[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] 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.

[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.

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 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.

[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.

is ADHD a mental illness ?

a thread

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder - people with it are born with it and it cannot be altered because it's part of their brain structure and is seen on brain scans. ADHD is also linked to premature births and hypothyroidism during pregnancy, among other things

from the WHO website: "neurodevelopmental disorders are disabilities in the functioning of the brain that can affect behaviour, memory and/or ability to learn."

neurodevelopmental disorders are not caused by external/environmental factors. you cannot *develop* these conditions

mental illness is a general term for a health problem that significantly affects how someone feels/thinks/behaves. mental illnesses cause suffering to those who experience them, as well as often their loved ones. ADHD does not directly cause suffering.

neurodevelopmental disorders are not mental illnesses. ADHD however, does make it more likely for a person to experience mental illness. ADHD can cause dysfunction and stress, but more often than not this comes from lack of accommodation rather than the symptoms themselves.

I am no psychiatrist or therapist, but I have been on the receiving end of verbal abuse, multiple times over decades, and managed to escape and recover from (most of) the trauma. I'm not sure that really "qualifies" me to say the following, in the academic sense, but...1/

I am seeing the press engaging in what I would call verbal abuse. When you invite a "guest" onto a program to present his or her POV, or to discuss their "expert" opinion on a subject, and then laugh at them, roll your eyes and talk over them, ask only rhetorical questions 2/

...and then accuse the guest of harming/doing disservice to the audience, you are behaving like an abuser. You are "informing" no one of anything other than your willingness to bully and abuse other human beings. Hosts with honest disagreements can and should ASK questions 3/

The hallmark of sincere disagreement is the listener who first checks for understanding of the speaker's POV, then asks why they say that. The host could challenge their arguments on the merits, with their evidence, then allow the guest to respond. This is how adults act. 4/

Immature, irrational, indoctrinated, and/or abusive, people talk OVER, mock, belittle, and accuse guests with different points of view of being "dangerous" or "harming" viewers/listeners. This is the behavior of deeply insecure people who know their ideas lack merit. 5/

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.

I do want to talk a bit about connections, conflicts and information during a pandemic. Since @fordnation insinuated I have COI which I don't, let's take a look at a single instance where @fordnation and Hospital for Sick Children are both making interesting decisions.

Both share a powerful supporter in Peter Gilgan, who has been a great supporter of Sickkids

But his company, Mattamy Homes, has also substantially bankrolled Ontario Proud, which I have reason to believe pushed the Postmedia hit on my reputation.

Sickkids and Mattamy have very close ties. Here is Mary Federau, a longtime Sickkids exec who has moved to Mattamy but remains involved with the Sickkids foundation:

Mary's bio is too modest. It looks as though it has been scrubbed a bit over the last 72 hours. Here's the google cache from Jan 25: