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In honor of Pride Month, I would like to discuss why pronouns play such an important role in the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately, there are many people that choose to ignore the large impact such a small gesture has on a person experiencing or having experienced gender dysphoria. I’d like to bring up a show that my cousin recently showed me called Pose. This show depicts many instances that the LGBTQ+ community faced on a daily basis during the 1980s. During this time, this community was not as well recognized nor was it as respected as it is today. The characters throughout this show faced discrimination based on both their gender identity and their skin color. I highly suggest watching this show because it gives viewers a better way to understand intersectionality and how addressing someone using the proper pronoun can go a long way.
While watching this show I really liked how the producers acknowledged the internal struggles that transgender women faced. A lot of the women in this show struggled with their identity because they were born into a religious family that did not accept them for who they were and were forced out of their homes because of it. Imagine being forced out of your home because your parents did not want to accept you for simply being you. Pronouns are the first step to showing and affirming the identity of those that are trans especially since they have been told otherwise for so long. Research shows that addressing someone using the correct pronouns has strong psychometric properties in transgender women. It is easy to make an assumption about someone’s gender, but taking that extra step to acknowledge how that assumption can be potentially harmful to someone takes a conscious effort. I feel that being able to take a step back and even correct yourself can mean so much to a person that is constantly being misgendered because of the assumptions people have made about them. It is said that trans individuals are at higher risk for mental health concerns due to the marginalization they face. The LGBTQ+ community simply wants to be acknowledged and seen for who they are instead of constantly being dehumanized when it comes to their sexual identity. People should be able to love who they want to love and identify themselves how ever they please. Our society has so many outdated societal norms that need to be reconstructed. Being able to correctly identify someone should be easy as asking and remembering someone’s name. It is better to ask someone which pronouns they prefer rather than assuming. Bowling, Jessamyn, Barker, Jordan, Gunn, Laura H, & Lace, Tatim. (2020). "It just feels right": Perceptions of the effects of community connectedness among trans individuals. PloS One, 15(10), e0240295–e0240295. Sevelius, Jae M, Chakravarty, Deepalika, Dilworth, Samantha E, Rebchook, Greg, & Neilands, Torsten B. (2020). Gender affirmation through correct pronoun usage: Development and validation of the transgender women's importance of pronouns (TW-IP) scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(24), 9525. Our Lady J, Eyrich, L. & Kay, E. (Producers) (2018, June 3). Pose [Television broadcast]. FX Networks.
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Last month, I finally decided to start a fitness program by Blogilates (#hotbodysummersculpt). What prompted this was my recent weight gain after munching a lot and consuming a lot of alcohol during an anniversary getaway. Although it was only set for 14 days, I have never actually participated in one nor did I ever actually finish one. For those who don't know me, I always get depressed whenever I get on the scale and see a number that's not what I consider within my expectations. I went from 92lbs to 130 in 4-5 months and since then I have never made it to my target goal of 115-120.
You see, it can be difficult for me especially when it comes to fitness to be motivated and be consistent. Because I was never a workout or fitness type of person. I occasionally participated in yoga or pilates in undergrad and did some Fitness Marshall here and there but I wasn't an intensive "I will workout everyday for at least 30 mins". BUT this time, I wanted to push myself to be better. And so I did. It was tough. It did get easier and I did feel stronger, but it was tough to push through and it was only 30 minutes. I found ways to push myself without over exerting myself to the point of being unmotivated and losing interest. For instance, I would pause the video and my tracker to take a break. Sometimes it was seconds, sometimes it was minutes. During those short breaks, I take the time to drink water, walk around, maybe finish some small tasks, and then go back into the workout and finish it. I also have an accountability partner all the way from the bay area. We send snaps to each other daily showing that we finished the workout for that day. And honestly, after 14 days, I felt good about myself. I felt stronger. Even when we did a walk around the neighborhood! I used to end the walk panting heavily (while wearing a mask) but on the 14th day? Nope. I was fine. My calves were not sore and I wasn't panting like I ran a marathon when I just walked around the block. I lost less than a pound during the first few days, but plateaued. Although I didn't exactly lose my ideal weight, I definitely saw parts of my body being toned slowly but surely. I just need to continue working out and actually eating healthy. So... if you're someone like me who gets easily discouraged, take it one step at a time. Progress is progress no matter how small it is. And remember, it only takes 21 days to form a habit. Just keep challenging yourself and pushing through it. As cliche as it sounds, it really is no pain no gain and something worthwhile such as losing weight and getting fit never comes easy. Taking shortcuts is only a short-term solution. So whether it is for medical reasons or mental health reasons, it will be hard at first, but the important thing is to keep going. ~Z The growth of technology has presented many opportunities for the mental health care industry. The most recent example of this is online therapy. During the pandemic, there was a dramatic increase in the need for therapy to help manage stress and anxiety. And because everything went digital, therapists had to quickly adapt to a new system. This shift has pros and cons much like any other technology. Let’s explore this and other examples of beneficial technology for mental health care.
By switching to an online environment, therapy can be more accessible for those who need it. Sessions can now be a simple video conference from either home or work. This can help create richer conversations because clients are more comfortable and can focus on the conversation. Also, therapy apps such as Talkspace make it easy to sign up and get connected with a specialist fairly quickly. The biggest caveat, however, with any technology is privacy. Therapists may be reluctant to switch over to an online system because of data leaks and cybersecurity issues. And this is a valid concern - the privacy between a patient and therapist is extremely crucial. Both sides must be compliant with HIPAA regulations, so it’s important to see how your privacy is protected before committing to a therapist online. Before online therapy, technology was used in mental health treatments in a variety of ways. Robotics was primarily used to treat those with dementia, autism, and cognitive impairments in both children and adults. Robots can be zoomorphic (animal form), cartoon-like, and humanoids. Children with autism who are afraid of real animals can interact with a robotic animal and get used to it without risk of danger. Humanoids on the other hand provide effective training in recognizing facial expressions, which autistic individuals have difficulty with. Adults with dementia in care homes can interact with a zoomorphic robot as a substitute for physical animal therapy. Animal therapy is great because it’s known to lower stress levels and increase serotonin and dopamine levels. Who knew robots can help so many people? These are just a few ways in which they’ve made a difference in mental health treatment. Technology doesn’t just help with treatment; it can help with assessment as well. Assessment is critical for the detection and treatment of mental illness. Traditional methods of capturing social and behavioral data are limited to the information that patients report back to their health care provider. As a result, this data can be biased and may not include accurate information. Mobile technology has the potential to overcome this problem and provide information about patient symptoms, behavior, and functioning in real-time. Also, these apps or websites can assess patients in more unique ways. Rather than answering long and tedious questions, they can go through a “video-game” style assessment. This can reduce bias and reveal insights that couldn’t be traditionally known. But again, we must always worry about privacy issues when using online software. Technology can bring us great benefits if we're smart about it. References Aguilera, A. (2015). Digital technology and mental health interventions: opportunities and challenges. School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley, 191. doi:10.3989/arbor.2015.771n1012 Arean, P. A. (2016). Mobile technology for mental health assessment. PMC, 18(2), 163-169. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2016.18.2/parean Riek, L. D. (2016). Robotics technology in mental health care. New York: Academic Press |
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