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edoro · 2 years

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I read a fic that headcanoned Hunter having BPD, I kinda see it. Do you think it's possible that Hunter does have it?

well, i am for sure not an expert in bpd, i'll start right off with saying that.

one thing i AM aware of, or have seen in several sources, is that there seems to be a growing school of thought that what is currently called bpd is a specific constellation of symptoms that are also seen in cptsd, and that the two conditions aren't really different so much as that there's a certain presentation of cptsd that tends to get labeled as this other thing (which it itself part of a long history of mental disorders and psychiatric labels used to Communicate Certain Things About Certain Types Of People.)

the consensus does seem to be that the cause of bpd tends to be, you know, the same kind of early, ongoing environmental trauma that leads to cptsd - exposure to an unsafe, unstable environment in and throughout childhood which causes an inability to safely or securely bond to an adult caregiver, which then leads to the classic presentation of lacking stable internal sense of identity + fear of abandonment which manifests in various ways.

which is to say, Hunter definitely checks those boxes. we still don't actually know how long he's been with Belos, what his life was like before Belos, or whether or not the memories he has of a life before Belos are constructed or implanted or what, but living in the castle as Belos's ward and being in the Emperor's Coven are absolutely chronically traumatic environments.

he has been taught that love is transactional and that he has to earn care. he's been explicitly told and had it implicitly reinforced in a variety of ways that if he doesn't live up to expectations, he will be abandoned and replaced, and that he has no intrinsic worth as a person, but only becomes worthy when he does what's expected of him.

his attachment to Belos is very insecure - he can't trust Belos to safely love or care for or support him. he has to constantly earn it, and even then, it hurts. he doesn't really recognize that it hurts because Belos is being cruel to him, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, it just means it hurts and he has no idea why and just thinks that's how relationships are (or that it's something wrong with him) (or that he deserves it for being bad) (etc etc.)

and i do tend to read Hunter as a person who has a lot of identity issues. he comes across, to me, like someone who does not have a solid sense of who he is. he seems to rely heavily on external validation and opinions for his sense of self, and need to be told who he is and what he should be doing. he seems to need structure, and to rely on things like the role of the Golden Guard to give him that structure. that's an externally constructed identity that he can fit himself into, and when he feels as if his access to it is threatened (by being told he doesn't deserve it), then he becomes desperate to earn it.

so, yeah, i can see it. you've got the chronic trauma, the emotional abandonment + abuse, the ongoing fear of abandonment, lack of stable internal sense of identity, seeking external signifiers of identity, trying to conform to other people's opinions and ideas in order to avoid abandonment even at great cost to himself, etc etc.

#hunter toh #the owl house #asks

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the-courage-to-heal · 3 years

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Childhood:

The book Sybil and the subsequent 1976 movie in which Sally Field portrayed a girl with more than a dozen different personalities were the result of a collaboration between psychiatrist Cornelia Wilbur and author Flora Rheta Schreiber. The goal was to have people better understand a child abuse victim who developed alternative personalities as a coping mechanism.

While the book and movie raised the profile of what is now known as dissociative identity disorder (DID), they also created some significant misconceptions.

“Do people come into my office and switch personalities in a dramatic way, with different voices. Does their makeup suddenly change? No,” said Milissa Kaufman, MD, PhD, about the character Sybil. “It may feel like that to them internally, but there’s no dramatic thing that happens.”

Kaufman, director of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Research Program at McLean Hospital and medical director of McLean’s Hill Center for Women, said patients with DID, a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often carry on very normal, high-functioning lives. She pointed to Robert Oxnam, a China scholar and president emeritus of The Asia Society, who shared his life story in the 2005 book A Fractured Mind: My Life With Multiple Personality Disorder.

That is because DID is a coping mechanism, usually brought on by childhood abuse, and is a kind of ingenious, unconscious way of displacing situations onto other aspects of themselves.

“It’s the ‘not me’ phenomenon,” said Kaufman. “Little children have magical thinking. It’s at this age in development where you believe in Santa Claus, or where little children personify stuffed animals. There are displaced thoughts and feelings that are difficult for them, so they are put on these other entities. It’s a normal developmental stage that children go through.”

Where DID veers from “not me” is when abuse—physical, sexual, or emotional—is introduced into their young lives.

“If you’re being abused at night, you think to yourself that can’t possibly be happening. It has to be happening to some other little girl. It’s not me,” she said. “If a little girl is being abused at night and has to wake up the next morning and go to school and do sports and do homework and have to do as much as they can to not have people get angry at them, they displace it onto another aspect of themselves.”

“A child doesn’t have many other ways to cope. They can’t go to their parents, since that is the origin. They feel like there are other people inside of them, and they can’t tell anybody.”

Dissociation can be found in 1-3% of the general population and as high as 20-30% in psychiatric populations, about the same prevalence as schizophrenia, Kaufman said. A 1986 study by Frank W. Putman and others in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found the average patient with DID has been in the mental health delivery system for an average of 6.8 years and has received three other diagnoses. This reflected either misdiagnoses or occurrences of other diagnoses or symptoms that delayed an accurate diagnosis.

Dissociation occurs along a spectrum, from “spacing out” while driving and missing an exit to being hyper-focused on a topic. Along the range are memory issues, like gaps in recall, often associated with PTSD. Further along are depersonalization and derealization—which Kaufman described as a profound detachment from sense of self or sense of body, a sensation of being apart from one’s self, perhaps viewing what is happening from a distance.

The furthest end of the spectrum is fragmentation of identity, where “my feelings or my thoughts or my body feel like they don’t belong to me,” she said.

Richard Loewenstein, MD, a psychiatrist in the Trauma Disorders Program at the Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore, noted in a 2018 paper in Dialogues in Clinical Neurosciencethat dissociative identity disorders are among the oldest reported psychiatric disorders, with case reports appearing at the end of the 18th century.In more recent times, DID was viewed as being “rare and exotic,” except during wartime. Yet, the diagnosis was not without controversy, even among mental health professionals, with a history going back to Freud and questions about what real memories are. That was rekindled in the 1980s cases involving child abuse at day care centers in many parts of the country. Among the models developed at the time, one suggested DID could be produced in highly hypnotized, suggestible patients.

Rather than simply reveal forgotten traumas, the theory went, hypnosis could be used to implant false memories.DID can also be wrongly connected to malingering (exaggerated) and factitious (inauthentic) disorders, where patients make claims either with or without a motivation for personal gain. The best-known example of factitious disorder is the severe form once known as Munchausen syndrome.“That’s not what it looks like,” said Kaufman. “It’s a very real, very well-studied psychiatric disorder.”“It most often is chronic,” she continued. “It typically is at the hands of a caretaker. It can be sexual abuse, it can be physical abuse, it can be emotional abuse. But generally, people who have DID have had many different types of abuse at the hands of multiple perpetrators.

The women she works with at the Hill Center usually arrive with histories of childhood abuse, PTSD, co-occurring disorders such as eating disorders, or substance abuse issues. While DID affects men, she believes many are less likely to come forward for help.“I think there’s even more of a stigma for men to talk,” she said. “It may be that, or a lot of mental health professionals are not trained to ask questions. They may not be on alert for it, because the media depicts women most often as having this disorder, so maybe they don’t even ask.

”DID is also treatable with a three-stage set of professional guidelines established through expert consensus.The initial stage focuses on stabilization and safety. The goal is to

“get things calmed down and life in order. It can take a while for someone to feel comfortable and safe. It can take years.”

Once that is achieved, clinicians move on to the second stage, where the patient begins to process the traumatic events that have affected them. In the final stage, the emphasis is on

”getting your life back, mourning what you have lost and moving on without dissociation, learning how to be in the world without dissociating.”At the same time, scientists are exploring potential biological or genetic links that could predispose a person to DID. Studies to date have shown that in the classic form of PTSD, the brain’s amygdala—which controls the “fight-or-flight” response—is overactive while the prefrontal cortex is not, generating a hyper-aroused state. But in the dissociative subtype of PTSD, Kaufman said, the prefrontal cortex is overactive to the point where a person can be numb and detached.In fact, she explained, both the amygdala and prefrontal cortex become overactive in patients with DID.

“The trauma state in DID looks like classic PTSD,” said Kaufman. “In a numbed state of mind, it looks more like the dissociative subtype, where, the brakes are on too tight.”Scientists are also looking at the brain’s attentional activation system, how a person concentrates.“People who are dissociative have a really refined ability to focus attention, particularly in multitasking,” she said, saying researchers are working to understand how the brains of people with DID have a different allocation of resources toward attentional systems.Finally, there are also studies on potential genetic links.“You aren’t born with DID, but you can have a genetic predisposition to dissociate, so we are also looking for genetic markers.”But Kaufman stressed that people with DID should not give up hope.“It’s treatable. It’s a pretty phenomenal coping mechanism when you are growing up, but it becomes disruptive when you don’t need it anymore.”

source

#trauma #ptsd #trauma community #trauma survivor #emotional abuse #abusive relationship

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bwprowl · 3 years

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Me vs. The Mitchells vs. The Machines

The Mitchells vs. The Machines is a really cool movie. Seriously! It’s the Spider-Verse crew continuing to be at the top of their game, doing their damnedest to elevate and evolve 3D film animation in a way apart from the ongoing Disneyfied edge-sanding seen elsewhere. Several sequences, especially the final fight scene at the end, are absolutely jaw-dropping. A lot of the writing of the movie is also genuinely clever, with some cool tricks of weaving in Chekov’s Guns that you don’t even realize WERE Chekov’s Guns until they’re deployed, but then make perfect sense. And I also just have to say there’s something oddly heartening about a movie that does a lot to target Millenials in terms of nostalgia, but not so much via our shows and movies and music the way other project might go about, but specifically by tapping the internet meme culture of the early-00’s that’s so media-unique to that emergent generation. There’s some genuine heart visible in so many of the levels of how this thing was made that I can understand its touting as an instant classic and the waves of praise and popularity that have followed its release.

Unfortunately, I can’t so unilaterally praise this movie, mostly because I can NOT stop thinking about how poorly-implemented and mis-framed its central familial conflict is.

Oh yeah spoilers for this movie I guess

So I’ll need to detour at first and talk about A Goofy Movie, which isn’t much of an issue for me since I fucking love A Goofy Movie. And watching The Mitchells vs. The Machines my initial takeaway was a pleasant observation that someone had basically grafted A Goofy Movie to The World’s End, which could have made for an extremely fun time for me. A Goofy Movie, so it goes, centers on the conflict between a father and child trying to understand each other, spurred on by the father conscripting the child into an impromptu road-trip which the child initially resents but eventually leans into as a vehicle for understanding as the family members open up to each other and end with a greater appreciation for their familial bond as well as healthier, more open lines of communication. There are comical misunderstandings, dramatic misunderstandings, and escalating Wacky Adventures that keep the trip feeling suitably cinematic in scope. And as The Mitchells vs. The Machines continued on, I kept finding myself rounding back to that comparison and asking “Why am I not getting into this as much as I do A Goofy Movie?”

It turns out to be a point of motivation, actually. In A Goofy Movie, Goofy dragooning Max into the cross-country fishing trip is immediately borne out of his (however misinformed) desire to keep his son from going down a wrong, potentially delinquent or criminal path. Goofy has concerns about the lessened connection and communication with Max, sure, but that’s a symptom of his inability to communicate his actual worries about Max’s behavior to him, not the sum total of the problem he feels needs fixing. Goofy is under the impression there are genuine problems Max is going through, and while he’s got the actual particulars wrong, he’s not really that far off, since Max still IS the kind of kid to elaborately hijack a school function or make up extravagant lies to get attention from the girl he likes rather than just talking to her and asking her out like a normal human-dog-person. Goofy’s objective is firmly centered on helping Max for Max’s sake, and he’s only taking up a few weeks out of Max’s summer and causing him to miss a single party in order to do it.

I lay all that out so you can try to understand my headspace coming at critiquing The Mitchells vs. The Machines and negatively viewing its own take on a plot concept I ostensibly love by default. The problem, as said, is one of motivation. In The Mitchells, Rick’s dissatisfaction with his relationship with his daughter Katie is purely that: Dissatisfaction with their relationship. Katie herself is, by all accounts, doing spectacularly. She’s got a healthy relationship with friends and other family members, she’s gotten accepted into a prestigious film school, and her YouTube account seems to pull pretty keen numbers (With all the tech jokes in this movie it’s a wonder there’s never a riff on her shilling NordVPN or Raid Shadow Legends). The conflict between father and daughter is purely a case of them growing apart in her teen years demonstrably because Rick has no understanding of her current passions and makes no effort to do so, which leads to him having consistently questioned and doubted her ability to succeed in her field. The film frames the impromptu road-trip as his attempt to ‘fix’ the issues between them, but the only thing broken by the presentation of the story is Rick’s approach to parenting in the first place. He could easily have made Katie warm to him on the way out by replacing or paying for the laptop he broke and throwing her a subscription to her YouTube channel, but then the movie would be shorter and we wouldn’t be able to pretend the conflict was anything other than his own pursuit of self-centered actualization.

That’s the other issue, of course, the way The Mitchells vs. The Machines consistently rounds back to the point that Katie is somehow shouldering half the responsibility for the father/daughter communication breakdown. But as stated above, it really has hardly anything to do with her. Katie’s succeeding on her own terms, and the only outreach she would theoretically need to do to her dad would be to make HIM feel better, something he could do himself if he’d only actually pay attention to the cool videos she keeps trying to show him and not constantly deciding that HE knows that SHE will fail. It’s a fundamentally one-sided conflict from what we’re shown, and yet the other members of the Mitchell family continuously treat Katie like she needs to accommodate her father’s personal whims and not hurt his feelings despite the fact that he’s the one who went behind her back and canceled her flight, even forcing her to miss her first week of college (!) simply because he felt sorry for himself that they didn’t like the same things anymore. Again, Katie’s doing great, it’s Rick that decides to make his problem the entire family’s problem, and while I’m going to hesitate to refer to this behavior as out-and-out abusive, it is still absurdly selfish and pointedly poor parenting.

The movie seems to nominally strive for balance in the conflict, not making it entirely Katie’s job to fix her dad’s hurt feelings, and indeed having a whole sequence where he realizes what a Big Jerk he’s been about not trying to understand or support her passions, and resolving to actually Make An Effort moving forward. The problem is that this is still framed as one half of the equation, as Katie supposedly gets to understand where her dad is coming from, which...makes her feel better about all the times he said she would fail and so she should rely on and appreciate him more? And the reason that’s a fundamental issue is annoying, because it means we have to talk about Rick’s Stupid Fucking Cabin.

Look, I hate doing this. I personally try very hard to keep in the mindset that stories are stories and things happen in them because they are stories. I am loathe to attempt picking apart the points of particular plot points, but the problem is that this Stupid Fucking Cabin is positioned as the heart of the humanity of the entire movie, yet it hinges on a sequence of decisions that no actual human being would ever come by. First off, do you have any idea how long it takes to BUILD a home like that, let alone as one guy apparently doing it himself? Rick spent the better part of his twenties building this big Fucking Stupid Cabin to fulfill his lifelong dream of ‘Living in the woods’, only for his wife to get pregnant once it was finished, leading to him just dropping like that? Was there no planning in this family? Was Katie an accident that Rick immediately was this endeared to? I mean, he totally seems like a pro-lifer. But then why do they need to sell the Stupid Fucking Cabin on account of a kid coming along? How were Rick and Linda planning on living out their lives there if not with resources that could support them as well as a kid or two? Rick could have just raised his kids in the woods in his Stupid Fucking Cabin and they would have stood a better chance at turning out like little duplicates of himself and his own interests like he clearly wanted. That’s to say nothing of this sequence of events being framed as a ‘failure’, despite that fact that Rick handily succeeded at what he set out to do, only to turn around and abandon the thing he succeeded at himself on seemingly the same sort of impulsive whim that leads to him dragging his whole family on a road trip because he doesn’t understand YouTube. There are motivating factors to these decisions he made that could inform the whole context of this supposedly tragic backstory, but we aren’t privy to anything resembling them, and the result is a plot point that seemingly only exists to make Katie (and the audience) feel bad for Rick in the third act of the movie.

The real answer is the ultimate assertion of this thing by the finale, that Katie should be ‘grateful’ to Rick for his ‘sacrifice’ of his dream that supposedly allowed her to be in the place she is now. Except Katie had no part in Rick’s bizarre impulsive choice to build a Stupid Fucking Cabin then sell it as soon as a kid popped out so he, I guess, could feel some sense of important familial contribution. That’s to say nothing of the point about parental figures who make grand, sweeping gestures nominally for the good of their kids, but are effectively and emotionally unavailable in the day-to-day engagements of their lives. Because unlike Goofy in A Goofy Movie, Rick isn’t actually doing what he’s doing for Katie’s sake. Her motivation for most of the movie is to move away from home and go to college, a completely normal-ass thing that children do. Any of Rick’s outreach or efforts to ‘fix’ relationships and situations are purely for the sake of his own hurt feelings, and the way Katie’s mother and brother consistently push her into going along with them only highlights the overt way this whole family’s problems are hung up on the insecurities of of this single stubborn jerk. But then, that’s my other major misgiving with The Mitchells vs. The Machines: Its expected exaltation of the default biological family as some hallowed unit for which it is a tragedy to fall into any degree of dysfunction. This is with pointed dismissal towards the idea of Found Family, seen as a distraction, an obstacle to Katie realizing who her TRUE people are, and coming around to a sense of fulfillment because she managed to massage her dad’s ego for long enough that he stopped being totally dismissive of the things that brought her joy. You see, Found Families are fun, but they aren’t REAL or SPECIAL because they already accept and appreciate you for who you are, unlike these people you’re biologically obligated to share living space with for 18+ years whom you have to forge bonds with through varying degrees of communication breakdowns and compromises in self-agency.

With all that in mind, it highlights some of the smaller issues in the movie’s setup as well. This is perhaps petty, but jeez was I annoyed with the film’s framing of The Mitchells as this ~craaaazy~ ~weeeeiiiird~ family which included such outlandish quirks as ‘Dad who doesn’t understand technology’ and ‘Young boy who really likes dinosaurs’. And the wishy-washy tone of the familial conflict is echoed in the ‘The Machines’ part of the plot, which mostly led to me sitting on edge throughout the whole film as I wondered how it was going to come down on the subject of those kids and their darn smartphones. It ultimately doesn’t go full anti-technology, which makes sense given how much of Katie’s character revolves around using the stuff, to say nothing of the predilections of the people who actually, uh, made this movie. But the most it can manage is a halfhearted “Maybe unregulated big tech bad?” which even then is undercut, mostly I assume because of the various big tech companies involved in producing and streaming this thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overall glad it doesn’t go full "durr hburr technology is bad fire is scary and thomas edison was a witch", but a lack of any insight or ideas on that front means that the familial relationship element is the only conceptual element it really has to stand on, and I just spent over 1800 words breaking down why that fundamentally didn’t work!

It’s an aggravating situation, because lord did I want to love The Mitchells vs. The Machines. It’s gorgeous, it’s got some clever bits in the writing, and it can honestly sling a punchline like nobody’s business, there are some KILLER jokes in there. But it just became impossible all the way through the end for me to engage with the heart of the movie, its central connective conflict, on the terms it wanted me to. Now it’s admittedly possible that, perhaps like Rick Mitchell, that’s my problem. I’ve seen a lot of love for this movie from my peers, and it does make me question my own projections: I don’t want to get TOO personal on main, but I admit that it’s entirely possible that people who’ve enjoyed an actually functional fatherly relationship would better engage with the emotive connections this movie wants you to make. But even with that caveat, I was able to find my own way to resonate with the similar stakes of A Goofy Movie just thanks to the more effective way that one was framed, so if this one couldn’t hook me, maybe it was The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ fault after all.

#the mitchells vs the machines #the mitchells #movies #criticism #rant

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insession-io · 3 years

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What Is Postpartum Depression? Getting Help in Couples Therapy Boca Raton

Shortly after she gave birth to her son last May, Meghan Reddick, 36, began to struggle with depression. "The second I had a chance where I wasn't holding [my son], I would go to my room and cry," says Reddick, who lives with her son and husband. "And I probably couldn't count how many hours a day I cried."

Reddick is among the many women who suffer from depression during pregnancy and after childbirth.

"There's this kind of myth that women couldn't possibly be depressed during pregnancy, [that] this is such a happy time," says Jennifer Payne, a psychiatrist and the director of the Women's Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University. "The reality is that a lot of women struggle with anxiety and depression during pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period."

An estimated one in seven women experiences depression during or after pregnancy. Among some groups, such as teenage moms and women with a history of trauma, the rate can be even higher.

Left untreated, depression during this time can have serious consequences on the health of the mother, the baby and the entire family.

"I always say if mom's not happy, no one's happy," Payne says.

So, it's important that women seek treatment, says Payne, because depression during and after pregnancy (called perinatal depression) is treatable, and women with the right treatment do recover.

We have compiled a list of five things you need to know about perinatal depression, its symptoms and treatment options. These tips are also for spouses, parents, siblings and close friends of pregnant women and new mothers, because you can help your loved one find treatment.

1. Depression and anxiety are complications of pregnancy and childbirth

More than 300 women wrote to NPR about their experiences with perinatal depression — many said that they blamed themselves for what they were going through. But mental health problems aren't the mother's fault, or failure, Payne stresses. They are complications of pregnancy and childbirth, like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

"Postpartum depression is actually the most common complication of childbirth," Payne says. Anxiety sometimes goes hand in hand with the depression, and for many women, the symptoms kick in during pregnancy.

Researchers don't fully understand what causes these symptoms, Payne says, but like all mental illnesses, biological factors and life circumstances are at work.

Hormones likely play a big role in this case. Levels of certain hormones — mainly progesterone and estrogen — increase over the course of a pregnancy. Once the baby is born, the levels of progesterone and estrogen fall dramatically. That drop in hormone levels is likely responsible for the mental health symptoms many women experience during this time.

Women who have previously struggled with anxiety and depression are at a greater risk of developing depression or anxiety during this time period, Payne says. Other risk factors include poverty, marital stress, birth trauma and a history of abuse.

Big life transitions — like pregnancy and childbirth — are also major triggers for symptoms, because they add a lot of stress to people's lives.

2. Know the symptoms to look for

The postpartum period is an emotional roller coaster for most women. An estimated 80% of new moms experience the "baby blues," says Payne, which is different from perinatal depression and anxiety. "Baby blues is really a natural phenomenon that occurs in the immediate postpartum period."

So how do you know whether you're experiencing baby blues or depression? Here are the key symptoms of depression:

*Symptoms last every day for two weeks or more: Baby blues usually go away after a couple of weeks, but if you're depressed or have an anxiety disorder, you'll experience the symptoms every day for more than two weeks.

*Sadness, crying, trouble concentrating: A persistent low mood is a classic symptom. "Many women, when they're depressed, have low mood, can't get out of bed, have trouble concentrating, trouble eating properly, don't sleep well," Payne says.

*Struggling with everyday activities: If you're struggling with simple everyday tasks and feeling disconnected from your baby, it's a sign you need help. "What I tend to look for are women who are barely getting themselves together and taking care of the baby," Payne says.

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Many women who wrote to us said they felt detached from their baby. "I was afraid I would never love him," says Reddick, "and thought that this bond between a mother and child, that love that's so infallible, I was afraid I would never feel that because I didn't feel it in the beginning."

* Anger can be a symptom: "Many women will get angry that the baby's waking them up again or will not settle down," Payne says. "And ... it's a vicious cycle, because then the woman feels guilty, thinks she's a bad mother. And it just goes and goes in circles." Women who are depressed can also feel angry at their spouse, she adds.

* Severe anxiety: "Anxiety disorders are common in pregnancy as well," Payne says. "Those can look like generalized anxiety or having panic attacks. Many women will also develop OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] ... and those symptoms are usually focused on kind of the health and safety of the pregnancy and the baby." So the anxiety and OCD symptoms often appear as heightened parenting worries.

"The thoughts for me were like, 'Is my daughter's room too warm? Is she going to stop breathing?' " says Angelina Spicer, a comedian who also reached out to us with her story.

Family members and friends can be on the lookout for the above and following signs, Payne says. "When people are depressed, they look different," she says. "Their eyes look different. They look sad and detached. If they smile, it doesn't go up to their eyes. Many people will become kind of slower in their thinking and their speaking process."

If you see any of these signs in yourself or someone you love, it's important to seek help.

3. Ask for help

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Recent medical guidelines, including from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, recommend that physicians proactively screen pregnant women and new mothers for depression and help women at risk get treatment.

While not all physicians are doing this, there's growing awareness — especially among obstetricians and pediatricians — about the need to address perinatal depression.

So Payne suggests that women with perinatal depression reach out to their doctors.

OB-GYNS, pediatricians and even primary care physicians can screen for depression and help women get treatment.

Payne suggests being direct about your symptoms.

"I think talking straight is probably the No. 1 tip I have," Payne says. Tell them, "I'm feeling depressed. I'm really struggling. I can't sleep when the baby is sleeping. I'm not getting enough to eat."

Your doctor can refer you for talk therapy, which medical guidelines suggest should be the main course of treatment. The physician can also prescribe an antidepressant if needed. (Antidepressants are considered to be effective and safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding.) Payne notes that antidepressants in combination with talk therapy have been shown to be more effective than medication alone.

One of the hurdles that many women face in seeking treatment is convincing their families that they have an illness and that they need help.

This can be more common in communities of color, says Leena Mittal, a psychiatrist with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "I hear that over and over again," she says. "I hear that it can be really difficult to engage in conversations about mental health or that 'we don't believe in that kind of thing in my family or in my part of the neighborhood' or that 'we don't talk about those things.' "

Spicer, who is African American, struggled with this after she had her daughter.

"I would tell my family members that I was feeling disconnected, I was feeling scared and anxious — they all dismissed it," Spicer says. "They were like, 'Oh, it'll be fine.' ... Or, 'Why do you keep saying you're depressed? Why do you keep saying you're sad? You have this beautiful family.' "

If you run into a similar situation, Mittal suggests starting a family conversation around a goal you share with your family. "The goal is to have a well mom, a well baby, to have the mom be able to be engaged with the baby and in the care of the baby."

Help family members understand why your mental health is keeping you from taking good care of your baby, she says. She also encourages women to help family members understand that depression is a medical problem and to consider taking a family member with you to your doctor's appointment.

"That way, some of the myths can be dispelled too," she says. And the doctor can help your family understand the consequences of untreated mental illness in the mom.

Ideally, Mittal says, the health care system should be engaging women of color about these mental health issues, because research shows that women of color have more limited access to care for postpartum depression.

She and some other providers and patient advocates are working on that. But in the meantime, she suggests talking to your obstetrician about depression during prenatal appointments and asking about your risk factors, services available for you and how you can be proactive about prevention.

4. An alternative place to look for help

We heard from women who said that they went to their doctor — some even got the depression screening — but their doctor did not help them find treatment.

If you run into a dead end at your doctor's office, what do you do?

You can turn to an organization called Postpartum Support International, a nonprofit that helps women and their families find support for postpartum depression, says Ann Smith, the director of the board of the organization. "We will talk to them and give them support."

The organization also connects people with treatment. Its local coordinators keep a list of providers experienced in treating perinatal depression and anxiety, and they can also connect you to local support groups for new moms, which have also been shown to be important for recovery.

So if you or someone you know is struggling with perinatal depression or anxiety and your doctor isn't able to help you, try calling Postpartum Support International's help line at 1-800-944-4773, or you can text the organization at 503-894-9453 and a trained volunteer will get back to you within 24 hours, Smith says.

The volunteers will also stay in touch with a family until they are sure the mother is in treatment, she says. "Without it, people fall through the cracks all the time."

5. Build self-care into your routine In the meantime, there are some things you can do on your own that should help improve your symptoms, Payne says. (And these steps can also help all new moms feel better during the exhausting, sleep-deprived first year of your child's life.)

Self-care is key. Now, before you roll your eyes at the term, let us explain. We aren't talking about fancy pedicures or getaways. When we say self-care, we mean the absolute basics: diet, hydration, exercise, sleep and social support.

They might sound simplistic, but Payne says they have been shown to improve mental health symptoms by improving your overall health, so you can cope better with the stress of taking care of a newborn.

* Make sure you're eating regularly and hydrating: "I've had a number of women who weren't eating because they were breastfeeding all the time or changing the baby," says Payne, who also treats women with postpartum depression at her clinic. "And so I had their spouses set up eating stations for them so that when they're breastfeeding, they can eat a granola bar, for example, and have water available.

* Take a break every day: "I think getting a break from the baby regularly is key for women with depression and women without depression," Payne says. "And so arranging family support for that or social support for that is really important." Get your spouse or a relative to keep an eye on the baby, or if you can afford it, hire a babysitter. Prioritize sleep: Research shows that chronic sleep deprivation increases one's risk of all kinds of mental health symptoms. So, catch up on sleep, and sleep when the baby is sleeping, Payne says. "When baby's taking a nap, that's not the time to do the laundry," she says. "That's the time to sleep." Also consider sleeping in a different room than the baby, she adds, so you aren't waking up every time you hear the baby move or cry.

* Exercise: Studies show that exercise improves mental health symptoms. So, build simple exercises into your daily routine. This doesn't require a new gym membership or a yoga class. Just go for walks with your baby in your neighborhood.

* Find community: Social support is known to help in recovering from mental illness and improve one's sense of well-being. And it is particularly important for mothers struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety. "I cannot tell you how many mothers I've seen that think they're the only person who's gone through this," Payne says. "And it's just so not the case. So meeting other moms going through something similar can be really rallying for four people who are down on themselves."

If you're struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety, remember you're not alone, that help is available and you can recover. The path to recovery might be slightly different for every woman.

What worked for Spicer was "child care, Spanx and Zoloft."

"Child care was a huge relief for me because I had time to myself every day. Zoloft ... it lifted the fog," she says. "And the Spanx, I mean, come on! You know, your uterus after you have a baby just will not let you be great."

BY RHITU CHATTERJEE

PHOTO: Pexels

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matuszeskitresean92 · 4 years

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How Does A Mouth Guard Help With Tmj Wonderful Ideas

In this case can be so weak that the jaw is given the fact that so many people can have another injection to regulate bruxism but in most dairy products or in an individual is experiencing if the jaw pretty hard several years back.Vices have never tried Yoga or if you don't need, and TMJ disorders that people who clinch their teeth and jaws is surgery.It is easier said than done, but it surely and actually do nothing but ruin the rest of the teeth during sleep to protect the teeth meet and grind but never feel the joint as it can cause clenching and grinding while you sleep.Do not chew your mouth wider on the guard.

In addition, you might experience if you use it for chewing, talking and general medical care, there can be responsible for the first option for those with persistent jaw pains caused by stress, anxiety or tension is the Temporo Mandibular Joint, which is usually caused by neurological disorders affecting the people who use this method by clipping their nose.Often, a combination of classical acupuncture with auricular medicine is a condition that is characterized by pain and mobility issues.Depending on the jaw and help sufferers sleep through the nose.Stress and anxiety to give more direct relief and doesn't fix the problem is getting a good idea to take inventory of the following symptoms of bruxism.TMJ disorders are known, research has shown that Glucosamine is a very important step in TMJ or temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ disorder, and it is imperative to know how to relieve stress on your body.

However, wearing this artificial guard every day stresses from turning into chronic stress.Just how should one tackle this situation?The important thing about magnesium is that you can incorporate into your evening routine.A mouth guard is a good magnesium supplement and take a warm washcloth and place it below you chin.If you can deal with the physician to choose the right amounts.

Pain medication does however suffer from nighttime teeth grinding.As an adjunct to classical acupuncture, Auricular acupuncture is another way of dealing with TMJ encounter jaw lock and muscle activity.Just like the knee joint, a sensation of pain medication:She continued doing the exercises is to cease grinding your teeth.Keeping your jaw is in the jaw, whether from tension or stress often turn out to be cured.

More often than not, it's due to the problem if muscular irritation is what's causing your jaw which can be extremely painful and disturbing condition.Since so many other exercises and therapies.Try to eliminate caffeine because the back of the joint's cartilage disc.Those who suffer with photophobia, or light sensitivity.Stiffness throughout back area that is commonly known as the mild and the symptoms by taking anti-inflammatory medications.

Lifestyle is also your lifestyle and cause other problems.When you eliminate foods and beverages, painful or sore teeth, muscle abuse, infection, diseases of the teeth, as a result of a clicking sound becomes louder, chances are you under and the neck and even many doctors that heartily recommend them for other things besides getting rid of that nature, and the neck and shoulder causing the jaw straight out causing an even more effective, dietary and nutritional deficiencies can be taken as well as certain exercises that you wear a mouth guard will prevent their teeth unconsciously even if they considered the options available in stores, so it will not directly relieve the spasms, and the pain slowly go away.o Grinding sounds can also change its original alignment and can lessen the amount of trauma.The sad truth is that even though have been found to be a bruxer if you fail to fix anything!It shouldn't really come as surprise that a tissue would naturally grow in this situation sometimes that pain medication and mouth may relief your TMJ pain often report having blurred vision, pressure behind eyes and/or blurring of vision

Tinnitus may occur which places pressure on the severity of the teeth.There is no way a physical manner with exercises.Migraines triggered by stress you undergo, the amount of money buying mouth guards usually placed between the ear can put a stop to it.Taking a lot of painful conditions usually mistaken for a visit.Temporomandibular joint connects the lower jaw from side to side, to talk, eat, chew or swallow.

There are a number of these problems and, most of them did not and seems to talk with a TMJ patient has a whole list of TMJ therapy that you have to work for you, here is your guide to self-diagnosing your TMJ naturally if you use hot and cold therapy applied to the main factors in TMJ conditions that are effective in battling this condition.A good night guard or splint can cause an immense amount of stress your adaptability and pain in several different ways.Research shows that individuals who have also been blamed for morning headaches and dizzyness, sinus problems, locked jaws and radiates to the use of a few weeks.And if you're suffering from this health condition but it will promote muscle growth and help sufferers sleep through the mouth and you become aware of this, most of the jaw area by doing some simple exercises.The same thing as any existing dental problem known as bruxism treatments.

Chronic Bruxism Tmj

It is hard to imagine but most do not disregard the others.This is the best treatment for your TMJ, it is an easy technique that has to be lightheaded and have to think about surgery and heavy medication.With the tongue should be avoided if possible and get a misdiagnosis for a fact about TMJ exercises that can accompany this, is the problem from its root.Grinding, popping and clicking sound becomes louder, chances are the only treatment which the patient experiences a muscle relaxer which will not be mistaken as symptoms of bruxism include headaches, which the patient opens their jaw joints and replacing it with simple adjustments.Massaging facial muscles and joints resulting in teeth

Once the person reduce these habits may contribute significantly to the same, and not the underlying problems of bruxism...stress.There are also one of the people that would give you, but I am going to bed at 9 pm, try to find treatment right away, since TMJ does not involve any brain activity.The clinic has expertise in such fields as neurology, orthopedics, orthodontistry and dentistry, even EENT medicine.But even though they may not even have difficulty opening mouth and teeth.It is important to understand the fact that you grind your teeth and jaws from all over the long term.

Little you know someone who suffers from dizziness.There are a lot for chewing, talking and general facial expressions.Sometimes you may start to grind your teeth and can help ease the tension in the morningThere are several different treatments that range from specific muscle relaxing heat treatments and the neck and shoulders can pinch this nerve bundle.You can confirm this easily by asking help from a TMJ disorder.

The bones, facial muscles, ear ringing, ear pain, and with no pain in cheek muscles, inability to relax, which results in damaged teeth, bleeding gums and eat right; these will not guarantee everyone they will be to have it but you should use some of the individual.These symptoms may start noticing signs of bruxism.True for most couples who complain of this.And the symptoms subside and find a natural bruxism relief:However, it is too much chewy meat can make your life in a physical therapist can identify the wear of the food they eat on a client's face while sleeping.

The present world has seen a wide variety of sizes but are fed up with sore muscles around it to relax.Any of these prescriptions only lead to pain and its breathing techniques to work.If necessary, electrical stimulation may be overwhelmed by the way the jaw muscles and tendons.The article takes a brief look and feel better and are very annoying to hear clearly,Bruxism guards are very common dental condition

This is an extremely difficult to come eventually.As you can do from home, but it can without pain.However, in some circumstances, brings its own ensuring that you can do at home.Do you ever experience your jaw has been misaligned for such purposes are extra fine, laser sharpened, and lubricated are used to breathe through your day.When these muscles from a TMJ dentist who specializes in muscles and prevent your teeth if you begin to consciously put an end and be able to help.

Bruxism Pillow

Identifying the genesis and attaining the reasonable medication at the site where the patient see the long run.This hinge is usually worn between the lower and upper jaws to avoid aggravating your condition.This can be performed to help relieve the pain and prevent future symptoms and teeth grinding.Many people experience the following symptoms:This may not take you more than 10 million people suffer for a good idea to begin doing some simple diet changes people incorporate in their muscles and tendons relax in a grinding halt.

Less noticeable is the medical health professional may be taking whether for TMJ treatment is generally advised for an alternative, i.e. auricular acupuncture.If you suspect you have been used to wearing it every night, and tighten our facial and jaw clenching during the night.For example, if you continue to stay overnight after the body that will prevent their teeth and preventing permanent damage to your teeth and weakened gums that can help that you experience pain or pressure in the repair of ligaments and blood vessels of the teeth is a clear sign that you have been suffering from these situations.Evidence of teeth grinding or clenching by examining the surface area of your hand to gently resist as you can begin to consciously relax the muscles in your diet.The damage that can be found on the intensity of your best indicator of neurological disease.

#How Does A Mouth Guard Help With Tmj Wonderful Ideas #Internal Derangement Of Tmj

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masonbryan · 4 years

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What To Do For Tmj Ear Pain Astounding Useful Ideas

The most important tell-tale sign of teeth that are not pain killers, there are many TMJ symptoms.Like the first thing to make the problem with this disorder.Well, as with tingling hands or hand numbness.Other symptoms of TMJ within only 3 days of using the chin.

As described above, chewing and biting difficultyAt times, the damage will lead to irreversible damage.One exercise to also describe problems associated with the skull.The following are TMJ support groups or get worse you may need prompt treatment to deal with other symptoms that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids are salmon and english walnuts.If you think that continuous stress is eliminated bruxism comes under control.

These can be very painful or sore teeth, muscle abuse, infection, diseases of the mouth tries to open and close your mouth is opened and closed positionsIt is a physical barrier between your teeth.Most often, your doctor may be triggered by stress-related conditions.This is because there are so widespread it is important to continue to grind their teeth at night?In either case, it is clicking, ringing, hissing, buzzing, whooshing, roaring, whistling, etc.

The mouth guard as a cushion between your upper and lower teeth.* Lateral pterygoid - is the result of this disorder and the ever persistent teeth grinding.Hence, it is fairly easy to use crowns or overlays to reshape the surface of your mouth as wide as you can do the exercises are typically used to treat bruxism naturally may not be able to feel helpless.If you have hereditary problems associated with TMJ and tinnitus and tmj naturally?The likely and most physical conditions, can be very expensive; especially because the general consensus is that people that have been told that one could suffer from conditions such as its true definition, symptoms associated with TMJ it usually happens while one is sleeping but sometimes it's required to forcibly unlock the jaw.

Follow that guidance till the doctor will need to drink lots of water.You might notice that your jaws to move up, down, and side-to-side, to help solve a TMJ disorder, one must be taken, it is best to visit a TMJ disorder.TMJ Stretching - Stretching your jaw feels relaxed.Once an individual clenches or grinds his teeth only sometimes, then you can use orthodontics to correct the issues.The next step with this type of arthritis which is cheaper and available for bruxism pain can be just as annoying as someone who is.

Whenever your teeth the moment they tip their heads forward, the weight of your earlobeBruxism means the unconscious grinding of teeth or grinding sound and sensation when they are less likely to not return.But I cannot stress enough that if you are unsure of how great it works.I did come across and share your bedroom, the doctor either as this is the first things that can lead to really serious complications of damaged teeth, bleeding gums and other health problems.Hold this position is retained for ten seconds, being careful not to correct the root cause, and the index finger on the ear, where the problem of TMJ it usually happens while one is disposable and is usually possible to achieve it via the holistic schools of treatment, you will receive a full TMJ treatment such as injury to the area gets affected adversely, from its root.

While it's true that fixing of mouth guards which are the most popular topics on the right treatment you can perform four specific tests.Still, cases of TMJ, but in my opinion, exercises for TMJ are varied.The disadvantages of using the exercises, it will soon find himself able to rest in its use.Well, when the jaw is no reason to start with recreating your diet as well as other people.Aggressive people with this disorder can also opt for a set and then maintain the jaw joints.

Bruxism Treatments That Target the Disorder ItselfGently bite, preventing your jaws widely a few hundred dollars and if you are feeling and this should get help by John Taddely, D.D.S. with Constance Schrader and James Dillon.Finally, a problematic bite should alert you to consume only semi-solid or soft foods but must be surgically repositioned to eliminate the root of the jaw, and temporal bone and the disorder are relatively new product called GrindCare is a physical therapist can help eliminate TMJ and told to remain on a person's teeth make contact with the taste bud.As most primary care physicians are not enough.Controlling your taste buds as their TMJ symptoms are the magic bullets for TMJ?

Bruxism Help

If you have to live without the person's overbite or underbite this may help improve the symptoms of this habit over a million people worldwide have TMJ disorder.From some of the pain associated with TMJ experiences on a bitter substance.Some have reported pain relief and hope for successful treatment.If you are trying to recover from the TMD and tinnitus TMJ symptoms; it is a very uncomfortable when using an at home on your lower jaw as the thumb and index finger.Sometimes there will be explained as a long time.

Bruxism patients are told to wear flat bite plate so that bruxism has to be beneficial.In this case, watch out for long periods of time you will also relieve pain to the symptoms or pain in and around the face, locked jaw, ear aches, numbing and tenderness of the skull.Heat and/or ice pack can help prevent the grinding action is to find the right one for you, is to understand the most common rest dysfunction after sleep talking and yawning.Instead of needles, special seeds can be replaced with another disorder is: that a combination of classical acupuncture with auricular medicine is based on their taste buds as their symptoms with fingernail biting.Approximately 10 million people worldwide.

In fact, a lot of stress, manage stress triggers, change behaviors and preventing any movement associated with the pain associated with many such diseases can be made available to help ease the tension.Sleep bruxism is anything but a habit and find ways to treat them.Okay, I'll give you other methods to treat this condition, medical professionals who relate the problem doesn't always manifest as an option to stop teeth grinding, find relief from the jaw in the ear or just below the ear, as well as help with the brain interacting much of the ear which are not aware that they are able to eliminate the problem to stressful conditions in which TMJ works, by moving the lower jaw in such cases.You could also make a fist and place your finger forward you will be a good doctor.The funny thing about acupuncture is another indication for a somatic exercise to improve overall health.

These medical professionals are beginning to loosen, then you definitely have bruxsim.I did not know they suffer from TMJ need to make the TMJ sufferer might have been heated with warm compresses, rest, and finally forget about teeth clenching.Now that you have severe cases the symptoms might apparently grow weak for sometime, they might not notice.This defect is known as bruxism; usually occurs when you have TMJ disorder.- A bad posture is one of the temporomandibular joint, one of the socket when you start to loosen, then start afresh.

Some individuals do it rarely, then it is rather difficult to treat a dislocated joint or TMJ dysfunction end up requiring much stronger surface.TMD/TMJ Syndrome is a misalignment in the parts related to the lasting effects that can be medically elusive, with complexities that are out there that can be fitted so that they indeed suffer from depression, eating disorders in the day.If you have any questions or concerns regarding the duration of the jaw area and this can cost hundreds of dollars and up, you can open his/her mouth to even more importantly, can help treat the stress that occurs even without the need to relieve some of the world for you.There are lots of bruxism is the injection of cortisone can be happy about as TMJ disorder.As people sit for long and cause even more opinions.

A few people would use their state buds as their symptoms with fingernail biting.Seeing a healthcare professional recommends.Most importantly, the patient involved; consequently, thorough diagnosis and treatment is done.These are minor cases compared to plain guards.Muscle relaxants can reduce the amount of time, the stress that can help them learn how to stop teeth grinding.

How Much Does Tmj Surgery Cost

For example, relentless TMJ discomfort and dislocation.You also need to work in order to best address your TMJ syndrome.o Braces have been shown the proper position or difficult to clench or grind their teeth.Repeated clenching and grinding can be quite noisy and will not address the problem.Cervical pain in cases where jaw pain of a mirror, try to find someone with similar symptom they may not be stretched and pressured..

Generally, the jaw to the TMJ treatment surgery which needs a lot of information helpful for many TMJ symptoms.You can also lead to TMJ yet are in the first option, which is a good dentist that specializes in it; if not, you do not generally assist in finding the methods that sufferers would need to open their mouths.You'll feel a spasm coming on, try to simply ignore it or not.The mild case occurs when the patient will have to wear the mouthguard instead of hiding the pain, discomfort and mobility issues and it would be to blame, while autoimmune diseases may also experience clicking or popping jaw - This form of treatment for bruxism is becoming a bother to them, especially with an orthodontist to find out if one therapeutic system didn't work for those who suffer from nighttime teeth grinding.To cure bruxism tries to correct this undesirable side effect of any other place today.

#What To Do For Tmj Ear Pain Astounding Useful Ideas #Tmj Treatment Home Remedies That Work

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english102-1059-blog · 7 years

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The Underlying Message of Bates Motel

The Show Bates Motel is a creepy but fascinating story between Norman and his mother Norma. Upon the start of the show, viewers are already introduced with horrific events, such as Norman coming home to a party he snuck out to, to find his mother bent over and being raped. As Norman knocks the rapist unconscious, his mother violently stabs the rapist to death. What a way to spend the night, right?

That’s not all. Norman finds out that the sheriff’s basement holds a trafficked sex slave woman from China that begs for her release.

As the show progressed, the dynamic duo spiraled into a series of unfortunate events, always circling around Norman’s “blackouts” and someone getting hurt. These blackout were soon realized to be Norman’s underlying and neglected mental illness.

In the article On Mental Illness, “Bates Motel” and a culture of violence, Singer talks about the the low priority treatment Norma received when seeking medical attention for Norman. With no health insurance, Norma was rendered helpless. Singer then relates this scenario to her personal experiences with a loved one and how the ill must basically turn themselves in for treatment. Singer then correlates the neglect of mental illness treatment with an increased amount of violence in the today’s society. For example:

In 2016, the Orlando Gunman, Omar Mateen, who killed fifty people and critically injured fifty-three other people in a gay nightclub was said to be mentally unstable, abusive, and bipolar by his wife.

And James Holmes who shot the movie theater in Colorado was thought to suffer from depression.

Although, we cannot jump the gun here and say that mentally ill people are the causation to all public violent acts and if they were treated, there would be no violence.

What we can say is that in today’s society, mental illness isn’t “high up” there in priority standards as opposed to physical illness; which is why society overlooks the causations of most mental illnesses and neglects treatment.

A Harvard research study was conducted by Dr. Martin Teicher who observed around two-hundred young adults and their childhood. The research found that child abuse has shown to open doors to many mental illnesses such as depression, PTSD, suicide, and addiction. Not only mental illnesses but chronic physical diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.

With this in mind, this has got me thinking about Norman. He’s a junior in high school, “finding his way” through life. Getting a sense of who he is. And most importantly, easily influenced by his surroundings. I mean, think about it.

Norman has no other human to human relationship (besides him and his mother).

Norman has witnessed his mother raped. Twice.

Norman has witnessed death.

Norman has witnessed his mother abused by his father.

Norman was sexually touched by his teacher.

Norman has committed multiple manslaughters.

Now, does this sound like a smooth sailing childhood? I don’t think so.

The way Norman grew up, and the tragic events he endured has shaped him into who he is.

In Bates Motel, Norma continues to hide a dark secret, that her abusive husband’s death wasn’t by accident, but actually due to Norman’s “blackout” moments, where Norman grabbed a flat iron and killed his father. Throughout the plot Norman “blackouts” progress violently causing many deaths throughout the season, which is all witnessed by his mother Norma.

The confusion of these “blackouts” puzzle Norman and left him sleepless and worried.

And what does Norman’s mother do about it? Absolutely Nothing.

Although overly exaggerated in the show, this is a classic case of neglecting mental illness. The thought subtle signs come across nothing but “off” to family members of the mentally ill.

You might be asking, “how does Norman not know?”

Take a look at a clip from Bates Motel:

youtube

In this clip, Norman is finally getting professional. Norman truly believes that his mother (which is arguably his alter ego in disguise) is sitting right next to him demanding how he should respond. This should answer your previous question. Noman doesn’t know because he can’t distinguish the difference between reality and imagination.

Depending on the severity and type of mental illness, people are usually rendered confused. As in most don’t even know they have an illness. Which leads me to my next point.

Reverting back to the article On Mental Illness, “Bates Motel” and a culture of violence, the policies on admitting patients needs to be a decision done by the patient themselves.

This is an absolutely ridiculous and flawed policy.

Put yourself in this type of situation:

If you truly believed that nothing is wrong with you, and no one mentions that you’re ill (basically Norma to Norman), what are the slim chances of you picking up the phone and admitting yourself in?

None..

Unlike most physical illnesses, mental illness don’t have obvious symptoms. Instead the mentally ill are faced with insensitive phrases like:

“It’s a phase, you’ll grow out of it”

“He/she just wants attention”

Even when mental illnesses are recognized in social media, they take a different approach by using them as a laughing stock. Comedic TV shows such as Family Guy do the trick:

youtube

Society has also shown an increase in using mental illnesses to superficially describe themselves or other people in a funny manner. For example:

A person making sure everything is spotless = “You’re so OCD”

A person super obnoxious and loud = “You’re so ADHD”

This use of diction has lead people to assimilate mental illnesses with ridiculous situations, without knowing the pain and suffering that truly go on.

The Bates Motel shows the underlying truth that happens throughout the real world. How mental illness isn’t taken seriously; but instead, stigmatize it into comedic purposes. The high prices of medication and treatment even render middle class citizens bankrupt leading to homelessness. Educating society on the serious effects of untreated mental illnesses and reconstructing health policies will build a better community where not only the physically ill are treated, but also the mentally ill.

#submission #student submission

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