Category: long reads

The Kardashian Brand- Good Marketing?

On By asocialvisionaryIn arts and culture, humanity, lifestyle, long reads, photography, Uncategorized3 Comments

Old story, old news already – but let’s delve into it once more. Who am I speaking of, The Kardashians of course!

The latest which Kim Kardashian posted a photo to her Instagram account, baring her nude body again.

As Kim faced a backlash from not just outsiders but celebrities as well, she said she is proud of her body and wants to be a role model for females (paraphrasing).  How is bearing your body over and over again being a role model for females? Let’s not forget, a sex tape was leaked prior to Kim’s media fame. Personally, I feel that wasn’t an accident, after all, she was friends with Paris Hilton and even appeared on Paris’s reality show- remember a sex tape was leaked of Paris too? Do you think the leak was accidental or good, yet sleazy marketing of her brand, the Hilton name, and her image?

Appalling

Seriously, I find it appalling that Kim is trying to promote her ‘brand’ by saying she wants to be a role model for other females because there is nothing to be ashamed about when it comes to your body (again, paraphrasing). Let’s face it, sex sells and Kim Kardashian knows this. Yet, Kim wants other females to believe she is promoting her body image to help others that have a negative body image. How many females have a body like Kim Kardashian’s to begin with? How many females have personal trainers? If I were younger and saw her body, I would feel even worse about myself. Do you feel Kim Kardashian is a good role model for females? Do you feel her body image is realistic as a goal for other females to strive for? Personally, I did some homework and compared her butt pictures over a period of years and in my eyes it’s quite apparent that Kim has had work done on her bunns. A bum just doesn’t grow and plump up as Kim’s has.

Which leads me to the Kardashian Brand

According to the Huffington Post, the Kardashian’s never had to work a day in their life.  “According to the Trust Advisor, their father, Robert Kardashian, left his wife and kids a rumored $100 million estate in trust when he passed away from esophageal cancer in 2003. And while Kris Jenner is often accused of exploiting her family in the name of her 10 percent cut as their manager, it’s not exactly as if she has ever been hard up for cash since Bruce Jenner is reportedly worth $100 million on his own.

And with this enormous wealth, the Kardashian-Jenner family has gone on to make even more money. In fact in 2011, a rep for their lifestyle brands told Women’s Wear Daily, “the Kardashians could easily be a billion-dollar business worldwide in the next two years.”

While it’s impossible to know exactly how much the family is worth, Trust Advisor puts the Kardashian collective net worth at around $80 million. While that number seems a little low given that Kim herself is estimated to be worth $40 million alone, they also like to live large.”

Great Marketing or pure luck?

Caitlyn (formally known as Bruce) Jenner’s net worth is estimated to be around 100 million  dollars. Understandably, Bruce earned his money in an honest manner, well that is until he became a reality TV *star* with his Wife Kris Jenner and their children.  I realize all the Kardashian’s have their own businesses/brands now but would that have been possible without inheriting money from their father’s estate?  Is the Kardashian lifestyle a reality for most people or a fantasy in which many wish they lived? I admit I have watched their show out of pure curiosity- I wanted to find out what made them so appealing. I found nothing appealing about the show and quite frankly, insulted. Yet, they have been able to market their name, bodies and yes, some fly by night clothing shops, Kim’s newest game, along with other side businesses they own. So maybe it’s better put that the glamor of a lifestyle and the beauty of a person’s body do sell. Would you follow their marketing ploys if you knew you could make mega millions on top of what you inherited?

Kardashian Reality and why it insults

Most of us do not make a million dollars a year, forget 100’s of millions. Most of us work long, hard hours and are hoping we have enough money to pay our bills each month. Most of us do not own Multi-Million dollar homes, let alone more than one multi-million dollar home. Most of us started from the ground on up and will never in our lifetime see an income that resembles that of the Kardashians. How many of you are working to pay down credit card debt,  saving for a vacation, sweating income tax time, holding on to that second car long after it’s paid off, robbing Peter to pay Paul just to get by each month? How many of you can watch this show and say, wow- I’m so impressed because the Kardashians are so business savvy and I would like to model my own business after them? Is it even a reality to think, “If the Kardashians can continue to build their net worth,” I know it’s possible for me to become this rich too? Which leads me to a few final notes- Keeping up with the Kardashians is not a reality TV show, it’s a fantasy that many people wish they were living. That’s the only reason I can come up with when it comes to fans who loyally watch their show. Any ideas why people would watch the show, other than it takes their mind off of reality and allows people to dream for a future they will most likely never experience? I would love to hear your thoughts. I would also love to hear your thoughts about Kim Kardashian posting so many nude photos and then claiming she wants to be a role model for females?

Please note- It was next to impossible for me to find articles linking back to Kim Kardashian and the story of her most recent nude photo she posted on Instagram without linking to a page with naked photos.

One last note- As long as people continue to buy the Kardashian propaganda and tune in to “Meet The Kardashians,” it’s no different than watching a sports game, that’s how they make their money. It’s no different than paying constant homage to a news show, they too, make their money from the masses who are addicted. Our society is so media driven today and the media knows how to take advantage of this in order to line their wallets more.

What are you thoughts? I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

*UPDATE* Please read the entire article. I have only watched the show 2 times out of pure curiosity. I do not seek them out, weed them out- yes!  My Facebook and twitter timelines were flooded the past 2 days with news of Kim Kardashian’s latest nude photo posted on her Instagram account. Curious to hear how others feel about shows like this and the manner in which they conduct ‘business.’ Thanks!

Photo sources provided by: Google Images

I originally posted this on Linkedin.

All Rights Reserved Copyright © Lisa Gallagher 2016

Will We Ever Move Forward- Mental Health

On By asocialvisionaryIn anxiety disorder, depression, employment, fears, healthcare, humanity, life, long reads, mental illness, psychology, Uncategorized10 Comments

This is a very tough personal story for me to write. I find this tougher than writing about myself.

I have a sister who was diagnosed with the Schizo-affective disorder in her late 30’s. Actually, she’s been given many diagnoses but I think the Pharmaceutical slaves, her Doctors finally settled with this label.  My sister was a high functioning person until she became ill. She went through a prolonged postpartum depression after the birth of her second child. We all felt something wasn’t right but we were not able to pinpoint what was going on. We all received a call one afternoon that she had tried to commit suicide. From what I remember, my sister dropped her daughters off at school and the babysitter then proceeded to drive to the Lake. She parked her car and swallowed a ton of pills. When she began to feel the effects of the pills she panicked and she rushed herself to the Doctor. They called an ambulance.  My sister was in ICU for 3 days and then sent to the Psychiatric Ward. Things just got worse from that day on.

After my sister was discharged we found out they had her on at least 4 different medications. At the time, we were just hoping the meds would help her to climb out the deep abyss she had been in for quite some time. Sadly, her symptoms began to escalate. My sister was beginning to hear voices and see ‘things’ that weren’t there. My sister developed psychosis and became suicidal again. Luckily she was able to confide in her family that she was suicidal. Back to the hospital she went and came home on even more medications.

Fast Forward

My sister has been in and out of the hospital for the past 15 years. Her psychosis has increased, she has trouble with her fine motor skills, cognitive impairment, receives IGG infusions because her immune system is shot, and is depressed most of the time. She stutters when she’s nervous or tired. I swear she’s on enough medications to kill a horse! She is unable to work because she can hardly function. She’s also gained a lot of weight along with other health issues.

As I write this tonight, she ended up back in the hospital a few days ago due to her psychosis increasing. I am her health care power of attorney and I requested a family meeting with her Doctor and Social worker. They are poisoning her with drugs and these drugs will eventually be her demise, not her illness.

She told me she is on 8 psychiatric drugs, AND the Doctor increased one of her medications today. 8 drugs, REALLY? What is wrong with these Wacka-Doodles?! She sounds like a zombie but that’s all good because the staff doesn’t have to deal with real strong emotions and the Doctor can discharge her faster if she ‘appears’ emotionally stable. Nevermind that she doesn’t appear physically stable.

The goal for calling a family meeting?

As a family we all have concerns. We want to know WHY she is on so many drugs, and bring it to their attention that many of these drugs interact severely with each other. We want them to know the drugs are causing her more physical issues. We want to find out if the Doctor has ever looked into alternative answers for her? She has currently been in IOP (Intensive Out patient therapy) for over a year because I requested something long term after her discharge last year. Unfortunately, it sounds as if the group has a wide range of illnesses and is fairly generic with the therapy the use. They need to understand that she functions fairly well for the first hour after waking- that is until she pops her drug cocktail.  My sister was also diagnosed with PTSD years ago and I don’t think the Therapists she’s seen have ever focused in depth on this aspect of her illness.

Pharmaceutical Companies are winning!

According to the Washington Post (2012) “The US spends $113 Billion on Mental Health Treatment and most of the dollars go towards prescription drugs and out patient therapy.” Many of the psychiatric drugs have side effects that are worse than the illness itself, not to mention they are dangerous when combined. Most of these drugs are highly addictive, even those which claim they aren’t. I’ve seen the withdrawal, and it’s not pretty.

So, what is the answer?

I’m stumped. I want to see her improve, but what I am witnessing is a continual decline. I would like to see her receive intensive one on one therapy which would include focusing on her PTSD. I want to shake her doctor and Therapists- asking them if they could function on this many drugs? I understand she needs medication because of the psychosis, but 8… I repeat, 8 psychiatric drugs?!

Sadly, my sister gained labels years ago and now they treat her in a robotic manner instead of understanding she’s human with emotions, a good heart, has dreams for a better future just like those who treat her do. She’s just a number to them- she’s become part of the system instead of keeping her individuality.

I would love input from anyone that has experienced something similar with a loved one and had much better luck? I would love to know what we are missing as a family, so we can be of more help to her.

Hospitalization: Do You Feel Your In Good Hands With A Hospitalist?

On By asocialvisionaryIn healthcare, life, long reads, medicalLeave a comment

patients_first

The use of Hospitalists is not a new topic, however it is a hot, and ongoing topic. You will find Hospitalists working in every hospital through out the US.  There seems to be mixed feelings among people who have been an inpatient at a hospital over the last 15 years.

Hospitalists  interface with patients longer.

Hospitalists interface with patients longer. That makes them better at diagnosing conditions, interpreting tests and understanding the care pathway for patients,” David says. “They are also very involved in safety and patient quality improvement.

The statement above may be true, but there are many circumstances where patient care has declined, and the patient is more at risk because the Hospitalist knows nothing about the patient prior to admission to a hospital.

Physician continuity during hospitalization may be associated with important outcomes other than length of stay. Transfers of patient care responsibility from one hospital physician to another may result in loss of important clinical information, potentially resulting in unnecessary tests and/or treatments. Additionally, transfers of patient care challenge physicians’ ability to establish rapport with their patients, potentially affecting patient satisfaction.

Transfers of patient care responsibility from one hospital physician to another may result in loss of important clinical information, potentially resulting in unnecessary tests and/or treatments.

Some will argue that “Hospitalists improve length of stay because they build relationships with individuals in the organization. And when they build relationships, they get consultations faster, they get people tested faster and they are generally on top of things.”  There are people who will agree that Hospitalists improve the length of stay, however this is where I diverge with some personal insight.

  • Hospitalists do not know the patient prior to admission
  • If the patient has no family members to advocate on behalf of the patient, a lot of pertinent medical information can be left out.
  • It’s not common for them to speak with the patient’s family physician who can also fill in some very important gaps when it comes to a full treatment plan.
  • Patients, in many cases are discharged too early for cost savings purposes. Which means the chances of re-admission are higher.
  • A patient will generally have more than one Hospitalist, and the danger of this is the idea that in many hospitals they do not meet together on behalf of the patient. Each Hospitalist will look at the patient’s chart and read the last Hospitalist’s notes.
  • I want to emphasize, that in larger hospitals IE: Teaching Hospitals they do have team meetings, however it depends on what you- the patient happen to be admitted for with regards to ‘team meetings.’
  • It’s been my personal experience that one Hospitalist may tend to over ride the treatment plan of the admitting Hospitalist.  This can be detrimental to recovery if the Hospitalist changes and/or adds medications.  Unlike the patient’s Primary Care Physician who knows the patients entire history, the Hospitalist is focused on the admitting diagnosis.
  • Patients admitted with underlying conditions that are not documented are in danger of not receiving the proper medications, or being given medications that are contraindicated. This can be a fatal mistake.

According to an article in the New York Times, “Hospitalists don’t appear terribly popular with patients and families, however. When the founding New Old Age blogger Jane Gross wrote about these specialists last year, she touched off a wave of complaints from readers. Americans don’t cotton to programs and people who step between them and their doctors. “A good primary care physician is a permanent part of your life,” Mike C. from Monroe, N.J., wrote. “To hospitalists, if you drop dead on the way home, they’ve still done their job.”

Hospitalists don’t appear terribly popular with patients and families

One last observation- When patients are discharged too early, they may lack the proper care at home which leads to a fast re-admission, Emergency Room visit, or worst case scenerio: death.  Many patients are discharged to Nursing Home Facilities to recover instead of finishing their recovery in the hospital. It’s more cost effective to discharge a patient to a Nursing Home verses keeping them in the hospital.

If you have a loved one that is admitted to a hospital, it’s wise to bring their medication list, keep a list of underlying conditions that you can share with the admitting nurse and Physician.  Due to the fast pace of our Medical care shifting to cost savings as a priority trumping patient care it’s important that we, the consumers stay educated- it can be the difference between life and death.

Anxiety And Depression Are Weaknesses, So Learn To Deal With It!

On By asocialvisionaryIn anxiety disorder, depression, fears, healthcare, humanity, life, lifestyle, long reads, medical, mental illness, phobia, psychology4 Comments

Depression sign

I used to know a girl who grew up with many fears, and she thought she would out grow those fears.  When ever she felt nervous she doubled over with stomach pains as a child.  This young child was afraid of the water, afraid to put a plug in an electrical outlet, afraid to ask questions in school, afraid of angering those she loved, afraid of camping, because ‘there might be bears,’ and afraid of death and dying.  Until she grew a bit older, she thought it was normal to have ongoing fears, and assumed all girls her age feared many of the things she did. This little girl had to be weak!

1970’s

When the little girl became a teenager she became less interested in her education and much more interested in boys, along with hanging out with the ‘in’ crowd.  She felt if she hung with the in crowd- she would be popular and that would boost her moral.  Unfortunately, what she was searching for didn’t change how she felt on the inside; it just shifted for quite a while. She didn’t pay as much attention to her internal feelings. She also lost her father when she was eleven years old, and hardly thought about him after a year or so of his passing.  This young teenager was passive, yet angered easily, and if she was hurting deeply inside she would punch her thighs or take her fingernails and scratch herself until she bled.  The young teenage girl would cry behind closed doors, but tried to wear a smile when she was in front of others.  She was weak! 

1980-90’s

When she became an adult new symptoms emerged; symptoms IE: Vertigo, racing heart,  along with a sense of hopelessness that seemed to come and go on a fairly regular basis when she was a young adult.  When she told others about her vertigo in particular they reacted as though she was a hypochondriac.  She didn’t want to lose her friends, because she was beginning to realize she was different and not as strong as they were, so she tried hard to keep her symptoms to herself.  She also attributed her symptoms to the stresses of raising two young children, working full time and taking care of her home.  She was weak!

2005-2015

She is now a middle aged adult, and found out in her late twenties she had anxiety, but no one told her it would hang on for a lifetime if she didn’t get help. After all, she was diagnosed in the 80’s, and and medicine was the answer! The medicine seemed to work for quite a few years, because her anxiety lessened, and she became less fearful of life in general.  Sadly, counseling wasn’t overly popular in the 80’s, and people didn’t talk about anxiety and other ‘mental health’ issues with others due to a major stigma attached to the term.  Again, she was weak! 

  • She wakes up every morning feeling as though she’s shaking from the inside out.
  • Her legs feel like jelly much of the day.
  • She replays her worries in her head all day long.
  • It feels like someone keeps tightening a noose around her neck through out each day.
  • Her heart beats fast most of the day.
  • She stays up late and could sleep all day if she could get away with it.
  • Her bed is her friend.
  • She cries easily, and gets distracted just as easily.
  • Her head feels like it’s carrying bricks instead of her brain.
  • Her muscles are tense all day long and cause pain.
  • She feels as though she’s in an abyss she can’t climb out of.
  • She beats herself up mentally, because of course “She’s weak!”
  • She gets dizzy easily which interferes with daily functioning.
  • She doesn’t share *most* of what she experiences, because she doesn’t want to appear weak! 
  • She feels hopeless.
  • She’s been on a waiting list for counseling for almost eight months.
  • She feels so alone, even though she is surrounded by so many loving people.

One thing that helps her when she’s feeling despair, anger or even extreme sadness is to crank up the jams.  One song she loves and actually brings her out of the funk she’s in (at least temporarily) – This summer gonna hurt like a Mother#ucke@

This middle aged woman would like to introduce you to Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression.  She was told that if you have Generalized Anxiety for a period of time lasting more than six months it generally leads to depression. Anxiety disorder and depression are still so misunderstood if one has not experienced it first hand. There is still a stigma attached to GAD and depression, and that’s why people try desperately to hide their symptoms or make up excuses.

She was genetically predisposed to the illness, and 40 years later is finding that there are a lot of medications doctors want to prescribe, however counseling isn’t easy to get into. The brain is an organ just like any other organ in the body, and it’s signals are misfiring along with sending out the wrong chemical messengers which lead to all the symptoms listed above. It’s disgraceful that the medical community puts patients on the back burner when it comes to mental health; mental health should be taken just as seriously as a person’s physical health. Sadly, if someone goes without proper treatment for any length of time- the condition worsens.

If generalized anxiety and/or depression go on for a long period of time, it does begin to take a toll on a person’s physical health.  The symptoms a person experiences on a daily basis if untreated or not treated properly affect not just the brain, but the body as a whole.

The gal, who is now middle aged has been on a medication for years. She has been in counseling before, but it wasn’t the proper type of counseling. Talk Therapy does not help.  They have also found people diagnosed with GAD tend to have bad experiences with most antidepressants, so GAD is hard to treat with medication alone.

She is patiently (or not so patiently anymore) waiting to get into proper counseling. She was told EMDR along with CBT works well with people like herself.

She did however learn a few things over the years; she can’t control the anxiety and depression, because it is an illness.  She’s aware that with proper counseling there is hope. She’s also aware that she is not weak, she’s been ill and trying hard to function as normal for way too long. She’s learned that she is fairly strong, considering she’s been able to function even when she feels as though she can’t go on.

She is not weak!

Is Anxiety Disease Interfering With Your Job?

On By asocialvisionaryIn anxiety disorder, life, lifestyle, long reads, panic disorder2 Comments

Anxiety-33085817

We all get anxious when it comes to our jobs, however Anxiety Disease – also called Anxiety Disorder can lead to missing too much time from work, leaving work early, or ultimately losing your job.

Many people aren’t aware they have Anxiety disorder until their symptoms worsen.  Most people with Anxiety Disorder have had a degree of it their entire lives, and without proper treatment,  the symptoms intensify with age.  When symptoms of anxiety begin to intensify; those symptoms will begin to affect your job.

I began working as a Respiratory Technician when I was 19 years old.  I loved my job!  I was so proud of myself at the young age of 19 years old to be working with trauma patients in the Emergency Room, and Intensive Care.  I was proud that I was learning so much, and at a fast pace. I enjoyed my one on one time with patients who needed breathing treatments. I even enjoyed charting.  I got a long well with the many Physician’s we had to interact with,  which is very important when you are working in the Medical Field.  I must admit, when we were called to the Emergency Room stat,  a rush of adrenaline would over come me.  I believe that ‘rush’ helped me to cope during some very difficult trauma’s we would face.  When you heard the stat page to ER, you never knew what you were going to see until you walked into the Emergency Room.

One afternoon we received a stat page to the Emergency Room, and we were told that there were two cold water drowning victims that would be transported in.  The patients were still in the water, so we had to set up our equipment in order to be ready when the Paramedics brought the patients in.  We were told to go back to our floors and continue our treatments there until we got the call that the patients were en-route.

I was working, and suddenly hear my name being paged stat by the hospital operator.  I picked up the page, and it was the Emergency Room Supervisor;  she asked which floor I was working on, and asked me to meet her at the end of the hall.  I couldn’t understand why she wanted to meet me, because she was not my supervisor.  I met her, and I will never forget the words she spoke.

“Lisa, your brother is one of the cold water drowning victims!”  I panicked, and asked where he was?  The Nursing Supervisor told me, “He’s in ER in shock, and he needs you.”  At this point I was beginning to feel tears well up, and I asked her who was with him in the water?  She told me “Bobby something.”  I spouted off a last name, and she said, “Yes, that’s his name.”

At this point I ran to the Emergency room to be with my brother who was in shock. Bobby was brought in approximately 20 minutes later and sadly, he did not make it.

After this incident, every time we received a stat page to the Emergency room I would begin to get dizzy, worry it was going to be someone I knew, feel nauseated and just want to run in the other direction- out the door!

As time progressed so did my symptoms. I decided I needed something less stressful, so I transferred to our Cardiac Lab, and thought that would make life much easier.  This couldn’t have been further from the truth.  I began having panic attacks in the form of extreme dizziness which I felt I was going to pass out from.  The panic attacks would come on without any precipitating factors.  I thought I had a serious illness, because they were so frequent; I didn’t know anything about Panic attacks at the time. Panic attacks can present with many different symptoms.

After seeing many different Physician’s for my dizziness, along with other symptoms it was determined I had Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It was time for me to reassess my life.

The good news is there is treatment, and many people will have to make life style changes that are conducive to their own health. A life style change may mean a change in career as well. In my case it was determined that a chain of events (seeing people die, in particular my brother’s friend), opened up a can of worms, because I had lost my father 8 years prior to working in Respiratory Therapy. I also found out later on that I did not go through all the stages of grief; factor in the fact that Anxiety Disease is not due to a person being nervous- According to the Cleveland Clinic.

“Like certain illnesses, such as diabetes, anxiety disorders might be caused by chemical imbalances in the body. Studies have shown that severe or long-lasting stress can change the balance of chemicals in the brain that control mood. Studies also have shown that anxiety disorders run in families, which means that they can be inherited from one or both parents, like hair or eye color. In addition, certain environmental factors—such as a trauma or significant event—might trigger an anxiety disorder in people who have an inherited susceptibility to developing the disorder.”

The good news IS- there is life , and employment beyond the disease, and you are not alone.

Anxiety disorders “affect about 40 million adult Americans.They are the most common mental illnesses in the U.S. Most anxiety disorders begin in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. They occur more often in women than in men.”

With proper treatment, early recognition and even employers who educate themselves, you do not need to give up your day job.  Don’t be afraid to speak about it, because it’s an illness just like diabetes, thyroid disease etc… , there is no shame in having any illness.  The only shame is when it’s untreated, or not recognized.

I have found over the years that it’s good to be open with those you can trust. They may not fully understand what you are going through, but this is the case with any illness when another has not experienced it, yet a good employer along with a good support system outside of your job will help you to over come obstacles you may have thought were not possible.  Remember,  with diligence, and faith in yourself anything is possible. Never give up, and never think you are not worth it!  And, what I have found works very well for me & it’s proven to work for many is some form or exercise or relaxation techniques.  Exercise increases endorphin’s, and reduces stress/anxiety.

Remember, with support, treatment, education,  and understanding; You’ve got this!