Pain and Chronic Pain--New!

New!

I think you might like this book – "Healing the Brain, Second Edition: Pain and Chronic Pain" by David Balog.

Start reading it for free: 

https://a.co/2ilcGHE

Sample pages;

Start reading it for free: 

https://a.co/2ilcGHE

Start reading it for free: 

https://a.co/2ilcGHE

Gay youth need support post-Trump

What's a gay youth to do faced by an increasingly hostile social environment brought on by the Trump election? The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a rise in hate crimes against all minorities since the election and the LGBT community is included. We look at how gay youth can find a supportive hand in this climate in our new book, Healing the Brain.

Finding Support

Coming out is one of the most stressful periods in a gay teen's life.

In a best-case scenario, the teen's parents might have suspected their teen's sexual orientation, and are happy and accepting of the declaration. But in the worst case, the teen's parents might cut off financial support, reject the teen, and kick him or her out of the household.

In “Homophobic Teasing, Psychological Outcomes, and Sexual Orientation Among High School Students: What Influence Do Parents and Schools Have?” published in The School Psychology Review, anti-gay teasing was found to have negative mental health outcomes in gay teenagers who lack supportive school and home environments. Researchers Dorothy L. Esperage and others examined 13,921 high school teenagers, of whom 932 were “questioning” their sexuality, and an additional 1,065 identified themselves as homosexuals.

While all teenagers will experience negative outcomes when parents are unsupportive, for gay teenagers, this effect can be particularly strong, leading to greater instances of depression. The study stated that questioning and openly homosexual students were more likely to report depression, suicide attempts, and drug use when their parents rejected their sexuality.

But gay students who received support were less likely to report these negative outcomes, even if they experienced victimization in school environments. Family acceptance of homosexuality led to higher self-esteem, more support against victimization, and reduced depression among the participants. Since each family scenario differs on a case-by-case basis, the teen should decide if coming out to his or her parents would cause more harm than good. If so, the teen must identify individuals in the teen's life who will be accepting and supportive of the teen's decision to come out. For some teenagers, this might be an aunt, uncle, or sibling, while others find support in school counselors or close friends.

GET THE BOOK!

Now Trump: Minority Stress and LGBT/Q Health

A few days after the earthquake of Trump's election, we must face our fears. Here is one view of gay life pre-Trump. What will the next years bring. From our book, Healing the Brain.
 

Gay/artist and activist Leo Herrera recently wrote: “I grew up an illegal Mexican immigrant in Republican Arizona, as far from “gay” as possible. Yet, the challenges and hopes I’ve faced as a gay man are the same as all of my peers across the world, as if homosexuality can transcend culture, geography and race. Homophobia is the same in New York City as it is in Russia, HIV and its stigma are as devastating in the South as they are in San Francisco, our sexual freedom is as reviled in America as in Uganda…and yet we are all moving forward on a global scale: our contributions to nightlife and the arts are as pronounced in Berlin as they are in Provincetown, the legalization of our unions is spanning continents, the unmistakable softness of our gestures transcends language. I don’t know if these universal similarities make homosexuality a culture, a race or a shared experience. What I do know is that they stir a deep pride in me that is almost religious.”

Get the book!

 

 

Why do we do drugs? (And we do them very well.)

Tomorrow we film "Alcohol, Drugs and the Brain. Here's a preview.

Why do people take drugs?

In general, people begin taking drugs for a variety of reasons:

• To feel good. Most abused drugs produce intense feelings of pleasure. This initial sensation of euphoria is followed by other effects, which differ with the type of drug used. For example, with stimulants such as cocaine, the “high” is followed by feelings of power, self-confidence, and increased energy. In contrast, the euphoria caused by opiates such as heroin is followed by feelings of relaxation and satisfaction.   
• To feel better. Some people who suffer from social anxiety, stress-related disorders, and depression begin abusing drugs in an attempt to lessen feelings of distress. Stress can play a major role in beginning drug use, continuing drug abuse, or relapse in patients recovering from addiction.
• To do better. Some people feel pressure to chemically enhance or improve their cognitive or athletic performance, which can play a role in initial experimentation and continued abuse of drugs such as prescription stimulants or anabolic/androgenic steroids.
• Curiosity and “because others are doing it.” In this respect adolescents are particularly vulnerable because of the strong influence of peer pressure. Teens are more likely than adults to engage in risky or daring behaviors to impress their friends and express their independence from parental and social rules.

Over time, if drug use continues, other pleasurable activities become less pleasurable, and taking the drug becomes necessary for the user just to feel “normal.” 

CLICK HERE FOR OUR BOOK:

Music as healing

Frank Sinatra was arguably the most important popular music figure of the 20th century, his only real rivals for the title being Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles.

I never liked Frank Sinatra, most especially because of his mob connections (notably chronicled by Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip).

But I've learned that music is the most evocative of the sensory stimuli, able to bring forth memories long hidden. And warts and all, Sinatra was a master musician.

In these incredibly stressful times, a nerve-wracking presidential election and much more, music can ease stress.

This video of a Sinatra classic, "It Was a Very Good Year," fascinates me. Here is Sinatra, flawed and all, singing a lovely, beautiful ballad. His facial expressions and show his personal creative process, his playfulness and joy. The conductor, Nelson Riddle, works hard to perfect the musical track.

My evoked memory: I'm nine years old, listening to a radio in my brother Robbie's room (my respected big brother). It's a winter Sunday night in 1967 and I'm waiting for the broadcast of a New York Rangers hockey game from Detroit on radio station WHN. A lot of detail, but my brain has retained this comforting image over 50 years. Sinatra's performance summons it forward.

So it would be helpful to learn about our how our brain uses memories, good and bad, and what role they play in the stress process.

LISTEN AND WATCH SINATRA'S "IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR" BY CLICKING HERE.

Order my well-received book on stress and health:

CLICK HERE.

3 Eras of Gay Sex in 3 Minutes and Sopping up Oceans of Gay Stress

About “3 ERAS of GAY SEX in 3 Minutes”

Leo Herrera

Documenting & Creating Gay Culture

About Leo Herrera 

“Herrera’s motivation as a filmmaker is the hunt for something that has long been tamped down, hidden from the public and brought out only in dark, throbbing undergrounds. It is anti-assimilationist and has very little to do with the forces that call for mirror-image marriage laws for queers. Herrera’s quest is to find the essence of that which sets gay men apart from the straight world, and even from other queers.” – The Advocate, June 2015

“His collaborations range over a global spectrum, all culminating in his effort to educate and tell the story of a bright future that we’re working so hard to create in the present, and honor those who paved the way for us in the past.”- Posture, July 2015

Leo Herrera is a Mexican NYC-based visual artist, filmmaker and GLBT advocate. His viral clips, art films and music videos have gathered over half a million views  and his advocacy work has focused on PrEP, HIV criminalization, stigma and the preservation of gay history.

“3 ERAS of GAY SEX in 3 Minutes” is Leo Herrera’s most ambitious project to date. It’s comprised of all original footage filmed in iconic gay locations, such as Julius, the Army Barracks in SF, and a gay sex dungeon in Brooklyn. Costumes were provided by Mr. S Leather in SF and the Leatherman in NYC. Leo worked closely with producer Jonathan Daniel Federico, a fellow NYC filmmaker as well as filmmaker Aron Kantor and cinematographer Nathan Lee Bush to realize his vision.

About Gay/Artist and Activist Leo Herrera
“I grew up an illegal Mexican immigrant in Republican Arizona, as far from “gay” as possible. Yet, the challenges and hopes I’ve faced as a gay man are the same as all of my peers across the world, as if homosexuality can transcend culture, geography and race. Homophobia is the same in New York City as it is in Russia, HIV and its stigma are as devastating in the South as they are in San Francisco, our sexual freedom is as reviled in America as in Uganda…and yet we are all moving forward on a global scale: our contributions to nightlife and the arts are as pronounced in Berlin as they are in Provincetown, the legalization of our unions is spanning continents, the unmistakable softness of our gestures transcends language. I don’t know if these universal similarities make homosexuality a culture, a race or a shared experience. What I do know is that they stir a deep pride in me that is almost religious.”

Learn more about stress and gay stress in my new book: Healing the Brain: Stress, Trauma and LGBT/Q Youth

Diabetes, depression, and stress

If you have diabetes and you have had symptoms of depression, you are not alone. That’s because people with diabetes are more likely to have depression than people without diabetes. This may be due to:

• The strain of managing diabetes on a daily basis
• Feeling alone and “different” from family and friends
• Feeling out of control if you are having trouble keeping your blood sugar in your target range

Depression can make managing your diabetes more difficult

Depression can make it difficult to follow your diabetes care plan. If you are depressed, you may not have the energy to:

• Prepare and eat healthy meals
• Get regular physical activity
• Take diabetes medicines
• Check your blood sugar

Recognizing depression

Recognizing that you may have depression is the first step to getting help and feeling better. But how do you know if you are depressed? Depression is more

than just feeling blue from time to time. If you have been feeling sad or down in the dumps for several days, ask yourself if you’re also feeling any of these

symptoms:

• Loss of pleasure in doing things you used to enjoy
• Difficulty sleeping, or sleeping more than usual
• Eating more or less than you used to, resulting in a fast weight gain or loss
• Trouble paying attention
• Lack of energy
• Nervousness
• Feeling guilty and like you are a burden to others
• Feeling worse in the morning than you do later in the day
• Feeling like you want to die or take your own life

Getting help

Treatment is available for depression. The first step is to talk with your diabetes care team. Tell them how you’ve been feeling. Let them know that you think you may need help. Recovery may take a little time, but you

can feel better.

Diabetes and stress

Like depression and diabetes, stress and diabetes are linked. And once again, each may lead to the other. Stress can increase your blood sugar. When we are faced with stress, our bodies get ready to take action. This is called the fight-or-flight response. The cells of the body need sugar for energy to fight or to run away. But in people with diabetes, insulin may not be available to let this extra sugar into the cells. So it stays in the blood. Increased blood sugar levels can cause stress.

If you are having difficulty managing your blood sugar levels, your stress level may increase.

Check your patterns

Is stress affecting your blood sugar levels? Here’s how to find out:

Before you check your blood sugar levels, rate your current stress level on a scale of 1 to 10. Write the number down

Check your blood sugar. Write your level down

After a week or two, look for a pattern. Do high stress levels and high blood sugar levels often occur together? If they do, stress may be affecting

your blood sugar control

Learning to relax

There are several things you can do to relax and lower your stress level.

• Physical activity. Moving your body through a wide range of motion can help you relax. Three movements to try are stretching, circling, and shaking parts of your body
• Breathing exercises. Sit or lie down. Breathe in deeply. Then push out as much air as you can. Breathe in and out again, this time focusing on relaxing your muscles. Continue for 5 to 20 minutes at a time.
• Progressive relaxation. In this method, you tense and then relax the muscles of your body. Start with your toes and move up, one muscle group at a time,
• to your head.
• Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Each time you find yourself having a bad thought (like, “I’m never going to get my blood sugar into my target range”), replace it with a positive one (like, “My blood sugar may not always be in my target range, but my last two readings were really close!”)

Managing diabetes-related stress

To manage the stress that comes from living with diabetes:

Consider joining a support group.Knowing that others are going through similar experiences can help you feel less alone. You can also share ideas for coping with diabetes

Get help from your diabetes care team. If there is a part of your diabetes care plan that is stressful for you, talk with your team. It is almost always possible to make changes so that your plan will be easier for you to follow.

LEARN MORE ABOUT IT: