Professionals? No. Hopefuls? Yes.

Hello everyone. Recently we have had a few worries about liabilities pertaining to the advice we give. We would just like to point out once more, and hopefully in a way that everyone can understand, that WE ARE NOT PROFESSIONALS! We have never been in any sort of psychology classes or had any formal training. While we would like to say that we have, we have not. We are just a few 14 and 15 year old girls trying to educate people and hopefully make a difference in their lives. This whole blog was meant to help people, we hope we are able to do this. All the information we give is from professional journals and articles, but all the advice we may give is based solely on personal experience. The biggest piece of advice we can give you is to go see a professional. A school counselor, a social worker, a psychiatrist, any licensed mental health professional will give you the help you need more than any blog, no matter how influential,  can.
We have also been told hat we need to close down our blog, but we will not. We know that, though few, the people who frequently read Mental Courage need the help, and need to be educated. We realize that the cause we are working toward is bigger than just one person and their wish to shut us down. We hope, someday, to be able to make the Mental Courage cause more than just a blog, but for now this is all we have. We thank you for your support and loyalty, and hope you come back to read more. We truly hope we are making a difference in someone, some where's life.
For those of you who do frequent Mental Courage and do need the help, remember--there is always hope for a better tomorrow. And no matter how lonely you may feel, there are always people out there who love and care for you- us.

Obesity

      It is a proven fact that nearly two thirds of Americans are overweight, and one third of that two thirds are obese. There are many reasons why people will become overweight. A lot of it has to do with depression and low self esteem. When some people feel depressed they turn to food for comfort, the food gives them comfort and they don't want to stop because it may relieve them of the stress in their lives. There are many other ways you can get rid of that stress, like exercising or finding a hobby. These can get rid of your stress without putting on that extra weight. When my parents got divorced I was eight, and at first I didn't realize it but I was turning to food for comfort. I am still suffering the consequences today. Once you gain a lot of weight it is hard to get rid of it. It is also very unhealthy for your body and you can end up with health problems like diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, and even certain types of cancer. Hypertension is a condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is chronically elevated. With every heart beat, the heart pumps blood through the arteries to the rest of the body. Blood pressure is the force of blood that is pushing up against the walls of the blood vessels. If the pressure is too high, the heart has to work harder to pump, and this could lead to organ damage and several illnesses. 
        It is very easy to turn to food for comfort, but it is really hard to stop once you have started. If you have a problem and exercising and finding a hobby isn't working, don't be afraid to get medical help, or even help from a friend or family member. The important thing is that you get help, don't be afraid. It may seem kind of scary to talk about it to someone but trust me it really helps. 


                                                                               -Mariah :)


"Update:Obesity." Issues and Controversies on file:n. Issues & Controversies. Fact On File News Services,                       June 2007.Web.24 Feb.2011. <www.2facts.com.>


      "What is Hypertension" Medical News Today:n. 1 May. 2011  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150109.php

Some of the Best Advice

Though it is true that everyone goes through a stage of low self-esteem, I know first-hand that this does not mean that you don't feel lonely. But through it all just remember that you are NOTalone.

On April 18, our group posted 120 links around our school. On April 20, 48 hours later, there were only 58 left. In the past week our blog has had about 200 views, and all time, we've had 373.

You are NOT alone.

Some of the best advice I can give you is to BE AWARE. Be aware of the people around you. You will be surprised at how many people close to you are going through many of the same things. Become better friends with these people. Give them and yourself someone to talk to and someone to relate to. You will know how they're feeling and what they require. You will be able to give them the attention they need. You will know what to say and how to react. And because you know what would help you, you will know what will help them. Make it easy for them to avoid the mirror and see their true self-worth. In time, you may be surprised to find that in helping them, you are helping yourself.

Make it a habit to be happy and supportive. Let people reach out to you. Accept help. ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE LOVED.

If you don't know someone you are comfortable enough with to go to, or if you want advice on a certain situation, email 20selfesteem11@gmail.com . (Put the subject as the category about which you are seeking advice Your question may be posted on our blog. It would be posted anonymously but if you don't want your question posted, please put DO NOT POST in the subject next to the category. If we do not see that in the subject we will assume it's ok with you if we post it. We will notify you if we use your question.) Please feel free to comment anonymously as well. Please let us know if our posts are helping you or a friend or loved one in any way.

Most importantly, don't be afraid to get help. Go to a parent, teacher, friend, or school counselor. If you are worried about support please remember that as long as you are not harming anyone OR YOURSELF, WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU.

-<3- Emma

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

For my fellow Gleeks, you know all about Miss. Emma Pillsbury's strict sanitary issues about everything. And if you saw the latest "Born This Way" episode, you saw her diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. For those of you who have never seen Glee or met someone with OCD, you may not know how serious it really is. I'm going to assume that most people do not know how serious it is because of personal experience. Almost everyday I hear someone throw out a, "You're OCD!" and a laugh every time they see someone straighten their papers or clean off a table. This really bothers me because obsessive-compulsive disorder is no laughing matter. OCD is a severe mental illness in which on is plagued with repeated, disturbing thoughts (obsessions), that cause one to repeat the same rituals (compulsions) again and again in an attempt to stop these thoughts. now matter how forcefully these rituals are preformed, they only offer temporary relief. Some examples of these rituals are: constantly washing hands or cleaning, repeatedly locking a door or window, and counting number of lines in a paragraph or chews in a bite. Some people are so obsessed with not throwing anything away that they end up becoming severe hoarders. Other common obsessions that people don't think of when there hear OCD are: frequent thoughts of harming loved ones, thoughts that go against religious beliefs, or preforming sexual acts that the person dislikes.
With any anxiety disorder, the anxiety is in control almost all the time. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is no exception; it's possibly the worst. The obsessions and compulsions end up controlling one's life. In my research, I found a quote that demonstrated this really well: "Getting dressed in the morning was tough, because I had a routine, and if I didn't follow the routine, I'd get anxious and would have to get dressed again. I always worried that if I didn't do something, my parents were going to die. I'd have these terrible thoughts of harming my parents. That was completely irrational, but the thoughts triggered more anxiety and more senseless behavior. Because of the time I spent on rituals, I was unable to to a lot of things that were important to me" ("Anxiety Disorders").
These symptoms do not go away over time, if anything, they get worse. The only was to gain controls is through psychotherapy and/or medication. The type of psychotherapy used to treat OCD is called exposure-based psychotherapy. In this type of therapy, one with OCD encounters the very things  that cause obsessions, but in a safe environment, and they are encouraged not to preform the rituals they are complused to do. The most commons medications prescribed for all anxiety disorders, including OCD, are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which alter the amount of serotonin in the brain. Antidepressants are also common in treating anxiety disorders like OCD.
If you fear that you or a loved one have OCD, do not be ashamed and do not be afraid to get help. You are not alone, and everyone deserves to have a life free of constant, overwhelming stress and fear. There is always hope for a better tomorrow.

Works Cited:

“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” Medline Plus. 13 Jan. 2011. 24 Feb. 2011.

            <http://www.nlh.nih.dov/medlineplus/obsessivecompulsivedisorder.html>.

“Anxiety Disorders.” Medline Plus. 2 Nov. 2010. 24 Feb. 2011.

            <http://www/nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml>

Self-Esteem

     It is a little-known fact that everyone goes through a point in their life when they have low self-esteem. For some people, this stage can last longer than others and have more serious effects. Often it becomes more than a stage but their actual life.

     My name is Emma, and this is a very sensitive subject for me. I am one of the people who have had one of the longer stages. I am one of the people who have ended up letting my low self-esteem control my life. One of the best ways, I think, to help resolve this issue is to raise awareness of it.

     Other than just raise awareness of the issue, one of my goals as a contributor to this blog is to help people understand the difference between self-esteem and self-worth.

     Everyone has self-worth. Let me repeat that: EVERYONE HAS SELF-WORTH. It does not matter how hard your life is or what mistakes you have made. YOU HAVE WORTH.

     Unfortunately, everyone has self-esteem as well. Often our self-esteem doesn’t allow us to see our self-worth.

     Think of a fun-house mirror. The image in the mirror represents our self-esteem and we ourselves represent our self-worth. You look in the mirror and you seem distorted. You are all out of proportion and the image you see is generally not very becoming. But the mirror lies; it is not truth. So you have to learn to look at yourself without the mirror. You will have to crane your neck and it may be uncomfortable at first as you strain to look at all of you, consider every aspect. However, after a while, as you become less and less dependent on the mirror and it becomes less uncomfortable, it likewise becomes easier to see the truth. You realize the deceitfulness of the mirror. True, there will still be things about you that you don’t like, but there are also many good things that you couldn’t see in the mirror.

     A person with low self-esteem is in a position similar to this. They have to learn to look past their low self-esteem so they can see their self-worth. I ask you to keep this in mind as you read about the causes and effects of low self-esteem. I will also be talking about ways you can help yourself.            
     I am not a professional. I have not studied at top universities for years so I can understand all the characteristics of a wounded self-esteem. However, I have had many personal experiences with this. Though I cannot give you the professional help you, like me, may need, I can give you advice as a human you can relate to, as a person you talk to, and as a friend you can come to.

The Media

Wherever we go, media will be there right by us. From magazines to television, to billboards, and the Internet, there is always something closing in on us, making us want to take a certain action. Whichever way we look at it, the media can have a lasting impact on our lives, our thinking process, and, most importantly, how we look at ourselves. According to Mary Gavin, “Kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games.” With all these outside influences, it’s no wonder why everyone is so “in to” what the television says. Big-name TV shows portray the “average” teenage life, where every single girl wears size 0 and has the perfect skin and hair; not to mention all the dashing adolescent boys who are constantly muscular and strapping. Other outside sources also impact impressionable minds. Brightly-lit billboards litter highways, sponsoring the nearest fast-food chain restaurant. Magazines with bright and colorful images crowd grocery store racks at every neighborhood market imaginable. The Internet alone is host to millions and millions of images, whether they are good or bad. No one can doubt that America’s culture is shaped mostly by the media. The media has a tremendous impact on everyone, no matter where one happens to come across it. Pictures, television, movies, and other ways of communicating are all giving the same message to the public. Advertisers across America portray their everyday product with flashy images and pictures of airbrushed, bony, unrealistically thin models. Through these images, marketing gets their money from the buyers, but the rest of the general public suffers from low self-esteem because they compare themselves to the “ideal” body weight and size. Marketers rely on these negative emotions stirring in the public. Their product screams “Buy me, and you can look as good and happy as the girl in this picture!” However, this is not the case. The advertisers need these pictures and feelings so that the viewers deem themselves inadequate. With these certain circumstances and the “ideal” being publicized to the general public, the people feel imperfect, and they subconsciously believe that the only way to attain the happiness that is shown in the billboard or poster is to indulge and buy that product. It’s a vicious, win-lose cycle, where the companies keep winning, and the people keep losing. As a result, thousands of teens across America suffer from poor body image, low self esteem, and psychological disorders.
Whatever you see in that picture or on that television; that’s not what you need to be. What we think is “If I’m skinny, I’ll be happy.” However, we shouldn’t let our physical appearance determine whether or not we can be happy. Comparing ourselves to what the media has to offer isn’t getting us any closer to what we need to be. Don’t try to measure up to the unattainable and the unhealthy. You need to be happy for yourself, no matter what any magazine or television show says.

Best wishes,
Julia

Body Image and Eating Disorders

The Media tells us that to be beautiful we have to be super thin. This causes people to become depressed and try to attain that weight. My name is Mariah and I have researched this topic to help kids and teens understand more about body image and the dangers of eating disorders. I am not the healthiest person and I get depressed and low self esteem when I compare myself to someone on t.v or in a magazine. Everyone gets depressed or has low self esteem sometime in their life. Too often they can turn to food for comfort, or treat it like their enemy. Both are very unhealthy and can result in serious eating disorders
There are many eating disorders but the most common are obesity, anorexia, and bulimia. Obesity is when your food intake is higher than the energy you burn during the day. In other words; when you eat too much and gain excess weight. Anorexia is an eating disorder where you greatly decrease your food intake or don't eat at all, which leads to a great amount of weight loss. If you have bulimia you eat a lot and you throw it all back up so you won't gain the excess weight. These disorders are not to be taken lightly. To treat these disorders is very expensive and time consuming. Having negative feelings about food can seriously affect not only how you eat but also how you interact with your friends, family, and everyone else around you.
I know I am not a professional but I want to do everything I can to help kids and teens in need. Through the progression of this blog I hope I can help anyone who needs help and let them understand more about these disorders and how to get the professional help they need or the advice to get them through it.


“Update: Eating Disorders.” Issues & Controversies On File: n.pag.Issues & Controversies. Facts on File News Services, 21 Dec. 2007. Web. 23, Feb. 2011. www.2facts.com

Willet, Edward. “Weight and Depression.” Teen Health and Wellness. Rosen, 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. www.teenhealthandwellness.com

Depression

"About five to fifteen percent of the United States' population has depression. One in eight American teens have depression. And one in four people experience a serious depressive episode during his or her lifetime." Depression is a serious topic that affects millions of people worldwide. Friends, family members, and even I have been affected by depression.
My name is Kyrra. I have been depressed for five to six months now. The symptoms of depression have been really hard on me. Withdrawal from friends, loss of interest in past hobbies, sleeping troubles, and even thoughts of suicide have affected me more than once. People with depression often have these symptoms plus a few more like feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, eating disorders, and troubles concentrating. Having these problems and knowing people with these problems make me passionate about helping people who want help. The rest of the post is broken down to help someone know the basics of why people have depression, how it affects them, and other risks that someone may have.
Causes:
Stress, low self-esteem, pessimism, chronic pain, terminal disease, and abuse are some of the causes of depression.
Effects/Symptoms:
Withdrawal from loved ones, indifference to physical appearance, sadness, anxiety, fatigue, eating disorders, and feelings of emptiness are all effects/symptoms of depression.
Other Risks:
Self-harm is a big risk of depression. Deliberate cutting, hair pulling, scratching, burning, etc... of one's self is self-harm. Some people who self-harm are depressed, but not all people are. Many people, however, have been hospitalized due to infection or blood loss of self-harming. However, suicide is most likely the biggest risk of depression. "Suicide is now the third leading cause for those ages fifteen to twenty-four." Some people who are depressed will think, attempt, or even succeed at suicide. It's scary really.
All in all, if you or someone you know is depressed, they can be helped. Therapy or medicine is proven to help, all one needs to do is ask. Even if someone feels like they are alone in the world, they're not. Everyone is loved either by friends or family. Someone is always there, no matter what.
Works Cited
Levin, Judith. "Depression and Mood Disorders." Rosen, 2011. http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/article/119
Scholten, Amy, MPH. "Depression: Major Depressive Affective Disorder; Unipolar Disorder Unipolar Mood Disorder." Consumer Health Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com

Anxiety Disorders

It is a little known fact that 18% of American adults suffer from anxiety disorders. Almost everyone can say that they have been stressed at least once in their lives, but being stressed is completely different than having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can be defined as chemical imbalances and lack of serotonin in the brain. As this is the first post in the anxiety disorder portion of this blog, I will not go into great detail about each type of anxiety disorder, but I will give a brief definition of each disorder.
Before I do that, however, I would like to give a little personal background and explain how I am connected to this topic. My name is Mackenzie, and I have had extreme anxiety issues my whole life. These issues started worsening when I was about 10 years old. I called my anxiety "disastraphobia" because in any situation I was in I thought of every disaster that could possibly happen, however unrealistic they may have been. I found this anxiety to be taking over my life, and I tried to ignore it for a long time. Because anxiety disorders are so serious, it was a moot point to try and ignore the issue, and my anxiety kept getting worse. Around age 12 I started talking to my mom about my anxiety seriously, and at 13 I expressed my desire to see a therapist. Seeing a therapist did not happen right away like I had hoped that it would. While waiting for my mom to make the calls and find the right psychiatrist, my anxiety continued to get worse. I had had problems sleeping my entire life, but they had gotten worse, and I was, and still am, an insomniac. I think this is because my anxiety seems more intense at night. Recently, at age 14, I began to see a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed during my first session with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Lately we have been discussing types of treatment, from psychotherapy to medication. I am extremely grateful for this, because now I can finally get all of this under control.
Well, back to the types of anxiety disorders:
Specific phobia: an intense and irrational fear of a specific thing that poses little or no real danger (affects 8.3% of Americans)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder: causes repeated, disturbing thoughts, called obsessions, and causes one to repeat the same ritual, compulsions, over and over again in order to stop these thoughts (affects 2.4% of Americans)
Post-traumatic stress disorder: caused when one experiences a traumatic event and causes one to constantly relive that event (affects 3.6% of Americans)
Panic disorder: causes panic attacks which are caused by constant feelings of terror that occur for no reason (affects 1.6% of Americans)
Social phobia: causes one to become extremely anxious and self-conscious in any social situation (affects 2.0% of Americans)
Generalized anxiety disorder: causes one to be filled with tension and worry, though nothing has happened to provoke it (affects 3.4% of Americans)
Agoraphobia: the fear of places in which help is unavailable or escape is difficult; also causes panic attacks (affects 4.9% of Americans)
Works Cited:
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Medline Plus. 24 Feb. 2011. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/posttraumaticstressdisorder.html>.
“Panic Disorder.” Medline Plus. 12 Dec. 2010. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nlh.nih.gov/medlineplus/panicdidorder.html>.
“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” Medline Plus. 13 Jan. 2011. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nlh.nih.dov/medlineplus/obsessivecompulsivedisorder.html>.
“Mental Disorders Defined (sidebar).” Facts on File News Services. 4 Feb. 2000. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.2facts.com/article/ib500210>.
“Common Mental Disorders.” Facts on File News Services. 4 Feb. 2000. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.2facts.com/article/ib500220>.
“When Fear Overwhelms: Panic Disorder.” Medline Plus. 22 Sept. 2010. 24 Feb. 2011. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/when-fear-overwhelms-panic-disorder/index.shtml
“Anxiety Disorders.” Medline Plus. 2 Nov. 2010. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www/nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml>