ARP 422 Older Adults and Benzodiazepines

If you are a senior or elderly person taking benzodiazepines there are things you need to be aware and informed about. Not from a place of fear but of safety.  In this episode, a quick look at how benzodiazepines can affect older adults and a few resources.

One more thing. There is a high number of AI Slop videos on this topic. Some of the presenters are not human. We have a new generation of graduates of the I-fleece-em academy. 

You can tell by how much fear they projects and the image of a medical persona. The thumbnail is designed to hook you by engaging in your curiosity or concern about a medication you take.

Please think before you click. 

Resources Mentioned: 

Over on the Canadian side of the fence, there is a brochure from Canadian Coalition for Senior Mental Health. Simple, easy to read and packed with solid accessible information. Such as if you are taking Benzos, you should not be drinking alcohol. 

There is a one-page handout that was created by Benzo.org.UK for World Benzo Day called Problems and Pitfalls. It explains some of the issues of seniors and elderly folk taking benzodiazepine and some options. 

The Mayo Clinic has a list of medications that can cause some concerns in older adults.

The non-profit Benzoinfo has a page on the medication called Impact on the Older Adult Population

University of Alabama at Birmingham has a report on More than a million older Americans take benzodiazepines long-term. Here is why doctors want them to stop, and how a UAB psychiatrist approaches the conversation.

Emergency Resources

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 421 Anxiety and Drinking in Airports

People who are anxious or have an anxiety condition need to pay attention to things that harm their health. It does not mean you get to drink, get drunk and fly.  I learned that there are a sub-genre of police body cam videos that focus on airports.

I gotta go cold turkey on those videos. They got me sympathetic to Spirit Airlines, may it rest in peace.

In this episode, a review of the anxiety medications, what alcohol does to you, environmental factors that could affect your consumption of booze and some of the repercussions of being intoxicated in U.S. airports. 

Resources Mentioned: 

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has a section of their website on Medication and Other Treatment Options for Anxiety Disorders and Depression

The Budget Savvy Travelers website has a bunch of tips and techniques to get you from point A to B.

Sky Sonar goes into a lot of details about being ok on the plan, such as getting an isle seat and pre-checking if this is a turbulent flight.

Emergency Resources:

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact

.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 420 Health Literacy Part 2

I'm still on summer slow down. I was more tired than I thought. But slowly getting back into the game. 

It is one thing to know you need help but it is a whole other thing trying to get help. 

In this episode, a few more tips on how to separate yourself from fraudsters non-human shams. The videos I posted in the resource section make some of the consumer health literacy process clear and easy to implement.

Resources Mentioned: 

Anxiety and Depression Association of America. known as ADAA has extensive information about the different types of anxiety conditions and other mental health disorders. They also have a YouTube channel.

The Mayo Clinic has a section on their website with a listing of diseases and conditions.

Psychology Today a viable website with a bunch of mental health and mental wellness information.

It is a commercial site but they do have health professionals creating content.  There is a US and UK versions of the website. A story I think we all should check out is AI implied health biases - how they replicate existing or prior historical views on health issues.

AI implied health biases - how they replicate existing or prior historical views on health issues. 

There is a short SciToons video on the basics of health literacy for consumers and why it is important.

The PROVE It literacy technique, explains how to evaluate information, both health and non-health info that is presented to you. This info is intended for teachers but it is super clear on the process of evaluating information.

The North Carolina Medical Board created an instructional video on what to do to prepare for an office visit, and how to get better value from the visit called The Importance of Health Literacy

To beef up your health literacy skills, I do recommend the Trust it or Trash it website.

Emergency Resources

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 419 Health Literacy Tips Part 1

It is time for my summer slow down but the tricksters do not rest. So for a couple of episodes, I want to share with you some of the new fangled ways the underside of the bottom of the barrel will try to get you to read, click or share. 

This time a look at busty thumbnails and Barney Google's type eyes in social media title cards and thumbnails. The TLDL is that there are all kinds of ways to get attention. 

Attention sometimes equals clicks and then clicks equal cash or data harvesting. 

When possible, avoid the Reaper.

Resources Mentioned: 

The Trust It or Trash It website has tutorials on how to evaluate a health or mental health site for being a safe place to get information. 

The National Library of Medicine has a section of the website that also has tutorials on health literacy topics. 

On the PubMed page there is a on-line tutorial or you can download the PDF version of  Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial

Emergency Resources

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 418 What is Mysophobia AKA Germophobia?

This brief episode is about mysophobia or germophobia. When I went to do my research, a lot of search engines wanted me to learn about misophonia. 

The AI didn't believe that I wanted to learn about the fear of germs. It insisted that I wanted to know about the sensory brain problem where certain noise patterns are painful to hear or be exposed to for a person. 

It is a very interesting condition but it is not an anxiety condition. 

For those about to roast me for not spelling germophobia correctly, per the dictionary, both germophobia and germaphobia are correct.

It is getting rough on these internet streets. It was like, hey little girl, let me tell you something you didn't ask for but I'm going to give it to you anyway. 

This is why you need a brick in your purse. But I digress. This is a short look at this particular type of phobia.

Resources Mentioned: 

WonderMind is a website that writes about mental health and fitness issues for adults of a certain age, not boomers. They have a post called  How to Do Life When You’re Scared of Germs.

The Cleveland Clinic has an explainer page about mysophobia aka germophobia.

The International OCD Foundation has an abundance of resources about OCD information. 

Emergency Resources:

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ADAA Video on Borderline Personality Disorder

There are so many topics that I can't cover effectively, but I do know where to find authoritative sources. This is a video from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America about Borderline Personality Disorder. 

After viewing the video you might have more questions. Here are some resources that are safe to check out: 

The National Institute of Mental Health has an information page about BDP that was last edited in 2025. It talks about the condition, symptoms and treatment for the condition.

Mental Health America has similar information about the condition, however they do add additional treatment options. 

On the ADAA website, there are people that share their experiences with an anxiety condition. There is a page where are woman talks about she is learning to cope with BPD.

Sara Abbott, LCSW host the Bold Beautiful Borderline Podcast where she talks about the condition 

There is also From Borderline to Beautiful: Hope and Help for BPD with Rose Skeeters, who is a licensed therapist, nutritionist and mind coach. 

Emergency Resources

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 417 NAMI Homefront

In this episode, a pebble in the road on a NAMI resource for military folks. As I mentioned in the show, this day is the Memorial Day observance and the start of barbeque season. Well, for the rest of the country. 

Around these parts the sun shines almost all of the time so anytime is a good time to fire up the grill. Unless you live in a fire prone area. Then it is bad, very bad. 

It is also the time for making evaluations or decisions on how the next six month are going to go. Great opportunity to get your act together or let it fall the hell apart and rebuild.

Your choice. 

Oh, one more thing. I need to juggle some work demands, vacation and other stuff. One of my ideas was to bank a few episodes on viable links of interest. I'm going to try to do that so I can keep my brain from turning into mush. So there might be a few more pebbles in the road as I try to balance the impossible concept of time enough.

I never have enough time.

Resources Mentioned: 

Health.mil is the official website for active soldiers that need mental health resources.

The NAMI website has resources and educational programs for current military, family members and caregivers. https://www.nami.org/programs/nami-homefront/

Emergency Resources

The Trevor Project: Provides crisis support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth through phone (1-866-488-7386), text (START to 678-678), and online chat. Available 24/7. They also provide peer support and community. 

Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online. There are phone lines for those serving overseas. Visit the website to find the current status of the Veteran line and international calling options. 

National Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential support 24/7. This service operates independently of the 988 service. Users can use text, chat or WhatsApp as a means of contact.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.