Hypomanic - Abnormal Psychology notes

A distinct period of persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood lasting throughout at least four days, that is clearly different from the usual non depressed mood. during period of mood disturbance 3 or more symptoms have persisted, 4 if mood is only irritable and have been present to significant degree. inflated self esteem or grandiosity. 2. Decreased need for sleep. 3. More talkative _____to 7 (same as posted previously in manic. Not as severe. The episode is not severe enough to cause marked impairment in social or occupational functioning or to necessitate hospitalization and there are no psychotic features. not necessarily something that is depleting. Executives climb the ladder working 15/16 hour days. They channel their energy. If not, might have a problem channeling.

Confession - A Catholic’s Nightmare (can be) (Pastoral)

Confession is a requirement in the Roman Catholic Tradition. It has changed though from the past. Now instead of telling each and every individual sin, you may confess to a theme. You may also do it once a year. So this Easter season, I was talking to a friend of mine and she wanted to know when I was going to confession. “7:00 o’clock,” I told her and she replied that she would meet me there. I went to my Parish church earlier so I could get my thoughts in order and think of my theme. I always say I do not have patience. The last priest which I blogged about told me that I needed to be more patient with myself so I could be so with others. That made a lot of sense to me. This time I had an entirely different experience with the same sin (plus one). I sat myself in the pew to ponder my sins. I have been so busy that I have not really had time to sin. However, knowing I am far from perfect, I must have sinned, so how did I sin? The Pastor stood at the front and in the Portuguese language talked much. I thought he would say the same in English but that did not happen. I felt lost not being able to hear anything in English. I asked someone seated behind me what he said, but she did not speak English. I was wondering if I was going to be able to say anything else besides me having no patience again. That was beginning to sound dull, even to me. I must add something this year, I pondered in the English language. The Pastor left and returned to say that there would be Priests coming and that Italian would be heard from him at the back (in the confessional stall) and Portuguese would be heard at the front. English would be heard as well. I remained seated thinking about my sins. Is that really a sin I asked my self? No, I told myself, it is not. As I sat there contemplating of the entire method of confession, Priests began piling in. There was an Asian Priest and a long line quickly formed at the right front side of the church. No one was going to the Pastor. I followed suit to the Portuguese line. As I stood in line, I saw my friend enter the church. She was looking for me and I waved like an idiot for her to see me. She does a lot of work in the Church. She is a good person. Her sin is not having enough fun. Another priest comes in, a tall man, I later learn is Polish. She goes to him at the front left side of the Church and in no time, she is seen. I notice that people from the Centre seem to be moving fairly fast. There is an African Portuguese Priest who I thought was Canadian but boy was I mistaken. I notice that my line is not progressing and that another Priest has entered and is at the back centre. The centre line is almost empty and so I join the shorter line. I now see the other priest who is at the back near the altar and is very close to a person confessing. He has a very kind and serene type of face and is middle aged, older than the rest. Both he and the confessor are seated. The other priests at the front all have a mobile kneeling post for the sinner to kneel on. The priests however sit. This is very different from what I am used to. I am used to sitting. I have gone back into time. I see the Asian Priest assisting the elderly people to rise and kneel in front of him. He picks up an elderly woman’s purse to assist her. He is uncomfortable and I notice he is thinking of giving her his seat, as he looks back at his seat. He is compassionate. However, he cannot give her his seat. Where would he go? He cannot kneel before her. I am next and go to the African Priest and kneel. The Priest behind him at the back has a chair for the sinners but someone is still with him. I have forgotten when I last confessed and do not want to lie. He asks me if I speak Portuguese. I say no and ask if that is a problem. He says his English is not fluent but I do not guess that at all. I tell my sin of not being patient and throw in that I get angry some times. Then I hear it. I get a first experience of a different perspective from the last Canadian Priest. He begins to instruct me with Jesus always being patient and I am to continue in rote. I know what he wants to hear so I finish his sentences. I am responding in rote from my early childhood. He wants me to complete his sentences that Jesus is patient with me and therefore I should be patient with others. He is referring to the new Testament and what I really want to say is that Jesus was always getting mad. How can he not with the fools he had to deal with. However, I am visible to all the people in the Church. I have said my two sins and I am there forever getting a lecture. He then gives me my penance. “I want you to spend 10 or 15 minutes thinking about God etc…..”I am pleased. My penance is just spending time with God for 10 or 15 minutes. I do that anyway. I was hoping for a Hail Mary but this will do. Then he continues, “ and every day I want you also before you go to bed etc……and everyday before you open your mouth, I want you to think……” I say my Act of Contrition and he forgives me for my sins I am sure and all the ones I forgot, I am sure because that would be the routine, but of course I cannot understand because it is not in English.” I join my friend and she tells me she has to say the rosary which she does not mind because she does that anyway. I am in shock and told her I have penance for a year and stress the part about thinking before opening my mouth each time I open it. “What would be my penance if I killed someone!” I cry out rhetorically She is amused and I see her laugh which is good because she had to go to a funeral the day before which saddened her. My penance is amusing her. I do normally spend time every morning with God and normally when I go to sleep. However, to think every time before I open my mouth? That is not possible. I don’t know if he misunderstood me or if he thought I need anger management and this was his way of trying to help me with it. If I ever see this Priest again, I would certainly approach him and tell him what I really thought about Jesus and how he got mad. I would also say that it was the man part of him. Does God get mad? I am not God. I am only a mere person. Of course I get mad! What did this teach me? I am glad that it was me who he gave this penance to. I am glad that he did not give this penance to someone who could not accomplish this and think it was his or her fault. I wondered what education this Priest had and what Order he was from. I thought of the Asian Priest who thought so much of the elderly people who knelt before him, that he helped them as much as he could. I wondered what my penance would have been if I went to him? Would he have told me to be kinder towards myself? Would he have given me a Hail Mary? You are probably wondering why I am talking so much about my confession. It is simple. When you go to confession, you are confessing to a Priest who has a perspective stemming from his own education, culture, order and experiences. Penance is not meant to last until your next confession, which in my case is once yearly and he knew it. Confession is meant to be inviting. There was a reason why the Church made changes. So, if you go to a Priest please keep that in mind. Priests are like everyone. They are good and bad and wise and not so wise. They are human. We are not all the same. We are what we are because of our origins, our experiences, our exposures, education and biases. We are a product of everything we have been exposed to. We carry in ourselves all that has happened to us and all we have learned in how we interact with others. I would love to see that Priest again, to have a discussion regarding his penance and his views of confession. My suggestion to you is if you ever go to confession and do not experience a warm and inviting presence, and feel bad about it, please go to confession to someone else asap. This brings me thinking to what a colleague of mind said to me once. “It is easy for you to say go to someone else. What happens when you are from a small town and there is no one else.? I do hope I see this priest again so I can speak to him about how he came across to me. I would like to share that Jesus was God as well as man and that he was very much annoyed with others. He was always looking to change what he found unjust. He was annoyed with the religious leaders of the time and how everyone judged others instead of looking at themselves. He was supportive of women and they in kind supported him. There is so much we can learn from the life of Jesus. In the end, he summed us up, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Easter is fast approaching. Why not remember someone this season. In my neighbourhood several of us exchange small treats. Regardless of what I get, I appreciate it all equally, from farm eggs to chocolate to trinkets. It is an expression of love and that is what Jesus taught me most of all - love. What do you think?

My second book is now all completed with a teaser about my third

Yesterday I completed checking for errors and reading my second book for the third time. I learned a lot since publishing "Hey Guy Buy Me". I read mostly out loud to catch more errors. At times a comma would be at the wrong place which would change the entire meaning. Words are beautiful. I love our language. We could do so much with words. The design of the cover is wonderful too. My first book I wrote simply for fun. My second book is historical and a biography at the same time. It is about me and my experiences. It is from my perspective as I journey on a rite of passage. You will be able to journey with me back in time, to the present. That is all I am saying about it for now. My objective now is to have a bit of fun, work a bit and then continue writing my third book. This time I hope to qualify for grants. I never seem to be able to qualify to get anything business wise or tax wise. Another thing I have learned about my writing is that I need to stay in the mood of what I am writing about when it comes to books. Sometimes, a thought will come and I want to integrate that into my book. I had to stop writing my third to concentrate on the development of the second. I had to get my mind back into that time span and that life, which is very different from how I live today. I do not work as hard, nor play as hard. I am more mature and less athletic (actually I sit all the time at work and at the computer typing which is more than I have ever done) to the point where I realize I should move more. That is why I would love to have a pool, write, see clients, walk to the falls and spend time with friends. However, moving from Toronto is difficult because everything is here. Seminars, education and all else for professional development is here. It is as simple as that. So, I need to do more research and think more because that is what I do. I have decided to continue with this blog. Hopefully, you will download my book when I am all completed with the process. Hopefully, you will contact me if you need counselling. And if not that is ok too. I plan to place all my notes of all my studies on this blog. Why not share all and then it is out there so I can rid of my notebooks. I am not a pack rat. I do not like to keep things that I do not need. I am forever putting things outside for someone else to pick up. I call that re-cycling. Information that I have but was handed out in classes, I organize into different disorders or psychotherapy methods I like to use or think of using in different folders. I have a lot of work to do within using different methods of organization to work better for me. I can no longer work on a sliding scale nor should I after six years of working for so little or nothing because of internships. However, I have not raised my fee and people have the option now of seeing me weekly, monthly or whenever they see fit. I have found that this works for them due to one particular insurance method. I am always growing and changing my methods to accomodate what works for clients. Nothing is rigid. If there is something you would like to do but have not, ask yourself why? Our life on this earth is so short; why keep yourself from doing what you want? Do you want to write a book? I find that when I have a table and am selling my book, quite a few approach me wanting to know how to start? Start by writing. Write down a thought and get it on a computer and begin. Write from your heart, from your soul. Just start and then continue until you are finished. Do it! What else have you been thinking of doing and think it is too late? Why? What do you think?

Reading final draft of my book before printing

I am reading over the final draft, for the third time before it goes out to print. It is kind of exciting. I will initiate another web site just for "Hey Guy Buy Me" and ebook and hard copy of book two. It will be very exciting to get this off the ground and more so, if there is an interest from you. What are your passions? What excites you? What do you get out of reading my blogs? Are you happy? Are you sad? Are you spending too much time on the internet and not enough with people? What is it that most fulfills you? How do you find peace in a fast paced life? How do you balance your life with joy, work and interests. Are you happy with your work? What can you do to find something that is more fulfilling? Lots of questions for you this week. What do you think?

Sex Education in Ontario - Upgrade

Premier updating Ontario’s Sex Education and she does’t care who complains - Really? I am rather tired of politics. It has been a long and cold winter and I sometimes wish my parents immigrated to the South where it is nice and warm. At other times I wish Canada had a nice Island in the Caribbean where I could still be in Canada. Maybe we can buy Hawaii. Right! That is going to happen. At other times I dream of just packing up, pets and all and going South (as if my pets are going to let that happen). I don’t even know how that works but I understand perhaps incorrectly that you do not have to pay taxes in Florida (You do have to pay Federal tax). I do have a problem believing that but that is what I was informed of by someone who returned from holidays. However, I would rather pay taxes and have adequate health care. Ouch! Ok, that is my dream period for todays jolt of wanting to be in a warm tropical climate. Maybe Disney World wants me. Is it hot enough? No, I understand. But hey there is Disney land. Yup, as if that is going to happen. But enough! Today I am going to talk about Sex Education. I think that age appropriate sex education is required in school. I remember when I was in grade 11, I had to watch silly movies of going out on a date. I raised my hand and told the teacher (I could never keep my mouth shut) that I was sure everyone knew about dating and the entire girl class (because I think we were separated from the boys for sex ed) gasped at what I was suggesting in their minds. I spoke to the teacher after class and I told her that I would investigate and let her know how I made out. I was determined to prove my hypothesis that this sex education we were learning was outdated. I did talk to each girl in my class and learned that not only had everyone dated but …………. … I brought this to the teacher and that was that. Of course the information did not make any changes. Everyone pretended to be shocked at everything and anything and when one girl got pregnant everyone of her friends shunned her. I couldn’t figure it out. In my grade 11 brain, I asked myself, if the entire class (almost) is having ……….., than was it not possible that pregnancy was a possibility? I never felt I learned much until I went to university. There an entire world opened up to me. However, what I did learn a lot about in grade school and high school was human nature. I learned how people interacted with each other, how mean gossip was, how power was abused etc….. I also learned how good some people were; how kind. That is the world. As a therapist I have to report child abuse. Being a bad parent is not necessarily being an abusive parent. There is no education courses for being parents in grade school or high school. There is no requirement for attending courses prior to being parents. Too bad! Can parents really deal with educating their own children about sex? At one book sale a young international student approached me where I was selling my book,”Hey Guy Buy Me.” She was asking me a lot of questions about men. I asked her what her mom had taught her and what she learned was very bias. Men are not all alike. There are very many great men out there. What is that expression? You have to kiss a lot of toads before finding your prince? Well you don’t have to kiss the toads and no person is perfect but you should be able to go fishing and find someone who compliments your own thinking and worthiness and sex is a very important part of that relationship. When I was a child I was at a family friend’s house and the host told my mother about a child who had called her randomly in a panic because she was menstruating and she did not know what was happening. She was terrified. There on the phone she was getting a lesson which if it had been taught in class, she would have been prepared. I have received in the mail reports of what is going to be taught which I have not heard of in the news. Therefore, I can relax and infer that it was exaggeration. I will not talk about what I read because I would find that disturbing enough for people to protest. The Premier has said that there was some type of survey out to I believe 4000 parents who found her program worthwhile and therefore her curriculum is going forth regardless of complaints. Again, I would like to know how these 4000 parents were selected. How was this conducted? I really wish people would reveal how they conduct their studies? Also, it would be nice for politicians to realize that they are elected and in a democratic society there are choices. So, people realize that voting is important. Appropriate age sex education is important. What may be appropriate for one parent is not for another and therefore, to just interview parents is that sufficient? How about looking at research, calling in experts etc…… I believe that as a society we need to grow towards being better, kinder and protective. We do need to protect our children. There are too many pedophiles out there; there are so many problems that come out sexually which has nothing to do with sexual pleasure. Sex should never be confused with having power over someone. There is sexual addiction, sexual assault, sexual promiscuity in an attempt to find love, excessive and uncontrollable masturbation. Leaning about sex is very important. It is important for couples. I think that values and religion should also be considered in the curriculum. And what is very important is to teach the teacher how to deal and report when a child confides that indeed she has been inappropriately touched. There is more than just teaching sex education which goes beyond just asking if it is accepted or not. What was asked? How is this going to work moving forward? Is sex education important? You bet it is, but it has to be done for the benefit of the child when she or he is emotionally mature to understand what is being taught. What do you think?