Health Connection

“See me not my disease”

Seeing through the diagnosis of dementia

The stigma that comes with any diagnosis of dementia is one of the biggest challenges a person facing the diagnosis will have according to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. A recent poll by Alzheimer’s Disease International found that “40 per cent of people with dementia reported they had been avoided or treated differently after diagnosis.” Earlier this year The Alzheimer Society of Canada launched an awareness campaign on this problem. Called “See me not my disease, let’s talk about dementia” the project works to encourage family members and the public to see the person beyond the disease.

For those caring for a family member with dementia and for those experiencing it, every day can be a struggle to connect, leading to a sense of frustration, isolation, grief and sadness. Then comes the next stage – avoidance – “I don’t want to talk about it.” This approach only exacerbates an already difficult situation, leading to further isolation for everyone concerned.

However, new discoveries about communication are connecting those suffering from dementia with loved ones and care-workers in new ways. Communicating through music is one way we are discovering that it is possible to see through the “disease label” to the original and true beauty of an individual, and also to see that who they are is still there… Read more…

Why cynicism bad for our health

Gazing at a sea of red tulips, or driving under a canopy of glorious blossoms can be one of the most uplifting moments of a spring day, something to enjoy, and also to remember on cold winter days.Yet, for many of us, life is so burdened with tension and stress that we often do not notice these little things, or remember them.

A study out of Carleton University in Ottawa found that fully one-third of Canadians feel they are under stress. The reasons are many, such as sudden trauma, financial challenges, or unhappy family relationships.

Recently Carleton published an article on one of its websites. Titled Healthy Workplace, the site is dedicated to encouraging better health habits in employees at the university, based on solid research.

However, a less talked about sign of stress mentioned on the site, was cynicism.  It fell under the title, ”Spiritual Signs of Stress.” That nagging negative feeling of mistrust and doubt due to a build up of hurts and betrayals is bad for our health. Viewing life through mistrustful lenses, we are constantly on alert, and on the defensive – with our fight or flight reactor permanently switched on. This negative viewpoint drains us silently for years, without our noticing. But if we see cynicism as a health concern that harms us, maybe we will be more willing to address it, just as we might address our diet or lack of exercise for health reasons. There is no medical prescription to cure cynicism. What’s needed is a rethink about how we view the world and what memories we hold onto…. Read more…

Doctor says patients need to gain more control over their health

Dr. Nelie Johnson

Helping patients gain control over decisions about their health, and understanding the mental and emotional issues that lie at the root of health problems, are the key factors in one physician’s efforts to contribute to improved health care.

It’s a new health paradigm that Dr. Nelie Johnson of Maple Ridge has incorporated into her counselling practice. “Medicine,” she says, “is great at making a diagnosis, and it is good at life-saving treatments, emergencies, trauma, etc. However, it primarily comes from a physical perspective, and what I have learned is that the physical perspective is all very well, but it is often not enough

“What I have seen in my practice is a fix-it approach, which has made patients dependent. The patient knows, perhaps unconsciously, the impact of their life experiences.” She explains, “There is a whole person [involved], not just a physical body, but the mental and emotional as well.”…….

The essence of the shift that Dr. Johnson is advocating and teaching is that the “patient is an expert about their life experience.” She notes: “In all health disciplines, therapists often say to the patient, ‘We know best. Do this or take that!’ – Patients have been educated to go to an expert to get fixed, rather than develop their own expertise.”

So how does Dr. Johnson’s work re-empower patients in their health-care decisions?… Read more…

Should we have a medical prescription for grief?

Should grief be diagnosed as a mental illness and be treated with  medication, or is it a natural part of human life that should not be treated? This debate continues within the psychiatric world. It was a discussion first promulgated by Dr. George L. Engel in his ground breaking thesis “Is Grief a Disease?” 

The unanswered question in this debate perhaps lies in how we, as a society view grief. A very interesting article was published on this subject some years ago in the US National Library of Medicine. Titled,“Oppression of the bereaved: a critical analysis of grief in Western Society.” It states,

Bereaved individuals often experience profound social pressure to conform to societal norms that constrict the experience of grief rather than support it…………

This is an interesting point. Often, a person going through the loss of a loved one finds, that after the initial sympathy wave and support period they are expected to “get on with life”. No one talks any more about the individual who has died; there is discomfort when the one experiencing loss deals with it in unexpected ways that make others feel uncomfortable. Even within religious communities there are sometimes expectations as to how to behave at these times. After all, it was not that long ago that widows were expected to dress in black for at least a year. It was called “widows weeds”………. Read more…

The Easter Butterfly

@Glowimages

This morning I saw a butterfly. It swooped gracefully down into the garden where I was working, catching me by surprise by such an early Spring appearance. As I watched it, I was reminded of a joke a friend once shared with me. “Two caterpillars were sitting on a leaf watching a butterfly overhead. Said one caterpillar to the other – “You won’t catch me up there!”

How often do our negative perspectives on life limit our expectations and the fulfillment of our potential? Are we ready to see beyond our “leaf”?

The life of a butterfly also has wonderful lessons for us at Easter. The caterpillar enters into a chrysalis state – rather like a tomb. To all intents and purposes, the dried up looking hull of the chrysalis looks dead, but inside something akin to spring is happening. A transformation is occurring from which a beautiful butterfly emerges to a new and higher life – rather like the resurrecton and ascension of Christ Jesus.

One perspective of this could be that there is more to life and existence than just a human body. And many of us, whether we are religious or not, feel that there is a continuation of life after this world experience. But what does that mean in terms of how we see and live our life NOW?

I think it points to the possibility of recognizing that not only are we more than just a body, but that our thoughts and expectations have a role to play in our lives in ways that are now being explored and recognized. This recognition can have a huge impact on the way we view our health and how we live our lives now. We don’t need to think, like the two caterpillars on the leaf – that we can never be more than what we see. Looking upward and outward can give us new perspectives of what we really are; a less limited, healthier view that we can experience here and now.

This article was published in the Times Colonist March 27 2013

Choosing a healthy heart

glowimages.com

A proactive way forward for our health.

The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation released a video this month that focuses on the choices we make that affect our health – in particular our heart health. It asks us, “will you be strong enough to play tag with your grandchild?” It finishes with the strong statement, “Change your future!”
Every day we can make better food choices, exercise more frequently, and minimize alcohol consumption. On the negative side, ruminating about past hurts and reacting anxiously or angrily to current issues, can lead to feeling helpless and trapped in dealing with the waves of emotion most of us experience in life. And studies are beginning to show us that these thoughts can be far more damaging to our heart than eating a hamburger. On the other hand, learning to cultivate a sense of peace, gratitude and positivity can be beneficial in many ways.
In her book, “The Heart Speaks,” cardiologist Mimi Guaneri explains that she was trained to look at the heart as a merely physical entity, having no connection to a person’s emotional state. She then leads the reader through a personal journey interwoven with scientific research that is thought provoking. She introduces ideas about the relation between our emotional and physical heart that, though new to modern society, have an ancient lineage………You can read the rest of this post HERE in the Times Colonist

Creative arts bring healing to people with dementia

……….. and perhaps much more.

The creative arts are perhaps the strongest means of communication — building bridges that transcend language or speech; causing us to think, inspiring us with beauty or touching our hearts with love. So it is not surprising to find that the creative arts can cross the divide of how we traditionally view those who suffer from various forms of dementia.

In 2012, health and museum experts came together at the Phillips Collection Gallery in Washington, D.C., with a project called Creative Aging. The project was developed to explore how art could build bridges to those suffering from Alzheimer’s. The results were startling. But even more remarkable, the project revealed the healing effect of art — to some degree mending mental processes that disease and/or years had diminished….. Read more…

A hug – a healthy Valentine’s Day gift

Amidst all the hearts and flowers and chocolates, the fact is that love is essential for our health and well-being. The amount of love we experience in our lives correlates closely to our health and happiness. Studies show us that love promotes health in a variety of ways, and is far deeper than the romantic love that we think of on Valentine’s Day.

Love comes in many forms, such as a parent’s love for a child, social bonds with community and friends, and so on, but many of us also find love difficult to find in the hustle and bustle of impersonal cities and dysfunctional family environments. For some, love is a painful memory…. Read more…

Love – the vital ingredient for the family meal

Healthy for mind and body

Ah, family life – chaotic schedules, piles of dirty dishes, endless grocery trips and a “Parent taxi” sign pasted on the back of the family car! That seems to be the reality of family life for so many of us. “I can’t remember the last time we all managed to sit down together for a home-cooked meal,” sighed a close friend of mine one day over coffee.

Yet research tells us that family mealtimes can be very important for family health, both mental and  physical. It’s not just about the food we eat, but how we think about each other, what we talk about and how we learn to listen — vital ingredients for any meal… Read more…