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Spring is Here and it'sTime to get Organized!

Spring is a great time to get started on that long overdue organizing project you have been putting off for months or even years. Let's be honest, you probably have at least one room, closet or space in your home that is cluttered and in serious need of spring cleaning and organizing. Have you been parking your car in the driveway because the garage is spilling over with stuff? Maybe your basement or spare room has become the catch all place for everything that doesn't have a home? Take charge of the clutter once and for all and get organized!


Before you get started you may want to enlist the help of a family member or friend. This will insure you to stay motivated, focused and as an added bonus you will get the task completed more quickly.


No matter what project you choose to tackle, here are 4 basic steps to get you on your way to a new and organized you.


1. Do not underestimate the amount of time your project will take. Having unrealistic expectations can sabotage your entire mission. While you may start out the day with great enthusiasm, you will end up feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.


2. Designate and clear a space for sorting. Create a keep, toss, recycle, donate and sell pile by labeling boxes or using large garbage bags for the task. You may want to sub-categorize the “keep pile” as well, this will prevent you from having to sort the items again later.


3. Time to start the purge! As you are evaluating each piece make sure to ask yourself these questions. Does this item still serve a purpose and when did I use it last? Do I love it? Do I truly need it? Be tough in your decision making, keep in mind that you are trying to minimize and de-clutter! Many will hold on to their possessions for sentimental reasons, but once you realize that an item does not represent the person or moment you are trying to remember it will get easier to let go of your things.


4. Now you are ready to create homes for everything you decided to keep. You may need to purchase appropriate shelving units, plastic totes or other storage systems, depending on your personal style and needs. Do not forget to measure the space before you make your purchase, to assure proper fit. Store seasonal and like items together, be sure to label everything and always leave a little “room to grow”. Keep in mind that you can always adjust things if you find that the system isn't working for you. Make arrangements to dispose of donations and trash and start enjoying your new space.


Remember that in order to stay organized it is extremely important to return everything back to its designated space. Just imagine never having to search for misplaced items again. Take pleasure in the knowledge that being organized will make your home run more efficiently, creating more time for you to enjoy the things that are truly important to you.


Article by: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article//Time-to-get-organized

Meditation

Contemplative practices of some form are found in all of the major faith traditions. Scientists are only now beginning to understand how meditation produces positive effects. It is easy to start a contemplative practice, and with time and practice you may find that the benefits are transforming.

Five things you should know about Meditation

1. Neuroscientists have discovered that meditation is associated with increased activity in brain regions that are important in learning, decision making, happiness, and optimism
2. Although every faith tradition has some form of contemplative practice, meditation can be practiced separately from any spiritual tradition
3. Meditation helps develop mindfulness: open-minded and nonjudgmental attention in the present moment
4. People who meditate report that they regularly spend more time savoring pleasures
5. Most people who practice meditation say that it works best as a daily practice, just like physical exercise; meditating five minutes daily is often more effective than 30 minutes once in a while

Remembering to exhale


Featuring: Michael Baime M.D.

Dr. Michael Baime, director of the University of Pennsylvania Program for Stress Management, tells us why meditation and mindfulness may help us undo the negative affects of stress. He says “We found huge changes in what (program participants) report. Anxiety and depression drop by about 50%.”

http://www.remembering%20to%20exhalepbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/meditation

We would like to offer YOU a new way to connect with the Nipissing Family Blog and here are some reasons why:



1. A forum is a breeding ground for ideas. To be an effective blogger, I need to know what people are chatting about to give them great content, answer their questions, and be of service. Tuning in to the chatter on a forum sparks ideas for blog posts. The blog provides a desirable connection for Nipissing Family Blog members, and the forum, in turn, gives the blog a built-in audience.


2. A forum fosters group dialogue. Sure, most blogs allow comments. But comments are not really a dialogue, they’re a response to a monologue. A forum is a far better platform for conversations and relationships to develop—and this is where community building really takes off.


3. A forum is a great place to discover people. This is the perfect venue to find people with compelling ideas and an engaging writing style to guest post on our blog.


If you participate on the Nipissing Family Blog and are someone who wants to grow with your community and reach out to other family members who support a loved one with a mental health issue—this is something for you!! Please check out our new Nipissing Family forum by clicking on the following link.

http://www.nipissingfamily.freesmfhosting.com/
 You will then have to register and create a “forum name” for yourself. This could be your actual name or anything you like. The amount of personal information you would like to share is up to you! My name on the forum is “araftis”


Please let me know what your thoughts are! I am looking forward to engaging in discussion with you on our new forum. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call or write.


Thanks,

 April

Everyone knows what it means when they say they are “stressed out” But what is stress its self?

Stress is your body’s response to anything that disrupts your normal life and routines. The causes of stress can be everyday events and changes, such as relationships, work, money, and difficult decisions. They can also be traumatic events, such as the death of a loved one, natural disasters, and trauma. The good news is that people are resilient. We can recognize stress as a natural response to changes and challenges, and we can learn how best to respond to these cues when managing stress.

Seven things you should know about Stress and Anxiety

1. Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide

2. In 2008, more than half of Canadians reported fatigue, irritability, sleeplessness, and headaches due to stress

3. In 2008, Canadians reported their top three causes of stress as money, the economy, and work

4. Millions of Canadians experience anxiety disorders every year

5. People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor, usually for physical symptoms brought on by the anxiety

6. People with anxiety disorders frequently also experience mood disorders or substance abuse

7. There are effective treatments for anxiety disorders, including cognitive behavioral therapy and medication


Stress relief can take many forms. Resilience strategies can help you cope with the physical and emotional signs of stress. Other attempts at managing stress, such as smoking, substance abuse, and overeating, may make you feel better for a short time, but they pose big risks to your health. Developing positive coping strategies, on the other hand, leads to greater resilience and well-being over the long term.

Coping with stress

When you are experiencing a high level of stress, you can change the situation or change your response to it. To change the situation, you can use problem-solving skills to avoid, reduce, or change the stressful situation. To change your response, you can accept the stressful situation or adapt to it. You can also establish habits that put you and your health first and help you bounce back from stress when it gets overwhelming.



To change the stressful situation, you can:

• Set boundaries, learn to say no, and look for ways to trim back your to-do list and calendar.

• Spend time with people whose company you enjoy and, as much as you can, limit the time and energy you spend on people who stress you out.

• Change your environment: do errands online, change your commute, take a break from the news, take a walk to get away from the workplace at break time, set up some time to be alone.

• Express your feelings assertively and respectfully and be prepared to negotiate and compromise with others in order to improve a situation.

Not all situations can be changed. To change your own response to stress, you can:

• Try to reframe the situation. Focus on any positive aspects you can find. For example, rather than fuming about your boss, try focusing on the advantages of having a job and the things you like about it.

• Take the long view. Ask yourself what’s going to matter to you tomorrow, in a month, or a year from now.

• Avoid the trap of perfectionism. Learn to be satisfied with “good enough,” in yourself and others.

• Recognize what is beyond your control, and focus your energy on things you can do something about.

• Learn to forgive. You can free yourself of negative energy if you let go of anger and resentments.



Healthy habits that will help you bounce back from stress quickly:

• Talk things over with others. Sharing your feelings with people who are in your corner can help you process and move on.

• Make time for yourself. Set aside time every day to be alone, to relax, and to enjoy your favorite activities.

• Keep a sense of humor. Learn to laugh at yourself, and look for the funny and absurd in a stressful situation.

• Eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and avoid substances that can mask your stress, such as alcohol and drugs.

Saint Patrick's Day



(Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) is a yearly holiday celebrated on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (circa AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. It began as a purely Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland's culture.


It is a public holiday on the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora, especially in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and Montserrat, among others.


Saint Patrick


Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.


In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianize the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of proselytizing, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.


Wearing of green


Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. However, over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. In the 1798 rebellion, in hopes of making a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching public attention. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from a song of the same name.


History in Ireland


According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.


Saint Patrick's feast day, as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. In later times he become more and more widely known as the patron of Ireland. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is very occasionally affected by this requirement – when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and again in 2008, where it was officially observed on 15 March, although the secular celebration still took place on 17 March. Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160.


In 1903, Saint Patrick's Day became an official public holiday in Ireland. This was thanks to the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament introduced by the Irish MP James O'Mara. O'Mara later introduced the law which required that pubs be closed on 17 March after drinking got out of hand, a provision which was repealed only in the 1970s. The first Saint Patrick's Day parade held in the Irish Free State was held in Dublin in 1931 and was reviewed by the then Minister of Defence Desmond Fitzgerald. Although secular celebrations now exist, the holiday remains a religious observance in Ireland, for both the Roman Catholic Church and Church of Ireland.


It was only in the mid-1990s that the Irish government began a campaign to use Saint Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. The government set up a group called St. Patrick's Festival, with the aim to:


— Offer a national festival that ranks amongst all of the greatest celebrations in the world and promote excitement throughout Ireland via innovation, creativity, grassroots involvement, and marketing activity.


— Provide the opportunity and motivation for people of Irish descent, (and those who sometimes wish they were Irish) to attend and join in the imaginative and expressive celebrations.


— Project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal, as we approach the new millennium.[12]


The first Saint Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; over 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009's five day festival saw close to one million visitors that took part in the festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks.


The topic of the 2004 St. Patrick's Symposium was "Talking Irish," during which the nature of Irish identity, economic success, and the future were discussed. Since 1996, there has been a greater emphasis on celebrating and projecting a fluid and inclusive notion of "Irishness" rather than an identity based around traditional religious or ethnic allegiance. The week around Saint Patrick's Day usually involves Irish language speakers using more Irish during seachtain na Gaeilge ("Irish Week").


As well as Dublin, many other Irish cities, towns and villages hold their own parades and festivals, including Cork, Belfast, Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford.


The biggest celebrations outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, County Down, where Saint Patrick is rumoured to be buried following his death on 17 March 461. In 2004, according to Down District Council, the week-long St. Patrick's Festival had over 2,000 participants and 82 floats, bands, and performers, and was watched by over 30,000 people.


The shortest St Patrick's Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork. The parade lasts just 100 yards and travels between the village's two pubs.


Christian leaders in Ireland have expressed concern about the secularisation of St Patrick's Day. Writing in The Word magazine's March 2007 issue, Fr. Vincent Twomey stated that, "it is time to reclaim St Patrick's Day as a church festival". He questioned the need for "mindless alcohol-fuelled revelry" and concluded that, "it is time to bring the piety and the fun together".

Helping teens overcome mental illness

Three moms, who know the pain of raising teens with mental illness, have laid the foundation for this Halifax home, which provides not just practical help but, more importantly, hope

By: Kim Pittaway



The house that helps heal mental illness

The three-storey Victorian house on Halifax’s Barrington Street doesn’t look like the kind of place where lives are saved. Sunlight brightens rooms filled with comfortable chairs and couches, art supplies and computer stations. Casually dressed staff move from desks tucked in corners to hang out with the youth who drop in over the course of the day. But while the scene looks, well, mundane, the effect is transformative. “Without Laing House, I’d be dead,” says one young man bluntly.

Laing House is a non-profit organization geared to providing “social physiotherapy” to young people with mental illness. The goal? To offer safety and hope, and in more practical terms, to help its members — not clients, since as members they help shape and guide the organization’s decisions — make friends, return to school, find work and live independently while recovering from the often devastating effects of a young adulthood interrupted by schizophrenia, depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder.

Saving lives by providing help—and hope

“If Rosemary [Hamilton] hadn’t created Laing House, I don’t know what would have happened to my son,” says Linda Black. The two long-time friends are drinking tea in the comfortable sitting room of Hamilton’s home, overlooking Halifax’s Northwest Arm, as a rainstorm lashes the windows. Black is petite and precise, with a mind that turns goals into to-do lists into accomplishments. Hamilton looks more the part of doting mother than saviour, although mother bears don’t always look fierce until they’re fighting for their young.

Along with more recent friend Dani Himmelman (out of town on vacation on this particular afternoon), the women are connected not just by their experiences as mothers of children with mental illness, but more importantly by their commitment to building and sustaining Laing House — the solution they say their own families needed. Hamilton used an inheritance from her mother — nurse Norah Laing, who had suffered from schizophrenia herself — to create the centre named in her honour. Black has been a tireless fundraiser: The masquerade ball she coordinated until recently has raised more than $500,000 in just three years. And Himmelman has become the linchpin in Laing House’s parent group, providing the support she couldn’t find when her own daughter was ill. But they aren’t doing this selflessly. “Laing has helped me heal,” Himmelman explains. “It still helps me heal.”

The 16- To 30-year-olds who frequent Laing House look like the kids you’d see hanging out in a campus coffee shop: fresh-faced, joking, full of life. But each is fighting not to be a statistic, battling daunting numbers: They are among the estimated 10 to 20 per cent of all youth who have a mental illness (half of those illnesses begin by age 14). Suicide is second only to car accidents as the leading killer of young people, and when these Laing members say the house has saved their lives, they mean it literally.

Saving some of those lives is what Rosemary Hamilton had in mind when she and her husband, Keith, set out to create Laing House more than a decade ago. Their son had struggled with mental illness throughout his teens and into his twenties, and the couple had seen first-hand the gaps in a medical system that often failed to recognize the condition in young people and when it did recognize it, focused only on medical treatment, providing little help in dealing with the painful social losses the illness creates.

Re-building a social life following illness

For the Hamiltons, their son’s mental illness became apparent while he was away at university. (He prefers not to be named. In his thirties now, his illness is under control.) At first, they thought drugs were to blame, but it soon became apparent that something else was going on. He lost weight, was sleeping a lot and excluded his parents from his life. In a way, he was lucky: As a physician at the local hospital, his father was able to help his son access good medical treatment. Still, it wasn’t easy. “He was so lonely,” says Hamilton of her son’s shrinking world. Eventually, medical interventions, his parents’ support and his own hard work at re-establishing his connections to the world contributed to his recovery. But through it all, Hamilton was struck by how isolated he’d become. “When someone breaks a leg, we deal with healing the bone and then physiotherapy helps them learn to walk again,” she says. “When someone has a brain illness, we medicate the chemical imbalance, but we do an awful job of providing that social physiotherapy, helping them get back on track and make up that lost ground.”

Prior to her son’s illness, Hamilton’s mother had passed away. Already financially comfortable, she decided to use her substantial inheritance to help support other young people with mental illness. Months of research followed, with phone calls to youth-directed facilities in the United Kingdom and United States.

Eventually, Hamilton had her plan: a program geared to helping young people reconnect with others their age, where they'd be given guidance in finding work, going back to school and learning to live independently. The youth would be involved in the decision-making about the program. And flexibility would be critical: Members wouldn't be dropped if they missed a meeting. This wouldn't be tough love: It would be "come as you are."

"When you have been as ill as these young people have been, it can take every ounce of your energy just to get yourself to Laing House in the first place," says Hamilton. "We weren't going to punish them for being late."

By 2001, Laing House was nearing its opening. Meanwhile, Linda Black decided to call her old acquaintance Rosemary. The two had been Brownie leaders together years earlier, before Black moved to New Brunswick. She'd heard that Hamilton's son had been ill, and now, as she grappled with her own son Simon's illness, she reached out to someone she hoped would be able to tell her what to do. For two years, she'd struggled to find help for Simon. A psychologist told her that her husband was too hard on the boy and that it was just normal teenage stuff. It wasn't: Eventually, a referral to the early psychosis program in Halifax (there was no such program in New Brunswick) led to a diagnosis of psychosis. For months, Black travelled back and forth to Nova Scotia with Simon, ultimately moving in with her mom in Halifax so that her son could get consistent treatment, while her husband carried on his job in New Brunswick to support the family.

"Come to Laing House," Hamilton suggested.

Gaining the confidence to speak up

As critical as Simon's medical treatments were, Black credits Laing House and the friendships her son made there with helping him build a life. "It was a place where there was no shame about his illness," she says. "He could joke about it, talk about it." But Simon talked to more than just his new friends about his illness: As he built up confidence, he started taking part in Laing's Youth Speak program, talking to high school students about mental health issues and giving presentations to pharmacy and law students, police and firefighters, among others. "They really want to listen to us!" he told his mother after one speech. (Now in his twenties, Simon lives independently and works at a Halifax-area hotel.)

Around the same time, Dani Himmelman's daughter Jenna also found her way to Laing House. Jenna had been struggling with depression and anxiety for five or six years. "It's not just that our children's lives shrink as friends disappear, as they lose connections to school and jobs and other activities, but our children shrink as well. It's like watching pieces of them being taken away," observes Himmelman. Thoughtful and open, she's the kind of person you could see yourself turning to in a crisis, someone who would know what to say—and know when to push you to stand up for yourself.

Himmelman explains that because the teen years are critical to self-development — a time of first jobs, first relationships, first apartments — a life interruption at this age can create significant gaps in a teen’s ability to handle daily challenges. Add to that the shame and self-blame of not coping, and the likelihood of relapse increases. Then with each successive episode, young people fall further behind and struggle longer and harder to get healthy again.

It’s not something the outside world always understands. When Jenna was first diagnosed with depression (she was later diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder), her high school teachers and principal offered the Himmelmans support. But as Jenna’s illness continued, her mother was told that Jenna “should just get over it and get on with her life,” and the support diminished. Before long, Jenna transferred to another high school.

But through Laing House, she found meaningful support and part-time work. Still, she struggled. “Healing the brain doesn’t happen quickly,” says Himmelman. “And Jenna had lost so much of her confidence, of who she was.” After years of illness, Jenna com- mitted suicide in 2004.

Today, Himmelman talks about Jenna with both sadness and admiration. “She tried so hard to get well.” And while discussing Jenna’s death isn’t easy, she says it’s important. “It’s a betrayal of her if I don’t talk about her in a way that values that she was here for 23 years and was loved by us all.”

Supporting parents of mentally ill teens

Himmelman has frequently felt blaming eyes cast her way. “There are people who still see mental illness as a parent’s fault, and especially as a mother’s fault. And even where you’re not explicitly blamed for the illness itself, you’re suspected of contributing to it,” she says. “Many times, the medical system doesn’t see you as a mother, it sees you as a problem. And as much as I know I didn’t cause this, you carry that blame around. Other parents who’ve been through it understand that.”

And so when Hamilton approached her in 2007 about facilitating a support group for parents at Laing House, she said yes. “Connecting with these women, with Rosemary and Linda, has been critical for me,” she says. “And to be able to do that for others, to be able to say it’s not your fault and here’s how we can help each other, well, it’s like having someone help you find your way through the dark.”

Black agrees. “There’s always someone else’s child, someone’s else’s family out there who’s going to need help.” As all three speak of their children’s struggles and the efforts of other members of Laing House, they speak of resilience as well as loss, of success even in lives — their children’s and their own — changed forever by illness. “When somebody has a stroke and learns to walk again with a walker, we don’t berate them for not walking unaided,” says Himmelman. “We celebrate their success. Why should it be any different with mental illness?”

This article originally appeared in the February/March 2010 issue of More Magazine

10 cheap ways to be happy

You don't need to be loaded (or break the bank) to be happy

By: Jennifer Gruden

The good things in life are often free. Here are ten cheap ways to brighten your day.

Restring your social web

As a 2006 Forbes article points out, social connections make people happier than money. But how often do we mean to send a letter or a card, make a phone call, or go knock on someone's door – and don't? Take the time you might have spent shopping and get back in touch with a long-lost friend. Email's free once you've paid for Internet access!

Host a potluck

Rather than hosting an evening out at a restaurant or driving yourself crazy with all the details – and expense – of a formal dinner party, go retro and throw a potluck. I predict it will be the party trend for 2009. It doesn't have to be about tired casseroles either – you can set a theme: favourite sandwiches, best brunch dishes, or "anything containing chocolate."


Take a hike


Exercise endorphins can come pretty cheaply if you go out for a walk or a jog. You can add to your happiness factor by selecting a new route – surprise yourself by exploring a local area you haven't slowed down to enjoy before. Just be sure that if your route takes you through the local fashion district that your window shopping remains just that (being sweaty may help here!).


Clear out a corner


Yes, our surroundings influence our mood. Renovations and redecorating may be one of the first things to come off your budget. But that doesn't mean you can't renew your space on the cheap. One of my tricks: take a corner of your bedroom, home office, or sunroom, and clear it out. Then walk through your house and select a few favourite or inspirational items. Use those to recreate that corner as an homage to the things you love.


Just say no


Obligations can weigh heavily on our time and eat into our sense of well being. Having control over one's time – even time to do nothing – can be a source of happiness. So practice the art of the gentle refusal – even at work.

Remix your collection



Now's the time to truly appreciate what you already have. What better place to start than your music collection? If you haven't already used iTunes or similar software to build your digital collection (and create your own custom playlists and mix CDs), go for it. You're likely to rediscover some old favourites – and even get up and dance.

You complete me



The satisfaction of a job well done is definitely one of nature's highs. So drag out that craft project, photo album that's waiting to be filled with pictures you've already developed, and go to. You've already bought the supplies – so you might as well reap the rewards. If you're one of those crazy people who doesn't have unfinished projects under the bed, ask around – some of us will give ours away just to be rid of the guilt!


Attitude shift


Create a gratitude book – a notebook or scrapbook where you add thoughts, memories, clippings, photos, or anything else that relates to moments in your life where you experienced peace, love, joy, accomplishment, or really anything else. Putting some of those things together in one place can make you feel richer than – well richer than Warren Buffet.


Be a borrower


When times get tough, the tough go to the library. No, seriously – check out your local library and community centres for some of the best free entertainment around. It's not just books either – you can rent new or classic DVDs, attend lectures, and browse the bulletin board for other local events. Other alternatives: you can arrange swap nights with friends, or check out the local Freecycle list to trade books, clothes, project supplies, DVDs, recipes, wine, or other things you might otherwise have purchased.

Oh, and the 11th way to be happy? Come and particiapte in the new Nipissing Family Forum at:
www.nipissingfamily.freesmfhosting.com and share your tips, it's FREE!!


April

The Miracle of Green Tea

"Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one." (Ancient Chinese Proverb)

Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.

Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.


To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

-cancer



-rheumatoid arthritis


-high cholesterol levels


-cariovascular disease


-infection


-impaired immune function


What makes green tea so special?


The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.


Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.


Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.


Other Benefits

New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.


Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.


Harmful Effects?


To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.


How much Green Tea should you drink?
There are as many answers to this question as there are researchers investigating the natural properties of green tea. For example, Herbs for Health magazine cites a Japanese report stating that men who drank ten cups of green tea per day stayed cancer-free for three years longer than men who drank less than three cups a day (there are approximately 240 - 320 mg of polyphenols in three cups of green tea). Meanwhile, a study by Cleveland's Western Reserve University concluded that drinking four or more cups of green tea per day could help prevent rheumatoid arthritis, or reduce symptoms in individuals already suffering from the disease. And Japanese scientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute discovered that there were fewer recurrances of breast cancer, and the disease spread less quickly, in women with a history of drinking five cups or more of green tea daily.
It gets more confusing. A University of California study on the cancer-preventative qualities of green tea concluded that you could probably attain the desired level of polyphenols by drinking merely two cups per day. On the other hand, a company selling a green tea capsule formula insists that ten cups per day are necessary to reap the maximum benefits.



How can you make sense of these conflicting claims? Given all the evidence, it is probably safe to plan on drinking four to five cups of green tea per daily. If you're a real devotee, by all means drink more; but whether or not you'll derive added health benefits remains to be determined by further research.


How to Brew a Cup of Green Tea


Producing the perfect cup of green tea is a tricky process. If not handled properly, those same polyphenols that provide health benefits can ruin the flavor, making the tea taste "gassy." It's particularly important not to overbrew. While it's best to follow the manufacturer's instructions for each variety of green tea, here are some general instructions:


Use one tea bag, or 2 - 4 grams of tea,* per cup.


Fill a kettle with cold water and bring to a boil.


After unplugging the kettle, allow it to stand for up to 3 minutes.


Pour the heated water over the tea bag or tea, and allow it to steep for up to 3 minutes. If using a tea bag, remove the bag.


Allow the tea to cool for three more minutes.


*One to two teaspoons, depending on the variety of green tea you are brewing.

March Calendar of Events

Announcement

Nipissing Family Program Yoga Mondays is scheduled to commence Monday, March 8th from 6:30 to 7:30.  Please call April to sign up or have any questions or concerns.

CONCURRENT DISORDERS




How are we defining concurrent disorders?



A concurrent disorder (CD) combines both a mental health problem and a substance use disorder.

Substance use disorder involves dependence on or abuse of substances, such as alcohol, prescription

and/or over-the-counter medication or illegal drugs. A person with major depression who also abuses

alcohol has a concurrent disorder, for example, as does a person with schizophrenia who abuses

cannabis. In the context of this project, it does not include use of nicotine.

Concurrent disorder is also known as co-morbidity. In the United States these disorders are sometimes

called dual diagnosis or dual disorder. In Canada, dual diagnosis usually refers to someone with a

developmental disability and mental illness.



The impact of concurrent disorders



The prevalence of concurrent disorders among people with serious mental illness is higher than many

people realize. Recent research indicates that between forty and sixty percent of people with substance

use disorder (with addictions to alcohol and/or street drugs) also have at least one mental illness1.

People with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia who also have substance use problems tend to

experience a wide range of serious problems. Common issues include:



􀂃 more severe psychiatric symptoms, such as depression and hallucinations

􀂃 more dramatic effects after using substances, including a greater number of blackouts

􀂃 greater chance of not following treatment plans

􀂃 physical health problems

􀂃 increased experiences of stigma

􀂃 financial problems

􀂃 housing instability and homelessness

􀂃 poorer management of personal affairs

􀂃 serious relationship problems with family members

􀂃 more verbal hostility, tendency to argue, disruptive behaviour, aggression

􀂃 greater likelihood of ending up in jail

􀂃 increased suicidal feelings and behaviours



Having concurrent disorders affects not only the person experiencing the disorders, but also that person’s

family members and friends. As problems become more complex, family members are often confused

about which problems are causes, and which are results. It is difficult for families to understand why their

relative continues to use alcohol or other drugs when the consequences can be so severe.

The needs of people with serious mental illness and substance use disorder are complex; the problems

posed by the severity of the symptoms of the disease, and the persistent stigma which surrounds mental

illness and addictions are often compounded by the lack of integrated treatment services in the

community.



The national context



The recently released Kirby Report highlights the need for change in many areas of mental health and

addictions treatment in Canada. The report specifically mentions the high rates of concurrent disorders,

and the need to improve the way services are delivered to concurrent disorders clients.

The report cites the impact of the “culture clash” between mental health and addiction services on clients

who need both services. This clash means that they are often excluded from accessing either system of

care. The disconnect between the two treatment systems and their differing philosophies has created a

major gap for people with concurrent disorders, so that many people who needed help “just got lost”.

The Kirby Report and the 2001 report on Best Practices in Concurrent Mental health and Substance Use

Disorders make specific recommendations for transforming the way services are delivered to people with

concurrent disorders, in terms of program and systems-level efforts to support integration between

mental health and addictions sectors. Both reports also recommend cross-training for staff from both

sectors, to share knowledge, perspectives, and better equip staff to meet the needs of those with

concurrent disorders.

The need for tools which can transform information from the best practices report and other sources into

more user-friendly advice was highlighted in an article written by Dr. Brian Rush, the leader of the team

who produced the best practices report. The article also emphasized that although implementation of the

recommendations of the best practice report is essentially a provincial responsibility, the dissemination

process could benefit from more focus and leadership at the national level, and that a national forum or

focal point for discussion and sharing of ideas and experiences is needed.

“In the interface between addiction and mental health, the old concept was that if you deal with the

mental health problem first, the addiction will go away on its own”.



Prevalence



Recent literature on prevalence states that between 40-60 % of individuals with severe mental illness will

develop a substance use disorder at some point during their lives, and about half currently meet criteria

for substance abuse or dependence. For people with schizophrenia specifically, population surveys have

consistently shown elevated rates of alcohol use disorders (about three times the risk) and drug use

disorders (about five times the risk). Several studies show that about half of youth in the first episode of

schizophrenia also have or will develop a substance use disorder.



Service Implications



There is a substantial amount of literature describing the poor coordination between mental health and

addiction services, a situation that has been shown to contribute significantly to poor consumer

outcomes. A better integration between mental health and addictions services is seen as part of the

solution, but there are several levels of service integration that need to be addressed: systems level and

program level. Additionally, there is a need for upgrading the general capacity to address concurrent

disorders across all service providers, not just within highly specialized services.

Substance abuse/dependence and severe mental illness can interact in several complex ways that have

important implications for screening, assessment and the planning of treatment and support. The Health

Canada Document “Best Practices: Concurrent Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders” (2001)

emphasizes that those who experience overlapping severe mental illness and substance use problems

require interventions that address both disorders concurrently. A concurrent disorders strategy should

therefore include screening, assessment, treatment and aftercare interventions that target both types of

disorders with equal emphasis and importance.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the United States has

recently produced a document titled Overarching Principles to Address the Needs of Persons with

Cooccurring Disorders (2006). It is an overview paper which outlines 12 principles for service providers

working with people with concurrent disorders. The principles are intended to help guide both systemic

and clinical responses. The principles, or best practice statements, are grouped into two categories – the

first to guide systems of care, and the second, for individual providers.



Issues specific to people with schizophrenia



People with serious mental illness and substance use disorder are a high-need subpopulation of

concurrent disorders clients, and have unique needs and issues. People with severe mental illnesses such

as schizophrenia are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol and other drugs due to increased biological

vulnerability and, therefore, experience more negative consequences from relatively small amounts of

alcohol and other drugs.



Non-Clinical Issues



Information on the non-clinical issues that are of importance to those with concurrent disorders and their

families has tended to come mainly from the grey literature, such as websites of non-governmental and

support associations, with one major exception. A new resource, Concurrent Disorders: A Resource for

Families (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in production) brings together the results of a

multi-site pilot study conducted by CAMH, of support and education groups for family members of people

with concurrent disorders. The aim of the groups was to help family members become better informed

about concurrent disorders, develop coping skills, and find ways of working collaboratively with service

providers and relatives to manage their mental health and substance abuse issues.

This comprehensive resource offers practical information for family members on various aspects of

concurrent disorders, providing an introduction to mental health and addiction issues, their impact on

family members, treatment options, and recovery. While the guide addresses concurrent disorders in

general, much of the information it contains is directly relevant to people who have schizophrenia and

substance use disorder.

(This guide is available for any family members at The Nipissing Family Program)

Please call April for information.

For a list of sources please see: http://www.schizophrenia.ca/CD_Discussion_Paper.pdf