Book Review: Love is a Four-Letter Word
Go here to read my book review from the State Press Magazine. This book is strange and funny — one you won’t forget.
Summer at The State Press
Besides being an intern at EmpowHer.com, I also work for The State Press as a reporter. I’m writing more stories during the summer than during the school year of course…
Here are links to stories I’ve done so far:
Official: Plans for four-year college moving foward: http://www.statepress.com/node/6538
Engineering program offers chance to study abroad: http://www.statepress.com/node/6536
Class to test digital textbooks: http://www.statepress.com/node/6535
I also did the police beat and a story on a new ASU application on Facebook. However, the link is not up yet.
Upcoming stories for this week are on an environmentally friendly motor that ASU students are working on, new features on Google Earth 5.0, an ABOR meeting, a brief on a statement from Michael Crow on Governor Brewer’s proposed budget and a light rail update.
I eventually hope to do a story on how the national parks are having three free admission weekends. Here is a current story from The Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/02/20090602freeparks.html
Read The State Press at ASU at http://www.statepress.com/.
Photo: http://www.achahockey.org/news_images/org_134/Image/Team%20Logos/asu.gif
Make Stamps From Your Photos!
So yesterday, when I went to the post office, I noticed that there was an option for creating your own stamps from photos, artwork and business logos.
It’s $19.95 and soooo cool, although I don’t send enough mail to want to buy it yet. Just thought I’d let everyone out there know. It’s probably been around for a month or so already, but it’s new to me.
Check it out for yourself: http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=22401&productId=42163&langId=-1&WT.ac=42163
Preventable death
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the three top preventable causes of death are smoking, high blood pressure and obesity.
Link: http://www.hhs.gov/news/healthbeat/2009/05/20090529a.html
Pretty much if you don’t smoke, eat well and exercise, you probably won’t have to worry about any of the above. But that’s just my opinion. Common sense? Yes…
But it’s still hard if you’re addicted to smoking or food or sugar I suppose.
If you omit obesity from your life, there is one less way you could die...
Depression and heart disease
I’ve read so many articles saying depression and antidepressants are linked to heart disease. Although an article by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t say antidepressants cause heart disease, it says there is a link between women with depression and heart disease.
Here is a link to the article:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/healthbeat/2009/05/20090527a.html
Depressed women also are known for the following risk factors that may lead to heart disease, according to William Whang of Columbia University Medical Center: hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and less physical activity.
Pretty much, women with depression and I suppose men, too, need to watch their health like a hawk.
Depression can lead to other health issues apparently...
Photo: http://newzar.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/depression.jpg
Breakups, Dating and Depression
So recently I broke up with my boyfriend of around a year and three months. We were constantly fighting, breaking up and getting back together. It was just unhealthy, and I knew I wanted to be single again.
Or so I thought…
Just a few days after breaking up with him, I started dating another guy that had been my friend for several months. He was so nice and caring , but he wanted more than just casual dating – it seemed more like a relationship to me. Plus, after a few dates, I just didn’t feel the physical connection I wanted, although the emotional connection was definitely there.
I just broke it off with him and felt horrible, but I decided I need to do what’s right for me. Thankfully he decided we can still be friends and maybe date in the future when I’m more emotionally balanced.
I still have feelings for my boyfriend of over a year, which definitely caused me to break things off with the guy I just dated, besides the other reasons. I’m also just emotionally unstable and have clinical depression and other things I need to work on, so a relationship isn’t a good idea right now. He was too good of a guy to pull through another relationship mess, so I had to let him go for now.
Right now, I need to focus on myself and improving myself. I know I’ll probably be seeing my ex more than I should, but that’s how things go. If he decides he doesn’t want to see me really, then I might just hang out with guys if need be – no relationships though. I do like having some type of man around though, especially when I’m in the mood. I’m going to try to calm that mood down, though, with other, less appealing methods.
Any suggestions?
Sex addiction
I recently added more Google Alerts for health issues, which included sexual health. One alert was for sex addiction. Although it’s a site for gay people, the information I read can apply to anyone having sex.
In his “Are You a Sex Addict?” article, Dr. Weston Edwards said the following behavioral consequences may be a sign of sex addiction:
· You are breaking your commitments to others (the rules of your relationship, or missing/avoiding time with friends).
· You are violating social rules (watching porn at work).
· Putting your health at risk (repeated unsafe sex, mixing sex and drugs or putting yourself at risk of physical harm).
· Risking legal consequences (paying for sex, public sex).
· Preoccupied with sex (scanning everyone to see if they are a possible sex partner, spending lots of time on sexually related surfing the computer or waiting for tricks).
· You’re experiencing financial consequences (legal fees, paying for sex, loosing jobs, spending money on porn).
· Doing things you don’t want to do (only wanting oral sex but doing whatever the other person wants).
For the full article, click here: http://lifestyle.gay.com/2009/05/se.html
HIV and abusive relationships
Although the statistics don’t appear to be as scary as they claim to be, women who are in abusive relationships have another reason to get out of their relationship (other than the abuse part):
http://breakingupdate.com/news/abusive-relationships-raise-womens-hiv-infection-risk-42523.html
Women in abusive relationships may have a higher risk of contracting HIV from their partners.
Photo: http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/domestic_violence-3.gif
Depression and weight gain
So I’ve been working as an intern for Empowher.com. Currently I am only doing copy editing and uploading content from other health sites. However, soon I will be writing.
Anyway, today I came across a very interesting piece while editing. It was about antipsychotics, how they cause weight gain and what to do. There are two parts.
Here is the link to the first part:
Here is the link to the second part:
The only real solution is to eat less (or healthier) and to exercise more, since the only other solution would be to take Metformin, which is only recommended for people who have Type 2 diabetes, as it is an antidiabetic and could cause hypoglycemia and eventually a coma if not treated–at least for those who don’t have Type 2 diabetes.
If you’re a Type 2 diabetic who needs to lose weight from antipsychotic drugs, then you’re good. Otherwise no.
Anyway, I thought this was all very interesting because I take medication for depression (although currently I have stopped and need to find another depression medication that actually works) and took birth control, both of which are known to cause weight gain.
I never thought about my weight gain as being caused by these two medications. I thought it might just have been my diet and lack of real exercise, as well as stress and lack of sleep–and those things probably caused my weight gain as well. However, I’m sure the two types of medications I was taking also helped me gain weight a lot faster, which is not good.
I’m off both medications and have generally been eating healthier, so hopefully I lose some weight. However, I need to exercise more. Once I get into an exercise routine, I will probably start taking both medications again–since they’re unfortunately necessary for my well-being.
Another point I want to add that the author, Shamir Benji, brought up: Exercise for a depressed person is not so easy, as there is a lack of motivation. This lack of motivation can be caused by the depression itself and the lethargy that can be caused by antipsychotics. So hopefully some new drug developments come along to relieve depressed people of another worry: weight gain.
Antipsychotics that can be used to treat depresison and other mental/mood disorders can cause weight gain and probably lead to more depression in some cases due to body image problems.
ASU on Facebook
ASU supposedly just created a new application on Facebook that will help students network with each other and teachers and help them succeed, according to the ASU News Web site.
“The application allows students to connect with peers by class subject, major and college, and students can talk with instructors, view class schedules and find other students from the same hometown,” stated a press release on the ASU News site.
I have a feeling that students will also be spending more time on Facebook with this and less time in class and on homework…but they might be doing that anyway so maybe networking would help them in some way.
Supposedly you can find ASU on Facebook by going to: facebook.asu.edu, although it didn’t work for me. Also, I couldn’t find “ASU on Facebook” through the Facebook search. I think the application should be finished by Fall 2009, according to the press release.
Here’s a link to the press release: http://asunews.asu.edu/20090512_asufacebook
