Kellevision

Francis the Traumatized Mule: Treating Anxiety in Animals and Humans

Francis, a mule we are rehabilitating for providing animal assisted therapy, has a history of very severe abuse.  As a result, she has chronic anxiety.  Apparently her previous owners tranquilized her to deal with her anxiety and fear.  I see a lot of humans doing this for their anxiety.  It's amazing how closely her coping mechanisms mirror those of human trauma survivors.

Are We Overmedicating Our Children?

 Today Moms has an interesting article asking just that question. 

Some excerpts from the article:

“I give my younger daughter Benadryl and Tylenol almost every night – she loves the taste and begs for it.”

“I gave my child Benadryl to go to sleep – years later now, I am still embarrassed to admit it.”

“I gave my child Benadryl when he was mildly congested to guarantee he would fall asleep on time so I could get to bed at a decent hour.”

But turning to medication just to get your kid to sleep indicates a deeper problem.  According to Dr. Nancy Snyderman, medicating your children “every day is not OK. Drugs are never an OK substitute for parenting.” “If a mother is drugging a kid that much, it’s a parenting issue.”

And Today's Moms contributor Wendy Mogel states, “Moms are so nervous – what if she doesn’t get to sleep, then she’ll be tired and she has a math test tomorrow and then after the math test we have to go right to soccer practice…” Mogel told TODAY.com, her voice trailing off to indicate the never-ending to-do list that lives in every mom’s mind. “We’re taking shortcuts because parents are desperate.”

 

 

Please Repeat After Me: "You Cannot Change Other People"

You can either focus on changing yourself or waste a huge amount of time and energy and passion trying to change others.

An Important Discussion of ADHD on Yahoo Answers

I ran across this discussion regarding ADHD on Yahoo Answers and was encouraged.  To tell you the truth, I have had a lot of children brought to me who were diagnosed with "ADHD", but I have never seen them manifest the symptoms required to meet the diagnostic criteria.  I'm truly starting to question whether the disease even exists. 

Emotions as Weapons: Anger and Bullying and Family Violence

A while back I wrote about emotions as weapons.  Unfortunately, I have witnessed a great deal of anger as a form of bullying in the past several months. 

How to Fight Fair

In any relationship disputes and conflicts are going to arise.  However, there should be rules about what is and is not appropriate during a fight.  These rules may simply be agreed upon by the partners, or they may be written down and posted on the refrigerator door.  However they come to be, it is important to agree on what is and is not acceptable and that both parties honor these rules.  Not having a set of rules of what is off limits can change simple fights into open wounds that fester and grow over time creating deep resentments and unspoken animosity that slowly poisons a once loving relationship. 

Intervention

Can you be addicted to a show about addiction?

When one member of the family changes...

For the first post of the new year I would like to address "change".  This is a time when people often make New Year's resolutions to change behaviors they dislike.  It is important to realize the effects those changes may have on your family interactions. 

Please, please, please let my child have a mental illness?

The mother grinned broadly and triumphantly when she announced that the psychiatrist had diagnosed her child with ADHD.  "I knew it!"  "No one would listen to me, but I knew it, and I was right!"

Maintaining Your Mental Health During the Holidays

The holidays can be a time of great celebration - or great frustration - or both!  If you are needing a bit of help during the next two weeks I will try to be more available than usual.  In the meantime, here are some previous articles which might prove helpful:

All previous articles about staying sane through the holidays.