"Fat Friends, Fat You?

Science has given us yet another reason for our increased girth. and pounds, friends. A recent New England Medical Journal published a study that indicates you might be able to blame your friends for your excessive baggage.

Researchers found if you have an overweight friend you are 57 percent more likely to become obese too. If it is a close friend that number increases to a whopping 171 percent. Remarkably the close friend can be someone you see often or someone living hundreds of miles away! It seems obesity can spread like melted butter.

The study provides data on how Americans are growing fatter with every generation. For the first time ever there is a high probability that children will die before their parents because of health problems linked to obesity. This study does point out how our choices may effect others. It also raises the issue of personal responsibility Has our society become one that chooses the easiest way over what is the best choice?

(For excellent information and resources on obesity and weight management go to :

---The U.S. Library of Medicine at nlm.nih.gov

---Medline Plus, a branch of the National Institute of Health at medlineplus.gov)

Reactions to Report on Veterans Care - washingtonpost.com

Reactions to Report on Veterans Care - washingtonpost.com

Cures for Walter Reed - washingtonpost.com

Cures for Walter Reed - washingtonpost.com

Walter Reed - Don't Blame the Vets

As a clinical social worker who has 20 + yrs. experience in mood disorders, trauma, addictions, life stage and relationship issues, Walter Reed is a constant source of frustration and anger for me. Walter Reed and the military have been overwhelmed by the number of Iraqi vets needing mental health services. Because of the press coverage on this and other issues, those in charge proclaimed they would contract with civilians so that the vets would receive psych services in a timely manner. The military as usual proclaims but has done little but stonewall.

I am a participant in TriCare, the health insurance for active and retired military and their families and have done the security clearance things. A vet at WR needs only a referral from their doctor to make an appointment at my practice which is in the vicinity. TO DATE I HAVE NOT RECIEVED 1 REFFERAL FROM WALTER REED!

For the past several months I have made countless attempts to contact anyone at WR who might tell me why this is so. No one has ever returned any of my phone calls. Unfortunately it is the soldiers and their families who are caught in the military system that cares more about their maintaining control than about these courageous men and women.

What can you do? 1). E-mail senator Barbara Mikulski, Maryland and
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington District of Columbia. Tell them about this issue. Or direct them to this blog.
or 2) Comment on this blog site and I will forward your comments.

Walter Reed's Cold Shoulder - washingtonpost.com

Walter Reed's Cold Shoulder - washingtonpost.com

Children of Iraqi War Vets - The Silent Victims

I live near the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. It is not unusual to see the Iraqi and Afghanistan war vets who are being treated there in the community shopping or seeing the sights. Sometimes they are accompanied by a spouse, family member or their children. No matter which side you come down on the war, pro or con, it seems to be easy to support these brave men and women who have sacrificed so much. I sometimes wonder about the families, what they looked like before a parent went to Iraq and what were they like after the soldier returns home. The following article is from today's Times of London.

'...As long as dad comes back alive'.
US army children are fraying amid pressures that would crush many adults.
Report by Tony Allen-Mills, The Times, London

I am sitting in a field in central Oregon with an 11-year-old boy who calls himself “Twelve Thirty Savage”. His real name is Matt Evans-Spate, but last year he jumped off a stage at his children’s summer camp, hit his head on a rock and was taken to hospital by ambulance. His new name commemorates the time of the accident and the way he felt about it afterwards. Twelve - as I started calling him for short - seems an ordinary enough American kid, one of countless thousands across the country enjoying his summer at an activities packed camp in the woods. He has been swimming, canoeing and done archery, and later he will learn how to make a bird’s nest from twigs and mud. Yet Twelve was not quite as happy as he seemed. His father, a US navy reservist, is awaiting a summons to active duty in Iraq. “My dad’s on call,” he said. “It’s 50-50. If they can’t find someone else he’ll have to go.” It is hard to ask an 11-year-old if he is worried his father might die, but the question has long been preying on the minds of an estimated 155,000 American children with a military parent serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. “I’m okay with it,” Twelve answered bravely. But his voice tailed off as he added: “As long as he comes back alive . . .”
They are easily overlooked in the turmoil of America’s troop surge in Iraq, but a generation of military children is growing up amid pressures that would crush many adults. As US military deployments have lengthened and multiplied in a war with no victory in sight, children are going months without seeing their parents - months that are often spent frantically worrying they may never see that parent again. “The resilience of some of these kids amazes me,” said Joyce Raezer, head of the National Military Families Association (NMFA), an independent
charity that has been arranging special summer camps for children with parents on active duty. “But we’ve begun to see the cracks.” The story of the youngest American victims of the Iraq war is partly a dismal catalogue of anger, grief and Pentagon neglect. But it is also an inspirational tribute to the efforts of ordinary military families to shield their children from solitude, depression and stress.
On the other side of the Oregon field, Sarah Dizick, a friendly 12-year-old in purple-rimmed glasses, was trying to make giant bubbles by dipping a plastic hoop into a paddling pool filled with soapy water. Sarah’s parents are divorced, which is tough enough for any 12-year-old to handle, but she is also struggling to deal with the consequences of her father’s recent return from Iraq. “He hurt his arm,” she said. “He was near an explosion. He wasn’t, like, right next to it, but it blew up.” Her father was invalided home from Iraq a month ago and has been undergoing physical therapy in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He is due to return home to Oregon soon, but Sarah seemed strangely ambivalent about seeing him. Was she looking forward to him coming home? “Yeah, kind of.” How long ago had she last seen him? “Sometime around last Christmas.” But she must have missed him badly? “Yeah, kind of.” Then the reason for her reticence emerged. Her father had telephoned to say he would be taking her on a long vacation. They would have at least six weeks together. But wouldn’t that be great? “Yeah, kind of. But I’m worried about missing my mom.”
This summer the NMFA is running week-long Operation Purple summer camps at 34 locations in 26 states, caring for almost 4,000 children. Purple is the color the military uses to signify open to all services. The camps are free to military families and are aimed at providing the children with a friendly, stress-free environment where they are too busy having fun to worry about their parents in Iraq.
Patty Barron, the wife of a senior Pentagon staff officer and one of the NMFA’s deputy directors, has visited several of the camps and met children who left an indelible impression. “There was a girl in a camp in Rhode Island who told us she had always been used to being comforted by her mother when she cried or got upset,” Barron said. “Then one day she heard her mother crying in the bathroom. She felt she had to take over as the comforter, to be the one who was strong.”
Too many children have been trying to be strong for too long, added Raezer. “Some well-meaning adult has said to them, ‘Your dad’s in Iraq, you have to look after the family now.’ But the war has been going on so long. Families are experiencing multiple deployments. Many can survive a single deployment and adjust, but it’s happening over and over again. It’s too much stress for the kids. Some of them are trying to take on too much.”
Raezer says the Pentagon has already accepted it needs to do more work on the
widely reported problems of PTSD among troops returning from Iraq. About 75,000
cases have been diagnosed so far and countless children have had to contend with
the return of a parent they barely recognise. “They get very confused by PTSD,” said Barron. “The returning parent may look the same, but they are acting very different. The kids wonder, ‘Is Daddy mad at me? Why is he so angry?’” Then there are the children of the thousands of soldiers injured in combat. “They ask questions like, ‘Can my dad still throw a football? Will my mom still be able to hug me?’”
At the Operation Purple camp in Oregon, the activities last week included horseriding, learning to apply camouflage face paint, the study of flora and fauna and an “adventure swing” that hurls kids high in the air. “It’s hard for me sometimes,” said Michaela Shouldis, 11, the only child from her small town of McMinnville with a parent on active duty. “But it’s fun here.” Iraq seems far away, but even amid the happy chaos of a summer
camp in the Oregon woods, there were shadows over the fun. Jennifer Huggins, a pretty

10-year-old from the neighbouring state of Washington, hasn’t seen her father since Christmas. “A lot of his guys have already been killed,” she said. “He goes patrolling a lot. But I think he’s pretty safe.” She paused and watched her new friends washing mud off their faces after their bird nest-building project. “I just don’t want him to get killed,” she said.

Who is your hero?

'Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things'. They don't seek accolades or public acknowledgement. They see either a one time need or a need that requires a life time of attention and try to do what they can to change the situation. Their deeds inspire others.

This week one of my goals was to catch up on some professional reading. As I was glancing through the National Institute of Health's magazine, spring 2007, an article caught my attention, "The Streets Are Her Waiting Room" about Dr. Janelle Goetcheus. I have known Dr. Goetcheus since the early 1980's. She is indeed one of my heroes.
For nearly 30 years she has run a health care clinic for the homeless and others in need in the Adams Morgan part of Washington, D.C. She and her staff, paid and volunteer, have worked tirelessly to provide medical assistance to the destitute. Without Dr. Goetcheus' help countless numbers of people would have suffered needlessly and many would have died an early death. This commitment to the poor extended beyond her Christ House Clinic. She and her husband with their children have lived above the clinic choosing to live a simple lifestyle among those she serves. Dr. Goetheus reminds me what one person can do to change the world, one person and one day at a time. She reminds me to embrace and live the values of my social work profession and a spiritual life.
(To read this and other informative articles, go to NIH Medline Plus spring 2007)

Roles - part 2

We live in an era of instant communication which can be a blessing and a curse. Everyone needs quiet, disconnected time to center and reflect. As Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living". Time is needed to reflect on the workings of our psyche and the spirit which is the higher power in our lifes. This is who we are at our core and who we want to become.

This blog provides reflection points for the thinker whose communication is primarily in words.
I also want to provide reflection starters for those who are comfortable in the world of images. Of course a balance of words and images is the goal.
Reflection: roles part 2
MATERIALS NEEDED: 3 sheets of unlined paper at least 8 1/2 x 11 in size
glue stick or other glue
scissors
magazines, newspapers or other print material

CAVEAT: It's best to just cut and paste without a great deal of analyzing.

DIRECTIONS:
Take you 2 pages and label them:
page 1--- Roles and attributes I have
page 2--- Roles and attributes others say I have
Now cut out words and/or images for page 1 and paste them.
Repeat for page 2.
After you are finished, take page 3 and jot down descriptors of you that are the same or similar on pages 1 and 2.

Sit quietly with your 3 pages in front of you, Are there any feelings that surface?
Do you reveal your self to others? Do significant persons in your life know the real you? Are their parts of you that you are hesitant to share? Why? Does your inside match your outside? In other words, 'Are you who you say you are?'. What roles do you portray that are not the authentic you?

The Roles We Have

Roles are abbreviated descriptions of some aspect of a person. They usually identify a function someone performs such as mother, accountant, clerk. However, each person is unique and cannot be confined by a role description. The challenge is to enhance the roles we have with personal attributes that are uniquely us. This my first post on my first flog. As a way of introducing myself I would like to tell you about three roles I identify with. These are as a nun ( a Catholic sister), a psychotherapist and an artist. These roles contain the essence of me and include my faith, my ability to help others as a therapist, and my challenge to be creative and innovative as expressed in art. Sometimes others try to limit who I am because of their views of these roles. It is my choice to let that happen or not. Besides being descripitve, roles are also lenses through which we view the world. I can only see a wider, more faceted world if others share their journey. And so I value your input.

Reflection: What are some of the roles you have? What roles do you like ? Why? What ones do you not like?