I've been thinking about gamifying the process of making new friends in my city. Kind of like a #LARP but your character is just yourself, and you earn points for showing up to small group events. Extra points for helping organize gatherings and coming up with creative ideas for people to get to know each other better.
...I've been thinking about this for over a year, maybe someday I'll have enough energy to actually start it.
Socks isn't eating properly and is losing weight again.. He's down to 817g. He looks like it's taking him a lot of effort to chew and that it's not working properly (I don't know how else to explain it), he seems interested in food but then gets tired of chewing. Other than that, he doesn't seems sick.
I called the vet and they can't help because they don't get to see guinea pigs often (when I took him last month they had a locum from Sydney who saw him). They suggested another vet in town who "does all the guinea pigs".
I called them and they don't have an open appointment open for over a fortnight, but they suggested I bring him in to wait "like an emergency department".. they said they can't tell me when I'll get seen, and I'll probably be waiting for hours, but I will get seen at some point.
So, tomorrow I'm popping him in the carrier and taking a book and some snacks (for us both), and we'll be in the vet waiting room from 8am.
..and then in Saturday I'm planning on not being able to do anything because of the pain of sitting in a waiting room chair for hours.
Doctor appt today, and he happily wrote up all the pain relief I needed prescribed for my shoulder.
I thought it might be difficult to get him to prescribe endone, panadeine forte, mobic, panadol osteo, and palexia.. but we went over how I was taking them all and he agreed that I was fine with how I was approaching it - and that taking such a variety of things meant actually taking less opioid based meds because I was able to keep on top of the pain with things like panadol osteo.
We also did my mental health plan and I hit a 40 on the K10.. which is Very Fucking High. We talked about that, and about how therapy is helping and that a big part of the 40 score is probably actually pain related as well.
He agreed that I showed great insight into my illness and that I was comfortable with being vulnerable enough to ask for help, so I get to skip hospitalisation (fucking yay!) because I have a good support system and I know how to access acute assistance if needed.
But still, 40 was even higher than I was expecting tbh. I'm usually around a 25-27.
Finally got a work albatross off my back after months. It was causing me such anxiety it was hard for me to even spend time on it. What’s worse is that it was a change forced upon us without any guidance on low impact solutions or consultation. I really loathe them. Bad IT.
I’m just glad it’s finally done. Spending time with family for a few days. It’ll be a nice break. (Exhale)
I've started a new Fetlife group for disabled people. It was started after it became apparent that the other group was going to allow chasers to fetishise and objectify disabled people and that the group wasn't safe for us.
You are NOT a burden. Just because your brain is telling you so doesn't make it true. Your brain is lying to you. Your existence is not burdensome... and you. are. deserving.
It's important to remember that your worth is not determined by how someone else perceives you aswell.
You are deserving of love and support. You matter.
Shopping clothes is a huge issue for me. What I sometimes describe as "clothing store phobia", can perhaps be broke down to:
(Fear of) sensory overload: harsh lighting, music, advertisements, amounts of clothes and information to process
Anxiety because of uncertainty (e.g. about the available products and their prices)
Social phobia: Sometimes there are a lot of people in shops. Will they judge me for being "weird" (queer & neurodiverse)? Will I be brave enough to ask the sellers if I have some question? What if someone interacts with me and my brain shuts down?
Agoraphobia
Perhaps lightly traumatic experiences from sensory overload from previous store visits
I previously wrote about this issue on Mastodon, and I included some of the advice I got from there: https://todon.eu/@maxi/110338158852163385 (Unfortunately, part 2 of that toot got auto-deleted, but it only was about how to find a personal style)
I also got a lot of good advice from hashtags and groups!
📝 Recent research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health links the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion to significant improvements in adult mental health.
Among the lowest-income adults, anxiety symptoms improved by more than 13% and depressive symptoms improved by more than 9%, finds a study by Akansha Batra, Kaitlyn Jackson, and Rita Hamad.
I got an HD on the paper I handed in last week. It was a critical analysis of the policy report from People with Disabilities Australia and Domestic Violence NSW.
I'm pretty chuffed with the comment I got from my lecturer 😊
Disclaimer: The data in this column come from either mainstream news
media sources or scientific research published in peer-reviewed
journals (each category can be determined by following the links in
the reference section). This column's author acknowledges the cultural
bias of the world scientific community in its belief that the
scientific method is the most viable available alternative for
assessing COVID-19 and its effects in an objective manner through a
structured process of observable and repeatable hypothesis testing.
Summary: Hospitalizations from COVID-19 rose for an eighth straight
week to 18,871 people/week see "COVID Hospitalizations Rise for Eighth
Week in a Row" under Virology & Epidemiology).
Moderna says its upcoming COVID-19 vaccine should work against the
BA.2.86 variant that has caused worry about a possible surge in cases
(see "New Moderna Vaccine to Work Against Recent COVID Variant" under
Vaccomes, Treatment & Testing).
COVID vaccines will have a new formulation this year, according to a
decision announced today by the US Food and Drug Administration that
will focus efforts on circulating variants. The move pushes last
year's bivalent vaccines out of circulation because they will no
longer be authorized for use in the United States (see "New COVID
Vaccines Force Bivalents Out" under Policy).
The CDC is not specifically saying whether long COVID patients should
get the new COVID boosters, flu shots, or RSV vaccines, and the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) referred similar questions to the CDC
(see "Should Long COVID Patients Get the Flu, RSV, and New Booster
Shots?" under Policy).
Research continues to show that early intervention with antibiotics
reduces the risk of fatality from COID-19 (see "Early Empiric
Antibiotic Use in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19" under Vaccines,
Treatment & Testing).
In ICU-patients ≥70 years old, COVID-19 is associated with greater
mortality rates than bacterial or viral pneumonia (see "Increased
Mortality in ICU Patients ≥70 Years Old With COVID-19 Compared to
Patients With Other Pneumonias" under COVID Complications).
After the US Food and Drug Administration authorized new monovalent
COVID vaccines, the CDC recommended the new booster vaccinations for
everyone (see "Universal Monovalent COVID Vaccines Backed by CDC"
under Policy).
About 103 million Americans had COVID-19, and about a third of those
led to long COVID. New data indicate that some cases of long COVID-19
might be going unidentified because the patient's initial infection
wasn't detected (see "Some People With Long COVID Tested Negative for
COVID-19" under COVID Complications).
Although SARS-CoV-2 infection among young children typically results
in mild infection, it can result in serious illness, including
multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, long-term sequalae, and
death. mRNA COVID-19 vaccination provides protection against
symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection for at least 4 months after
vaccination among children aged 3–5 years (see "Safety Monitoring of
mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Third Doses Among Children Aged 6 Months–5
Years" under Vaccines, Treatment & Testing).
A new meta-analysis has shown that SGLT2 inhibitors do not lead to
lower 28-day all-cause mortality compared with usual care or placebo
in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (see "SGLT2-inhibitors: No
Benefit in Hospitalized COVID-19" under Vaccines, Treatment &
Testing).
The COVID-19 booster vaccine typically causes transient, clinically
insignificant elevations in glucose levels in people with type 1
diabetes (see "COVID Booster May Transiently Raise Glucose Levels in
T1D" under Vaccines, Treatment & Testing).
"Cost May Lead Many to Skip COVID Testing: Why That's a Problem" (see
under Media News).
The May 11, 2023 termination of the PHE has made it increasingly
difficult to accurately track COVID-19 new cases or fatalities.
However, new variants of concern continue to emerge, with consequent
infections and deaths.
Since the termination of the PHE, data on vaccination rates are no
longer being tracked. The last known US COVID-19 vaccination rates
(May 10, 2023) are as follows: full
vaccination (two initial doses) 69.3%; at least one updated booster
dose: 17% (see "Track Covid-19 in the U.S." under
Vaccines, Treatment & Testing). "Our World in Data" stopped trying to
track US booster rates on August 30, 2022 and shows a flat line since
then.
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy #research
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
@[email protected] #Vaccines #COVID #longcovid #science #medicine
#covid19 #coronavirus #sars-cov-2 #covidisnotover #CDC
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
#depression #anxiety #sleep #brainfog #stillnotover
.
.
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can subscribe at @[email protected]
#TrueStory: I only sign into my email once a week.
This isn't #DemandAvoidance though I do have that and it is connected. It's a way of managing my #anxiety because emails from certain people are, for me like anxiety landmines that will affect me for days. I keep those people only to email communications by never answering their calls and if they text, I ask them to email.
If I need to stay away from anxiety I'll wait until I am ready.
Disclaimer: The data in this column come from either mainstream news
media sources or scientific research published in peer-reviewed
journals (each category can be determined by following the links in
the reference section). This column's author acknowledges the cultural
bias of the world scientific community in its belief that the
scientific method is the most viable available alternative for
assessing COVID-19 and its effects in an objective manner through a
structured process of observable and repeatable hypothesis testing.
Summary: The updated vaccine that better protects against currently
circulating strains of the virus that causes COVID-19 may be available
as soon as next week (see "New COVID Shots Could Be Available Next
Week" under Vaccines, Treatment & Testing).
The increase in cases of COVID-19 in the northern hemisphere is
worrying healthcare authorities around the world, who are aware that
these countries usually experience a peak in respiratory infections
during the winter months (see "WHO 'Concerned' About COVID Increase in
Northern Hemisphere" under Virology & Epidemiology).
COVID-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise for weeks as summer
nears its end. COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by 19% last week and
COVID deaths by 21%, according to figures from the CDC. More than half
the states, 26, had a "substantial increase" in hospital admissions
(see "COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths on the Rise" and "5
Questions for COVID Experts: How Concerned Should We Be?" under
Virology & Epidemiology).
COVID metrics have risen steadily since June after reaching the lowest
point since the pandemic started. However, just 7% of U.S. adults are
"very worried" about getting COVID-19 (see "COVID Metrics Tick Up, but
Americans Aren't Worried: Poll" under Media News).
The CDC and the World Health Organization have dubbed the BA 2.86
variant of COVID-19 as a variant to watch (see "Q&A: What to Know
About the New BA 2.86 COVID Variant" under Virology & Epidemiology).
However, BA.2.86 does not have a heightened ability to evade the
protection of COVID vaccines or immunity from prior infection (see
"Highly Mutated COVID Strain Can't Evade Immunity as Feared" under
Virology & Epidemiology).
Close and prolonged contact with someone with COVID-19 can more than
quadruple the risk of getting the virus (see "This Is When You're Most
at Risk for 'Leaky' COVID Immunity" under Virology & Epidemiology).
It's estimated that 1 out of 8 people with COVID develop long COVID.
Of those persons, 44% also experience headaches. Research has found
that many of those headaches are migraines — and many patients who are
afflicted say they had never had a migraine before (see "Long COVID
and New Migraines: What's the Link?" under COVID Complications).
Severe COVID infections may lead to lasting damage to the immune
system (see "Severe COVID May Cause Long-Term Cellular Changes: Study"
under COVID Complications).
COVID-19 may negatively affect the wound healing process while
increasing the mortality rate amongst patients with multiple or severe
comorbidities undergoing limb salvage procedure (see "Retrospective
Review of Complications and Outcomes in COVID-19–Positive Patients
With Comorbidities Undergoing Limb Salvage Procedures in a Tertiary
Care Wound Center" under COVID Complications).
Among patients with ARF due to COVID-19 pneumonia who fail HFNC, delay
of intubation beyond 24 h is associated with increased mortality (see
"Delayed Intubation Associated With In-hospital Mortality in Patients
With COVID-19" under Vaccines, treatment & Testing).
Crippling symptoms, lost careers, and eroded incomes: This is the
harsh reality for doctors suffering with long COVID, according to the
first major survey of physicians with the condition (see "One in Five
Doctors With Long COVID Can No Longer Work: Survey" under COVID
Complications).
EU regulators have recommended authorizing an updated COVID-19 vaccine
from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech which targets the dominant
XBB.1.5 variant of Omicron, putting it on track to become the third
adapted shot by the two companies to be approved in the bloc (see "EU
Regulators Back Pfizer's Updated Vaccine for Dominant Omicron
Subvariant" under Policy).
The May 11, 2023 termination of the PHE has made it increasingly
difficult to accurately track COVID-19 new cases or fatalities.
However, new variants of concern continue to emerge, with consequent
infections and deaths.
Since the termination of the PHE, data on vaccination rates are no
longer being tracked. The last known US COVID-19 vaccination rates
(May 10, 2023) are as follows: full
vaccination (two initial doses) 69.3%; at least one updated booster
dose: 17% (see "Track Covid-19 in the U.S." under
Vaccines, Treatment & Testing). "Our World in Data" stopped trying to
track US booster rates on August 30, 2022 and shows a flat line since
then.
Charles M. Lepkowsky, Ph.D.
Solvang, CA
clepkowsky(at)gmail.com
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy #research
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
@[email protected] #Vaccines #COVID #longcovid #science #medicine
#covid19 #coronavirus #sars-cov-2 #covidisnotover #CDC
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
#depression #anxiety #sleep #brainfog
.
.
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can subscribe at @[email protected]
Yesterday was my first bigger "party" since self-diagnosis. It was a work event. After 2h, I was overloaded and in danger of getting a migraine. Could prevent with sugary drinks. After 4h, I got cranky but my ride wanted to go home, too.
Today, I have a social hungover. Luckily, we got the day off.
I am glad that I went, but the next time I try to recruit more of "my" people because everyone sticks to their team mates there, not so much mingling. #ActuallyAutistic 1/2
I'm honestly wondering if meds might help me get past the #anxiety and negative feelings about being overwhelmed so that I could be more successful in keeping/catching up? Is this a thing others have experienced and found improvement that way?
Okay all -- It's early days for figuring out how to help people with
Long COVID.
That said, a bit of promising research is starting to surface.
I'm taking the unusual step of emailing EVERYONE because at this point
many of you with anxiety and depression symptoms may have some Long
COVID (brain fog, sleep issues, the depression or anxiety itself!).
A good write-up about what Long COVID is can be found here. Yes, you
can had a trivial case of COVID-19 and still get Long COVID symptoms for
days, weeks, months, or years. Some cases of it are somewhat "mild": https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html
*The bottom-line of the video is right at the end. For long COVID:
-- Get outside one hour per day.
-- May cover up if sensitive to sun (near UV rays will get through
clothing anyway)
-- Best if in nature (surrounded by green)
-- Do not look directly at sun (duh)
-- May wear a hat (near UV rays will get through clothing anyway)
-- Sitting in a sunny window no longer good enough (most glass now has
to be certified to block the rays we want)
He also promises to talk about how intermittent fasting may help in a
future video.
*
Roger Seheult, MD is the co-founder and lead professor at https://www.medcram.com/
He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, Critical
Care, and Sleep Medicine and an Associate Professor at the University of
California, Riverside School of Medicine. He is also an ER doctor.
Before the pandemic, MedCram mainly seemed to be training for doctors to
pass exams. Since the start of COVID, Dr. Seheult has done occasional
more accessible videos for the general public on COVID-related topics.
To actually understand why something this simple may help -- and listen
to some research, please watch:
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy #research
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
@[email protected] #Vaccines #COVID #longcovid #science #medicine
#covid19 #coronavirus #sars-cov-2 #covidisnotover #CDC
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
#depression #anxiety #sleep #brainfog
.
.
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can subscribe at @[email protected]
REALLY sick of hearing about how you have the experience to make value judgements about the experience of being diagnosed as a child.
I get that the diagnosis is a revelation.
And it is. I agree .
But i want to puke remembering how that "privilege" was used to justify telling kids "IF you manage to prove that you are able to emulate a person you can be awarded honorary adult status"
Otherwise you count as something between a child and an animal
@CatHat The closest I ever got to detection was my 5th grade #teacher. She warned my mom about #anxiety. No follow up.
My son’s #DX at age 5 has brought mixed results so far. At age 10 I finally feel like we’re on solid ground. But i thought we were good at age 8 too! I still fear we’re one well-wisher #ID10T “professional” away from a major setback. I will rejoice when he can shake off adult “support.” #ActuallyAutistic#AuDHD@actuallyautistic
In this lecture Bergo presents a really interesting survey of how anxiety has been understood through the history of philosophy. Special attention to how Schopenhauer and Darwin use the term. the audio is bad, but I found it worthwhile....
Bettina Bergo: The Ambiguity of Anxiety" (www.youtube.com)
In this lecture Bergo presents a really interesting survey of how anxiety has been understood through the history of philosophy. Special attention to how Schopenhauer and Darwin use the term. the audio is bad, but I found it worthwhile....