PTSD (Post Tramautic Stress Disorder)

PTSD
Symptoms:

sleep disturbances
depression
feeling jittery or “on guard”
being easily startled
loss of interest in things they used to enjoy
detachment
general lack of responsiveness
feeling numb
trouble feeling affectionate
irritability, more aggressive than before, or even violent
avoiding certain places or situations that bring back memories
flashbacks or intrusive images (flashbacks can come in the form of images, sounds, smells, or feelings; a person usually believes that the traumatic event is happening all over again)
losing touch with reality
reenactment of an event for a period of seconds or hours or, very rarely, days
problems in school
difficulty concentrating
worry about dying at an early age
regressive behaviors
acting younger than their age (i.e., thumb sucking, bedwetting)
physical symptoms (i.e., headaches, stomach aches)


PTSD can occur at any age and be accompanied by:

depression
substance abuse
anxiety

Research Week!

BPD
PTSD

This week, I've decided, is going to be research week on a few depression-related diagnoses that are possibilities for a friend of mine. They are, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder). Through my next two blogs, you will learn a little bit more about these, as well as their symptoms. Here we go!

AP Exam Stress!

Advanced Placement Exams are this week and next week.

AP United States History this Friday, and AP Language and Composition a week from Wednesday. I'm stressing out! More about the AP US than the AP Lang...

The AP US test covers everything from colonial times (when we first set foot in America) until today. That's a lot of history! Ahh!

Due to studying for the AP US Exam, my blogs are a little short. Sorry! But to be honest, blogging isn't as important as doing well on these exams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BWAHAHA!

LOLCATZ!!!! :D
Sorry, I had to. It cheered me up :D

Radioactive Catz

Remote Guard Cat

Sits-Like-A-Person Cat

Munchies Cat

Monkey Cat

Eye on You Cat


AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST!:

Only a Kitten

Big Mistake

I've made a HUGE mistake... and I can't talk to the people I usually talk to because they will be REALLY REALLY REALLY mad at me. I don't know what I'm going to do... Suffer the consequences, I guess :/

Petaluma!

Saturday through Sunday morning, I spent my day with ALL of my dad's side of the family at my aunt and uncle's other house in Petaluma, California. It's really nice out there because it's more open space and it's better for the kids to run around and play outside, as well as inside.

When we got there, we had a little lunch and sat around talking while the kids played in the hot tub. After a while, the kids got out and we started playing soccer.

Then, all of a sudden, my seven year old cousin ran off to the swingset (that my dad made her) to play. She found a caterpillar while there! Then that caused a big fight because there were three kids (my cousins) fighting over one caterpiller! After a few hours, my aunt found another on her chair! By then, one of my cousins had lost interest in the caterpillar, so there were two caterpillars for two kids. Worked out well!

(The awesome thing is, the day I got back from California, my aunt called me to tell me that the caterpillar that was left - we let one go - had built a cuccoon! The kids were so excited!)

It was a lot of fun spending time with my family and adding my cousin's new husband into our tiny little family! :D

Trusting a Seven Year Old on a Friday

At 8:30am on Friday morning, my aunt and five year old girl cousin picked me up from my hotel room (I had gotten in late Thursday night and didn't want to wake the kids up when I got to their house). We first went to breakfast and got to talking a little bit, which was nice because I don't get to see them all that much because we live quite a ways away from eachother.

Next, I went to Special Friends' Day with my seven year old cousin. She was really excited (I was too!) I walked into the elementary school, not really knowing what to expect. The morning started off with a concert, the fourth graders through kindergartners singing two songs per class. My cousin is in first grade, so it was really cute to watch her sing and do her little "dance moves" along with her class.

After Special Friends' Day, my seven year old cousin and I went to lunch. Alone. Even though it was only down the street (like 5 blocks!) from where my cousin lived, it was really difficult to trust a seven year old to get me home safely! ;) It's not that I didn't trust her, it's just that, would you trust a seven year old to get you home?! :) Oh well. It was fun and we did get home!

A few hours after lunch, I went to my five year old cousins's pre-school class. My aunt and I read them a story about trash (for Earth Day) and we made little "bugs" out of egg carton pieces.

After pre-school, it was WEDDING TIME! (see previoius post!)