Valuable Mental Health Info + Reasons to Be Anxious + Dangerous Deer

Mental Health Monday

Nature vs Nurture

The gist of this article is that there is a group of psychologists who, based on their research, believes that there is a stronger link between depression & trauma than between depression & biological factors. SEE Link re:  mental illness & life events.
      I'm a little wary about posting this link, because it may cause some people to start searching for childhood trauma that may, in fact, not be there. My observations:

• There is no doubt in my mind that I have a family history, especially on my mother's side, of clinical depression. My siblings & I have discussed this, & I think they agree. I have an uncle with whom I've discussed this, & I think he would agree as well.
• Family members who have been diagnosed w/forms of clinical depression seem to support this hypothesis.
• Unless I am the victim of repressed memories, I cannot point to any childhood trauma as the basis for my clinical depression.
• I do think that clinical depression may be "wired into" the DNA of some people, lurking in the darkest recesses of the brain, waiting to be activated by some type of physical or emotional trauma.

Google:  Our Friend? Or Something More Diabolical?

The gist of this article can be summed up in this excerpt from it:  "Digital amnesia is also known as the Google effect. It is the tendency to forget information that can be found readily online by using Google. Reports have suggested this is affecting our long-term memory as well as our short-term recollections, with some claiming it is even dampening our intelligence. A version of the report that was published in OCT from Kaspersky Lab found that the majority of participants across Europe can't remember their children's phone #'s. Half of people in the U.K. admitted they don't know their partner's phone #'s."  SEE Link re:  digital amnesia = more creativity. The article itself promotes the idea that many people believe that by using Google or similar devices they are able to devote more of their brain-power to creativity. My observations:

• We should take into account that Europeans also came up with the idea of the European Union & people in the U.K. tend to drink their beer warm.
• In all fairness, I have to admit that I don't remember my kids' phone #'s. I also have never been able to remember my wife's SSN, although she remembers mine.
• Even if it were true that relying on Google to free up brain-power for more creative uses, how do we know that people would actually use this freed-up space for creativity instead of just using it for more mundane uses than just, oh, I don't know, social media, browsing Pinterest, checking out You Tube videos, or getting their daily fix from the Drudge Report?
• Some of you may remember when Trivial Pursuit was the hottest board game. I hate to brag *, but I was more than just a little skilled, to the point where someone bought me a t-shirt. The front read, "Trivial Pursuit champ." The back read, "Ask me something insignificant." ** My encyclopedic knowledge of the trivial could be attributed to the hours I spent as a child, reading & re-reading my way through the World Book Encyclopedia that was in my bedroom at home. ***

* Not really or I wouldn't be bringing it up.

** I wore it with pride.

*** Which could also be attributed to early signs of OCD or my parents inability to provide me adequate, alternative reading materials. ****

**** May they rest in peace.

Depression & Sleep

The gist of this article can be summed up in this excerpt from it:  ". . . women's brains are wired differently from men & are more complex, so their sleep need will be slightly greater. The average is 20 min. more, but some women may need more or less than this." SEE Link re:  sleep & women & mental health. My observations:

• Don't worry, men, I've still got your back.
• There's no argument that "women's brains are wired differently" than ours."
• "More complex?" I don't think we'd argue that either, but I would note that a careful reading of this article, along with my extensive research *, has failed to uncover any empirical or anecdotal evidence that "complex" can be linked to intelligence. **
• For years Lois has had a tendency to "sleep-in" on Saturday mornings, while I have tended to get up at the usual time; maybe just a little later, but still earlier than she.
• There is definitely a link between poor sleep & depression.
• I do not think that poor sleep causes depression, but I do think that it exacerbates depression.

* As far as you know.
** Unless it's linked to EQ. There's no argument that women have great EQ than we do, right men?

Reasons for Anxiety?

Taglines from Drudge Report (3/30) [I didn't bother to read the articles.]
"Khamenei says missiles, not talks, key to Iran's future . . . " [Keep in mind that our Fearless Leader never called Iran the "junior varsity."]
"N Korea: We Are Ready for 'Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike' on USA . . . " [One consolation may be that Kim il What's-his-name may not know what "pre-emptive" means.]
[My childhood memories include civil defense drills at St. Paul's Lutheran School * & minuteman missile silos In & around Lafayette County, Mo. It's gonna take more that this to make me anxious.]
* Yeah, sitting underneath our school desks w/arms folded over our heads? Who thought that one up?

From Omaha World Herald (3/15):  "'Suicidal deer' warning signs receive mixed reactions. A new deer-crossing warning sign in northern Iowa is attracting attention & mixed reactions. 'Suicidal deer' says the sign just outside of St. Ansgar, w/another sign underneath that says 'Next 2 mi.'
      "The signs along IA Highway 105 sit near Sally Hertel's land. She said she found the deer sign a little insensitive. But Becky Dodson, who also lives near the sign, said she thought it was funny. Mitchell Co. Officials got the idea after seeing postings about a similar sign in central IL.
      "Mitchell Co. Board member Stan Walk said the county didn't intend to offend anyone in its effort to prevent accidents caused by the numerous deer in the area. He said officials wanted the sign to be an attention-getter, & it has been."
      MY COMMENTS:  Although I would agree that such signs may be in poor taste, & this is really more in the area of paranoid-thinking than anxiety. I have had my share of HDE*.

• First incident:  I was driving home at night . . . winter driving conditions. I was about 15 miles east of Norfolk when several deer darted in front of me. I had no time to brake & probably shouldn't have anyway due to ice & snow-pack on the roadway. What I remember most was hitting the deer & then watching it careening down the opposite lane of traffic. As I slowed to a stop & pulled over on the shoulder, the deer just kept right on sliding past me. Fortunately, I was able to drive the car back to Norfolk.
• Incident #2:  my assistant principal & I were driving home very late at night from Eppley Air Field in Omaha, having flown back from a conference in San Antonia. I was driving our personal Honda "can't-remember-the-name-but-it-was-a-small-compact-car." About 15 miles west of Omahs, on a dark, hilly stretch of highway, two deer suddenly broke from the woods & brush on my left, headed toward the driver's side of my car . . . no time to react & I actually flinched & braced for contact. Somehow the doe managed to squeeze its way in front of my vehicle. What happened to the buck? I heard a metallic, click coming from the back of the car, & it was over . . . Better than a cup of coffee to keep me awake on the almost 2-hour drive back to Norfolk! When I got back to town, the antennae on the trunk of my car was bent back at a 45-degree angle . . . damage undoubtedly inflicted by the buck, as he leapt to clear the car. I was pretty impressed, & that antennae made for quite the conversation piece. 
• Incident #3:  Happened soon thereafter. I was driving down to Concordia, MO, to visit my parents in the Good Shepherd Nursing Home. Can't remember the time of year but it was late in the evening, it was drizzly, visibility was poor . . . I was driving south on I-29, somewhere north of the Rochefort, MO, exit, when suddenly a deer carcass--a HUGE, BLOATED deer carcass appeared, straddling my lane. I was probably driving 65-70 m.p.h. A truck was in the right lane & I had no time to brake or swerve onto the shoulder, so I hit it. I didn't exactly go air-borne, but there was a definite thump . . . a shuddering thump. It seems to me that a weigh station came up almost immediately. I couldn't believe that there wasn't done damage to the undercarriage of the car, so I pulled over, got out, & best I could, I got down on all fours & tried to divine whether any car fluids were leaking onto the pavement. I couldn't detect any, so, trembling & soaked to the skin, I drove the last 2 1/2 hours to Concordia. Once again--better than a cup of coffee for staying awake! Postscript:  It didn't take long for two things to become obvious. After driving any length of time, whenever I stopped the car, the smell of burning, putrid deer flesh, sizzling underneath the car was obvious to anyone within smelling difference. Secondly, by the way the car handled, something was messed up with the car. I took it to my favorite maintenance garage for service. When I picked it up, the owner said, "Hit a deer, did you?" "Was it obvious?" I said. "To my guys who had to pick deer flesh out of the undercarriage it was," he said. He grinned, but he said it in such a way that I doubt if his mechanics thought it was that funny.
• Last incident [I'm pretty sure it was at least 4-5 years ago.]:  I was driving our LHNE cheerleaders & their advisor back to Norfolk from a post-season tournament, somewhere west of Sterling, so well over an hour from Norfolk, once again late in the evening. We was a fairly new mini-van. A small doe darted out from the brush & trees on the passenger side, hesitated, & I hit the brakes . . . too late. There was contact & I swerved briefly into the opposite lane & back. Thank goodness there was no oncoming traffic. I knew there was damage, so I pulled off on a gravel road to my left. School parents were following in several cars & saw me swerve. Others saw the blood splatter on the highway. Thanks to some duct tape, we were able to get the bumper off the ground, but the front right headlight was out of commission. I drove back to Norfolk, praying that (1) the vehicle was safe; & (2) I wouldn't get pulled over. While driving through the very next town, wouldn't you know it . . . either a police car or highway patrol car coming from the east toward me put on its flashers. I winced . . . & he pulled over a vehicle in his lane. We all breathed a sigh of relief, & we made it home safely. Yes, I believe in the power of prayers . . . 

* Hazardous Deer Encounters