Who knew vitamins could be so useful??

                     

For my independent field trip I went to Vitamin Cottage, real exciting I know I know.  It honestly had not been what I had originally had in mind, but it worked out perfect.  I have recently learned how super important vitamins are for you, especially when your body is incapable of making them.  For example, I have night blindness and had never made the connection that it might actually have something to do with a vitamin deficiency in my diet.  After learning, by way of my fiancé and his nutrition class, that night blindness in fact occurs because of a deficiency in vitamin A.  Interesting right??

While we were at Vitamin Cottage looking for vitamin A, we ran into James Lewis who just so happens to be a certified Clinical Herbalist.  I had no intention of interviewing at the time, however our quick question turned into an hour-long discussion of vitamins, nutrition and their benefits.  I feel especially lucky having run into James because just two days before I had changed my mind, for about the tenth time, on what exactly I wanted to do my final paper on.  The information I gathered while talking to James directly relates to my paper, because everything he talked about is what I will attempt to cover in my paper.

It was a cold spring afternoon, the kind of weather where it is perfect to be out shopping spending all your time inside in a nice warm slightly funny smelling place.  We have just recently decided to start eating healthier and start shopping at more natural grocery stores.  The layout of the store was unfamiliar and odd to me.  As luck would have it we’d run into James who looked like he is wearing his best causal Friday clothes and a semi-balding red hair comb over. This chance meeting was not originally going to be part of my research, but he did give me lots of support for the ideas I had already had.  He gave me a better foundation on where to start my paper.  The most interesting part of this experience was all the information I thought was new and brilliant, like taking vitamin A for night blindness, in fact isn’t a new concept.  This was something that James already knew, he was able to expand my horizons and inform me that we are in control of our own health, and that it is up to us to decide how we want to live.  

Vitamins, Nutrition and Superfoods, Oh My!

Vitamins are interesting little things.  They are too often over looked by physicians as well as the general population for every day benefits.  Most people have the tendency to think that vitamins are good for too many things, and surely they cannot that effective. For instance, vitamin E is good for a variety of aliments such as it can reduce heart disease, heals burns and it is good for helping teenagers with epilepsy.  Just like it isn’t common knowledge that vitamin C is a anti-toxin, anti-histamine, anti-viral, it helps regulate blood sugar and it helps act as a mood elevator.

There are so many reasons why nutrition is important besides maintaining a healthy weight.  Good nutrition is essential for the body and sustaining all of the body’s systems for a lifetime.  The benefits of good nutrition are both physical and mental, because a healthy diet provides energy, promotes good sleeping habits, as well as many others functions.

Many people have heard of superfoods, but they still aren’t clear on exactly what superfoods are or what their benefits are.  Superfoods just mean that they have phenomenal nutritional value because they are packed with loads minerals and vitamins that the body needs.  Also, they are very low in bad fats and more importantly they are not processes (yay!). 

So the process begins...

Well, the original ideas I have for this paper won’t do me any good for this particular assignment.  Though I have back round information on the subjects that interest me the most, I don’t have any personal experience with them, which makes it difficult to write a creative non-fiction paper.  I have to admit early that though I Do Try, I am not by any means a creative person.  So I anticipate this paper will be more difficult for me to write to ensure I get my story across to my readers.  

            With that being said trying to come up with topics that hold my interest while attempting to make my story relatable/creative has been complicated.  For some reason I cannot entirely explain I seem to love topics that are completely foreign to me, like substance abuse. I have spent the entire weekend brain storming and trying to think outside the box to come up with something that I’m familiar with, something I can tell from my personal experience.

            I have recently started doing yoga on a regular basis, and I think researching the benefits that yoga can have one’s body and mind will be interesting.  I think telling my story of why I needed an outlet; especially a meditative/relaxing outlet will support me in my quest to become a better person.  My plans for constructing this paper are approaches that will be new for me.  For example, I will be interviewing a friend and will be creating questions that relevant for my paper.  Also, I have never cited anything out of a magazine, and I plan on finding fascinating articles for my paper.  I will use my yoga class for my independent field trip, and I am still brain storming ideas of how exactly to tie that into my paper.

New Questions? Or New Topic?

New Questions? Or New Topic?

            I thoroughly enjoyed the subject of my last paper, substance abuse and mental illness and how they are often dually diagnosed in an individual.  However, I didn’t enjoy doing the works cited page nearly as much. :) With that being said I really felt I covered all the questions I thought of when I was first brainstorming.  I wanted my paper to be as conclusive as possible so every question I could conjure up I did the research and eventually found the answer.  As of now I have a sound understanding of how and why these diseases are connected. 

To be perfectly honest, I have a whole new set of questions floating around in my brain due to the work of the previous paper.  I wonder the effects that both mental illness and substance abuse have on relationships.  How exactly does being dually diagnosed affect the dynamics of family relationships?  Are family members more understanding of
”chaos” that can be created by the individual who is dually diagnosed?  What is the attitude of the family and friends of the individual?  Are they accepting of the diagnosis? Or are the family and friends skeptical of the diagnosis, thinking of it as more as an excuse for bad behavior than an actual diagnoses.  

Also, I learned that people who are diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia are more than double likely to develop a substance abuse addiction because of their mental illness. And though I’m familiar with these mental illnesses I would however benefit from learning more about them.  What does it mean exactly to be bipolar or schizophrenic?  When is the onset?  Are there genetic factors that can help facilitate these diseases? How often do they occur together?  What is the best treatment for these diseases?  What are the characteristics of each of these diseases?  

Dual Diagnosis

My thesis is people are more likely to develop a mental illness first, rather than people developing a substance abuse problem first. According to the research I have done thus far there seems a pattern that most people are self -medicating in order to escape their personal problems, like depression, anxiety or traumatic experiences (Drug Abuse) .  It has been reported that the majority of people’s onset with a mental disorder precedes the on set of a substance abuse problem (Fast Facts, Par. 5).

            One subtopic to support my thesis is that there is evidence that shows that individuals who are diagnosed with mood disorders are two to four times more likely to develop a substance abuse problem(Drug Abuse).  Also, people with serve mood disorders, such as schizophrenia, are more sensitive to drugs and can be come addicted a lot easier than the average person (Drug Abuse).

            Another subtopic to support my thesis is substance abuse and mental illness often go together hand-in-hand it is difficult to diagnose which of these two problems came first(Fast Facts, Par1)..  However, there is speculation that most individuals with co-occurring disorders tend to self medicate to alleviate stress and anxiety(Fast Facts, Par. 5).   An example of this is people who are depressed are more likely to try drugs because they are looking for something to bring them joy (Drug Abuse).

            More support for my thesis is that social factors may play a part for co-occurring disorders("NAMI", Par. 5). People with mental illness sometimes suffer from what is known as a “downward drift” ("NAMI", Par. 5). Which can be explained as a consequence of their illness they may find themselves living in a trivial neighborhood, where drug use is common and easily accessible ("NAMI", Par. 5). 

            For the record it is extremely difficult to know which of these two disorders developed first, because it is complicated to separate behaviors due to substance abuse and behaviors due to mental illness ("NAMI", Par. 3) 

Substance abuse and mental illness go hand-in-hand?

I found an interesting article from EBSCO called Prevalence and Impact of Substance Use among Emerging Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions written by Ashli Sheidow, Michael Mc Cart, Kristyn Zajac and Maryann Davis and it was published in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.  I thought this particular article would be beneficial to me because the content of the article discusses the correlation between mental illness and substance abuse, which is what I am planning to do my research paper on.

            The article’s main point is there is a correlation between mental illness and substance abuse especially in young people between the ages of 18- 25.  There are a number of factors that can be attributed for such dual diagnoses such as family history of substance abuse, low levels of family support, single family homes, low parental monitoring and negative peer groups.  According to the article co- occurring substance abuse and mental illness are more difficult to treat together than they are alone.  The treatments for substance abuse and mental illness are often complicated because there aren’t any treatments specifically designed for these problems.  Also, treatment outcomes tend to be worse for people with both mental illness and substance abuse problems because they have an increased risk of relapsing.

            I liked this article it gave me information for my paper as well as opened my eyes to how serious of a problem mental illness and substance abuse problems really are.  This article will most definitely be a source that I will be using for my paper.  This article was useful to me because it provided facts about substance abuse and mental illness as well as discussed treatment options.  One weakness of this article is that it can be difficult to follow because unclear on why some treatment options have a low success rate.  It would be beneficial if it discussed in greater detail why certain treatments work and why others do not.

I just might be on to something special...

        I have had a long drawn out process deciding what I am truly concerned with and where my passions lie.  After taking several years off from school I have finally returned with a clear purpose and have decided that my ambition in life is to serve others.  The goal of my blog is to help me narrow down which areas of Human Services I would like to concentrate on.  There are two areas that are of the most interest to me; one- is a youth worker and two- is a family service advocate.  My intention for this blog is to give me a better understanding of which career path would better suit me.

        I have always been interested in working with children; in fact I have worked with children since I was 14 years old.  So it seems quite natural that I would want to have a career that directly involves working with children, especially at risk youth.  The appeal for my desire to work with at risk youth comes from my understanding and my empathy for their situations.  I understand what it is like to grow up in an unsafe urban environment and I recognize how hard it can be to make solid decisions in a challenging environment. 

        Family dynamics are fascinating and frustrating at the same time, and what better way to gain an understanding of these dynamics than to actually study them?  I have a great deal of respect for strong family units and would love to have the opportunity to encourage families from all walks of life to explore and strengthen their families by way of counseling.  

How odd that I would be instructed, just yesterday, to be aware of my surroundings because I just might get the answer I was looking for?  Less than 12 hours of debating on which of these two topics I would like to choose I got my answer clear as a bell just by listening to my own surroundings.  Stay tuned....