ARP Pebble in the Road - Meditative Crafting

This episode is not for everybody. Some of you will be highly dismissive. That is okay. Different strokes for different folks.  

Knitting provides an object of focus for our practice. We can practice focusing our attention and letting go of distractions.

The point is, doing something analog or tactile can help you relax. Or meditate or route you and keep you in the present tense. In this pebble in the Road a quick look at crafting as a gateway to meditation.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Meditation 101 and Mindfulness Exercises Guided Meditations & Mindfulness Talks 

Color Yourself to Mindfulness Book by Melissa Launay published by CICO Press distributed by Simon and Schuster Publishing.

Marshall at Wristwatch Revival on YouTube

Becky at Knit Om on Knitting as Meditation

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.

Sacramento KXTV ABC 10 Segment on Anxiety Nation

Usually when a local or national news program does a story about anxiety it is a hit it and quit it.

Meaning that they will talk about many things for two minutes and the story is gone.

This is a little different. 

The story is six minutes long. There is an honest attempt at hearing the voices of fellow travelers on the road and medical professionals. And there is a mention that not all treatments work for everybody.

Do I wish it was longer? Yes. 

But I do understand the time and cost constraints of local television. And local television, use well and truly being of service to the community, is necessary. It is reaching people that don't use the internet.

 

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Not Mentioned But Can Be Helpful: 

Helpguide.org A non-profit website that has a lot of information about mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. Looks at non-medication treatment possibilities.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America www.adaa.org

National Alliance on Mental Health http://www.nami.org

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.

Show 320 Graphic Novel Memoires about Anxiety

Long time listeners know that I am a connoisseur of the sequential arts. 

It is truly the theater of the mind because I can co-create with the artist to experience an environment or an adventure.

I bring this up because sometimes healing can come from unexpected places. Like a graphic novel or a comic book. 

Three of the books talk about the experience of having a perpetual negative voice interfering with the quality of their lives. 

Three of the books speak to what they have done to connect with their better selves. 

In this episode a look at five graphic novels memoires about anxiety.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Marie and the Worrywart by Jen Woodall. The cover gives a good example of going from being normal to transition into symptom flare up. It is published by Silver Sprocket Press.

MonsterMind: Dealing with Anxiety and Self-Doubt by Alfonso Casas does not have just one voice but a committee such as Mr. Past Traumas, Mr. Fear, Mr. Social Anxiety, Mr. Impostor Syndrome, Mr. Sadness, Mr. Doubt and there may be more hiding in the rafters.

The Worrier’s Guide to Life by Gemma Correll, world champion over-thinker. What if everything you saw negatively came into being. As if it was an overly to every single thing you laid eyes on.  

For example, you are looking into an ice cream case and see rocky road kill or cookies & clams.

The Last Gay Man on Earth is a photo memoir that has Ype Driessen. All I know is that there is a sentient robot vacuum cleaner involved. The publisher is Street Noise Books. 

Also on the Andrews McMeel website is a book by Debbie Tung, Everything is Ok. But it isn’t because we are talking about anxiety and depression. This is a graphic memoir about how she navigates the highs and lows of her experiences.

Improve: How I Discovered Improv and Conquered Social Anxiety by Alex Graudins. 

What do you do when you have a bad case of social anxiety?  Alex’s decision is to sign up for an improv comedy class. The publisher is First Second but the link is to the Macmillan website book listing page.

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.

Pebble in the Road - Disaster Distress Helpline

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, known as SAMSHA has a page on their website concerning immediate disaster assistance. Usually that means droughts, floods, fires and earthquakes. But it now also includes incidents of mass shooting and violence. 

It brings only sadness when there is a helpline for human generated incidents of mass shootings and mass violence. But here we are. It doesn't matter who gets killed or how many. 

At the time of recording, this there are state legislatures that are making easier to obtain a gun and a weapons originally intended for combat.

And a man who committed murder of a protestor in Texas will probably be pardoned not even a hard week after conviction. 

I want to use the f-word, the m-f word and all permutations I can think of to express how I feel. 

I try to keep it clean. So after the venting is the question.

How can I be of service?

I can help to spread the reach of this resource to more people, including those that need it and don't know that it exist.  

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

SAMSHA Disaster Distress Hotline is 1–800–985–5990 for voice or text calls. 

For those that need American Sign Language interpretation there is a FAQ about the videophone service with a signed explainer video on the page.

SAMSHA page on Incidents of Mass Violence.

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.

Show 319 Clifford W. Beers and Mental Health America

The anxiety symptoms can muck up our ability to see what we've done, whether it was fair, good, or excellent. There are a lot of wonderful people that have anxiety conditions that do mighty good things.

People write, create or force a revolution into how we should treat each other as human being. In this week's episode, a look at a pioneer that helped to improve mental health care in the U.S. and a look at Mental Health America.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

George Dunnett Video I am Not Very Well

Clifford W. Beers book A Mind That Found Itself. You can find versions of the book to download at Project Gutenberg. And for those of you that prefer your reading via audio, there is a Librevox version of the book at the Internet Archive.

National Library of Medicine American Journal page on Clifford W. Beers From a Patient's Perspective: Clifford Whittingham Beers' Work to Reform Mental Health Services 

There is also a PDF version of the Voices from the Past article.

Mental Health America Resources:

• Mental Health self-screening test on a variety of conditions and disorders.
• Anxiety page with graphical map of questions, concerns and treatment process.
• Treatment information page/matrix.
• Cognitive Dissonance aka Thinking Traps Reframing Tool (AI assisted)

BrainCraft video I Tried The Vagus Nerve Hack (so you don't have to)

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.