OUR GRATITUDE: IF YOU ARE SHOPPING ONLINE ANYWAY

OUR GRATITUDE: IF YOU ARE SHOPPING ONLINE ANYWAY

World Autism Awareness Day April 2

Elizabeth Cohen at CNN
In recognition of World Autism Awareness Day April 2, CNN reports on the global impact, latest science and controversies related to the brain disorder. Watch for expanded coverage on CNN.com and CNN TV.

There are some great resources on this link today:
Getting Help with Autism
When To Challenge A Pediatrician
Impact Your World: See How You Can Make A Difference

Spread these around if you can.

I WAS ATTRACTED TO A PURPOSE TODAY

During my journey today, trying to develop better blogging skills, I ran across a group of really dutiful moms, families and friends of Autism and Aspergers, they have a lot of great resources and are looking for more.
Check them out and help out if you can.
MOMOLOGUE

BBINAPPLES

IF ANYONE FINDS SOME GOOD RESOURCES OR IS WILLING TO OFFER SUPPORT, JOIN FORCES WITH THEM, PLEASE.
THANKS
ROSEE285

LOVE, KINDNESS, AND COMPASSION

I read an article today that was posted on Everyday Health. The article described research testing results, and claims that the qualities we would all like to see more of in the world such as love, kindness, and compassion are TEACHABLE.

The article is suggesting that people who meditate while focusing on kindness and compassion will show results that make them more able to feel compassion in others. They are hoping to conclude that people that mediate and show improvement in studying and sports will also show more compassion and kindness when meditation is focused on the health and well being of others.

Of course, this is so far only in research, but WHAT A CONCEPT. The extreme possibility that we can affect the balance of the world with a method that a lot of us use everyday to stay focused on our life skills and goals.

The research involved Tibetan monks that had meditated through most of their lives and 16 subjects that had just begun using compassion meditation. There were changes in the brain that were monitored through imaging. The researches hope to find more results that back up their desire to use meditation as a treatment for a greater range of problems. Depression is one of them and they even include bullying in that range.

I personally, believe that meditation develops changes in the way a person views the world. I have experienced dramatic changes in my level of depression and the reactions I monitor in relation to others. I have benefited greatly through the use of meditation. I believe that this group is on the cutting edge of some positive research findings and I will be looking for results like this in other programs.

I have been told that this process is not effective in relation to disorders like ODD, but I hold faith that results will soon show that this behavior can be used as an alternative to the methods now being used to find therapeutic levels for sufferers of ODD and many other similar disorders. I intend to collect data that supports this theory and hopefully find a research group that has even more positive findings. WHEN I do, I will be sharing that information.

NEED A LIFT FROM THE STRESS OF TODAY!

This wonderful movie will give you the lift you need to get through the day. Dr. Phil had a show on yesterday that showed some parents that were experiencing the difficulty of raising a child with physical or emotional difficulties. He stressed the fact that sometimes, it is RIGHT to take a step back and move away for a break. Like take a night out with friends for a movie, take a vacation weekend, go shopping. We all need to regroup occasionally.

It must be hard when there is no relief in sight. Use the resources from this site to get some relief for you and your child or children.

THIS MOVIE CAN DO IT FOR YOU TODAY it is only 4 minutes long.
This is a great movie for groups to have and it can be received for free and the cost of shipping, check it out.

Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depressive Illness or Manic Depression)

FROM EVERYDAY HEALTH

During the manic phase, symptoms can include:
High level of energy and activity
Irritable mood
Decreased need for sleep
Exaggerated, puffed-up self-esteem
Rapid or "pressured" speech
Rapid thoughts
Tendency to be easily distracted
Increased recklessness
False beliefs (delusions) or false perceptions (hallucinations)
During elated moods, a person may have delusions of grandeur, while irritable moods are often accompanied by paranoid or suspicious feelings.
During a depressive period, symptoms may include:
Distinctly low or irritable mood
Loss of interest or pleasure
Eating more or less than normal
Gaining or losing weight
Sleeping more or less than normal
Appearing slowed or agitated
Fatigue and loss of energy
Feeling worthless or guilty
Poor concentration
Indecisiveness
Thoughts of death, suicide attempts or plans
For further information on the list below go to

EXPECTED DURATION
WHAT IS IT
SYMPTOMS
DIAGNOSIS
PREVENTION
TREATMENT
WHEN TO CALL A PROFESSIONAL
PROGNOSIS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

IF YOU ARE SHOPPING ONLINE ANYWAY

IF YOU ARE SHOPPING ONLINE ANYWAY, why not let your purchase be a donation to The American Cancer Society, at no additional cost to you. What have you got to lose?

DO YOU HAVE ADULT ADD

DO YOU HAVE ADULT ADD

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Help Videos

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Help Videos

LIVING WITH DEPRESSION

LIVING WITH DEPRESSION: EVERYDAY TIPS

Crafty1's Corner: AC MOORE SPECIALS

Crafty1's Corner: AC MOORE SPECIALS
GRATITUDE

OUR GRATITUDE IN BOOKS: HOT TITLES

OUR GRATITUDE IN BOOKS: HOT TITLES

OUR GRATITUDE: IT'S ALL IN THE VISION

OUR GRATITUDE: IT'S ALL IN THE VISION

Treating Bipolar Disorder

There is a great article on Everyday Health in The Bipolar Disorder Center
Another great resource on Beliefnet
If you have not joined the social network at Beliefnet, you are missing out on a lot of links to really helpful resources for emotional and physical health. They have a wealth of information on hundreds of topics and it is all free. There are stories of miracle healings, angels and scientific resources for all types of illness.
Have a great day!
check out my other sites:
OUR GRATITUDE
OUR GRATITUDE IN BOOKS
MASTER BOOKS
OUR GRATITUDE IN BUSINESS
POWERFUL INTENTIONS

LET'S NOT FORGET EVERYDAY HEALTH

When we are experiencing Emotional Health Issues at Home, we have the tendency to let our physical health take second chair. Well, what good are we to those that need us, when we end up sick, from lack of sleep, proper meals and a tight reign on all of our health issues?
Here are a couple of resources to help with that. Everyday Health is a great sight it offers a great deal of resources for just about every form of mental or physical health.

Millions watched in awe as legendary newsman Hugh Downs introduced THE GREATEST MEDICAL TEAM EVER ASSEMBLED...



Everyday Health Healthy Living Center sign up or just visit for free resources on all aspects of health.

Everyday Health Emotional Health: Can Anxiety Help Women Live Longer?

OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANT DISORDER IN CHILDREN

Excerpts from Your Child on Oppositional Defiant Disorders

All children are oppositional from time to time. There are also times in normal development when oppositional behavior is expected. This is especially true when the thrust towards separation is most intense, around the ages of two and three, and again in early adolescence.

However, openly uncooperative and hostile behavior becomes a serious concern when it is so incessant and fierce that it stands out when compared with other children’s behavior and when it affects the child's social, family, and academic life.

Click here for more information on Oppositional Defiant Disorder from Your Child

Click here to order Your Child

Excerpts from Your Adolescent on Oppositional Defiant Disorders

At times, all teenagers are oppositional, argumentative, and inattentive. Absorbed in their own thoughts and concerns and more interested in their peer group, teenagers frequently turn a deaf ear to the adult world. Even when the demands are reasonable, a teenager may respond with belligerence or passivity. Because the thrust toward separation is especially intense, adolescence is a time when oppositional behavior is sometimes expected.

Disrespectful, defiant, and hostile behavior, however, must be carefully examined in a teenager when it begins to affect the youngster’s social, family, and academic life or seems extreme compared to the teen’s peers.

Click here for more information on Oppositional Defiant Disorder from Your Adolescent

Click here to order Your Adolescent

FAMILY RESOURCES BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL!

American Family Physician
Clinical Care and Research
Policy And Advocacy by AAFP
This is new: Live 24 Hour Online Counseling!
There is always someone to talk to. Speak to online counselors from the convenience of your home!

A counseling approach that works:Self Awareness Weekend! (SAW)
clears away issues for anger, anxiety, addictions, abuse of any kind, depression, divorce, fear, stress, grief, relationship problems, couple/marriage counseling, domestic violence, unresolved childhood issues, traumas, or any self-sabotaging problem.

THE STRESS ERASER
Recommended by Good Morning America

Do you know what actually causes you to feel stressed?

Does it seem too easy for life to make you feel stressed lately? Are you getting stressed too often? You may not realize it, but there's a biological reason why you feel this way, and it's called ergotropic tuning.

Ergotropic tuning is a biological process that changes the way the nerves in your body respond to stress. Ergotropic tuning causes your nerves to respond faster and more strongly to stress. In other words, it makes you feel stressed more easily, more quickly, more intensely.

Recommended by Jane Weaver at MSNBC
Samantha Sordyl of The Washington Post!

COGNITIVE THERAPY RESOURCES (CBT)

An Introduction to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

National Anxiety Foundation



The Total Transformation Pr0gram for Parents and Kids

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the largest scientific organization in the world dedicated to research focused on the understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of mental health

A GREAT RESOURCE!

This is a direct link to services for all types of mental health issues. You will find support groups, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and definitions and explanations for mental health issue.

END INSURANCE DISCRIMINATION

In an earlier post I mentioned how little resources are available to parents of children with ODD, but far worse than that is there are very few resources available for all forms of mental illness or addiction. These illnesses are no different than a broken leg. Does anyone choose to break a leg, is it in any way intentional? Of course, not! Along the same lines, does anyone choose to develop an emotional, mental disorder? I can say right now that my friend's daughter certainly did not choose the life she is living right now. I did not choose to develop clinical depression, or choose to have it manifest as Agoraphobia for the many years that it did.

We have to develop a mind set that fits the language that is already formulated. There are clear and direct symptoms to all mental illnesses. Doctor's don't just decide to label someone with a MENTAL ILLNESS. They don't get extra points, they don't have to reach a quota, but we all have to open our minds and begin to pay attention to the many that are suffering from these disorders and help them break free of them. I know that my recovery this time (my third) has been one of immense, insightful, discoveries that have transformed my life into this amazing and wonderful awakening. The resources I have found, that have helped me to translate my mental illness into a journey of illuminating awareness, are nothing short of miracles, and they are disguised in the least obvious wrappings. I am in no way attempting to minimize the severity and painful state that mental illness takes us to; I am only opening a mind set of discovery, that if we all begin to share equally, will bring us to a level of universal recognition.
MENTAL ILLNESS IS A BROKEN LEG!

My friend directed me to the NAMI website tonight, as she stole the minutes I should have been focusing on getting this information out. Yes, she talks a good game. This is a very informative organization and a very highly acclaimed resource for parents, or sufferers of any mental disorder. I am happy that she found this site. I hope that introducing these resources will open up new ones, and the message will resound with a unified effort to change legislation to treat Mental Illness the same as any disease of the body. I hope to also help change the labels that are attached to mental illness and the way that people are received when they are suffering from them. Insurance carriers must hear the message, and mental health workers and all of us should continue driving this force into legislation with the power of a steam engine, until the results are forthcoming.

I encourage anyone that shares this mind set, to join in this battle to shift mental illness, in the eyes of insurance companies, to a broken leg. Again not to minimize the seriousness of this issue, but it is only a shift in the way that we think about mental illness that needs to change. It is a simple thought, not a simple job, but a simple thought, an idea. We each have thousands every day and we only need to "all" have one, the same one that tells lawmakers that mental illness is really just a broken leg.

THIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

House Passes Mental Health Parity Bill
March 5, 2008
By a vote of 268-148, the US House of Representatives on March 5th passed its version of the mental health insurance parity bill (HR 1424), setting up what is likely to be a difficult negotiation with the Senate, which passed its version (S 558) unanimously this past fall. Both bills require group health plans to cover mental illness and substance abuse disorders on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses - equity with respect to durational treatment limits (inpatient days and outpatient visits) and financial limitations (cost sharing, deductibles, out-of-pocket limits, etc.). However, there are important differences between the House and Senate bills that must be resolved. ...

This is posted on the NAMI web site and it is a step in the right direction, but it must be resolved and passed. People need to understand that suicide takes as many lives as war, and that each of us may not be able to stop war, but we can certainly afford to change the minds of legislators to inform insurance companies, to allow coverage for mental health, equally with cancer and all other diseases.

My personal recovery has led me down this path and I Thank God that I have recognized the sleeping giant in me to help get this message out.
Comments are welcome at the end of this post and to contact me , you may email to: anortonc@aol.com JOIN US, AS WE CHANGE THE MINDS OF INSURANCE COMPANIES EVERYWHERE!

Make a choice to watch it, read it or live it…but at least try it, and remember this: THE SECRET

Thoughts do become things.
There are no coincidences.
Miracles are all around us.
Ask, Believe and you will receive.

WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR!

I have mentioned before how difficult it is for my friend who’s child has been diagnosed as having ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). I recently discovered that it is under the umbrella of Autism and usually goes hand in hand with ADHD referred to as Comorbidity.”This is a very difficult diagnosis for parents to live with. I realize the emphasis should be on the treatment of the disorder and the child, but I think that most agencies and state wide resources are forgetting that parents are a crucial part of this disorder. It is parents that have to heal their children. It is parents that have to continually make excuses for their child’s behavior, or have discipline, at school and other places, make exceptions for their child. This is what my friend heard today. “Your daughter will be coming home in a few days and if you feel that you are not “capable” of taking care of her, we will place her in a foster family.” NO PARENT SHOULD EVER HAVE TO HEAR THOSE WORDS. These children are not responsible for this behavior and although parents must monitor their child’s behavior, eventually when things go back to normal for awhile, they begin to trust their child, and they are fooled into believing that they are doing everything they can, which in fact, they are not. (They do not ever realize this at the time, because their wish to believe that their child is taking his or hers medication is what they need to believe). I have seen many parents going through this when my youngest was in school. At some point, every parent has to trust their child in order for that child to get everything they should out of life. But for parents the only hope is disguised as manipulation on the part of the child, which is the most prevalent symptom in the diagnosis. This is a perfect Catch-22 and it is being over- looked on every level of care for these children.

Parents are having to alter their entire life styles. They are forced to sacrifice their own dreams, in order to focus on raising their child with crucial fail safes in place. And to be prepared for the cycling that inevitably takes place, with this disorder.

It is under the Department of Mental Health, which under that title, you would expect a great deal more available to parents raising children with ODD. Well, their method is not a solution. No one has offered my friend support in this. I know that they offer the support of DSS (Department of Social Services) in the form of intervention between parent and child, and frequent visits to gauge the child and the parent‘s behavior, but under that title there is only one solution, keep your child at home and go about daily life as if he or she does not suffer from this disorder, and when he or she cycles again, we can then give you more help by taking her off your hands for another week or two while they adjust her medication and then send her back home, where the parent sits waiting everyday for the other shoe to drop. This puts a lot of parents in the position of raising self indulgent children. Placating them to tone their behavior down, avoid explosions, and live in peace. The mere fact that these agencies are aware that this disorder cycles, should be enough to offer parents more resources.
I had to tell my friend today, that what she was being told was true, and that they were consistently telling her that there are no alternatives for her. However, that is not what my friend needed to hear, so she did not buy into that mind set. I was feeling so disconnected from her on the ride home. I could not find the “right” words to express to
her that I understood what she was trying to accomplish, but it was the “method” she was using to accomplish it. Parents, as well as children, have to know that, there are times when what you are doing is not going to get you anywhere, and continuing along the same lines of communication will only leave you, the parent, with a new label. The label will fall under the heading of inadequate parenting, and he or she will be told that they are the source of the rise in their child’s behavior. NO PARENT IS INADEQUATE WHEN THEY ARE PROACTIVELY TRYING TO GET HELP FOR THEIR CHILD! I am no expert, but I do believe that when a parent is doing everything possible to help their child, the help should come in a message that parents understand. A language that can be used to miraculously change their child’s behavior. It may be something as simple as changing the way that social workers explain the available resources to the parent. Or finding more resources for both the child and the parent.

I know this:

My friend is not the source of her child’s behavior, the disorder that her child has, is the source. Although my friend may not be communicating that well, considering how much pressure this puts on her, social workers should be ready to provide “more than just adequate resources” to aid parents through the most difficult and crucial time with this disorder. During the crisis, not after. After the crisis the whole cycle begins again and it will never end as long as it continues along these lines.

There are alternative methods for children with this disorder and they involve physical activity to raise their endorphin level and to experience deep and sometimes traumatic issues in their life. This is why most of them are sent to ‘Wilderness Programs”that are not covered by insurance and cost $6000. plus per month. Not every family, and in some areas, no family, is prepared to put out that much money. Most parents are saving for college education for their child. Are they supposed to use that resource to change this child’s behavior? Are they supposed to let their child fail in school and not see the child’s dream come to fruition? I do not see how this will work over time, if this is a cycling disorder.

I am not only curious, but I am determined to find, affordable alternative methods to help my friend and other parents like her, through this tragic period in their lives. I hope that as my readers, you will offer help and whatever resources you know of, to help me, help my friend and her daughter. I do see there are some new “self help digital programs” available to parents and teens and maybe my friend will consider one of these, but the important thing to remember is never give up…do not ever give up being the parent you are…try to become the source of your child’s recovery and enjoy the years of ahead with a closer happier relationship with your child.

I still laugh with my friends about my daughter at 15 and the knock, down, drag out fights that we had, while she went through puberty while I was going the menopause, not a road anyone wants to go on, believe me. But if my daughter’s behavior had not changed and I had to continue like that for years, we would not have the relationship we have now. I know my friend and her daughter will get through this and I hope everyone will help me by sending resources my way. Just respond below to the comments and I will be grateful for any help you send.

Make a choice to watch it, read it or live it…but at least try it, and remember this: “The Secret”

Thoughts do become things.
There are no coincidences.
Miracles are all around us.
Ask, Believe and you will receive.
It all begins with baby steps.

IS YOUR CHILD ACTING OUT!

I created this blog for my friend, who has been struggling with behavioral issues in her teenage daughter. As parents we all experience the teen years, and we realize how difficult they CAN be, some more than others. What my friend discovered is that her teen is suffering from Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) which is a cycling disorder in the same category as ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia and many more, the resources for support and treatment are extremely limited.
The resources listed above and on the right side are from the website:
FCBC FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN WITH NEHAVIORAL ISSUES.

The links on this blog are their resources and I have posted them here in hopes of aiding in helping parents receive this information more readily. My friend and I spent weeks trying to find help for her teen and what we found is that these resources are meager, limited and treatment is not covered by most insurances. She talked with DSS, Social Workers and Mental Health workers and all had very little to offer in regards to resources. FCBC has wonderful resources and I hope that it will help parents get to it much faster than we did and save them the stress that my friend has had to bear.

Below are resources that are not recommended or supported by FCBC, they are my recommendations and are not associated with FCBC in any way. These are alternative treatments, now being used to help both parents and children through behavior modification cognitive issues:

CENTERPOINTE AND HOLOSYNC
THINK RIGHT NOW
GROW 33 LEADS THE WAY FOR TEENS