Feeling Anxious About Having "The Talk" with your Adolescent?

I read this story about the Birds and Bees Text Line in the New York Times, and thought it might interest parents of adolescents who are feeling anxious about talking about sex and getting it right with their adolescent. With the text line, teens can text a question to a trained public health officer, and receive a response within a few minutes. The article also has links to other useful sex ed sites like Go Ask Alice.

You don't have to have all the answers to your adolescents' questions. It's good to know there's someone out there (who is more informed than the other kids in the locker room) who does.

Mastering Test Anxiety

It's springtime, which brings many welcome happenings. School exams, however, can be one dark spot on the season.

In a former life as a special education teacher, it was my opinion that my students were no less talented than their "mainstream" peers. I'd argue that they did not have "learning differences" so much as "anxiety differences." These differences could be explained by home-lives that would make anyone sensitive to anxiety's messages. And with the added pressure of standardized tests, I'd watch them just fall to pieces.

Here are some ideas to help your test-taker (or yourself) block out anxiety before or during the test:

1. Give reminders that this test doesn't define who you are. Your friends will still be your friends. People who love you will still love you. The test has no bearing on your past or future accomplishments.

2. Remember that you will know the answers to some questions, but not to others. This is ok. Do your best. Take your best guess. Some of your guesses will be right in the end.

3. When you feel anxiety making it hard for you to think, resort to one of your anti-anxiety tools in your toolbox. Before the test date, make a list of all the ways you can calm yourself. Drinking water, taking deep breaths, stretching, repeating a mantra (e.g. "I have good test-taking skills" or "I am best when I test" or come up with your own), or touch can be soothing. I like to massage the muscle between my thumb and forefinger to help clear my head. Rubbing temples or doing shoulder shrugs can also encourage the body to relax when the mind gets tense.

Test-taking needn't be an anxiety-producing activity. But if anxiety should choose to pester the mind while taking a test, equipping your toolbox with these test-taking tools should allow the mind to perform at its best.

MOTHERS Act Passes in the House of Representatives

Now on to the Senate! A very kind woman named Susan Stone is compiling a list of people who support the passing of this legislation to support postpartum parents. If you'd like to lend your name in support, please email her at susanstonelcsw@aol.com with your name, state, and credentials (if appropriate).

Gotta love democracy in action!

Sometimes You Just Need to Sleep it Off

I read this article in the Globe and Mail about getting sleep with a new baby. Sometimes the best medicine requires you to forget what you read in all those well-intentioned sleep books and just use your intuition about what's right for you and your family. (Full disclosure: my own 4 month-old is asleep on the couch in the other room as I write this entry. Never wake a sleeping baby, right?)

Here's to a good night's sleep for everybody!

New Study Reveals PPMDs Are Treatable and Potentially Preventable With Counseling

I watched a documentary on PBS recently about Parkinson's Disease, entitled "My Father, My Brother, and Me". One of the researchers interviewed said of the disease, "Genetics loads the gun; environment pulls the trigger."

This metaphor seems apt for post-partum mood disorders, as two recent studies point out. Some women may be genetically predisposed to PPMDs, but they still might escape its effects if it weren't for a colicky baby, a weak support network, or other "trigger." Similarly, strengthening the environment through supportive communication with a mental health professional or other trained helper can speed healing or even innoculate against PPMDs.

I find this new research especially exciting because it means a "talking cure" for PPMDs really exists, as long parents are connected with a trusted, knowledgeable counselor.

Postpartum Support International of Washington Support Groups

Since I've been on my own maternity leave these past 3 months, it occurs to me that now is good time to post the newest listing of postpartum support groups in Washington (where I live). Don't live in Washington State? Check the Postpartum Support International Web site here to find a group in your neck of the woods.

Important Postpartum Health Study Invites New Moms and Dads to Participate

The UNLV Maternal Health Lab is conducting two surveys on postpartum
mental health. We need 500 postpartum women and their partners, who have had
children within the last year and who are 18 years and older to complete a
30-minute anonymous survey. Please go to this site and click
either the Postpartum Moms or Postpartum Dads links. Thank-you for your assistance.