Mood Watch…An App to help monitor your mood
For those of you connected to iPhones and Android phones, I found a really neat app, “Mood Watch,” that helps monitor mood and self-care activities. Kimberly Knox, a woman diagnosed with Bipolar I, developed Mood Watch after a hospital stay. Kimberly, who lives in San Diego, was preparing for discharge from an inpatient stay when someone commented about how her feedback on her mood and self care would make a great app. The rest is history. For 99 cents you can download the Mood Watch app as a tool to … Continue reading
May is National Salad Month
“Do You Overpour?” May is national salad month. I usually do not notice the various monthly celebrations (except for nutrition month). My attention was drawn to salads this month because of a brief report in the May issue of Cooking Light magazine entitled “Do You Overpour?” The authors served 50 people tossed salads, and they monitored the amount of salad dressing they poured. Only a third poured two tablespoons of ranch or vinaigrette. Those who chose the creamy dressing had the heavier hand. The difference between the heaviest and lightest … Continue reading
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Tagged healthy, national salad month, overpour, salad, salad dressing, salad primavera
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Kids and Scary Weather
It is difficult to watch scenes of destruction from the tornado in Oklahoma. Seeing the devastation of the buildings is one thing; seeing the kids reunited with their parents really takes it to a whole new level. One of my colleagues here at Alegent Creighton Health brought up how scary it must have been to hear the tornado sirens – and how both kids and adults will remember the images from this storm the next time the sirens sound here. Aside from limiting exposure to news outlets and information about … Continue reading
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Tagged fears, kids, mental health, oklahoma, sirens, storms, tornado
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May Is Mental Health Month!
Since May is Mental Health Month, I’d like to share some information from Mental Health America. There are some links included in the information below that may benefit you or someone you love. Please feel free to share this information and these links with others. Partnership to Provide the M3 Checklist, a Free Online Personalized Mental Health Screen for Prevalent Mental Health Diseases. Mental Health America provides the only online test that screens for depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD and anxiety. The innovative online mood-screening tool is offered in partnership with … Continue reading
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Tagged anxiety, bipolar, depression, mental health, mental health month, mood, PTSD
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What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Due to the recent, tragic events at the Boston Marathon and the West, Texas fertilizer plant, some patients are asking more about PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). When we hear of traumatic events like these in the news – local or global – we can certainly be impacted. When someone personally experiences or witnesses a traumatic event thiscan make for an even deeper impact, resulting in PTSD. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has a helpful brochure aboutPTSD. PTSD, they explain, is as“an anxiety disorder that some people get after … Continue reading