Humanitarian crisis unfolding

Humanitarian crisis unfolding crisis right here at home.

We need to focus on our citizens...

Our prisons are full but not because of crime… Did you know that there are over 705,600 mentally ill being housed in our prisons and are not being treated but instead many are kept in isolation.

Did you know that on any given night there are 57,849 veterans are homeless?  I’m sure you know that there are literally thousands of veterans are still waiting for treatment and many have died waiting for that treatment from our Veterans Administration.

There are 22 million drug addicts and 13 million alcoholics in the United States 27% of the population in the United States will suffer from some form of substance abuse in their lifetime.

What about those who still can’t find a job to feed their family

As of July 2015 the Bureau of Labor statistics state that there are 8.3 million workers currently unemployed, this does not take into account the 90 million who have left the workforce. Currently there are 110 million people on welfare and we spend a $1 trillion to support these programs.

So when you hear people talking about the crisis at the border, stop and think what is happening within our borders, with the citizens of the United States. Think about how they are constantly being neglected and mistreated by our own government.

If you can’t feed your family you are not worried about healthcare.  Our government has spent over a $1 billion on a health care system that still hasn't lived up to the promise of increased access and reduced cost.  How about spending that on building the economy?

Don’t you think it’s time that we sweep our own doorstep and take care of our own citizens instead of trying to solve the problems of every person who comes knocking on our door?  We have a  humanitarian crisis unfolding crisis right here at home.

 http://nicic.gov/mentalillness

http://rt.com/usa/mental-illness-jail-hospital-281/

http://www.familyhomelessness.org/children.php?p=ts

http://www.statisticbrain.com/high-school-dropout-statistics/

http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/

Addiction!! Is like a Snow Cone..

Do you struggle with addiction?  Maybe not... Or maybe you do and don't event realize it.  Do you smoke? Do you eat sweets, drink soda or coffee?  Have you tried to stop any of these?

Many people think of an addict as someone abusing drugs or alcohol and wonders why they just don't stop.  Have you seen the commercials on smoking, showing a person dying from lung cancer and still smoking?  Why would anyone keep doing something that may cost them everything?  They may lose their job, their family, their freedom or even their life.

The answer is not that simple, but it involves your brain.  In simple terms, your  brain was taught by you, what to like or not to like and when this changes your brain is not happy.  Everything you do affects your brain; exercise, watching TV, drinking coffee or even social media. Yes their is an addiction called Internet addiction disorder (IAD).  Have you ever tried to start or stop a habit?  Its not easy.

Lets magnify this a little, if you use drugs or alcohol it changes your brain chemistry an when you try to stop your brain doesn't like it at all.  It will doing anything to get those chemicals back you have been pouring into it every day for years.

Think of addiction this way, have you ever had a snow cone, at first it taste really good and is a bright blue or red, but then all that flavor and color drains to the bottom and now their is no color and no flavor.  This is your brain on drugs.. once the ice has not flavor and no color the brain wants it back.. The brain says.. "Pour more of that syrup on me please".  

 Your brain will try to override everything you do to get you back to doing what it wants.  Until... You retrain you brain.  So next time you can't just walk by a cookie think about who is asking for that cookie? you or your brain.

Addict... Label or Diagnosis

Redefine addiction and not let it define the addict

There is a stigma and for many a sense of shame associated with addiction.  Where did it come from, was it created by the industry or the addict?  Webster says a Stigma is a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people or a mark of shame or discredit.

Now that an addict has decided to seek treatment they deserve support not shame and why do they need to keep introducing themselves as an addict?  I am not sure this is a good idea, how does it help their recovery? Think about it. When they go to a recovery meeting they are told to introduce themselves and say “Hi my name is Dave and I am a drug addict” or “Hi my name is Sally and I am an alcoholic”.  Sure, when you decide to get help you do need to admit you have a problem and that you are an addict.  We all know this is the first step in recovery and is the most important step.  

Why do you need to keep labeling yourself?   Are they perpetuating the stigma of addiction or are they standing up loud and proud?  There are still those who still believe an addict is just morally flawed, just weak and should “just say no”.  We now know it’s not a weakness and science proves it is a disease and now the only question is; what caused the disease and addictive behavior.  Was it caused by nature, nurture or both?  We already know hereditary traits play a role in addictive and compulsive behavior.  We also know our environment can have a dramatic and long term effects on our brain and can trigger these behaviors.  The effects on the brain of being neglected and abused are undeniable.  This was illustrated by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study at Kaiser Permanente, where they looked at childhood experiences of trauma, abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction and scored each of these experiences.  This study showed with a score of 4 or higher they were five times more likely to become an alcoholic and score of 6 or higher were 46 times more likely to become an IV drug user later in life.  These results have been supported by more than 50 scientific articles. 

Addiction is not about a criminal with a bottle in a paper bag or a needle in his arm.  It’s about the damaged child, the changes in the brain and the pain they are trying to run from or suppress. 

Listen to people around you talk about their addiction and you start to see it has become their identity or even a crutch. It’s all they know. I saw a post on the internet and it said “I’m a drug addict, I suffer with a disease called addiction.  I can’t be cured but I have learned to live with it”.  I found this very sad that she thought this was now her identity.  Recently I received a fundraiser email from a supporter of a non-profit treatment center and in the email they said “They are number 1 in the area in turning thieves into wonderful law abiding citizens”.  This may be true, but did the writer think about the impact those words have on a reader who may be struggling with addiction. I can only imagine what this said to a reader who is struggling. Is this the way society sees me? Why even try?  They may have become a thief but it’s not what they wanted to be and it’s not where they started. They started out an innocent child who was neglected, abused and hurting.

Along with the abuse they suffered they were given labels such as; stupid, moron, idiot, and

worthless, now they have a new label.  Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy and they begin to self-identify with these labels? If you hear something long enough and often enough, you begin to believe it.   The addict doesn’t need the rest of the world telling them how bad they are, they do enough of that on their own.  The media tells us what an addict should look like, you have all seen the guy on the bench with a bottle wrapped in a paper bag or the girl prostituting herself for drug money.  Is that who they really are or is it what has happened to them?  

Addicts begin to own the labels society gives them, it’s their identity.  For some, it has become an excuse not to try anymore.  Some even think... if I tell people I’m an addict they won’t expect much from me and I can get by with accomplishing less.  Don’t hold me accountable because I am defective, I have a disease.  I can’t work because I can’t handle the pressure, I might relapse.  Remember, they are hurting, depressed and without hope.

Taking it further, what if you continue to believe you are sick, will your negative thinking prolong your illness?   Dr. Chopra and Dr. Segal believe positive thinking plays a significant role in recovering from cancer and other illnesses.  So why is it any different with addiction?

I think now it is time to redefine addiction and not let it define the addict.  

Maybe we should start looking at addiction as any other disease, such as cancer.  When you are diagnosed with cancer people don’t run from you, they “Run For The Cure”, they support you, they make sure you get your treatment and even start crowdfunding for you.  Some cancers are not curable, but they can be treated and go into remission.  Once your cancer is in “Remission” people drop the label and stop treating you like you’re sick.  Then it’s up to the cancer patient to take care of their health and follow the long term treatment protocol and watch for reoccurring signs.  Addiction is not much different.  Once you have been in treatment and are in “Recovery” you can lead a normal life as long as you follow the treatment protocol and watch for triggers.

Let’s drop the labels and realize we are all struggling with something.  No need to label, enable or coddled anyone because of their illness, just support them and hold them accountable for their actions.  Addicts also need drop the label or crutch which ever they are choosing to use and focus on the positive side of recovery. They survived… 

Its about rewiring the brain and changing habits.  

What if addicts began to do what top performers do?  Athletes use positive self-talk to accomplish amazing feats of athleticism…   Muhammad Ali took it to the next level by saying... I am the greatest! I'm the greatest thing that ever lived. 

Helen Keller who was deaf and blind said Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.  

Children learn what they live

Do you ever wonder why kids do what they do? Behave the way they do?  

When our children are born we spend all of our time teaching them everything they know.  We teach them how to talk, walk, read, and even how to eat.  So why is it such a surprise to see how they behave? Where do you think they learned everything that they do?  Maybe the learned from you or from friends and family.

Kids are like sponges, they absorb and learn everything they see others do and they learn the most from those they trust. So think about it, when you raise your voice or get angry and yell at them, that’s the behavior they start to learn. They think this is acceptable and it is imprinted in their brain and as they grow up that’s what they do.

If you drink or do drugs around your children or they see how you act while you’re under the influence what do you think that tells them. Most people think “oh my child didn't see me drink so they don’t know that I have been drinking”.  Trust me they know everything.

Are your kids on your Facebook? What do you think they’re gleaning from all of your posts or your

funny drunk selfies?  Recently I saw someone post a picture of a marijuana joint and they said how pretty it looked. My first thought was..  do you have children, are their children on their Facebook? I see others posting pictures of their drunken parties and crazy antics while drinking. What do you think this tells your kids, your nieces, nephews and grand-kids?

With social media becoming the primary method in which people communicate don’t you think it is where our children are learning their behavior?  Look at all the racist, angry, hostile post we see from the media and special interest groups.  What impact does this have who our children grow up to be? Of course it has an impact, how else do you think advertisers influence your behavior?  It’s the same impact a college professor has on shaping the minds out our young adults.

Think about it, where do teenagers and young adults come to believe that pot does not hurt them? Maybe it was you, social media or even public figure.

So the next time you’re teenager disrespects you, raises their voice or smokes pot ask yourself.. who taught them this behavior?

 

Is racism because of fear or trying to elevate ourselves

When you look back on the world and see how far we have come…Then you will realize how difficult it must have been for thosewho suffered at the hands of a racist.  Most importantly is to look at who stood for others and stood for what was right and then suffered for their stand.  Then there are those who made a difference.

Jackie Robertson, the Tuskegee Airman or Martin Luther King Jr.  Some fought for the right to play a national past time, some died to make this a better country and some paved the way for those in the future.

A line from the movie 42..  “Maybe tomorrow we should all wear 42 so no one can tell us apart”

The next time any of us think we have it tough we need to look back on these guys and consider what they went through..  How they felt during their darkest hours… What they thought when the whole world seemed to be against them.

Here is how I see it.. We are not born racist, it is taught, sometimes on purpose, sometimes out ignorance and sometimes by race-baiters who have an agenda.

My son is mixed race and I adopted him when he was three days old and he has friends from every race and none of the kids he grew up with saw each other any different.  I would like to think it was because of how I raised him but I know it was only a small part.  Mostly it was the environment he grew up in. One time my son and two of his friends where in the car, one was half Chinese, one was Persian and of course my son who is half black.  I hear from the back seat from the one who was part Chinese say, as he was playing a video driving game, “dang Asian drivers”… I almost crashed the car laughing.  Another time my son and his friends were at the beach and began to play tag and I hear from my son “catch the black man”.  I just shook my head..

Is my son and his friends normal in most parts of the country or even the world I would say not a chance.  The question is why not?   Look at the early immigrants, the Italians hated the Irish, the Puerto Ricans hated the Cubans and they hated the Haitians.  It’s all about trying to elevate our standing in the world by standing on the backs of those we walked on.  Look in any direction and you will find hatred.

Now the children in most of the world are taught to hate and are taught to think how they do and see themselves how they do because of those around them.  By the media, by the news, by the politicians.  You can’t blame one source or one race, you must blame all of us.  Those that are racist and those that perpetuate it and those who allow it.  Which one are you?  The more we make race an issue the bigger the problem becomes. If you treat people the same they feel the same, if you make them feel abused or different they begin to act that way.

Look at a child, when they fall down and skin their knee they look to you to see how they should react.  They mirror the behavior they see.

We all share the responsibility of how these kids feel about themselves and see themselves.

So when we attack each other over this issue and blame each other for the problem we become the problem.   So I ask you to look in the mirror, no matter if you are black, white or brown, and ask yourself…  am I part of the problem or am I part of the solution.