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Conclusion
WRITTEN BY
Jacob Maslowby Jacob Maslow · 03 Oct 2022 · 4 min read
WRITTEN BY
Jacob MaslowThe first pic you see of me here is from November 2018, roughly 3 weeks after having brain surgery. It all started one morning in January of 2018. I flew from LA to San Jose en route to Santa Cruz for several meetings I had set for the day. I was driving on Highway 17 heading to Santa Cruz from the San Jose Airport. I was on the freeway for all of 20 minutes, and out of nowhere a car comes out from a residential area to the right of me, attempting to make a left turn onto the freeway where there was a concrete median divider — making it impossible to turn left. The car stops literally in the middle of the highway — in my lane! I was going over 60 mph. Beginning to slam on breaks, I attempted to jump in the right lane but there were cars coming, so I couldn't make it. At that moment I clenched hard because I knew I was gonna have to hit this car!
One of the few things I remember from grade school biology is the concept of tropism. In plain language, tropism is the reaction of a living thing, like a plant, towards a stimulus like sunlight or heat. You've likely seen this before but just didn't recognize it for what it was. If you've ever seen the leaves of a potted plant bending towards a windowpane, that's tropism in action. The plant is bending towards the sunlight. In our everyday lives, we are all inundated with stimuli throughout the day...
Michelle was a three-sport athlete in high school. While there was a part of her that enjoyed the camaraderie with her teammates, the sense of accomplishment she felt when setting new records — there was another part of her that participated in the hopes of shrinking her body. Michelle, who is now studying to be a therapist, didn't know about eating disorders when she was younger. She reflects, "I had this idea that I wanted to become a professional swimmer so that I would be able to exercise even more. I would get many compliments on my body during swim season, even though that was when I hated my body the most."The comments Michelle received on her weight and body when she was restricting and compensating fueled her eating disorder.
Life can be messy, and you might be wondering if you should involve your friends with your mental health ups-and-downs. You might be afraid because your friends are undereducated and misinformed about people living with mental health issues. They might be in the dark.
It's challenging to think that it takes a global pandemic to force us to prioritize our health and wellness, but instead of dwelling on the past, I am encouraging my clients to use this time to create a healthy and sustainable wellness routine — for the pandemic and beyond.However, in these stressful and uncertain times adding on even more to our busy schedule can feel overwhelming and even somewhat paralyzing. In this article I'll guide you through the tools and strategies I use with my clients to create a routine that works for you, enabling you to prioritize your wellness during a pandemic.
About six years ago, some colleagues and I published research that indicated that increased time on the social media platform, Facebook, was linked to depressive symptoms among young people. The studies, which served as the basis for the article, were, of course, not conducted during a major global pandemic. So even during the best of times when the economy is booming and people feel relatively safe, they tended to suffer from mental health consequences as a result of spending too much time on social media.
With a lack of certainty surrounding the future, being and feeling healthy may help bring the security that you need during these unpredictable times. When it comes to your health, there is a direct relationship between nutrition and physical activity that play an enormous part in physical, mental, and social well-being. As COVID-19 continues to impact almost every aspect of our lives, the uncertainty of the future may seem looming. Sometimes improvisation is necessary, and understanding how to stay healthy and fit can significantly help you manage your well-being during these times.
When we envision a person who is suffering from substance use disorder (SUD)—defined by having a history of past misuse, experiencing increasing mental health symptoms, or having a family history of addiction—we often picture someone waking up and instantly grabbing their first drink. However, in my experience working with those battling SUD for nearly a decade, I've learned that everyone's relationship with alcohol looks different and having a few too many drinks at night can be just as dangerous.