, but many of the places I saw listed I know exist here in PA so I thought it was one that could be helpful.
Image by Toban Black via Flickr
I know I usually pick some sort of “theme” for my Money Monday Topics, but this time I decided to go through my bookmarks and simply list some sites I like to visit when I want to try to acquire new money-saving ideas. Some of them offer similar suggestions, but at the same time, I typically find some tidbit I haven’t seen before, or am reminded of something I slacked off on doing. Some are blogs, while others are sites dedicated to anything that falls under the heading of free or low-cost. Often times if you look at these sites you’ll find that “Frugal” and “Green” seem to show up together within the same site.
Anyway, here’s some of the link I’ve acquired and enjoy visiting for ideas on how I can get more bang for my buck (so to speak)
Tips in general
Freebies
The past few days have been tough for me, last Friday evening I had to take Tippy, my Service Dog, to the vet for emergency treatment. in the couple of weeks before that I’ve dealt with anxiety surrounding a hearing I have received a subpoena to testify in that I truly don’t want to do for reasons I’d rather not discuss here. So in light of what has happened, it’s been like a roller coaster for me. One day I feel ok with life in general, and the next I feel like the only thing that would help would be to dig a hole, crawl into it, and then cover it up with a boulder. Obviously digging a hole isn’t all that practical, so I’ve opted to use what is called personal medicine to help me through the rough times.
Let me start by explaining that personal medicine is different from taking medications (pills) , in that personal medicine is something you do and not something you take. Personal medicine is something that is positive, non-destructive, and basically puts a smile on your face or helps you relax. While it is different from taking pills, it is not meant to replace pills, but rather to compliment them and work hand in hand with them.
Some examples of personal medicine that I’ve used over the past couple weeks when things get rough or I’m trying to head off a panic attack, include the following.
Those are some of the things I use as personal medicine each offers its own spin on relief, enjoyment, or diversion, and in some cases they overlap a little, but it’s what works for me. Personal medicine is unique to each individual and what works for me may not work for you, and vise versa. I’m guessing that like me, there are probably things that my readers do that would fall under the heading of personal medicine that they did but didn’t necessarily realize there was a name for doing these things. Here is a link to a blog entry on Pat Deegan’s site that talks about personal medicine more in-depth. http://www.patdeegan.com/blog/posts/importance-personal-medicine
On a closing note, Tippy came home with me Friday night, and is on antibiotics to treat a urinary tract infection that was caused by bladder stones. she’s not at 100%, but I am relieved to know that this is treatable and I caught it before it became life threatening. I have to watch her closely to make sure she urinates, and if she goes 12 hours without urinating I have to call the vet again, but so far Tippy has been doing great at urinating. I never thought I would get excited over the sight of yellow snow before, but now I get excited when Tippy makes yellow snow. Also the hearing is tomorrow and at least in theory that mess will be done with.
Posted in Mental Health, Mental Illness, Pennsylvania, Psychiatric Service Dogs
Tagged anxiety, anxious, Common Ground, Mental Health, Mental Illness, mentally ill, PAMHI, Pat Deegan, personal, personal medicine, Recovery, recovery journey, recovery process, release, Sims Medieval, World of Warcraft
This article found on Philly.com and dated January 18, 2012, talks about a recent study that may show that sleeping immediately after trauma may actually be worse than not sleeping right away after trauma regarding how embedded the memory of the trauma becomes on our minds.
Date to do this … January 17, 2012, between 9am and 1pm
I just found out about this late Monday night, but Project H.O.M.E. is asking that Pennsylvanians contact their State Senate member to say no to House Bill 934 (aka the Voter Suppression Bill). For more information and a quick place to find out how to contact your PA State Senators please go to ….
http://statevoices.salsalabs.com/o/58/p/dia/action/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=228
Posted in Issues, Pennsylvania, Voting
Tagged HB 934, House Bill, House Bill 934, PA HB 934, PA House Bill 934, PA legislation, PA Senate, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania voting, Politics, State Senate, vote, voter, votes, Voting
This article found on EverydayHealth.com talks about situational depression, its causes, and what help is available and offers insight into when to seek professional help. This isn’t a Pennsylvania specific article, but as anyone in Pennsylvania can tell you winter is a tough time of year when it comes to dealing with depression, and while depression can effect anyone at anytime of the year, it is something that seems to be more difficult to deal with in the winter time here in Pennsylvania like other states with shorter number of daylight hours, and cold often overcast skies it can take a toll on folks. While this article deals more with depression stemming from things like breaking up with a girlfriend/boyfriend, loss of a loved one, or other life events that can send folks into a state of depression, the information could be helpful to folks with other types of depression as well.
This article found in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review dated January 3, 2012 talks about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
This article published on December 27, 2011 on the Lehigh Valley Morning Call, discusses a program being offered by The Weller Health Education Center in Easton who is working with Capital Blue Cross to offer a depression awareness program to high school teens to help break down stigma and increase the chance that teens can get help if they need it.
Posted in awareness, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Pennsylvania
Tagged adolescent, adolescents, Allentown, awareness program, capital blue cross, Easton, Easton Pennsylvania, high school, high school teens, Lehigh Valley, Morning Call, Suicide, suicide prevention, teen, teen depression, teen suicide, teenage, teenager, teens, United States
Has anyone approached you in a public area and offered FREE services, groceries, or other items in exchange for your Medicare number?
JUST WALK AWAY!
