just want to send hugs

I think it's far more likely that life expectancy is higher due to lower BMI and a robust, accessible health care system. The fact is that according to WHO, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Can it be used medicinally? I think so. Should it be used recreationally, just like any other drug, over the counter or prescribed? Should it be used constantly? These are difficult questions to answer. Higher & lower levels of use of antidepressants are I think also linked to moral values about mental health, stigmatization of seeking psychiatric medications, & availability of other treatments. Certainly the US seems to push pills and I'm not denying that this has drawbacks. But that doesn't mean another country is dealing with its mental health issues in a good way. Counting people affected by depression is also difficult, and in countries which are culturally catholic, suicide rates tend to be highly under reported which also makes comparison between cultures difficult.

I'd want the specific diagnosis - I'm guessing they think it's an osteochondroma. I'd want to see the written reports from the radiologist analyzing the xray saying that, and then I'd want to hear from the doctor what their plan for monitoring it is.

WRT Europe, I think there's this myth that European drinking patterns are somehow 'healthier' and that it's all pretty normal & rosy there. In fact, health authorities have huge public health initiatives aimed at reducing the huge toll of alcohol. "Europe continues to have the highest levels of alcohol consumption in the world, resulting in the highest share of all deaths attributable to alcohol consumption. ... Every day, about 800 people in Europe die from alcohol-attributable causes." All of the countries are introducing taxes, limits on advertising, age restrictions, education programs etc. (source: fact sheet linked near the bottom of this page http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/alcohol-use/data-and-statistics )

lactose intolerance would be the most likely thing I'd stop all dairy for a couple weeks and see how things are then.

I did it for 43 ml/drink which is what my guides say one shot (1.5 fl oz) is, and that works out to 17.44 servings which is considered high risk for men. I'd also like to add this psa that the safe drinking levels for women are significantly lower: 3 drinks at a time or 7 total per week. I think women's alcohol abuse is huge. Definitely we all bring biases to these discussions. People who drink vs. people who are alcoholics & children/spouses/parents of alcoholics will obviously bring a different view to it.

I'd say this person probably has an alcohol use disorder or is on their way to developing one. There are many alcoholics who can stop for long periods of time and who are not walking around drunk. I think we need to really understand that these are not reliable flags because many alcoholics can meet that threshold. Alcohol tolerance goes up with use so with time, alcoholics can appear stone sober (they work, drive, socialize) with huge amounts of alcohol on board. Many can also stop for periods of time. I'd want to do the following: count accurately (be sure you know exactly how big the drink is, how big the wine glass, how many fingers in that glass really) ... and then figure out if most weeks are 15 or over, and/or if there are days of 5 or over (those numbers are for men; for women the problem is 8/week & 4/day) and/or if the person ever has an eye-opener (ie drink in the morning) then there is a problem right now. If the numbers are a bit lower, then I'd say the problem is just around the corner. one stressor - job change, promotion, job loss, children's problem, move, death in the family etc.... just one of those can tip the person over into a really huge problem Even without a stressor, unless this person actively chooses a different intervention, this will likely escalate until it becomes a problem affecting life & family. (& it probably already is a problem in terms of liver health). Also be aware that as you age, liver and kidneys slow down clearing rates so blood alcohol levels stay up longer which may have implications for driving. I'd say the person needs treatment. Not necessarily an anti depressant, but maybe try it again, maybe a different one with fewer side effects. Maybe therapy. Maybe meditation and exercise and reflection could help. Alcohol loosens inhibition and does change things. A skilled mental health professional could potentially help the person address why those aspects of personality are being suppressed without alcohol. Not denying that there are biochemical issues as well, but sometimes introspection and changing habits are also helpful - we can change our outlooks and our behaviour.

I needed to hear that!

He needs the math as he's in science but undecided between earth, chem & physics.

Our summer semester is exactly the same as the other semesters so it's the same exact length. It's the same course. Same instructor even. He didn't do the work. He went to class but didn't do most of his homework. They have free full time tutors sitting in a math lab avail M-F 8-4 but he didn't step foot in there even once 😖 There were weekly quizzes which he kind of studied for the night before. At midterm he had an avg of 90% on the quizzes but I think it slid after that. His midterms were 62% and 42%. He kept saying he understood it, just needed to do more practice but somehow never actually did it. That's the aaaargh part.

I know we've had several threads of college kids not doing so well - it's my turn. Ds has probably failed a pre-calc class. I suspect part of the problem for ds was that everything looked familiar so he was blowing things off thinking he already knew them. Plus there were some personal/social things this semester & his head was not in the game at all. He's got sn (and accommodations arranged) and he takes a reduced course load year round. It's already going to take ages to get his education. He's my "still figuring stuff out" kid & still needs tons of supports from us. I'm not sure if we should advise him to try to retake it right away or better to wait? He goes year round & there is a chance he might be able to retake it in the summer. Is math one of those things that it's better to get back on the horse right away? & I'm struggling with parenting him - he's an adult but not launched, not even close to being launched, living with us; and I'm having a hard time sorting out what our relationship should be now. And some of his decisions lately have been um....not great. Argh.

great news, congratulations!

Hi everyone - I'm doing well but this last 1/3 of the semester is kicking my butt. Between patho & pharmacology this old tired brain is getting a workout & I sadly don't have much time to visit on the boards. But when I saw a sentence diagramming dress I knew I had to tell you guys ... I'll finish clinical the 1st week of April & finals end on April 16 so in just a bit over a month I'll get a breather.

https://svahausa.com/collections/adults-dresses/products/sentence-diagram-fit-flare-dress?variant=19656868954199 Someone just shared this site with me. The clothes have *pockets*! There are some prints featuring books and this one on sentence diagramming but most of the collection is lots of cool stem prints and women scientists. Clothes for men, women & kids.

I don't have input on the specifics of the gpa and implications as it seems quite insititution/region dependent (though if it is possible I would consider dropping the worst/most troublesome course while re-grouping to hopefully succeed in the others). But just want to let you know that you're not alone. Some kids just need a lot more supports/plans/hand holding. And fwiw, I'm in team "don't let go of the back of that bike seat until you're sure they can balance" so yeah, I think you're doing all the right things and being good parents. Our quirky kids might just wobble a lot more for a lot longer and need more from us.

Hey, it's where I live! Capilano is a rip off. Lynn Canyon suspension bridge is free and imo, nicer 🙂 https://lynncanyon.ca/ Transportation is great. Try to find some time to go on the Seabus to North Vancouver. The quay there is a public market with quaint restaurants and shops. If you want to transit up to the north shore suspension bridges, you'd do it from the bus loop on the North Van side of the harbour. Skytrain is fun to just ride around on. If you love shopping Metrotown is right on the Skytrain route. The downtown malls and Robson Street are the super fancy expensive stores. You can take the Canada Line skytrain from the airport right into downtown. The water taxis around the Granville Island side of Vancouver is fun too. Granville Island again has a public market, lots of interesting shops & and a theater. If you hop on the Granville Island ferries you can check out the Maritime Museum & Science World as well https://granvilleislandferries.bc.ca/plan-your-trip/ Science world is good for most ages - they pride themselves on setting up an interesting environment for young & old. You can rent bikes or roller blades to go around Stanley Park.There are also sightseeing hoho buses which IMO are worth it. Add Gastown to your downtown sightseeing - it's a nice little stroll. If you keep walking, the historic Chinatown is also interesting. Within blocks tho you hit the somewhat notorious downtown east side - ground zero of our city's substance abuse & poverty. We have I think one of the most startlingly close interfaces of affluent and struggling. It's generally very safe, just disconcerting. There are neighbourhoods where lots of filming happens (many famous tv shows & movies are filmed here), or streets where the uber rich live - some people like to check out those but pretty much need cars for that. Or if you want to check out some of the further parks & forest, then you'd need a car. hth!

Thanks for mentioning this one. I have been listening to it on my commute for the past several days. I knew nothing about his case. Quite riveting - in part because so many of the people kept journals, including audio journals. Really adds to it to hear their own voices

congrats on ringing the bell! We don't have bells at our treatment center because it also deals with palliative patients so that would be awkward kwim... But I ran out of my last chemo and rad pretty quickly!

There's an excellent online class starting in two days which you could take: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/7467 This is the foundational management course. Then take Dealing with the Bogeyman to actually address and counter condition the underlying fears. I'm gonna disagree with Stephanie's point #1 you did nothing wrong You can't reward fear & fear is what's happening here. She's unsocialized, fearful and unsure how to react. I agree with the book Feisty Fido posted above. Most of all, you need an excellent positive reinforcement feisty fido class (probably after you do a few private sessions to get baseline behaviors - like a good automatic sit and eye contact) where you can work at your dog's comfort distance and gradually bring the distance down. I agree you had her offleash too early. If you have any friends with solid well socialized dogs, I'd consider doing some parallel walking with them (walk in same direction, dogs on leash, at whatever distance required to keep your dog calm; gradually reduce the distance. Sometimes after 10-20 minutes of parallel walking, the dog is ready to appropriately greet. If it goes well and they're getting along, you can let them play offleash but only if everyone is calm and happy, not manic and stressed.) Other books that might help you (but the thing is, you need to practice with dogs at a distance so that's why an excellent class is required): Control Unleashed (McDevitt); Click to Calm (Parsons); Behavior Adjustment Training ( Grisha Stewart)

I remembered it while walking the dogs - it's simply called LeVar Burton Reads! http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/ He hand picks the stories. I listened to a sci fi one and a more literary one. I found it a bit more 'heavy' rather than an easy diversion tho, kwim? It doesn't make it on my playlist on the days I want fluffier stuff - which honestly is all the time now

How loud are they? When do your run it? Can it do regular plush carpet? That's what I have in bedrooms but the living area is a combination of laminate + endless strips of runners because I have an old dog that slips on the laminate. So my house looks like a bunch of airport runways with strategic lines of carpeting to get him from place to place. It's a total pita to clean. I might want one but I think my dog will attack it if I'm not home so that means running it when I'm here. If I had headphones on would I still hate it?

Ditto West Cork & Serial I'll add: Accused - the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Andes. Investigative journalism long piece from Cincinnati Enquirer Murder We Wrote - it's kind of silly at times but kept my attn (Framed otoh - I finished it but just barely. I was interested in the story but the execution was a bit meh) Deadly Manners otoh was great. It's more like an old style radio play. 10 episodes I think... LeVar Burton is one of the actors in it. Speaking of LeVar (edit - oh lol that's not the name of the podcast,. I can't remember what he calls it) - his podcast of him reading short stories for adults

Ick, no. I have this same issue with pullapart rolls. I mean unless the whole plate of rolls is for me - then I'm good with it 😄

I went to a new Zumba class aaaaaaand probably won't go to that one again.... Turns out I'm super picky about where and how I get my Zumba groove on lol. So now I'm revising my fitness goals because that class will not work & my schedule is so tight that there aren't many good options. Congrats on your toastmasters visit! yay you, starting the year strong. Mom look is good. Nothing wrong with it. Own it. Poncy business attire is over rated imo....