Chapter 13

Everyone one of us has fallen victim to either physical violence, emotional violence, or cyber violence in our lives which all falls under the category of interpersonal violence. People feel the need to attack others individually to make either themselves feel better or to enjoy making someone else feel worse. This happens everyday and to everyone multiple times in our lives but we can help each other to avoid it or ignore it. Interpersonal violence is a fancy word to say bullying and everyone has met a bully as it stems down probably from their home life where they act out to get attention where they are being ignored. When there is a dysfunctional family it shows them how to act in different ways if they see violence or are emotionally bullied at home they will more than likely transfer that to their social life. There is also sexual violence which is just despicable and the absolute worst thing that could happen to someone. More than likely we all know someone who has been sexually abused personally I know 5 women who have been and it was hard for them but I helped them anyway I could even if it was just listening to them because it helps them feel safe. Sexual violence can be a number of things such as suggestive conversation, inappropriate touching or worst of all rape. If the last thing happens to you (god forbid I hope it doesn’t no one deserves that) call 911 immediately and do not wash anything the offender might have touched. They will find him or her and bring them to justice but only if you keep everything as is. Again I really do not hope that happens to anyone in this course or any of your friends.

This chapter doesn’t pertain to my health aspects but it hits home with me because I have connections to rape victims who are my friends and other sexually assaulted victims such as my girlfriend. It takes a toll on them and it pains me to see it because its as if they lose a part of themselves when its over and they have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

Chapter 14

Our environment is our home not the house we physically live in the earth is where what we need to take care of the most. We are destroying the planet with air pollution in which everyone takes part of unless you don’t drive a car that runs on gas but have an electric car then good for you but we all use fossil fuels which is draining the earth. We all produce some sort of exhaust from our car or lawn mower or even our houses depending if you have generator based air conditioner. We need to do better as a population to preserve the earth that we live on cause we wont get another one. Another thing is over population and global warming together. We keep destroying forests to put up more houses or malls or garages which lowers the amount of CO2 going into atmosphere causing the greenhouse gasses to com back down and not staying in the ozone layer. In which makes the heat stay trapped within our atmosphere and raising the temperature of the planet. This also leads to needing more food which puts animals at risk of extinction, 1 in 4 species of animals are endangered because of humans. We need to lower our carbon footprint and not destroy the world we live in.

Chapter 15

Health insurance companies do what they can to help us when in need of medical attention but they can also say what they do not want to happen. As an example of that when I tore the ligament in my spine they called the insurance agency and asked if they would cover a surgery to repair it and the company asked if I could walk; the doctor said yes he can walk so the agency said no we will not cover that and we will only cover one MRI (I needed 4) this can show how they don’t necessarily help us all the time. They do however give us good enough coverage for medications and regular check ups for normal illnesses. It is hard to get medical insurance though now about 15% of people between 18-34 do not have medical insurance because they can not afford it. Most people get insurance through the companies they work for which offer a group policy for the company sort of a one size fits all type of deal but its good and you don’t have to pay for it. Then there is Medicaid which helps the poor with medical insurance through the government and they take care of them the best they can.

This doesn’t go along with my health aspects I just want everyone to understand that health insurance companies can be good but also bad as my example before. The agency left me with a torn ligament in my neck to save some money when it has now given me constant pain and issues for 4 years straight. It does not allow me to work out, I can only run 1 mile with out it shooting pain down my back and I can’t look down for more than 5 minutes at a time. Insurance is great if you get the right kind so make sure to look at what fits you best with the coverage offered.

Chapter 10

Core muscles are extremely important to our bodies and we need to keep them strong and healthy. Our core muscles are NOT just our abdominals so crunches and sit ups is no going to be enough to strengthen them, the muscles also stretch to our backs. The core muscles connect to our spine and pelvis which are very important to the overall health of our bodies considering we use both of them everyday and need them to be able to move around. If someone is slouching or always seems to have back pain they more than likely have weak core muscles that cannot support them like a person who stands tall all the time and doesn’t hurt their back often. It is important to exercise these muscles along with the rest of our bodies to keep them from being over worked which leads to pain in the lower back. A couple ways to strengthen your core are yoga, pilates, and tai chi which all work in different ways to help your core. While tai chi and yoga both work with stretching while combining body with mind they focus on different aspects of the body. Yoga is more of breathing and stretching for 30 seconds or more for each pose along with some meditation so free your mind of stress. Tai chi focuses more on reducing muscular tension through gentle movements that are continuous. Pilates uses more stretching with resistance focusing on strength of individual muscle groups. Everyone finds one better than another or doesn’t like any at all and find their own ways to strengthen their cores. Another useful tip from chapter 10 is how to prevent injuries along with steps you should take if you do get injured. Make sure you have appropriate footwear for the exercise you are about to do such as running don’t try to run in boots you will get yourself HURT. Also if your are going to be playing a sport lets say football make sure all of your equipment fits properly and they are going to work for you such as:

Helmet must be snug to your head do not want wiggle room that’s how you break your nose or worse get a concussion

Shoulder pads protect your whole chest and are down 2 to 3 inches on your shoulder to prevent dislocations or AC joint injuries

Finally knee pads and thigh pads make sure they fit your legs and stay in place they are very important even though people find them annoying.

That was just an example of how you should examine your equipment before using them to help keep yourself safe from injury. A very common injury that is hard to prevent is shin splints a common runners injury they way you want to go about treating this type of injury (Overuse injury) is going to be through ice and heat along with light stretching when pain goes away. continue this until you no longer have pain in any area you overuse.

This chapter can relate to my health aspects because the reason I am trying to eat healthier is because I was seriously injured in football. If I had followed my own steps in this blog I would not have hurt myself but instead I took shoulder pads that were too small for me because I could move better in them and im paying the price now for it. If you ever play any pick up sports make sure everything you are going to use works correctly otherwise you might not like what happens.

Chapter 11

Cardiovascular diseases are a very serious thing to be looking out for in yourself and in others you love. There are things you can look for that are modifiable risks to some ones health such as smoking, inactivity, stress and poor eating habits.These all contribute to cardiovascular diseases and put lives at risk because of poor choices. The most prolific of the cardiovascular diseases is a heart attack as it as know as the “silent killer” claiming about 1 in 7 people approximately 360,000 people a year. This means a lot to me because my father had a heart attack years ago but he was able to pull through from it but his was caused by stress from work. Make sure you or a loved one doesn’t fall victim to this killer by taking the correct steps: quit smoking, exercise, eat healthier and get rid of stress when possible. There are also non modifiable risk factors such as genetics that can lead to cardiovascular diseases and or cancer in which you have to take better care of your body and void any other risks. It is said that if you quit smoking 10-15 years later your lungs and body return to normal and that your risk of heart diseases are cut down to that equivalent to a non smoker. That is huge and should be taken advantage of by everyone who is capable of doing so to prolong their life so make sure to try and help others who struggle to quit and support them during it.

This chapter made it more clear to me as to why I need to quit smoking, I had no idea smoking was linked to heart issues and that is something I don’t want to mess with. I have modifiable risks I can take control of and are taking steps to do so I have started eating healthier by cutting out soda and fast food along with cooking with olive oil instead of anything else. Also I have cut down on my smoking drastically over the past month.

Chapter 12

Our immune system is the main thing to keep us protected from antigens and viruses as it fights the sicknesses that try to enter our bodies. The immune system works as collective and protects us from harm within our own bodies it has good bacteria and white blood cells that help to fight off the pathogens that enter us. Unfortunately for some the immune system doesn’t work the same as they have autoimmune disease which struggles to fight off antigens and pathogens as they tend to become sick more often. Vaccines help our immune systems to fight off diseases for they shoot a small portion of the strain into the body to allow the system to fight it off and know how to destroy it if it enters again. There are different types of diseases such as viral infections, bacterial infections and pathogens. All have different forms and more serious diseases that are harder for our body to fight off such as the pathogen of a parasidic worm. it feeds off the nutrients we take in as it grows and makes us more hungry no matter how much we eat and need to taken care by a physician and not self medication. There are some diseases we can self medicate and others we can not such as we can self medicate a common cold but we can not do the same for the flu.

Chapter 7

Alcohol use disorder effects families and people everywhere around the world and is an issues for the rest of the families. Families with an alcoholic in them can be abusive and affect how the rest of the family can be socially with others. They are dysfunctional and can teach the children to not trust anyone, don’t speak about issues , and don’t feel such as empathy along as putting them at a higher risk of physical and emotional issues. This can cause the children to go into depression, having suicidal thoughts, more prone to illnesses and do poorly in school with the lack of nurturing they get in their home life. Due to this they tend to be one of four roles in their family, a hero, scapegoat, a lost child or a mascot. These are not roles a child should be having to be in a family it is unhealthy and unjust to them and takes away a part of who they are and what they could become without proper treatment or nurturing. Another section of this chapter is Tobacco use and the issues it causes along with ways to break the habit of using it. There is absolutely no benefit to smoking tobacco as it is a root cause to cancers and heart issues it also affects the people around you while you are smoking and can give them increased chances of cancer. The chapter talks a little about how to help quit smoking by use of nicotine replacements or medications to help stop the urge to smoke but the best way they talked about are the our Ds: delay, deep breathing, drinking water, and do something else. This is the approach I am taking to quit smoking myself and has been working for the past month.

This chapter really has helped me with my own health aspect of quitting smoking and how to make small steps to helping me achieve my goal. I have put to use the four Ds along with having mouth toys such as gum or mints I prefer to use mints and it has really helped me over the past month and I know I will be able to stop within the next month.

Chapter 8

Nutrition is a big part of our health and should be taken seriously by knowing what we are putting into our bodies and how much is the right amount and not over eating the wrong things. The nutrition labels on the food and drinks we get are a good way to know what we are outing into our bodies and keeping track of them daily for the FDA had the manufactures change the labels to be able to more accurate about how people actually eat or drink the products for example a sodas serving size is about a third of a bottle but we always drink the entire thing so the new rule has the manufactures change the serving size to 1 whole bottle but then under that it will show how many actual servings are In the one serving. On the label we should be paying attention to the amount of sugar, carbohydrates, fats, and calories we are consuming to keep a healthy diet. Along with the food label we should be consuming enough carbohydrates to be able to sustain us with enough energy throughout the day as we need it to stay awake and go through our daily routines. Carbohydrates and essential to our nutrition along with fats such as HDLs which are helpful to us.

This goes with my health aspects because I’m trying to eat healthier and lose a few pounds along with it and after reading this chapter I learned to always check the food labels of anything I get. it has become very helpful with calorie counting and eating the correct portions for meals and some light snacking in between. So far through the course I have lost 15 lbs and had more energy by just eating healthier.

Chapter 9

Obesity and overweight people are a large portion of the world and they live very unhealthy lifestyles by not being active, and eating poorly. This can be combated by a diet that fits the individual that needs help and can show them how to get healthier and keep them from heart risks that come from obesity. if you are a little over weight start small and get 30 minutes of exercise in three times a week and lose a little weight just losing 10-15 lbs can decrease you risk of heart issues by half. This also comes with better body image as you start to feel better and more comfortable in your own skin. In todays society we fixate on media outlets who show us the most “perfect” people in the world physically and it can be detrimental to our psychological views of ourselves.

Chapter 1

The book talks about influencing your health with behaviors you can control outside of your genetics. Exercise and eating correctly can influence your health tremendously along with not consuming mass amounts of alcohol and smoking. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to many different diseases and be very life threating as it is like poison to the body when drank extremely or for the wrong reasons such as filling a void or because you are sad and think it will numb the pain. Smoking is also detrimental to one’s health and can cause many different cancers along with cardiovascular diseases. It also talks about factors you cannot control such as social factors which is more so about where you live and how often you are around crime and how well you get paid to afford a healthier lifestyle. These are things you can’t control as well and so we need to be able to help ourselves become healthier as much as possible.

Another thing from chapter one is taking action to improving your behavior from visualizing how you want to change, to taking steps to implement better behavior. Start with thinking about how you want to be then take control of the situation and try and combat the bad behavior you’re trying to change about yourself. For myself it would be smoking and I’ve taken action into changing my behavior by leaving my vape at home for long periods of time during the day. You MUST change the way you talk to yourself if you want to see results because it is necessary for a healthy outlook of yourself and must be able to reward yourself when doing these steps.

This sticks out to me because it links with my own health aspect for trying to quit smoking and eat healthier. As of right now I have been able to cut back on smoking and its been very hard to do so, I use a plan everyday where I leave my vape at home when I go to work so I can only use it at night and the morning which is helping me to have more energy and feel healthier in the daytime. If I don’t leave it at home I will use it non stop throughout the day. I am also starting to eat healthier by cutting out fast food and soda which is a good start instead for lunches at work I will eat a tuna packet instead of going to mcdonalds. Just by doing this I have been able to lose 15 lbs in two and a half weeks.

Chapter 2

Your Psychological health is extremely important and to keep it or get it healthy comes by having a strong support group that you can trust and also having good self-esteem contributes to a strong psychological health. A big part of having a good psychological health is separating yourself from bad people who are trying to hurt you instead of help you, such as a dysfunctional family. This can be extremely hard to separate from because it is easy to feel obligated to stay connected to them since they are your family or you think they are your friends but if it is unhealthy then it is needed to get away from those people. Another thing this chapter talked about is when the psychological health deteriorates it can cause mental illnesses. These illnesses mess with our mental health and cause people to feel alone and hopeless which lead to other disorders such as depression or anxiety. About 1 in 5 people from the age 18 and up can be diagnosted with a mental disorder. This fascinates me because I had no idea about a fifth of Americans had mental disorders.

Chapter 3

Stress is a big health issue that effects everyone because we all get stressed during our lives. Stress can be caused by many different things external sources, internal sources, just having a bad day and can put our health at risk if we are stressed too often. Stress is not good for our hearts and can cause cardiovascular diseases over time I know this because ive seen it first hand with my father. He owns a small business and hes always working which causes him stress because the employees are not doing things they should be doing which caused him to have a heart attack about 8 years ago when he was only 47. That is young to have a heart attack and the doctors said it was stress induced and told him he needs to keep his stress in check or next time he might not be so lucky to be going home after. That is an example of an external source that causes stress and it just shows how dangerous mass amounts of stress can be. A great thing the chapter discussed was how to manage your stress and relax through it by decompressing by doing yoga, or deep breathing exercises, Qigong, Tai Chi and meditation. It is important to decompress when you are stressed so you can have a clear mind and keep yourself healthy. Yoga and meditation go hand in hand together and can really help when trying to relax and you get deep stretching in and breathing along with exercise that will help your heart.

This doesn’t really go with my health aspects but it is something I am trying to work on for I am always stressed from working 60 hour weeks, juggling school with those weeks and having time for my family and girlfriend its not easy. But I am trying to control my stress by doing yoga when I get home from work right before I go to bed to get some exercise in along with making me more tired to sleep easier since stress can keep you awake.

Hi everyone I wasn’t able to find out how to upload these until two days ago. But later is better than never. I am Ryan I’m a senior and a History major. My goals for this course are to eat healthier and quit nicotine. I want to eat healthier now since I can no longer work out, I torn a ligament in my spine at the c5 vertebrae along with some serious nerve damage in my right shoulder. I just want to get healthier and this is the start I need. Also the smoking just needs to stop and this will give me a good push to do it.

Relationships

For myself relationships have always been hard since the beginning trying to understand what a healthy one looks like and how to have one myself. After years of trying to find the answer I realized it was mainly communication and when reading the chapter it also explained how communication between partners is a key element in a healthy relationship. the chapter talks about not having more power over one another but working together which I have yet to find from any of my ex’s they thrived on tryiin to control the relationship instead of working with me. Now that I know more signs on healthy and unhealthy relationships I will be able to find a partner who won’t try to control me but rather compromise and work as a team.

Reproductive choices

The way I see this for men being single you should ALWAYS wear a condom because you don’t want to risk having a child too young especially with the wrong person. It is not expensive and prevents against STD’s which is a very good thing to look for. For women it is more complex they must decide what is best for them and what they can afford. But personally I use condoms everytime just because I don’t want to take that chance or spend $50 on a morning after pill which is harmful to women anyways.

Addiction

This was actually one of my goals for this class I am addicted to nicotine which is not good for me at all. But after reading this chapter I now understand that I must stop this. Ive already cut back on my intake since the beginning of class. But when it comes to drug addiction I handle it much better since I have experimented with multiple drugs and some are highly addictive but I was able to control myself to the one time for it all. The only drug I kept using for awhile is marijuana for 7 years every day. Until last year I decided to stop smoking pot for my future and I think that’s where my nicotine addiction started because I needed constant smoke feeling.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton