Today's Dilemma: ANXIETY, PHOBIA, DEPRESSION (A Self-Administered Test)

Today's Dilemma: ANXIETY, PHOBIA, DEPRESSION (A Self-Administered Test)

The current COVID-19 pandemic, economic recession, global warming, force majeure and man-made calamities, are driving people into various forms and degrees of psychological problems. How are you getting along?  Take this test and find out.  

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. All of us are invariably victims of anxiety: our aging parents, retirement benefits, sex life, health – name it, real or imaginary – and you have it, irrespective of sex, age, domicile, profession, work, race, creed, etc.

Sigmund Freud, father of Psychology

2. There is something mysterious about anxiety, its dualism. It is a normal response to physical danger so that it can be a useful tool for focusing the mind where there’s a deadline looming. But anxiety can become a problem when it persists too long beyond the immediate threat, which leads to depression.

3. While we worry for certain things and situations, other people simply don’t - they simply don’t care.

4. People who are mediocre – more so, if they did not reach higher education – are more subject to anxiety than intelligent and highly learned people.

5. Uneasiness, lightheadedness, clumsiness are the first signs of anxiety. Sweaty and cold palms and feet may be due to nervousness which is a natural reaction.

6. According to Dr Elisabeth Kubler-Ross the sequential stages of grief, called grief cycle, follow the following stage in proper sequence: denial, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance.

7. This grief cycle, theoretically is based on observation of people who are dying, not on scientific research into the experiences of people who have survived the death of a loved one. This model is questioned by researchers on bereavement.

8. It is often that at the stage of acceptance, the victim rises to a “second life” – a resolution to make up for life, to do the best things in the remaining years of life – living for a cause one he believes in.

9. Inconsolable grief also called prolonged grief is differentiated from normal grief. Normal grief typically involves a range of transient behavioral and emotional responses which can be overcome.

Pet Therapy, author's daughter and pet at home

10. Deaths such as suicides, murders, accidents, and other sudden and unexpected deaths can result in complicated grief due to the sudden shock.

11. While death of a parent may be unbearably devastating, so with a child, the death of a spouse is still perhaps one of the most intense forms of grief.

12. A very young child under one or two has no reaction if someone dies in the family  – it is too early for the child to realize the event and consequences.

13. Siblings who have been part of each other’s lives since birth help form and sustain the other’s identities; with the death of one sibling comes the loss of that part of the survivor’s identity.

14. Nausea, panic, fears of losing control or dying, are advanced signs and symptoms of anxiety, including dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain, but many of these are psychosomatic symptoms.

15. Many of the things we worry about are baseless, if not nonsense.

16. Animals appear to feel anxiety – an instinctive response necessary for survival.

17. Rats and chicken freeze in place momentarily when subjected to sudden fear stimulus. The opossum feigns dead which is actually an involuntary fear response.

18. Anxiety helped in human evolution. Records of anxiety show how humans shared the planet with saber-toothed tigers. Without it few of us would have survive, if at all.

19. FFF (Fight, Flight, Fright) - the adrenaline shoots into the muscles preparing the body to do the appropriate action.

20. Mass anxiety humans suffered during the two world wars was revived by terrorism which attacked the Twin Towers of New York (9-11). Today's coronavirus pandemic has even a greater effect worldwide.

 

21. Overcoming the possibility of becoming victim to depression, start helping yourself. First, examine your feelings and determine what is troubling you. Then discuss problems with the people involved or with an understanding friend. Change your normal routine. Exercise to work off tension, and avoid known stressors.

Fear of fire. One of the most common phobias is pyrophobia, or the fear of fire, which stems from an ancient and primal fear. Painting by AVRotor

22. The best thing one can do to help a depressed friend is to seek for him professional help. You can be held responsible for anything that may put him into deeper problems – or trouble.

23. Taking examination is one major cause of anxiety. This when taking an exam, prepare well in advance, know time and place, plan you approach, ask for clarification, relax and pay attention to the test.

24. In taking an exam, don’t survey the test questions immediately – you will freeze if your expectation didn't come true. Answer as you go on.

25. When taking multiple choice, read each option as true or false question. Consider answers which make the statements true without exception. Eliminate answers which are false in some instances. 

Answers: 1t, 2t, 3t, 4f, 5t, 6f (Anger comes ahead of bargaining), 7t, 8t (Second life is often the crowning glory of great men and women) , 9t, 10t, 11f, 12f, 13t (Siblings who play a major part in each other lives are essential to each other.) , 14t, 15t, 16t, 17,t, 18t, 19t, 20t, 21t, 22f (Do your part – be kind, show concern, understanding, assurance), 23t, 24f, and 25t.

Rating: 24-25 Outstanding; 21-23 Very Good; 17-20 Good; 13-16 Pass; 12 and Below - Read more about the subject, search the Internet. 

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Common Fear - The End of the World (Doomsday phobia), painting by AVRotor

Follow the Covid-19 protocols to protect yourself from Anxiety, Phobia and Depression.

Reference: The Science of Anxiety Time 39 to 47 pp July 8, 2002
Lost Lives Time November 10, 2003
What Scares you? Phobias Time April 2, 2001

Florence Nightingale - The Lady with a Lamp

Dedicated to all healthcare providers 

Florence Nightingale - The Lady with a Lamp

Dr Abe V Rotor

Light a Candle

AVRotor

In the dark look at the sky and the stars

They’re living gems, a thousand eyes;

They soothe the soul, heal wounds into scars –

They come to mingle with fireflies.

Short is life; man is but a living dust,

But many great things come to pass.

Someday you shall learn from the sages,

Those who live through the ages.

Not for glory, they fill the emptiness;

Go light a candle in gladness.

Fireflies and stars in the night are one,

Like flowers that bear the sun.

Who is Florence Nightingale? She is one of the most famous women of the world. She is the founder of the nursing profession.

Her first patient was a dog. And this is the story.

One day when she was a girl she happened to pass by a wounded sheep-dog on the roadside. The shepherd told her that his dog met an accident and broke a leg. The wound was so bad that the dog would have to be killed since this was the custom in those days.

She did not delay; she made splints and bandaged the wound, and not for long the dog was running about again. The shepherd was very thankful to Florence, and when she became famous he would tell people that her first patient had been his dog, Cap.

In 1854 war broke in Crimea in the southern part of Russia. It was fought between Russia on one side and Turkey, helped by Britain and France, on the other. Florence was then 34 years old, and had convinced her rich parents to let her become a nurse.

The conditions prevailing in the Crimean War were getting worse. There were no hospitals, or if there were, they were poorly managed. There were few doctors and nurses were more of housekeepers of hospitals. It is not like the hospitals we know today. There were as many wounded soldiers dying due to lack of proper medical attention, as there were in the battlefield, a condition the British soldiers were experiencing.

On receiving this news the Minister of War in England wrote a letter to Florence requesting her to organize a team of nurses to go to Crimea, which is more than a thousand miles away, and would take weeks to reach through poor roads and rough seas.

She accepted the challenge and immediately set forth with 38 women volunteers, most were devoted nurses from religious hospitals. They braved the stormy sea, and when they were on the way, the Battle of Balaclava was being fought. This is the famous battle in British history known as The Charge of the Light Brigade.

This is how a survivor described the battle.

“Because of the mistake about what they were supposed to do, these six hundred men galloped along a valley more than a mile long, with Russian cannon shooting at them from all sides. Many of them were killed and wounded, but they never stopped until they had ridden right up to the cannon and captured them.”

The wounded soldiers from the Battle of Balaclava were among the first patients of Florence and her volunteers.

The life of nurses was very hard in those days. They attended to many household and kitchen works. There was very little time to rest. What made the condition worse was because women in those days were not equally treated with men. There was discrimination, especially by the doctors who were all males.

But Florence persevered, so with the remaining volunteers and new nurses she trained. The hospitals became very clean and orderly. She established a system of management. There were enough supplies. Gardens were cultivated to supply the hospitals with fresh fruits and vegetables. There were fewer patients dying than before and they were recovering much faster.

Florence would be holding a lamp in the middle of the night, or into the wee hours in the morning, just to check the conditions of the patients. This scene became the symbol of the modern nursing profession.

Here in our country we have many battles to be fought. But these battles are not those in Crimea many years back. The enemy is different yet the objective is the same – the welfare of the people. We need fighters against poverty, disease and hopelessness. We need fighters who give themselves unselfishly, voluntarily without fear.

We have leaders in the Philippines in the like of Florence Nightingale. One of them is Dr. Fe del Mundo, a medical doctor who founded the hospitals for children. These hospitals are among the best managed government hospitals in the Philippines today. Because of these hospitals thousands and thousands of children have been saved. Many more patients were given proper medical attention in the last fifty years or so. Many doctors and nurses have been trained to follow the example set by Dr. Del Mundo.

People who have apparently lost hope find the lamp in the middle of the night burning bright. Florence Nightingale and Fe del Mundo are making their rounds. ~

"Sea on the Wall" Forever

"Sea on the Wall" Forever

Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor

I love to paint the sea, the sea

when I was young,

as young today in my memory,

and after I'm gone.

"Sea on the Wall" Mural detail, AVRotor 2015 at author's residence in Lagro QC (30ft x 15ft)

In our search of Utopia, we get lost on the way.

In our search of Utopia, we get lost on the way.

In our postmodern living we are moving away from the natural world which guaranteed our success in evolution as a species. Then, rationality brought us out of the biblical Paradise in search of Utopia. We have been travelers searching for this ultimate destination.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 

Utopia, and its antithesis dystopia, as imagined by children in these drawings. Utopia comes in different versions from Plato's Republic to Thomas Moore's semblance of socialist state. The continuing search of a perfect society may be the most primitive aspiration of mankind, more so in postmodern times despite breakthroughs in science and technology, and convenient access to social media, utopia remains elusive as ever. (Acknowledgement: Internet images)

In the process many of us entered into different worlds, willfully or by circumstance. Many found their dreams, others failed. Others succeeded but for a cost they paid so dearly. Others simply got lost on the way.

I can imagine the world of the lost - professionals and students, ordinary people notwithstanding. It is a world where

• Thoughts refuse to close down, even only for respite.
• Energy drains the whole being, even before starting to work.
• Sleep never comes on time and is never enough.
• Relationships are strained, if not alienated.
• Family bond is breaking up.
• Faith in God and fellowmen continues to decline.
• Self worth and respect are falling to a point of depression, or suicide.

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Civilized man is such a whirl, accumulating material things, that he neglects those most treasured possessions in life, such as love and affection, friendship, happiness, and good health.                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                - M H Soglow, Relax Your Way to Health
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A friend of mine sought for help. I couldn't recognize him at first. How he has changed!

Gone were his wit and humor, amiable nature, gait and stride, clean face and clothes. And yet he is very intelligent. He graduated with honors from high school and college.

What went wrong to a very intelligent guy? Isn't intelligence the primordial tool for survival and success?

It is generally the impression. And it is true.

But psychologists found out that the more intelligent a person is, the greater uphill climb he has to do in adjusting to stresses and strains of modern living. He seldom settles on mediocrity; he aims for excellence. Contentment to him is far and wide. Therefore his overactive brain never stops, it knows no limit, and has no vision of dead end. His brain is very sensitive to impressions, good and bad, ordinary people would simply dismiss.

He lives in parallel worlds: childhood, career, family, wealth, fame - all mixed up.

It is also high intelligence that leads the lost traveler back home. And my friend did, after obligingly heeding to the advice of his doctor - and friends.

The secret? Relaxation. It is a discipline, a regimen, to

• switch off your thoughts to release stress before it builds up.
• conserve energy, budget it well
• sleep well to obtain full rest.
• mend relationships, build friendship
• bond closely with your family.
• find time for your hobbies and pastime.
• discover your potentials to enhance self worth and respect.
• pray in thanksgiving for the many gifts you have been blessed.

My friend finally found his way back on the road to Utopia.

 

Pristine Nature is Paradise on Earth, in acrylic (AVR) 

and Nymphaea Lilies (Veny V Rotor)  

Utopia after all is a Happy Valley called Peace of Mind. 

NOTE: See your doctor if you are suffering of certain conditions related to these symptoms. Get closer to your family and friends. Above all, take things moderately. Drop your extra load, release your grip. Travel light on the road to Utopia. ~

*Sir Thomas More (1477 - 1535) was the first person to write of a 'utopia', a word used to describe a perfect imaginary world. 

This article is dedicated to my family and friends on the occasion of my 80th birthday.

Twilight* in the Garden

   Twilight* in the Garden  

Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

"Twilight is the soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, caused by the refraction and scattering of the sun's rays from the atmosphere."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Twilight is the time when the color green begins to be perceived as black in a gradual transition until darkness engulfs all colors and ultimately all the light over the place as the sky loses its glow, ultimately becoming dark, as the stars slowly emerge. 

Twilight is the emergence of crepuscular creatures, active during this narrow time frame - the ephemeral transition of day and night - exemplified by the skipper, relative of the butterfly and  moth which are  respectively diurnal and nocturnal.

Twilight is a time leguminous plants, commonly known as beans but which include trees like the acacia and tamarind "sleep", so to speak, their leaves automatically folding and drooping as dictated by nature's built-in mechanism called pulvinus. 

Twilight is a time the garden is most fragrant - ilang-ilang, source of one of the most fragrant perfumes here and abroad; sampaquita, the Philippine national flower; dama de noche, enchanted plant rich in fairy tales, bedtime and folk stories. 

Twilight is a time  nocturnal creatures like bats, owls, moths, and many others 'wake up" from  their abode and hiding places  in search for food, mate, company, and other needs, keeping sentry and creating a unique world of their own in the night.    - AV Rotor

Twilight is a time white is purest, standout of all colors, emerging from some dark corners in the garden, from the flowers of pandakaki, rosal, native santan, sampaguita, kangkong - reflecting the glow of the sky in subdued radiance, immaculate and naïve.

“Sunsets and the twilight often inspire us. As nature changes through periods like dusk to dawn, we can refresh our minds. This is why you’ll see many photos on social media displaying individual views of that period between day and night. You’re in the right place for calming and inspiring dusk quotes.” 

 

Twilight is a time the icons  in the garden - Rizal, Aguinaldo, Mama Mary, Apo Baket (likeness of a grandmother),  and the Unknown Yaya (Nanny) - "glow" in a kind of reverence and glory for their being models for their deeds and unique achievements. to man and society, 

“I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars.” – Stephenie Meyer

 

Twilight is a time to pray the Angelus, prayer of thanksgiving for the day, and prayer in preparation for the night in sweet surrender to all cares and worries, a time of reflection and meditation, and a time to gather the family together. 

“The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough.” - George Edward Moore

Twilight is a time to be at home particularly in the countryside; old folks would warn of the kibbaan (bad spirit) lurking, reminding children to be home before dark, to join the family in supper and prayer, and for the whole family to have a peaceful night. 

Twilight is a time to examine our ways of treating Mother Nature as we reflect on one hand the biblical Lost Paradise, and on the other, how that Garden may be "regained" in some small corner by own own hands, by being true to "Man's Treaty with Nature."  - AVRotor

“Twilight - a time of pause when nature changes her guard. All living things would fade and die from too much light or too much dark, if twilight were not.” – Howard Thurman

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*Twilight is the period between sunset and dusk. During twilight there is still light in the sky. There are three types of twilight: civil, nautical and astronomical. Dusk is the point when the sun is at 18 degrees below the horizon and there is no longer any sunlight in the sky.

Have you been kissed by an elephant?

Have you been kissed by an elephant?

Warning! Don't ever attempt this feat. There are very few people elephants really like.

Dr Abe V Rotor

                             Living with Nature - School on Blog 

                                        [avrotor.blogspot.com]

First, befriend the elephant.

Look into his eyes.

And you get a warm kiss.

A long and firm kiss - you have to tell him to stop. 

Warning: Don't ever attempt this feat. There are very few people elephants really like. And it takes elephants a long time to trust people. They are unpredictable. Even if they are tame, they still carry their wild genes. Get a kiss from someone else.

*  The Lighter side of celebrating UN Environment Day, June 5

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday [www.pbs.gov.ph]

30 Uses of Vinegar in the Kitchen and Work Shop

 30 Uses of Vinegar in the Kitchen and Work Shop

Dr Abe V Rotor

Natural vinegar from sugarcane 

1. Unclog steam iron. Pour equal amounts of vinegar and water into the iron’s water chamber. Turn to steam and leave the iron on for five minutes in an upright position. Then unplug and allow to cool. Any loose particles should come out when you empty the water.
2. Clean a scorched iron plate. Heat equal parts vinegar and salt in a small pan. Rub solution on the cooled iron surface to remove dark or burned stains.
3. Keep colors from running. Immerse clothes in full strength vinegar before washing.
4. Get rid of lint in clothes. Add ½ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
5. Freshen up the washing machine. Periodically, pour a cup of vinegar in the machine and let in run through a regular cycle (no clothes added). Will dissolve soap residue. 
6. Brighten fabric colors. Add a ½ cup vinegar to the rinse cycle.
7. Take grease off suede. Dip a toothbrush in vinegar and gently brush over grease spot.
8. Remove tough stains. Gently rub on fruit, jam, mustard, coffee, tea. Then was as usual.
9. Get smoke smell out of clothes. Add a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.
10. Remove decals. Brush with a couple coats of vinegar. Allow to soak in. Wash off.
11. Clean eyeglasses. Wipe each lens with a drop of vinegar.
12. Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar for each quart of water.
13. Polish car chrome. Apply full strength vinegar with a soft cloth.
14. Dissolve rust from bolts and other metals. Soak in full strength vinegar.
15. Clean windows with vinegar and water.
16. Rub vinegar on the cut end of uncooked ham to prevent mold. It will not change the taste of your ham.
17. Add vinegar to laundry rinse water. This will remove all soap and prevent yellowing.
18. Remove hairspray and other p[product buildups from your hair. Massage one ounce of full strength vinegar into hair and leave on for about 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water. The shampoo and rinse your hair as usual.
19. Boil vinegar and water in pots to remove stains.
20. Pour undiluted vinegar in coffee maker to remove sediments. Run through like you are brewing coffee. Let cool and run through again if your coffee maker is full of sediment. When done, run in plain water through to rinse a few times.
21. Remove berry stains from hands with vinegar.
22. Wash hands with diluted vinegar after working with cement. This will restore smoothness and color of your hands.
23. Artists use vinegar for etching and blending paint materials.
24. Soak your fingernails in vinegar for 20 minutes two times a week to strengthen them. They will grow longer a lot faster than normal.
25. Bring vinegar to a boil in an old saucepan. Reduce to shimmer and place paint brushes with hardened paint on them in the pan. Leave until you see paint loosen. Wash brushes with soapy water to soften the brushes.
26. Dampen a cloth with vinegar and wipe counters, canisters and other containers to keep them smelling fresh and clean.
27. Place small containers of vinegar all around the house to take out cigarette smoke smell. Or wave a cloth you soaked in vinegar around the house to clean the air odors.
28. Pour baking soda down clogged drain. Add boiling vinegar to it and your drain should unclog. If not, your clog is needing a commercial drain opener.
29. To tighten cane bottom or caneback chairs sponge them with a hot solution of half vinegar and half water. Place the chairs out in the hot sun to dry. They will tighten back into shape.
30. To eliminate mildew. Dust and odors. Wipe down walls with vinegar-soaked cloth.

Basi and table wine made from local fruits, and Ilocos Vinegar (extreme right)

Vinegar is sour wine (vin-egar).  Vinegar is oxidized wine i.e., ethanol converted into acetic acid.  These are products of the author's home industry in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.   

* Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation; converting simple sugars to ethanol using yeast and ethanol to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria. Wikipedia