Viewing Britney in a new light

I am often very bothered by the amount of attention celebrities get. While it is true that they are in the public eye, celebrities have a right to privacy and to deal with their problems without the population judging them. No one is perfect - not even a celebrity worth millions of dollars.

Who among us doesn't have some sort of issue? If I was behaving the way Britney Spears is, I would have loads of family members and friends trying to get me help. Because I'm not famous (yet), I don't have hoards of people following me with cameras or media hounds trying to twist what's going on in my life to make a good story. Those acts simply add to the stress of someone already struggling and on the edge of another tragedy.

But perhaps Britney's celebrity status will bring attention to some very serious mental issues and prompt regular people to recognize out-of-control behaviors in themselves or in people they care about. How wonderful it would be if someone gets the help they so desperately need because of the attention Britney is getting.

Many get scared when realize they have a mental health disorder. It's almost as if the fear of how others will treat them outweighs the realization that the right medication can balance out the struggles and allow patients to finally work on the fundamental cause of the problem.

Britney Spears almost certainly has issues. Again, who among us doesn't. I'm saddened that her celebrity status makes the general population laugh at her struggles, as if she doesn't deserve the love and respect a non-celebrity would get. Yet I'm hopeful that in the end, at least one person will benefit greatly from the media attention Britney and her condition is getting.

Focus on the emotions

A friend of mine sent me this article yesterday. The idea behind it is that we must embrace our emotions - even the "dark ones" that make us feel icky crappy. I completely agree. Feel and process the emotions, relate them to your experience, and go about your day. Problems - big problems arise when we stuff those emotions thinking they'll eventually go away. Kind of like out-of-site, out-of-mind. I lived many years like that - in denial of my true feelings.

Thankfully, through the help of my medication of choice, I am better able to focus on my here and now and can process those emotions more accurately.

I can't think of one person in that I know that couldn't benefit from an occasional visit to a therapist: we all need to talk to someone sometimes - and if that someone isn't emotionally attached to our lives in some ways, they can provide much more objective suggestions to help with our struggles.

Part of being human is having feelings. Part of being alive is in allowing ourselves to fully express those feelings. Squelching them just messes up your mind, body, and spirit and can lead to long-term health issues.

I don't think it's an accident that my tonsils need to be removed. It's how my body as been effected by my years of not allowing myself to fee my emotions. Being of the mind set that our spiritual/mental/emotional energy affects our physical body, and accepting the pending surgery, I am grateful that a tonsillectomy is all I need because of it! I've gotten MUCH better at that - still need to work on it. Thanks to being among the medicated many, I'm better able to do that.

YouTube says...

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

For the Medicated Many who look for alternative ways to heal

I received the following message in an email. I believe, thanks to the power of the internet and my account on facebook that has links to my several blogs, this woman found my site. Yay!

Anyway, I share it with you, in the event you are looking for alternative ways to tackle your need for an antidepressant. As an energy worker, I struggle with my need for medication in order to be sane vs. the desire to want to find other ways to deal. I do know that me on meds is much more fun to be around than me NOT on meds. But, having experienced some major, positive effects from other energy workers for other personal issues, I can't negate the possibility. Just not ready to go there myself.

Here's the info:

TRANSFORMING DEPRESSION -

HOW TO COME OUT OF SHOCK AND INTO YOUR LIFE

AN ENERGY HEALING WORKSHOP WITH JULIE MOTZ,

AUTHOR OF HANDS OF LIFE


Are you depressed?
Does life seem like an overwhelming burden - too painful or too terrifying to bear?
Do you wake up feeling that you don't want to move - or, worse still, that you don't want to live?

Depression is an early survival mechanism. We learn it in the womb to
keep us quiet and motionless when our mother is anxious or distressed.
It is reinforced in infancy when our cries fail to summon her and again
in childhood when we are taught that our anger is "bad" and our needs
and desires inconvenient or unwelcome.

In later life it can be triggered whenever we have an impulse to grow,
expand or be excited - especially when this impulse is blocked or we
imagine that it might be. Small losses become devastating defeats
because they evoke the body's memories of early helplessness and
hopelessness .

The challenge is to go back into our early lives, experience the
reasons for our frozen state and teach our nervous system new
responses. When this is done our natural energy and vitality return and
we can experience all the excitement and forward movement our
depression has held prisoner.

In this workshop you will learn how to speak to your nervous system in
its own language and bring it out of its old defensive patterns. You'll
become conscious of the early, hidden anxiety your body has been trying
to combat and relieve it of that burden. You will be able to live in
the present at last and enjoy all the creativity, enthusiasm and
exuberance that has been trapped and waiting for you to make it safe to
come out and play.

When: February 22-24 Friday 6:30-8:30 PM; Saturday & Sunday 10-5:30
PM. Please plan to leave lunch hours and Saturday dinner time free
for possible additional workshop activities.

Where: "The Sanctuary" @ 2700 CR 510 (between Durango & Bayfield,
Colorado)

Cost: $250 (early registration by January 12 - $225)

How: write check to Julie Motz,
send it to
Julie Motz
351 Olema Road
Fairfax, CA94930

Email with Questions

JULIE MOTZ, MFA, MPH is an internationally known healer, teacher and
author. She began her work on depression with heart transplant patients
with whom she did healing work during their surgeries. She has lectured
at Columbia, Dartmouth and Stanford Medical Schools and been featured
in the New York Times Magazine, Psychology Today, Prevention and the
Utne Reader. Her work has been shown on "Dateline," "Extra!", CNN, the
ABC NIghtly News and French, Canadian and Australian National
Television. Her book, Hands of Life, has been published in five
languages.

Click to read excerpts from Hands of Life

Irritating Media

I have a love-hate relationship with the media. I love how skilled people can use one little piece of information to make a point. And I hate how skilled people can twist data into something more than it really is. A local news station posted an article yesterday on the number of women aged 18-44 who have been prescribed an antidepressant. A wopping 34%. Ooooo. The author's point is that perhaps antidepressant medication is over prescribed. Oh, and it's touted as the #1 drug prescribed.

I suppose it's a logical conclusion to make. However, when an antidepressant can perscribed for a myriad of ailments, is it fair to even go down the these-get-prescribed-too-much road? Let's see, off the top of my head, antidepressants are prescribed for:

Depression
OCD
Social Anxiety Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress

Wouldn't it make sense that antidepressants are the #1 prescribed drug? The reasons someone needs antidepressants don't just go away after a 10 day course of treatment like bacteria. And they can't build up our immunity against them once the germs enter our system. For many people, the postives outway the side effects. Tell me one medication that doesn't have a risk of side effects.

How many people are on medication to control heart disease?

How many people are on medicatoin to control diabetes?

And I'm SO tired of hearing that you should really get your antidepressants from a pshychiatrist along with therapy. I'm much happier these days on medication and not seeing a therapist. I don't know a single person who couldn't benefit from seeing a therapist now and again to help work through varoius issues. But talk therapy isn't the end-all-be-all for treating anything that an antidepressant can help. If there is a chemical imbalance in the brain, something is wrong and needs to be addresses... often with medication.

I used to be one ofthose people who thought that you were taking the easy road if you needed antidepressants. I even thought that there was something wrong with you if you took them for years. Karma is a complete bitch, because after trying all sorts of natural methods and exercise and talk therapy the only thing that truly works to solve my problem is an antidepressant.

I'm proud to be among the women 18-34 on an antidepressant. They aren't the best solution for everyone. But for those of us fortunate enough to live successfully among the Medicated Many, we could really use more stories on how antidepressants can be a good and wise choice.

I wonder

Early on in my mommy-at-home role, I understood why decades ago women at-home with the kids enjoyed a drink or two, or three during the day. Can't tell you how many days I couldn't wait for my husband to come home so I could enjoy a glass of wine to help take the edge off. I saw a therapist not too long ago who said back in those days, women self-medicated with alcohol, but they didn't know that's what they were doing.

One of the reasons I don't have the can't-wait-till-I-can-have-wine feeling is because I'm happily among the medicated many. Therapy and self-realization has been helpful too. But I think that being properly medicated helps keep my overall view of various experiences more real, allows me to concentrate better, and makes focusing on various things much easier.

I wonder how many moms would have truly benefited from the types of medication prescribed today all those years ago?

Out of the mouths of babes

At the grocery store this afternoon, my children were getting all giggly at the birthday candle section. Some candles were for babies, some were for little boys who love trains. Some were princessy. My daughter picked one up that was black and white. It had a 40 sitting next to a headstone that read RIP. And she says,

Mommy, this candle would be for someone turning this many on Halloween!

I chuckled, smiled, and told her she was exactly right.

Hoping this leaves you with a reason to laugh and enjoy life's simplest moments.