Friday, May 29, 2015

About Mental Health

Yesterday, I discussed triggering, and a bit about what it is.

Let me clarify. I am not a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or any kind of therapist. I have several friends both here and in Houston who are active with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. I have not been involved, what I know is more from the "osmosis" of being around people who discuss these matters, and talking with friends who are familiar with various conditions.

I come from a military family. I know the stigma that mental health care can have, the resistance to admitting one is seeing a "shrink." As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, the sister of an Army war veteran, I follow the news articles about veterans, brain injuries, and mental health.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

About triggers, content, and warnings

This is the third of my posts prompted by a mix of the Agents of SHIELD finale and my social media reading. Last Friday, I wrote about Death and Grief, and on Tuesday I wrote about Science Fiction / Fantasy and Parenting.

This is, in part, an Agents of Shield reaction post to the Season 2 finale, "S.O.S. part 2." If you desire to be completely spoiler-free, you might wish to watch that first. That said, I don't intend to discuss Agents of SHIELD itself, it's more my own thoughts, influenced by the show, that build on my recent blogposts and other articles I've read and topics I want to write about.

In Friday's post on Grief, I mentioned how a renewed grief can be triggered years after the fact. I used the term "triggered" deliberately. By triggering, I mean a rush of vivid emotional memories that can overwhelm a person, or affect their mental equilibrium.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

SFF and Parenting

This is, in part, an Agents of Shield reaction post to the Season 2 finale, "S.O.S. part 2." If you desire to be completely spoiler-free, you might wish to watch that first. That said, I don't intend to discuss Agents of SHIELD itself, it's more my own thoughts, influenced by the show, that build on my recent blogposts and other articles I've read and topics I want to write about.

Anne McCaffrey has a series of books about Talented people, telepaths, telekinetics, empaths, healers, etc. There's two major eras in the series. The first era is early in Talent history, with Get Off the UnicornTo Ride PegasusPegasus in Flight, and Pegasus in Space, as Talents are discovered, organized, and trained.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Memorial Day - Music Monday

This Memorial Day we remember our dead, and particularly our military personnel who fell in battle. That is important, particularly for the family and friends who knew them, so I want to take a moment to recognize the solemnity of the occasion.

The rest of this post may seem irreverent in the context of Memorial Day. I wanted to post this series of videos on a Monday, for Music Monday. A holiday seemed like a good day a short, easy, queued post, so this is in the spirit of barbecue, fireworks, and Formula 1 racecars.