Category Archives: Mental Health

Articles relating to mental health are in this category. Typically they will fall into one of two categories. Yours, or your child’s. Yes, your mental health is important.

Fifteen Days Post FASD Camp

So fifteen days ago David had the opportunity to attend FASD Camp.  Summer camp. The day I dropped him off, I snapped a selfie of the two of us. Minutes after snapping this photo, he was off meeting new friends with the same disability that he has. The Disability Yes. My son has a disability.  You can’t tell it by looking at him.  That disability is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).  It is not the only one he has, but it is the focus of this post. We learned last winter of this camp called fasdcamp.  It is just for kids with FASD. Thus began the process of applying for camp which began before he came home from care in January. In mid-April, we learned that he had been accepted. This was after a rather lengthy telephone conversation with the camp medical director about David’s condition.  See, they want to

read more

Symptoms v. Behaviors

Symptoms. Behaviors. What is the difference when you are speaking about a child? Since, I like to be clear what I am talking about, let’s go to the dictionary site merriam-webster.com to see what they say about the word symptom. Definition of symptom 1 a : subjective evidence of disease or physical disturbance; broadly : something that indicates the presence of bodily disorder b : an evident reaction by a plant to a pathogen 2 a : something that indicates the existence of something else symptoms of an inner turmoil b : a slight indication : trace Then we look to meriam-webster.com to see what they also have to say about the word behavior. Definition of behavior 1 : the way in which someone conducts oneself or behaves (see behave 1) We were grateful for the gracious behavior of our hostess. The children were rewarded for good behavior. Be on

read more

On Suffering Childhood Abuse

Suffering childhood abuse, it’s a topic that is in the news every day. Especially now with all of the celebrities that are speaking out about the events that happened in their lives when they were first starting out. On social media, people are asking, “why wait 20, 25, or 30 years to talk about it?”  It’s simple really.  For most, it boils down to shame.  For others, fear.  I think, for celebrities, it would include their desire to continue to work in their chosen field. How do I know? I was abused for a period as a child.  I don’t broadcast it from the roof tops, in fact, I rarely speak about it.  When it happened, I disavowed anything happening to me at all.  Talking about such a thing as a child is rarely done until the person is into adulthood and trying to figure out why their life is

read more