Meant to Live

The idea of homecoming court pranks is a topic popular within movies, TV and books. The most popular case in point is the Stephen King book "Carrie" and the movie adaptation. Unfortunately, the way Carrie teaches the bullies a lesson (by setting the auditorium on fire) has not served as a lesson and deterrent for others to do this same thing to fellow classmates.

This doesn't just happen in the movies, but sadly, this happens in real life. And this kind of prank is a form of bullying. A prank crosses the line from "harmless fun" into bullying when its purpose is to humiliate and shame.

Whitney Kropp

The Associated Press reports that Whitney Kropp, a junior at West Branch's Ogemaw Heights High School, was named to her high school homecoming court as part of an apparent prank.

I couldn't imagine having to go through this in high school. And on top of that, how can any students be punished for what they did to her? If school officials wanted to do that, they would have to punish the entire class. After all, it would be really difficult to find out who started this — considering several students would have to take part in this cruel prank in order to vote her onto the court.

But this story does have a happy ending. Several local businesses, hearing about what happened to her, have donated their services to Kropp — buying her dinner, fixing her hair and nails and dressing her in a gown free of charge.

To me, this shows that no matter how many people are bullies, there are still just as many people (if not more) out there who stand against these bullies and will stand up for the bullied.

For those who are bullied, if this isn't proof you are not alone — I don't know what is. If you are bullied, there are several people out there who have your back.

On The Oakland Press' Facebook page, reader Sherry Lazdinsh shared her experiences being bullied in high school — and offers hope to those who are being bullied. She shows that, just because you are bullied, doesn't mean what they say is true. And it doesn't mean you won't have a great future.

Lazdinsh wrote, "I was bullied horribly in HS, teased for being adopted, picked on for having braces and glasses as well. I was teased for being in a special math class, told I would be nothing in life. But now at 26 I am married with two beautiful daughters, have a house of my own and I am very happy and successful. My bully? Well she is living in her parents basement with no job.....Moral of the story, bullies in HS tend to be loser as adults. I wish this girl all the best at her dance and in her future."

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Having a child is one miracle in this lifetime that happens on a daily basis to thousands of women all over the globe. But despite the joy of bringing a child in the world, many may say the act of giving birth isn’t the most “beautiful” thing in the world.

I know I don’t have to go into gory detail, but let’s just say, the female body goes through many extreme changes while giving birth. So, it’s not hard to believe that, after giving birth, emotions may be very out of whack. After all, what can you expect when you just had a human being growing inside your body. And then, in metaphorical terms, you had to push a semi-truck out of a compact car-sized parking space. This is a stressful life event if I have ever seen one.

Although I myself have never had a child (and do not plan to for a very, very long time — emphasis on the “very, very”), I do not think people (*cough*cough* especially men) understand that this bodily change can very likely affect a woman’s emotions both during and after the pregnancy. And this is no joking matter. Side note: yes, when she is craving something ridiculous like pickles and peanut butter — get it for her!

Women’s Health shows that 13 percent of pregnant women and new mothers suffer from depression. Depression after childbirth is called postpartum depression, and hormonal changes may trigger symptoms of postpartum depression. This is because, when a woman is pregnant, levels of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone increase greatly. And within the first 24 hours of childbirth, these levels quickly go back to normal.

Other than the obviously bad news of how much this sucks for the mother, a recent study shows even more bad news. WXYZ reports that a mother’s postpartum depression may affect her child’s growth later in life. Researchers found that the children of mothers who suffer from postpartum depression for at least nine months were shorter later in life than children of mother’s who did not suffer from depression.

What can be done:

If you’re a significant other or family member of a woman suffering from depression, you need to help her identify this. She may not even realize it herself. A woman should not be alone in raising a child in the first place. SHE NEEDS HELP!

If you are personally suffering from postpartum depression, visit http://www.postpartum.net/ for resources.

Postpartum Depression: Of course you'll have mood changes. You pushed a semi-truck out of a compact car-sized parking space.

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Many people seek help for depression...but the only problem is most people don't continue this for long periods of time. After all, seeing a psychiatrist and paying for prescriptions is, well, expensive.

But according to Clinical Psychiatry News, a new drug may be on its way to treating people who are depressed...or even suicidal. I have my fingers crossed that this medication will work. If it does, this could be a life saver for people across the world.

Considering there has been no new treatments for depression in decades, this gives much hope to community members suffering from depression.

Several recent studies support the anesthetic agent ketamine's immediate and long-lasting effects. According to the article in Clinical Psychiatry News, a study of 30 patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder found that ketamine infusions were associated with significant increases in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF), accompanied by changes in slow-wave activity on electroencephalograms.

Studies also showed that those considering suicide who took the drug said the thoughts decreased significantly within 40 minutes of taking the drug — and lasted for up to 10 days.

This gives me so much hope for the future. Wouldn't that be amazing to have a prescription which erases the desire for a person to kill him or herself in less than an hour? And, on top of that, the person only needs to take about three pills a month to be depression-free?

Sunny Aslam, MD, says, "Although the research is preliminary, and abuse concerns are real, ketamine appears to have a bright future."

In her WebMD blog, she wrote that ketamine blocks a chemical called glutamate in the brain, which is different from the action of many antidepressants. Most antidepressants work on the neurotransmitters, of which serotonin is the most well known.

Tests are still being done on this drug. So, I stress do not buy this drug on the street. This is not safe, and on the street, the drug is a rave drug and will have different effects that the doctor-approved version of the drug.

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I know it's been a while since I've last written a blog entry. I promise that will change. When you write all the time for your job, when you get home -- well, the last thing you want to do is write. But my title for The Oakland Press has officially changed this week to Community Engagement Editor. With that, I promise, I will blog more.

I received my first comment to my blog this week, which I was pretty excited about — Understanding Teen Depression Workshop.

I was told that there's no point in treating depression like sadness, like it will just pass like a head cold. Instead, this person compared depression to cancer instead.

I completely agree that depression is like cancer. But that doesn't mean there's no hope. That doesn't mean it won't pass.

Even with cancer, there is hope. Statistics show that 43 percent of men and 56 percent of women live for more than five years after a cancer diagnosis and may be cured. For children, the percentage is more than 50 percent.

So if you're a child or teen or adult experiencing depression, does that mean you will have to suffer from depression until the day you die, and you will ultimately die from the diagnosis? The answer is no.

According to an article by Psychology Today:
"Experts find that complete remission (of depression) requires treatment for a minimum of nine months—and that's for an acute first episode. Beyond the disappearance of symptoms patients should experience a minimum of two months of well-being before treatment is stopped.

Guidelines drawn up by psychiatrists themselves state that people who have chronic depression—an episode lasting two years or more— need to be treated for two years after full remission has occurred. And if you have recurrent depression, marked by multiple depressive episodes, treatment should last indefinitely. Just as with chronic disorders like hypertension and diabetes, maintenance treatment is necessary."

But it's imperative that those suffering depression do seek help. If you found an abnormal lump on your body, what would you do? Hopefully you would go to the hospital to get it checked out.

Why is it that people don't treat their brain with the same care?

I feel like the brain is as important, if not more important, than checking out the body. And just like cancer or disease of the body, depression is a disease of the mind — a disease that you can't control, a disease that you did not choose.

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Several people wear peace symbols on shirts and urge the government to “send home our troops” from deadly missions overseas. But the fact is – more soldiers die from suicide than at the hands of foreign enemies.

I heard about an extremely sad fact reported by the Associated Press this week – that nearly one U.S. solider a day has committed suicide this year. There have been 154 suicides in active duty troops in the first 155 days of the year – which outnumbers those killed in action in Afghanistan by nearly 50 percent. This is an 18 percent increase compared to last year at the same time.

It’s scary to think, even more than terrorists; sometimes our biggest enemy can be ourselves.

To me, I think soldiers are the greatest heroes – putting their own lives at stake on a daily basis for our country. But even the bravest of the brave are bound to be affected by this kind of life. This doesn’t make troops any less brave because this affects them. It only means they are human.

And I honestly would be more worried if none of this did affect them. How can you firsthand see the war, watch as people die, and not be affected and cry for those who lost their lives (unless you have no heart)?

I heard this saying once, “If you haven’t thought about suicide, then you haven’t lived.”

I think this is so true, and I think it could help others who feel this way know they are not alone or “weak.” In fact, this thought makes them normal.

Life is hard for all of us, and I think for military men and women, it is even more difficult.

While I do think urging for peace across our country is a great thing to stand for, this is something that also needs to be talked about – adding a yellow suicide awareness ribbon to our wardrobe along with the peace sign shirt.

According to the AP report, studies have pointed to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, misuse of prescription medications and personal financial problems as explanations why this suicide rate has increased so dramatically this year. Army data suggests soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide, although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.

Many in the military believe that going for help is seen as a sign of weakness and thus a potential threat to advancement, according to AP. Making them feel even worse, it is reported that a senior Army officer told soldiers contemplating suicide to “act like an adult.”

Contemplating suicide does not make a person any less than an “adult.” Like I said before, and I will say it again, it makes them human.

I want to stress that seeking mental health help with not harm a soldier’s career. Col. Scott Marrs, PhD, chief of the Air Force's mental health division, said, “Seeking mental health care doesn't harm your career … It's not being able to do your job because of personal issues that can harm your career.”

If you are a military man or woman who is contemplating suicide, I urge you to get help. This does not mean your weak. If anything, I think it makes you even more brave to find the courage to talk about it and get the help you need.

Marines can call the anonymous 24/7 DStress line 877-476-7734 to talk to someone or visit dstressline.com to talk to a person online.

Veterans (of any military branch) can call the Lifeline number, 1-800-273- TALK (8255), and press “1” to be routed to the Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline.

For deployed soldiers, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Calls originating in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait should be preceded by the DSN access code “94.” For soldiers with mental health issues or contemplating suicide who are stationed in America, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

For soldiers/vets living in Michigan, call Common Ground’s 24/7 Crisis Line 800-231-1127 or visit comongroundhelps.org.

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Many people, sadly, don't understand depression. My boyfriend is taking a class at Oakland Community College. He told me that the students, in an off-topic debate, started talking about depression medication.

One uninformed student said he wouldn't trust anyone on depression medication because, as with any medication, it alters the brain. Thankfully, other students stood up to him — saying that wasn't right. If I were there, I know what I would have asked him — do you also don't trust people who are taking Advil, aspirin, NyQuil, diabetes medication, etc.? In the same way, doesn't depression medication help reduce pain and lower symptoms of a disorder? So how is it any different?

It's sad that many people don't understand mental disorders as much as physical disorders, and I think people could use a big dose of reality.

That's why I think it's great what the Beaumont Health System with Common Ground is doing. According to an article in The Oakland Press by reporter Jerry Wolffe, they have teamed up to sponsor Mental Health First Aid, an internationally recognized training program designed to equip lay-people — non-mental health professionals — with the tools to recognize and respond to people who may be in a mental health crisis, and connect them to the appropriate care.

I think this is great. After all, health care professionals are required to be trained in CPR. Isn't this just as important. In Mental Health First Aid, trainees will learn how to respond in a mental health crisis and symptoms of a mental health disorder. The training is open to educators, school administrators, human resource professionals, the faith communities, policy makers, primary health care providers, first responders, police and fire personnel, security personnel, family members or caring community residents.

The two-day training will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 14 and May 21 at Beaumont Hospital, located at 44201 Dequindre Road in Troy. The $75 fee includes registration, a workbook, snacks and lunch. To register, call or email Joan Roberts at 248-451-3733 or jroberts@commongroundhelps.org.

Read original story Hospital, Common Ground join forces to aid mentally ill.

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