[stylist] Writers and depression

Wed Jan 28 19:22:50 UTC 2015

As I've said, we do have a schedule, or try our best. Actually, most our day
runs on a schedule. I don't let the kids sleep past a certain time, unless
sick. We eat meals and snacks at scheduled times, and since we started potty
training, which we are just a week in, drinks are scheduled now as are the
times we sit on the potty, which is every 30 minutes. And we do have our
bedtime rituals. And Declan is a creature of habit; he has to have things go
exactly the same way every night, LOL!

We limit sugar and TV/computer stuff through the day, and definitely not
around bed time. Usually, the only time we let him watch more than an hour a
day, is when he's sick.

If we leave toys or books with him, it's too much of a stimulant when trying
to sleep. He has his favorite stuffed animal he has to sleep with, and a
soother. He's still in the crib, because he prefers it, though there's also
a bed in his room.

Since he was born, he thinks the middle of the night is play time. Even when
an infant, as long as he wasn't screaming and was safe, I will leave him and
let him play. But regardless of how we approach it, if he gets up in the
middle of the night, 9 times out of 10, he wants to play.

Sometimes, he does want to sleep with me, which depending on the day and
time, we will let him do. If he gets up at 6, we usually adjust our
schedule, but if it's before 6, depending on his mood, we might try to get
him to go back to sleep.

So I don't know...

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J. via
stylist
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 9:36 AM
To: Chris Kuell; Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

I agree with Chris and would add a few things.  A bedtime ritual can be
helpful for easing kids into the idea of bed time.  reading a story,
snuggling on the couch, a bath...whatever makes sense for your family, but
keep it calming.  A regular schedule can help too.  Go to bed at the same
time and get up at the same time.  You might find that adjusting the
schedule a bit will fit your sleep habits better.  Here, we go to bed crazy
early, like 8, and get up crazy early, between 4 and 5.  I used to stay up
late and sleep in late and felt tired all the time.  Lastly, I would provide
the Kiddo with some quiet things for him to do independently, if he wakes. 
He could look at a book  or talk to his stuffed animals, but he has to stay
in his room, being quiet so you can sleep. If he doesn't, take him back and
go back to your room.  It will probably mean more sleepless nights before it
gets better, but he should learn that night time is not playtime soon.

Good luck!
Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now 
available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
Visit my new website on developing courage and living authentically:
http://www.falling-up.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Kuell via stylist
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 9:00 AM
To: 'Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter' ; 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

Bridgit,

I would not use melatonin on a healthy 2 year old. You are probably doing
all these things already, but my advice is to watch his diet and make sure
he's not eating sugary foods, especially after say 4 in the afternoon. I
would make sure he gets a lot of exercise. I would not let him nap after 4
in the afternoon. And here's the hardest part--I would insist he stay in his
room at night. Be firm and let him know Mommy and Daddy need sleep, and he
will be punished if he goes into your room before he sees sunlight in his
window. This won't go over well, and he'll probably pitch a fit. But once he
gets it--and he will--the whole family will feel better.

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 8:59 AM
To: 'Lynda Lambert'; 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

Okay, know this is totally the wrong list for asking this, but since we are
in the ballpark...

Declan, at two-and-a-half, has insomnia, and at least 5 nights a week
doesn't sleep through the night. His pediatrician recommended melatonin.
It's supposed to be all-natural, though anything in pill form can't be
totally all-natural because of what has to happen to break it down and turn
into pill form. I hate medicating my baby in any way to get him to sleep,
and honestly, it doesn't help him sleep through the night. He will usually
fall asleep quicker, but he still gets up in the middle of the night, and
when he wakes up, he thinks it's play time.

So, any thoughts, suggestions? Do we just need to resign ourselves to the
fact that we will not sleep much ourselves for the next few years, or is
there something else anyone has tried, heard of... Obviously, with young
kids, you don't get a lot of down time, and even toddlers don't always sleep
through the night, but Penny wasn't like this at all. And Ross and I are
often getting 2 to 3 hours of sleep most nights because of this problem. And
I have insomnia myself, so any sleep I can get is necessary.

Okay, sorry, know it's not the right list, but still, putting it out there.

And along with a myriad of other things, the lack of sleep gets in the way
of my ability to write, to create. Those with children know you have little
time for personal endeavors anyway, but then you add in the lack of sleep,
and it exacerbates things.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda Lambert
via stylist
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 7:07 AM
To: Barbara Hammel; Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

Barbara, thanks for the information here on h Pilori - my duaghter has had
it for at least 2 years and treatment with drugs has not killed it - I am
going to pass along your good information to her in hopes it may help her if
that is ok with you. Lynda

-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Hammel via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:57 PM
To: EJ Kobek ; Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

The only thing that I could add here, as my piece for the writing prompt is
to tell you how a change in one's diet and the killing of a pesky thing
called Helicobacter Pylori can make a huge difference.

We presume that Jesse came to us with all of his hidden health issues.
Three years after he came into our family he had a surgery to fix double
hernias and we thought that would be the end of our miserable existence of
listening to him scream from sun up till sun down and most of the nights for
SIX months.

Much to our chagrin, that was only a taste of what life would be like to a
greater degree.  It wasn't continuous screaming and it wasn't up half the
night every night but the next few years were pretty long.

Then we went to a gastroenterologist who had us collect a stool sample --
such a fun task when your child is still in diapers -- so he could test it
for whatever he was looking for.  Well, Helicobacter Pylori showed its ugly
self and we began the couple of years of antibiotic treatments to kill the
dumb thing.

In case you don't know, in the 1990s it was discovered that, most certainly,
H. Pylori is the cause of stomach ulcers.  We learned that %40 of the people
over age 60 have this monster in them but only %20 of that %40 present with
the ulcers.  Due to healthier means of preparing food and treating the water
supply, the percentage of folks who have H. Pylori has dropped in the under
60 crowd.  Why his twin doesn't have it we'll never know since they came out
of the same environment.

In 2013, after having done the treatment for H. Pylori, as I said, it still
persisted in lingering in his system.  So, it was off to the infectious
disease doctor.  His recommendation:  Instead of taking the two antibiotics
one after another and the probiotic at the same time, we were to give him
both antibiotics for 42 days and then a month or two of probiotics.
Amazingly, we are almost certain that Helicobacter Pylori is a thing of our
past.

Along with all that medicine, we finally got everyone in his world on board
to remove all gluten from his diet.  Voila!  Except for the bouts of
aphthous ulcers he gets in his mouth -- we don't know why yet -- he has
become a happy boy.  He does not have the horrible gassy stomach.  He does
not have that funny garlicky-smelling breath that was peculiar to a tummy
that was full of stuff that needed to get out.

Killing H. Pylori did not solve constipation/diarrhea cycles, but it has
helped it become more manageable.

It is so amazing to live in a time when so much is being learned about how
the health of our gut affects the rest of our body and in a time when autism
is being studied so thoroughly since it seems to be on the rise.  (Autism is
a topic for another day.)

Is it any wonder to anyone now why I need not one, but two different
antidepressants?  And, maybe you are right.  Maybe they are what is
inhibiting my creativity which also figures into why I can feel so down.
Too many thoughts run through my head and yet I cannot make them leave
through my fingertips to my Braille Edge.

Barbara

Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.--Robert Frost
-----Original Message-----
From: EJ Kobek via stylist
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2015 6:45 PM
To: NFB Stylist
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writers and depression

Hi, all, esp. Vejas,

Want to say much more, as we all do!  What's amazing is that medicine is
starting to look at lacking of imbalance of gut bacteria as a source of
despair (whatever one calls it), and they are even starting to care for
people with schizophrenia with probiotics....A fabulous book called "Missing
Microbes" even looks at the gut and other bacteria we need for physical and
mental health that are becoming extinct, along with other, larger
creatures....micobes we really need that are being disappeared by misuse of
antibiotics.....

Gut bacteria has an amazing impact on our mental health!!!

Might I propose a TOPIC for writing? Intestinally?

The topic:  Beneficial bacteria!

A haiku, a poem, a story, a prose piece?

Just an offering. I'll get to it during our blizzard today and
tomorrow....anyone else?

(Smile, grin.....)

Warmly,

Helen (and her beneficial bacteria)
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