[THREAD] I want to talk a little bit about how people who are struggling with their mental health may appear to the outside world and why some things contribute to stigma even when we are not aware of them. I often complaints from families or partners.

[THREAD] In our last thread, we talked about the physical symptoms of mental health. Let's focus this one on the psychological symptoms, mainly intrusive and racing thoughts. Why do they happen? What are the solutions for them?

While physical symptoms can be very hard to deal with, psychological ones are not easy. Intrusive thoughts are some of the most troubling to deal with. It is important to note that every single person on this planet gets intrusive thoughts. No exceptions!

Why do they seem to impact some more than others? That's because in someone who does not have anxiety, they will simply overlook these thoughts. They know they are thoughts that they won't act on. However, in someone who is suffering from anxiety, those thoughts will stick.

That's because the intrusive thought(s) will induce a lot of anxiety, and the more emotion we attach to a thought, the more likely it is to be saved in our memory and come back often. Therefore, a thought that should have left right away stays for a long time.

The reason why intrusive thoughts are scary to begin with is because they are often of sexual, violent, and dark thoughts. Therefore, we get scared that we may lose control and act on these thoughts or turn into a bad person. However, the fact that they are scary means a lot.

[THREAD] memory loss and mental health. It is something that we don’t often put together. However, it is a very common issue for many individuals whose mental health is not doing well. So why do we get that memory loss? Is it permanent? Are there ways to cope with that?

The reason why memory loss happens is not because our brains are not working well or somehow not registering events but because we are so tuned in to our thoughts and emotions that we are not paying attention to our environment.

Given that we are not paying attention to what is going on around us, we are less likely to remember them. Also, issues such as depression and anxiety affect the way we sleep and sleep has been proven to be the time when short term memories are transferred into long term memory.

When we can’t sleep well, that process is disturbed and we may lose some memories during that process shift. Also, we may feel as unable to access our childhood or even recent memories when our mental health is not doing well and we may be scared that it is permanent.

However, in this situation, it is not so much that we have lost our memories. It is more a problem of retrieval. The memories are still there in our big library, but we just can’t find them. Furthermore, memories are highly dependent on our mood.

TW: Abuse

[THREAD] Let's talk about recognizing signs of emotional abuse. For a lot of people, it can be hard to recognize those signs, especially early on, or we may not realize what they were until we have suffered under them and it affected our mental health.

For the most part, people who engage in a lot of emotional abuse won't show it at the very beginning. They need feelings to develop or an attachment to happen in order to be able to show those signs when it is harder for the other person to leave. It can also be progressive.

However, there are some ways to recognize those signs early on. One of the main ones is how these people talk about others they shared a relationship with in the past. If every ex was a bad person or every friendship has issues, then it is generally a bad sign.

This is especially true for men who may badmouth women they have been it by calling them names that are not worth typing. That's a big red flag because it means that this man is likely to be the bad person here. They may be volatile even in their friendships.

They seemingly seem to lose friends quickly and get new ones quickly. This is because these friends may recognize the toxic tendencies of the person and leave them, and they constantly have to integrate with new people that they want to use for one purpose or another.

[THREAD] I saw a few of us saying that their 2021 resolution was to improve their mental health. So I decided to write this guide in terms of what steps we can take to improve our mental health for 2021 and beyond. The most important step is to start some form of treatment.

While finances can be a huge barrier to getting treatment, there are a few things around that. Medications (especially those that have been around for a while) are generally much cheaper because they exist in generic form. They are safe, have decades of research behind them.

Antidepressants are not addictive at all and while there are a few side effects at the beginning, they tend to go away after the first few weeks. While it is hard to get rid of superstition and myths around meds, taking that first step of just taking it will help so much.

For therapy, there are always some free or low cost options. Sometimes, there are students about to graduate from their post grad who offer free or low cost therapy as experience (under the supervision of a fully licensed psychologist and legally).

They are the equivalent of a resident doctor, meaning they have the knowledge and expertise but lack the experience and both of you can benefit from working with each other. I remember when I was in that position and worked, I had my supervisor guide through every client.

[THREAD] I want to revisit a topic I get asked about almost everyday. Physical symptoms in mental health. They are so scary and can be so hard to believe that something like anxiety can cause such devastating symptoms. Let’s break it down and see how that happens.

Generally speaking, mental health symptoms are divided into 3 distinct categories: physical, psychological and social. Psychological would be racing thoughts, intrusive thoughts. Social is withdrawal from loved ones and other social symptoms.

Physical symptoms are definitely those that feel that we notice the most because they can look like potentially dangerous illnesses. Usually, we experience those symptoms, go to the emergency room, and the doctors can’t find anything.

It leaves us feeling puzzled and wondering what’s happening. What happens is that our mind identifies some type of danger. After that, it is time for the endocrine system to start working. It releases hormones that send signals to our body.

These hormones (cortisone, adrenaline) tell our body to prepare to fight or run away. Blood goes to our muscles, meaning our brain doesn’t have enough blood pumping. That’s why we feel that brain fog, racing thoughts, tunnel vision and we get that burst of energy.

NEW—CDC was truly suffocated by Trump WH at every turn. Kyle McGowan, a former chief of staff at CDC, and his deputy, Amanda Campbell, witnessed WH dismissal of science, WH’s slow suffocation of CDC’s voice, meddling in messages & siphoning of CDC budget.
https://t.co/HeuNbUggiw

2) ““Everyone wants to describe the day that the light switch flipped—It didn’t happen that way—more of like a hand grasping something, and it slowly closes, closes, closes, closes until you realize that, middle of the summer, it has a complete grasp on everything at the CDC”

3) “Mr. McGowan and Ms. Campbell, both 34, say they tried to protect their colleagues against political meddling from WH and HHS but was largely stifled by the Trump administration.

4) “The White House insisted on reviewing — and often softening — the C.D.C.’s closely guarded coronavirus guidance documents, the most prominent public expression of its latest research and scientific consensus on the spread of the virus.”

5) “The documents were vetted not only by the White House’s coronavirus task force but by what felt to the agency’s employees like an endless loop of political appointees across Washington.
Mr. McGowan recalled a White House fixated on the economic implications of public health.

All Women are at risk of getting Cervical Cancer. It often affect women over age 30.

Long-lasting infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are the main cause of cervical cancer.

HPV is a virus that is passed from one person to another during sex.

A Thread 🚺

More than half of sexually active people might have HPV at some point in their lives, but few women will get CERVICAL CANCER.

Early Screening tests & the HPV vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer.

When cervical cancer is diagnosed early, it is highly treatable &....

2/cont.

associated with long survival and good quality of life.

Most (almost all) cervical cancers are caused by HPV.

There are many types of HPV.
Some HPV types can cause changes on a woman’s CERVIX that can lead to cervical cancer as time goes on, WHILE other types can cause genital

or skin WARTS . HPV is so common that most people get it at some time in their lives.

HPV usually causes no symptoms so you can’t tell that you have it. For most women, HPV might be SELF LIMITING (ie it will go away on its own); However, if it doesn't, there are a chances that

over time it may result to cervical cancer.

OTHER FACTORS CAN INCREASE YOUR RISK of CERVICAL CANCER —
•Having HIV/AIDS
•Smoking.
•Using Oral contraceptives (birth control pills) for a long time (5+ years)
•Having birth to many children (4+ yrs).
•Having many sexual partners

DR CHRIS MACKIE (@Healthmac) is London’s Medical Officer of Health and a government advisor.

Yesterday, he said schools being open, “SLOWS the spread of COVID.”

For context, let’s look at 23 other times he misused data or gave a bad unsupported take.

🧵A THREAD🧵

...1/24

...2/24

...3/24

...4/24

...5/24

Ashtangha Yoga or the eight limbs of Yoga-

Many people think Yoga is just an Indian physical exercise but that's wrong. Yoga is a way to connect with the Supreme in Hinduism and attain Moksha(liberation).
The proper yoga as described in Hindu scriptures consists of 8 limbs:

1) Yamas- They are the 5 ethical rules of Hinduism. The 5 Yamas are:
i) Ahimsa: Nonviolence (this also includes not eating meat)
ii) Satya: truthfulness
iii) Asteya: non-stealing
iv) Brahmacharya: chastity, sexual restraint
v) Aparigraha: non-avarice, non-possessiveness

2) Niyamas- They are the 5 "do's". The five Niyamas are:
i) Shaucha: purity of mind, speech and body
ii) Santosha: contentment
iii) Tapas: austerity, self-discipline
iv) Svadhyaya: study of Vedas(Holy books of Hindus)
v) Ishvarapranidhana: contemplation of the Ishvara (God)

3) Aasana or the physical yoga-
Asana is a posture that one can hold for a period of time, staying relaxed, steady, comfortable and motionless. The aasana postures are believed to have been given by Mahadeva (Hindu God) himself. Hatha Yoga Pradipika mentions 84 aasanas.