Article on military children suicide attempts.

Those that are followers  this is something close to my heart that I wanted to share.  I have gone through only one deployment, in my lifetime as a military wife. I know others who have had family members do  several and seen the effects of these on young children and teenagers.  Do not be afraid to ask for help or even just talk to your own child about what they feel.  It is never too late to be the friend they want and not the parent.




http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-military-children-suicide-attempts-20150319-story.html

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Introduction

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder which is related to anxiety and depression. An individual may develop this disorder when he is exposed to a series of traumatic events or a single event which can include a serious injury, sexual assault, or a death threat. The disorder can be clinically diagnosed when symptoms like disturbing flashbacks recur, memories of the event continue to disturb, and high levels of anxiety take place even after months of the event. It is not necessary that all people suffering from traumatic events develop this disorder. It will most likely affect the people with sensitive minds and hearts, and who experience severe traumatic events. Women are said to suffer post traumatic stress disorder more than men because they tend to experience a comparatively severe impact. Children will be less likely to experience post traumatic stress disorders especially if they are less than 10 years while war veterans are most likely to be at risk for such a disorder. The causes, symptoms, treatment, and diagnosis of the post traumatic stress disorder will be discussed and analyzed in this paper.    

Basically, we all have encountered someone who has fought in one or more of the wars, even those that have fought a personal war.  Here lately, though more and more Veterans of the past and present conflicts are being medically discharged for suffering from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This disorder (PTSD) does not “just usually happen” to people, however, it does seem in a sense to. PTSD is like when you are walking along the sidewalk and suddenly you are shoved into a van, you have been kidnapped; this event therefore causes you to develop PTSD.  It is in fact that most traumatic responses particularly happen to women and children that happen in the context of intimate relationships (Kolk, B. & Najavits, L.M., 2013).

Defining post traumatic stress disorder:

PTSD is” a major, life-altering disorder that strikes several people who survive a traumatic experience. PTSD is a type of invisible epidemic that affects millions of people of every age, every walk of life, and many suffer alone and in silence” (Goulston, M.; 2008). Cheryl Lawhorne and Don Philpott describe PTSD as “a traumatic stress injury that fails to heal such that the symptoms and behaviours it causes remain significantly troubling or disabling beyond thirty days after their onset (Lawhorne, C. & Philpott, D. ; 2010).

It’s a natural phenomenon that people tend to feel afraid when they are in danger. The fear causes a sudden change in the body which is when the body prepares to defend or avoid the fear. This is a reaction which indicated that the person is healthy and can protect himself from harm. However, individuals with the post traumatic stress disorder tend to have a damaged reaction. These people feel stressed even when they are out of the danger. PTSD develops in the mind of the individual when he has been involved in a traumatic event of physical harm or threat of harm. The individual who develops the disorder might have been in danger himself, or experienced harm happening to a loved one, or may have witnessed harm happening to a stranger or loved one (Yehuda, 2002).

What are the triggers?

According to James Butcher, Susan Mineka, and Jill Hooley; “Most people function well in catastrophes, and many behave with heroism. Whether or not someone develops post-traumatic stress disorder depends on a number of factors. Some research suggests that personality can play a role in the reduction of vulnerability to stress when the stressors are unforgiving. “Basically, we all have our own breaking points, the difference being that during really high levels of stress, the average person can be expected to materialize some psychological hardships that can be long or short term after the traumatic event.

In all cases of post-traumatic stress, conditioned fear which is associated with the trauma appears to be a key causal factor. Therefore, it prompts psychotherapy following a traumatic experience which is considered important in the prevention of conditioned fear before it becomes something that can be changed later (Butcher, J.M. & Mineka, S. and Hooley, J.M.; 2007) .

Genes is one of the causes for PTSD as many scientists have concluded that genes play a major role in creating memories. Fearful memories have to be understood in order to help in refining them or finding new interventions to reduce the PTSD symptoms. Scientists have found out that genes make a protein, which is needed to produce fear memories, called Stathmin. The test for this protein was made on mice in which those mice that produced this protein tended to be less likely to be shocked when facing danger or a fearful experience. These mice showed lesser fear and explored open places rather willingly than other mice. GRP is a chemical which is released in the brain during emotional events. GRP controls the fear response and lack of GRP leads to lasting memories and effects of fearful experiences. Researchers have found out that there are many chemicals that are present inside the brain created by our genes which directly or indirectly affect our fear memories, emotional responses, and moods. These chemicals affect the PTSD disorders and their functioning in the brain.

Another cause of the PTSD is the functioning of the parts of brain and how they help the individual to deal with the fearful experiences and stress that follows those events. The brain structures respond differently to all actions and one of them is known for the role it has in emotions, memory, and learning. This part of the brain is attentive when the body is at risk of harm or danger and helps in learning the fear such as someone running to hit you. This area of the brain also helps in managing the fear at an early stage and learning to control fear (Wiederhold, 2005).

Another area of the brain deals with storing unforgettable memories and reliving the original response of fear repeatedly by remembering those experiences. This part of the brain makes it difficult for the individual to make decisions, solve problems, and make judgements. Such functions of the brain affect the individuals suffering from PTSD. The brain does not allow these people to forget their fears and fearful responses to specific events. When these fears live in the brain, they start affecting the personalities of the individuals. The brain stores the fearful memories and affects the ability of the brain to work wisely.    

The genes and brain parts are different in every individual and these differences may affect the performance of PTSD individually. An example of this is a head injury or a traumatic event experienced in childhood where the growth of the brain is affected. Other factors affecting the brain areas are personality and cognitive development factors that are different in every individual as psychologists say that individuals respond differently to same situations. The way individuals look at life and the world around them can be positive or negative affecting the growth of the brain and responding to social factors. This affects the way individuals face traumatic events in life and how they deal with the social support to adjust with the trauma. The research study with the combination of these factors can analyse in the future that which individuals would face PTSD after traumatic events and which would not (Fisher, 1994).        

Researchers have focused on the prevention of PTSD as an important goal in the last decade because of the great number of cases that were being reported and the rapid progress in the study of mental and brain foundations make it possible to conclude preventions. There are many ongoing researches on the prevention of this disorder by targeting the causes and enhancing the personality, cognitive, and social factors to fall in PTSD after the traumatic event. Other researchers are working towards developing an effective treatment for the PTSD patients to ensure that they are responding well to the clinical procedures. As scientists are researching for the causes of PTSD it will become easier to understand the disorder better and find more effective treatments that may vary individual to individual (Bisson, 2007).   

CRASH review

    

       In this 2004 drama from Paul Haggis the viewer gets a rare taste of racial and social tensions that go on in our daily lives by allowing us to live these tensions through the actions of Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, and Michael Pena.  The director, Paul Haggis, sets his movie in the city of Los Angeles that is full of different cultures, and where racial profiling, and first impressions of the people around the streets can lead to miscommunications both verbal and nonverbal.

Interpersonal conflict

     The one interpersonal conflict that I felt after watching this movie that was not handled effectively was the family relationship between Detective Graham Walters (Don Cheadle) and his junkie mother, to whom he promises to find his missing brother Peter (Larenz Tate) that is currently in trouble with the law for carjacking Rick, (Brendan Fraser) the local district attorney and his wife Jean’s (Sandra Bullock) SUV at gun point after having dinner together.   In our reading on primary relationships (Chapter 8 section 4) we learned that” family is a unified and interconnected system, and change in on part of the system creates changes or reactions in other parts of the system.” (Sole, K. 2011)  The pattern in which the relationship between Detective Walters and his mother changed when the youngest son started down the path of crime and the mother did not get the proper help she needed to get clean from the drugs she was/is on.  The relationship between these family members is strained and needs to be handled through professional help by means of drug rehab and telling the truth that Reid has given up hope in finding his lost brother for his mother, even though she believes he can be helped and still cares for her.  In the closing scenes Reid does find his brother Peter, just not the way he had hoped to.  The camera pans from the tennis shoe found lying by the side of the road to the face of a now dead Peter shot by Officer Tom Hansen (Ryan Philippe) after offering Peter a ride and a nonverbal miscommunication is done, with a simple act of pulling the Saint Christopher statue out his pocket to show that even though the two Hansen and Peter come from different cultures they have the same belief in the statue that is on the dashboard.

Interesting article from Huffington Post.

Link to an article that I found rather interesting.  Reason why it is so interesting?  I have three children  and there are times when they bite their nails. When I was younger I even bit my nails down to the quick due to stressing myself out over little things.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/13/nail-biting-nervous-habits_n_6854152.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

Feel free to leave comments here or on the link page.

Survival Guide of A blond-headed girl.

          It is a wonder how I have been able to survive through all of the turning points in my life. The constant moving to a new place after being there for so long, the battles over where to go for childhood vacations, the cruel punishment I put my parents through as a teenager, the lessons learned from my jobs, and the importance of having a good support group for rough times.

Background Information

             I come from many places, life for me starts on an Army base called Fort Carson located in Colorado near Colorado Springs. When I was about five years old I moved from Colorado to St. Louis, Missouri where I learned about multicultural environments being that I was growing up in a mostly all black area and being babysat by an American Indian. I was taught what values, beliefs, and traditions each culture had at school and at my babysitter’s house (Gary A. Witt, Ronald A. Mossler, 2010).

     I also, learned what it was like to be an outsider looking in and how hard it was to fit into a segregated school.  Fearing for our safety my father moved us to Lake Saint Louis, Missouri where I spent a great deal of my adolescent and young adult life.  In, 1995 I married my husband and moved to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina where I became a mother as well as a military wife.

After, serving his time in the Marines we moved back to Missouri and stayed with my mother-in-law in Maryland Heights. My husband enlisted into the Army and received orders for Fort Sill, Oklahoma. At Fort Sill, I became a mother again and a strong member of the companies Family Readiness Group(FRG). My husband then, extended his service time when we found out I was yet again going to be a mother. Our new orders were going to take us overseas to Ansbach, Germany and a completely new culture and living area. Three years later, we came back to Missouri and received orders for Fort Polk, Louisiana this time I became really involved with my husband’s different units and gained a new respect for the military family.  In May of 2008 I was forced to be the anchor for the family, while my husband was to go and serve fifteen months in Iraq.  Thanks to being a key member of the Family Readiness Group we were able to cope with the separation and the reintegration of daddy to the family. (Cited in Matze, 2005) After being in Fort Polk, for five years my husband and I were ready for a change. That change came with orders to move back to Missouri where we are currently based at Fort Leonard Wood.

Vacation Memories

       During my childhood I spent several summers and a few spring breaks going to amusement parks in California and Florida as well as going up to Sister Bay, Wisconsin where I had a great number of experiences that will last a lifetime.  My summers were spent in California spending time with my grandparents and Aunt Pat and Uncle Richard’s family going to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Universal Studios as well as Sea World. Once, while in California I visited Edward’s Air force base and was able to see the Space Shuttle Challenger land. 

We even stopped once and explored Carlsbad Caverns where I learned about stalagmites and stalactites. If, my parents decided to go and visit my Aunt Janet and Uncle Joe in Florida I got to go to Disney World, and Sea World and other historic places. The best vacations from my childhood were spent in Sister Bay, Wisconsin where I got to swim in the Western Coast of Lake Michigan, go fishing on a charter boat and stay in a cabin with a television that made people look like aliens. My father even taught me how to shot a bee bee gun at empty soda cans off my swing.  Looking back on these vacations I clearly see that they affected me by showing that I will always be a child at heart, who likes simple things and spending as much time as I could with my family.

Lessons partly learned

            Being part of a family of five that always faced some kind of a change is a major part of my childhood. My mother, Pamela and father George who have endured many hardships through their marriage. Showed me that even through good times and bad times that life still goes on no matter how many knee surgeries and medications you have to take.  My two younger sisters Erin and Katherine, gave me a glimpse at how hard raising kids really is, even when you have gone through all the stages of raising one.  My grandparents from both sides taught me the joy of the outdoors and that no matter what you have to fight until the very end with cancer.  My cousins who always treated me like a little sister explaining the hardships of being a teenager and that when you meet the right person you will know.  My aunts and uncles taught me what work and perseverance can gain you almost anything in the end.

Teenage years

       As a teenager I was a hard worker at school, even with my somewhat low self-esteem. As explained in our reading “children with low self-esteem tend to believe failures are a reflection of whom they are and that they cannot succeed even if they try harder.”(Erdly, Cain, Loomis, & Dumas-Hines, 1997 Adult development and Life Assessment p.11) I was able to break out of my shell with the help of friends that were both popular and those that were not. When, I was old enough to get a car I ended up staying out past curfew, being out of control, experimenting with underage drinking, as well as smoking and destructive to items that were not even mine. In my senior year of high school I had a major reality check done when my parents took my car away and explained to me that I needed to be more responsible for my actions. 

         Had my parents read the article by Christine Frank on Webmd they might have been able to understand why I was rebellious and broke curfew and why I did was so, afraid to call them when I received my D.U.I. after going out with friends. In the article Ms. Frank’s gives five behaviors to troubleshoot.  The article gives solutions for five problems that teens go through.  These problems are teens hating their parents, the over use of mobile devices, staying out past curfews, hanging out with the wrong crowd, and dealing with teenage drama.
    
Adult years
 During my young adult years I had many jobs until the birth of my son in August of 1998. My jobs ranged from babysitting where I would help the children with homework and interact with them either by playing games or reading a book to them, to being a family readiness volunteer.  My next job was when I was in high school working the fast food industry in the drive thru area or preparing food for a customer, or fixing a problem that came up with an order.  While I was working at the fast food places I was also, working part-time in a local bank, filing checks, making copies, rolling coins, and taking mail to the post office, I even worked as a safety deposit clerk on the weekends.  I left fast food and banking for a local gas station where I stocked freezers, made pizzas, and ran the cashier spot and took care of the deposits for the graveyard shift.  I also, did a newspaper route for the St. Louis Post Dispatch as a newspaper roller.

This, had to be one the hardest jobs I had since, I could have had a newspaper hit me in the head as it went hurling out my window.  After, I got married and moved to North Carolina with my husband Jeffrey I worked for a nationwide inventory service that would go in and count all the products or items in a certain store.  I learned very quickly that accurately counting an item and to be quick were required skills besides having taken a course in data entry in high school.

        I stayed out of work until my youngest daughter was able to start school.  It was not until we were in Fort Polk that I started working again.  I worked as a volunteer for my husband’s Family Readiness Group, where I became a co-leader and learned that you have to follow rules and regulations for fundraising, not to try to argue a point with a Major about the safety of soldiers drinking and driving, and that being a point of contact can be very time consuming and interesting.  It was once my friends started leaving the group that I ended up having to take on the extra responsibilities of being a leader and keep the morale of our soldiers up as well as the families that were left behind.  Besides, the FRG I was also, working at the school libraries shelving books, entering data on new students and clearing them when they were moving to new areas or schools. It was at my youngest daughter’s school that I got a taste of what teachers go through in a day when I was asked to substitute there until a replacement could be found.  Based on Holland’s personality types the reason why most of my jobs did not last as long as others was because they did not fit my personality type of being artistic which would of allowed me to be creative that involved something in the field of arts, and gave me a way to express myself through creativity and independence. (John Holland’s personality types p.57-58)

Advice for the future

Erin and Chris’ Letter of Advice 

          My dearest little sister to whom I would travel around the world for in order to keep safe ,and whom I consider more of a best friend that is always there to help pick up the pieces of so many other people’s lives. Chris, the one person to whom I can see as always being there to take the place of guardian, protector and friend for several years.  I am writing this letter in the hopes that your engagement and future marriage is one filled not only with love, caring and the future of nieces and/nephews, but with an understanding of how to break down the barriers of effective interpersonal interactions, finding the perfect strategy for active, critical, and empathic listening along with knowing that words can be powerful in creating and affecting attitudes, behavior even perception. Also, how important it is to have some kind of strategy to manage any interpersonal conflicts as well as gaining an understanding of the impact of gender and culture in interpersonal communication.

         It is my hope and prayer that you both find this letter full of good advice as well as helpful in avoiding any communication problems that arise now and in the future between you both at home or in the work place.

Barriers of effective interpersonal interactions

      Erin and Chris, as you embark on this new journey of your lives you will both need to understand that communication is not just for group discussions, but also for those times when you want or feel you need to share information. By breaking down the barriers that affect your interpersonal communication, you both will open a passageway to “setting a great example for talking to one another, family members at home, new neighbors, co-workers in the office, by working on this you both will be able to communicate or interact and affect each other in positive ways with dyadic communication since it involves two people.” (Sole, K.2011)    By having this dyadic communication you will be able to avoid the common obstacles or psychological factors that contribute to the disruptive effects on interpersonal communication.  By avoiding such obstacles such as defensiveness- an excessive concern with protecting yourself from being hurt, motivational distortion-wanting to hear only certain parts of what is being discussed, self-preoccupation-also known as one upping and not realizing that this has a negative effect on the other person, and game playing- the manipulative interactions with foreseen outcomes, that you or someone else hides the true intentions of the conversation that is being had.    Having these barriers broken down and avoiding or being prepared for any of the obstacles that may disrupt your interpersonal communication will help in setting up a strategy for active, critical and empathic listening skills.

Strategies for active, critical and empathic listening skills

        As H. Norman Wright put it so bluntly, “One of the greatest gifts you can give to your spouse is the gift of listening. It can be an act of connection and caring. Often when two people are talking, to one another their conversations and dialogues fall on that of the deaf. Basically, they are talking at one another instead of to one another. Listen to your spouse, he or she feels;” I must be worth hearing.” If, you ignore your spouse, the thought could be one;” What I said was not important or “He or She does not care about me!” Understand listening is much different than hearing.  Listening is that you are trying to understand the other person’s feelings. Hearing is passive, while listening is active. By sitting silently and, shutting your mouth you might find that not only does it provide quiet, but it allows you to reflect, and think about the day’s events and how you want to express them to the listener. Basically, listening can be defined in three parts. The first part is to concentrate on what you or the other person is saying and absorbing it when most people are not listening to what is being said to them but are already listening to what they are going to say in response. Too often you might think you know what your partner is going to say, so you put our minds on hold and tune each other out.      Second, is accepting what each other is saying without even judging what is being said or how it is being said. By accepting what is being said you are not agreeing , it just means that you understand that what the other person is saying is something that person feels strongly about. Finally, try repeating what your partner is saying and what you think they might be feeling while they spoke to you. Real listening signals an obvious interest in the other person’s feelings and opinions as well as an attempt in understanding each other from one another’s perspective. I know it may sound strange, but even just sitting there quietly and just listening to what each of you is saying can be a major step in strengthening your relationship with each other and in your corporate lives.  Kenny Moore found that “silence is golden” when you stop and listen to what is being said at work after he left his monastery. By just sitting and listening to what was being said at his own job he found that it improved the morale of the workers and corporate staff.  Just remember that your words hold a certain amount of power too.

Preventing Teenage Suicide

     

         With so many of today’s youth facing problems in their lives and not wanting to talk to family, friends, and teachers, counselors. Schools are making sure that they have some teenage suicide prevention program(s) in place. However even with these programs they do not always work, resulting in the death of a classmate, hospitalization, or admission to a physiological problem.

      Teenage suicide has several reasons for being committed or attempted and those reasons can be complex. For people in the age range of 15-24 suicide is the third-leading cause of death according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention Not to mention that for every completed teen suicide at least 25 attempts made. (kidsnation.com, 2014). Knowing that “every week twelve young men kill themselves (Samaritans, 1999 & Day, 2004); and men are four times more likely to kill themselves than girls (Garland & Zigler, 1993 & Day, 2004) and they are more likely to hang themselves while girls typically overdose (Madge and Harvey, 1999 & Day, 2004).” In her article, Patricia Day” Is teaching problem solving to young people a way of preventing teenage suicide?” mentions; “The Samaritans estimate that 19,000 adolescents attempt suicide every year and 700 succeed (Kenny, 2002). The reasons for the increase in young male suicide are difficult to pinpoint (Laurent, 2000). For females, they are much better at using social support when they have problems and accepting therapeutic help (Seiffge-Krenke, 2000)."

     Adolescence is when teenagers are going through changes, emotionally, cognitively and socially, sexual orientation, wanting of independence, conflicts with rules, as well as the expectations of others around them academically and physically. It is through these changes, that adolescence, can and does have an impact on the emotional well-being (Seiffge-Krenke, 2000). The results of these changes can cause risk-taking resulting in life-threatening behavior.    

     According to kidsnation.com suicide among teens usually happens after a stressful life changing event, problems at school, and a breakup, death of a family member, divorce, or a major family conflict. Low self-esteem also discriminates suicidal teens. Self-esteem can influence the actions and having the correct amount is associated with being able to ‘control one's actions’ and cope with stress. High self –esteem can be seen as a factor of resilience (Sandin et al. 1999 p.423). Should a person have low self-esteem it can interfere with the construction of self-confirmation and adversely affects the chances for establishing the supportive interpersonal relations that can be highly protective in stress (Tomori and Zalar, 2000 p. 232)?  

     In Day’s paper, she goes on to mention to several programs that are in effect to help prevent/reduce the number of male suicides. However, these programs might work for females too. These programs include suicide education programs (which are not effective and even have negative effects according to Garland and Ziger in 1993 and Ploeg et al. in 1996). Programs aimed at enhancing problem solving, the stop, think, do program from Australia using traffic signals to help solve situations.  

     
Sure the United States has similar programs in place for teenage suicide prevention, however many of them do not work or are being taught at the wrong age. Parents also need to be aware of what is going on with their teenager, ask questions, and be nosey by looking through their backpacks and rooms. Watch for warning signs, depression, self-inflicted cutting, the pulling away from friends or family, changes in eating or sleeping habits, the giving away of ‘prized’ possessions, writing of songs, letters, poems mentioning death, separation and loss just to name a few. Educators also need to be on their toes for warning signs from their students such as; talk of suicide or death in general, hints of not being around, not wanting to play sports anymore, a lack of concentration, or thinking clearly, the writing of poems, letters, songs mentioning separation, loss, or death in them.

      In conclusion, teenage suicide is not something that can just be brushed under the mat. The prevention is a group project that must be done by everyone. In order to solve the problem, more programs that are productive need to be taught to children not just within a certain age group, but to all soon-to-be teenagers in order for them to understand what they are going to face once they get older and more to a new school. Using the Australian program stop, think do the United States and other countries have a good chance at reducing the rate of teenage attempts and suicides.

                                                                   References

About Teen Suicide. (2014). Kidsnation.com Pg.1-4

Day, P. (2004). Is teaching problem solving to young people a way of preventing teenage

     Suicide? Practice Development in Health Care, 3(3), 158-178.

http://ww.search.ebscohost.comproxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspxdirect=true&db=a9h&AN=14952633&site=eds-live