My face is having uncontrollable spasms. Great. It hurts really, really, really bad.
I think part of why I have trouble explaining pain to the doctor is when they ask about the pain scale I always think “Well, if someone threw me down a flight of stairs right now or punched me a few times, it would definitely hurt a lot more” so I end up saying a low number. I was reading an article that said that “10” is the most commonly reported number and that is baffling to me. When I woke up from surgery with an 8" incision in my body and I could hardly even speak, I was in the most horrific pain of my life but I said “6” because I thought “Well, if you hit me in the stomach, it would be worse.”
I searched and searched for the post this graphic was from, and the OP deactivated, but I kept the graphic, because my BFF does the same thing, uses her imagination to come up with the worst pain she can imagine and pegs her “10″ there, and so is like, well, I’m conscious, so this must be a 5, and then the doctors don’t take her seriously. (And she then does things like driving herself to the hospital while in the process of giving birth. Probably should have called an ambulance for that one!)
So I found this and sent it to her. Because this is what they want to know: how badly is this pain affecting you? Not on a scale of “nothing” to “how I’d imagine it’d feel if bears were eating my still-living guts while I was on fire”.
I hate reposting stuff, but I’ll never find that post again and OP is deactivated, so, here’s a repost. I can delete this later, i just wanted to get it to you and I can’t embed images in a chat or an ask.
This is possibly why it took several weeks to diagnose my fractured spine.
Pain Scale transcription:
10 – I am in bed and I can’t move due to my pain. I need someone to take me to the emergency room because of my pain.
9 – My pain is all that I can think about. I can barely move or talk because of my pain.
8 – My pain is so severe that it is difficult to think of anything else. Talking and listening are difficult.
7 – I am in pain all the time. It keeps me from doing most activities.
6 – I think about my pain all of the time. I give up many activities because of my pain.
5 – I think about my pain most of the time. I cannot do some of the activities I need to do each day because of the pain.
4 – I am constantly aware of my pain but can continue most activities.
3 – My pain bothers me but I can ignore it most of the time.
2 – I have a low level of pain. I am aware of my pain only when I pay attention to it.
1 – My pain is hardly noticeable.
0 – I have no pain.
This … is very thought provoking. (By this scale, I live at 2; pre-migraine it jumps to 4; migraine is usually 8 but has gone to 9 or 10 often.)
Usually, I say my migraine is 6 or 7 on my personal scale.
This is 100% what docs want when they ask you about pain.
As some of you may or may not know I work in a Jewish hospital that provides rehabilitation and palliative care, and we were provided w this booklet regarding care for holocaust survivors and family members
I thought I might share it since it may be of use to other ppl who care for older Jewish people
Tbh some of this, in particular the first few bullet points, looks broadly useful for talking about trauma and generational trauma even outside the specific context of the Holocaust, and this deserves to be shared around! Thanks for putting it here.
text transcript:
Ten Thoughtful Commandments of Caring for Holocaust Survivors
This is a really useful set of points for not only what it’s explicitly created for (which is in and of itself very important), but yes, also for a *lot* of major trauma, intergenerational trauma and its effects, and also useful to read through and just think about how these things apply to trauma and intergenerational trauma generally (which I promise is actually all around you, wherever you are, and affecting things in ways that one doesn’t notice, really, until one does.) Thank you in particular @kaaramel for the transcript.
What is meditation basically? Lots of people will tell you that meditation is supposed to calm your mind.
But what will really meditation do to you is that you’ll be able to CONTROL your mind. Or at least you’ll be better at it, which is something huge, believe me. And controlled mind is a big tool in magic work.
There are 3 basic types of meditation.
1. Just observe your mind. This is something that you can do when you have time. Sit on your couch, lie on your bed – whatever feels good for you – that’s the key. Close your eyes and just try to observe what’s your mind up to. The important thing is – don’t try to think. Just let your mind exist. It almost feels like falling asleep, actually. Once you try it you can feel how freeing that moment is.
2. Be aware. Yes, awareness of your body and later, of what is happening around you. For example, try to be aware of your breathing. Focus on how you breathe. Just feel how your nostrils feel the air coming in and out. Tap on your forehead with your finger and feel the spot. Be aware of the sensation. Focus on it like nothing else exist. Just the sensation you feel on your skin.
3. Focus on one thing and one thing only with your mind. As I always say, start with something easy like an orange. Orange is easy to imagine in your mind. Picture its structure. Picture its taste on your tongue. Picture how it feels when you touch it. Basically, put together a picture of everything you know about the orange and keep mind picturing it. Feel the orange for as long as possible. If you lose your concentration, it’s alright and you did nothing wrong – we’re humans, not robots. Just try again 🙂
Questions you may ask:
Q: What if I don’t have time for meditation? I’m busy with school and work!
A: Well, of course we live in a world that needs our presence. And number 2 and 3 can be done while you wait for the bus, while you’re stuck in traffic jam, and so on. Don’t lose hope, just because you’re busy 🙂
Q: Is it really necessary to meditate?
A: Nothing is necessary, it’s your choice. But the truth is, if you choose to meditate, you’ll be able to control your mind better and it’s not only helpful in magic work. It can help you if you have trouble sleeping and so on. Helps with anxiety, too, btw.
Q: How does meditation help control mind?
A: Number 1 can teach you:
– how to be aware of what’s going on in your mind on the level you can’t reach yet. Later, you can use this new entry to your mind and analyze your psyche better.
– how to not fall asleep when you try astral traveling before going to bed.
– lucid dreaming 🙂
Number 2 can teach you:
– how to be aware of what your body wants and needs even though it can’t speak.
– how to be aware of what is happening around you in a crowd – kind of good skill to have these days, sadly.
– how to feel if something paranormal is happening around you.
Number 3 can teach you:
– how to use your willpower as a tool for your magic work.
– power of good imagination raises IQ and plain common sense.
Remember that if something isn’t going well for the first time you try, it doesn’t mean it’ll be like this forever. Things can better with practice. So don’t worry. We were all lame shits when we started.
Taken from Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, Psy.D. A summary of the tips the book hands you on how to recognize emotionally healthy people.
They’re realistic and reliable
They work with reality rather than fighting it. They see problems and try to fix them, instead of overreacting with a fixation on how things should be.
They can feel and think at the same time. The ability to think even when upset makes an emotionally mature person someone you can reason with. They don’t lose their ability to see another perspective just because they aren’t getting what they want.
Their consistency makes them reliable. Because they have an integrated sense of self, they usually won’t surprise you with unexpected inconsistencies.
They don’t take everything personally. They can laugh at themselves and their foibles. They’re realistic enough to not feel unloved just because you made a mistake.
They’re respectful and reciprocal
They respect your boundaries. They’re looking for connection and closeness, not intrusion, control or enmeshment. They respect your individuality and that others have the final say on what their motivations are. They may tell you how they feel about what you did, but they don’t pretend to know you better than you know yourself.
They give back. They don’t like taking advantage of people, nor do they like the feeling of being used.
They are flexible and compromise well. Because collaborative, mature people don’t have an agenda to win at all costs, you won’t feel like you’re being taken advantage of. Compromise doesn’t mean mutual sacrifice; it means a mutual balancing of desires. They care about how you feel and don’t want to leave you feeling unsatisfied.
They’re even-tempered. They don’t sulk or pout for long periods of time or make you walk on eggshells.
When angered, they will usually tell you what’s wrong and ask you to do things differently. They’re willing to take the initiative to bring conflict to a close.
They are willing to be influenced. They don’t feel threatened when other people see things differently, nor are they afraid of seeming weak if they don’t know something. They may not agree, but they’ll try to understand your point of view.
They’re truthful. They understand why you’re upset if they lie or give you a false impression.
They apologize and make amends. They want to be responsible for their own behavior and are willing to apologize when needed.
They’re responsive
Their empathy makes you feel safe. Along with self-awareness, empathy is the soul of emotional intelligence.
They make you feel seen and understood. Their behavior reflects their desire to really get to know you, rather than looking for you to mirror them. They aren’t afraid of your emotions and don’t tell you that you should be feeling some other way.
They like to comfort and be comforted. They are sympathetic and know how crucial friendly support can be.
They reflect on their actions and try to change. They clearly understand how people affect each other emotionally. They take you seriously if you tell them about a behavior of theirs that makes you uncomfortable. They’ll remain aware of the issue and demonstrate follow-through in their attempts to change.
They can laugh and be playful. Laughter is a form of egalitarian play between people and reflects an ability to relinquish control and follow someone else’s lead.
They’re enjoyable to be around. They aren’t always happy, but for the most part they seem able to generate their own good feelings and enjoy life.
an educational graphic about critical thinking for tumnblr
The all important journalist questions, and then some.
A missing line from Why:
“If you really want to be
a critical reader, it turns out you have to step back one step
further, and ask not just whether the author is telling the truth,
but why he’s writing about this subject at all.“
That is an excellent addition.
One other one for How: “how could this be exploited by someone acting in bad faith?” Closely coupled with a What: “what are the limits on the ill-effects this could produce?”
And a quick check for double standards: “who, or what, is the speaker not applying this principle to?”
Because most of us spend the majority
of our time indoors, NASA conducted a
Clean Air Study to determine which
common houseplants are the best for
filtering harmful toxins like ammonia
and formaldehyde from the air.
**Please note: Several of these plants are known to be toxic to cats, dogs and other pets. If you are a pet owner, please do check the toxicity of plants before introducing them to your home.**
There was a recent discussion on tumblr, which I didn’t reblog for obvious reasons, about how people with a large readership cope with a heavy interaction load – how the person would be anxious if they dealt with that volume of notes on each post, that amount of interaction and contact. I was tagged in it because of my habit of “lochnessing”, where I cause an activity spike on posts I reblog that looks like the loch ness monster.
It never occurs to me, because I’ve dealt with high-volume social media for so long – realistically about ten years, probably closer to fifteen – that it’s difficult for people to handle that, because they don’t have the systems in place that I do. I mean it does occur to me in the sense that I have become more cautious about what I reblog and its impact on the OP; there are things I’d like to share with you but don’t because I recognize it would be harmful to the person who wrote them. But it doesn’t occur to me that someone might struggle with a high volume of notes purely because it’s a volume that they don’t have a system in place to deal with the way I do.
So I said I’d do a writeup on the “entire ecosystems” I had in place for handling the high volume of interaction I receive online. I sit at a weird place where I’m not so well known that I can just ignore most of what comes at me with impunity because everyone acknowledges I can’t answer it all, like say a youtube star. But at the same time I do get too much attention to return it at the same level I receive it. I am one and you are sixteen thousand. So I had to make systems to return as much as I could and feel okay about not returning the rest.
Reading through this, of course it sounds like a weird humblebrag: “Here’s how I deal with my MASSIVE POPULARITY”. There’s no real way around that; I can’t talk about how I deal with comments without talking about how I get a disproportionately high number of them. The fact that I do is what leads me to do things like the Zero Comment Challenge, or Radio Free Monday, to try and balance shit out. So, as I mention occasionally below, you can think I’m an asshole for talking about how I am popular, but I can’t talk about how to deal with that popularity without acknowledging the reality of it, and someone somewhere’s gonna think I’m an asshole anyway, so whatever.
These are the systems I use to manage my life – work, play, the weird inbetween space that’s kind of both. Many of these are akin to the systems that I use in managing my depression, in that they involve a lot of small steps building up to a big result, but each small step on its own is manageable.
Tumblr Exodus 