Blog 4

Facts & Figures: Ending Violence Against Women (Links to an external site.)

"How can we stop assaults from being committed against women?"

Ways that I believe we can help stop assaults from being committed on women is by teaching our daughters at a young age to recognize when abuse is happening and to not be afraid to speak up.  Also, I believe we must teach our daughters how to protect themselves as well as encourage them to not rush into a relationship at a young age and to focus on being independent first and the importance of education.

 I have a 9-year-old daughter and every chance I get; I will have a heart to heart talk with her about how she feels, her grades, and her behavior at school. I’ll stress to her the importance of speaking up if someone is doing something to hurt her and that she is to let a teacher know as soon as possible. She is also to inform me when she gets home so that I can make sure everything gets resolved. I also stress to her how important it is to focus on school in order to do bigger and better things in life. My daughter is the only girl out of five kids, so she tends to act like an entitled brat sometimes. Which gives me the opportunity to remind her every time that she acts up that if she wants nice things that she has to earn them, especially when she is older.  By working hard and making sure she gets as much education as she possibly can.

Another way I believe we can stop assaults from being committed on women is by encouraging each other to speak up and stand up for ourselves. Giving each other information on how to report abuse and letting each other know that there are programs out there that will help people get back on their feet will help put most of their worries at ease. Though, if hesitation/ fear is clearly visible, I believe you should take matters into your own hands even if your friendship gets put at risk. The way I see it is, I would rather lose a friendship then see them in a grave.

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Blog 3 - Option 2 Mental Illness

I have chosen to write about mental illness (option 2) for my blog because while working as a Dental Hygienist I have seen many patients with mental illness. I want to be able to learn more about them and why it happens in order to help provide treatment options that will help them improve their oral hygiene. Many that I see with mental illness don't have good oral hygiene or require a lot of assistance from a relative or home provider. 

What I learned in this quiz was how much a year is used for mental illness. That amount was $193.2 Billion. It was definitely not what I expected but as I thought about it. Many people not only suffer from psychotic disorders, schizophrenia or PTSD but also depression and anxiety.

I do know someone who suffers from a mental illness and that is my ex-husband. He suffers from PTSD. He is an ex-Marine who was in over 4 years. He was discharged from the military because of an incident that occurred during his first marriage.

The illness he has has made a big impact on his life. Him and I separated because he couldn't control his PTSD or wasn't trying to get the help he needed. When we married, I already had 2 children from a previous marriage, so we decided to have one together. Well, while pregnant he did many things that just weren't acceptable and I didn't want my children to see how he was acting and think it was acceptable so we separated. Things had gotten worse but he is now trying to change his life around for our son. At the moment he is trying to get help by attending a camping and mentoring program known as Camp Hope to help those who are wounded veterans with PTSD.

What I learned about mental illness just from knowing him is that it is a very serious matter. One moment he was the perfect husband and father and the next he would just sit there and stare off into space. At night he would be so paranoid that he would stay up till 3 in the morning and walk around the house because he swore he heard something and needed to check things out. It was really terrifying. There were moments that even I felt like I was beginning to lose it. When we would argue he would take it to the extreme and attempted many times to take his life with my hand gun as well cut his wrists and inner thigh. Separation was the only option for us because he wasn't trying to get the help he needed. I needed to care for our children and well I couldn't do it while he acted the way he did. Though since our separation, he has made some improvement. He continues to struggle with his demons, as he calls it, but we have a much better relationship. We are now able to communicate much better for our son and decide together what is best for him. However, he does still have his moments. When he is upset about something, he goes to the extreme but I now know how to better approach and handle it. I first try getting him to understand why we must do things a certain way and if that doesn't work then I just stay professional and tell him that when he is ready to talk then I will. I try my best to not be confrontational, because that doesn't make things better. If anything, it makes things much worse, and my main interest is making sure my son has two parents that can co parent and are able to give him what he needs in order to grow up healthy and happy.

           

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