In my field of work as an alcohol and drug counselor, there are changes every day because I deal with the human condition. In most jobs, I have had in the field over the last 21 years staff members come and go, many times like a revolving door. The job I have now is not the case. We all have been there ten plus years, including my boss. Yesterday I said goodbye to her after 10 and a half years as she moves to another state. I still can't believe she will no longer be there. I will miss her, as the facility will. I wish her the best however, and I know we will all be OK. Change is the only constant in life. I write about change and the human condition in my novels as most writers’ do. Below is an excerpt from my novel Tomorrow is August 12, which explains what I go through on a daily basis as an Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor. Take care Yolanda, I wish you the best in your new chapter in life.---Keith
Excerpt: Tomorrow Is August 12th To begin with, I spend a ridiculous amount of time on paperwork. Useless paperwork, that takes so much time away from my hands-on work with clients. I constantly fight with insurance companies to keep them paying for a client’s stay in the facility. It pisses me off how people pay their insurance premiums and when they need the benefits the most, it doesn’t cover shit, and to top it off, the insurance companies don’t care. Those fucking bastards. So, myself, as well as every other counselor in the field, are the ones who must go to the client and tell them they have to leave the program because their insurance company won’t pay for more. This is after meeting with administration to see if any funding is available. The answer is always no, so then I talk to the client and break the news. Another part of my job is meetings, consisting of two or three a week. Clinical team meetings can last up to two hours, discussing budget, funding cuts, and complaining about it all. If any time is left, clients are discussed, usually at best, twenty minutes is spent for thirty of them. An addictions counselor also attends an unbelievable amount of training classes to keep up continuing education units. These are an incredible waste of time and money where I learn nothing. Most of the time, I find that people ask stupid questions just to hear their own voices. Then there is the actual treatment for the clients, such as groups, classes, and individual counseling sessions. In all of my years of alcohol and drug counseling, I have heard every horrific story about the human condition. Drug use, drug abuse, misuse, and excuses, you name it. Once hearing their story, my job is to dig deeper into why a client is using drugs in the first place. This is when the story can get really grim. Some clients have suffered rape, committed murders, saw murders, saw rapes, have been molested, and have been perpetrators. Girls raped by their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, with ice picks, coat hangers, and beaten with water hoses. Boys penetrated anally by their fathers, brothers, uncles, and cousins resulting in blown out anal sphincters. Parents have taught their children how to shoot up, smoke, and snort drugs, as well as, shoplifting, killing, stealing, and raping. Generational drug use passed down to the client starting with the grandparents or even further back. The stories wear me out; it wears counselors down after so long. It’s common to want to hug the clients, comforting them, but it’s considered inappropriate. It’s common to want to continue to help them after they leave the facility by further counseling, but that’s unethical. Clients have to be referred to an outside therapist.
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Unfortunately, there are people in this world who are narcissist. We sometimes joke around saying we know people who are, but actually they are probably not. I have written a character or two in my work that possess this defect. It makes for interesting writing and reading, but a true narcissist , are not that pleasant to actually know. Here is an article that tells you how to spot a narcissist. http://goo.gl/L9oTHF It is interesting, and may just surprise you. enjoy, and have a good Wednesday.---Keith
You don't smoke and you live a generally healthy life, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear. More and more studies are showing that other unhealthy habits are just as much cause for concern. These six habits either expose you to the same contaminants in cigarette smoke or lead to cancer rates equivalent to those caused by smoking. Fortunately, they're easy to fix with a few modifications to your daily routine.
1. Sitting All Day Even if you exercise regularly, habitually sitting for prolonged periods, whether at a desk or in a car, is being increasingly linked to a variety of health problems. According to Alberta Health Services-Cancer Care in Canada, inactivity is linked to nearly 160,000 cases of breast, colon, prostate, and lung cancer every year, about two-thirds as many cancer cases caused by smoking. Make it right: Take breaks at work, and even make (or buy) a standing workstation so you're less apt to sit all day. At home, resist the temptation to veg out in front of the TV. Go for a short walk around the block to relax, spend a few minutes cleaning, or schedule a gym date with your significant other. 2. Eating Too Much Meat And Cheese Animal proteins are rich in IGF-1, a growth hormone that can promote the growth of cancer cells. And a study from the University of Southern California published in the journal Cell Metabolism recently found that people on high-animal-protein diets during middle age were four times more likely to die of cancer than people on low-protein diets—a mortality risk factor comparable to smoking. Make it right: Replace some of your animal proteins with vegetarian protein sources. The same study found that diets high in plant-based proteins like beans, which have protein levels equivalent to some meats, didn't trigger the same increase in cancer rates. In general, middle-aged adults should be eating 0.8 grams of protein for every 2 pounds of body weight daily. Interestingly, the study found that once you pass the age of 65, eating lots of animal protein isn't as harmful because your body's production of IGF-1 begins to slow down. 3. Cooking With Natural Gas If you're one of the 34 percent of Americans whose home is equipped with a gas stove, you're getting an added dose of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde every time you cook a meal. Those same three contaminants are common in secondhand cigarette smoke, and a study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that all three contaminants in homes with gas stoves regularly exceeded public health guidelines. Make it right: Turn on the vent hood when you use your gas oven or cooktop. Ventilating a gas range can reduce pollutant levels by 60 to 90 percent, even if the fan seems wimpy. Also, cook on your back burners: Most vent hoods aren't properly centered over a cooktop; using the back burners will help your vent hood capture the most pollution. 4. Cooking With The Wrong Oil Even if you rely on an electric stove at your house, you aren't immune to cooking's polluting effects. Studies on restaurant and residential kitchens have shown that high-heat cooking with shortening and soybean oil (usually labeled as vegetable oil in the US) releases particulate matter, aldehydes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, all compounds found in cigarette smoke and linked to airway inflammation. Make it right: Pick the type of cooking oil best suited your use. For instance, olive oil isn't good for frying or high-heat cooking but is fine for cooking at low temperatures or in salad dressings. Avocado oil, on the other hand, is great for high-heat cooking. Look for the smoke point on oils that you buy to make sure the oil matches your needs. And don't forget to run the ventilation hood. 5. Tanning Indoors A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that indoor tanning causes roughly 420,000 cases of skin cancer in the US every year. Smoking, by comparison, causes 226,000 cases of lung cancer. Make it right: Learning to love pale skin is step number one. But if you really want a natural glow, eat more carrots and tomatoes, suggests a study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. Both foods are rich in carotenoids, which will boost your skin tone, without having to worry about exposure to sketchy ingredients in sunless tanning sprays and lotions. 6. Not Getting Enough Sleep Chronic sleep deprivation triggers high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, obesity, and a host of other health problems. One study even found that not getting at least six or seven hours of sleep led to mortality rates on par with those seen in cigarette smokers. Even getting poor-quality or fragmented sleep—when you don't necessarily fully wake up, but the cycle from light to deep sleep gets interrupted—can speed the growth of tumors. Make it right: Don't assume that being tired is normal. If you feel like you aren't getting enough sleep regularly, talk to a health professional to see if you might be suffering from a condition, such as sleep apnea, that might be interfering with your sleep. |
AuthorKeith Kelly currently lives in Rio Rancho New Mexico. Archives
October 2020
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