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Don't have time to find today's hottest health headlines? Here's what
making news as we speak (we opt for the upbeat or amusing, when at all
possible, you can find all the bad news on CNN, right?)... Enjoy!
* MAKE MY DAY: A vaccine for HIV shows promise...
* HORMONE THERAPY: Happy Friday!
* I NEED A HERO: You go, Jon Stewart!
* MUST READ: Marriage in 2010? Ballot initiative underway...
* POP CULTURE: Modern Family debuts to healthy ratings!
* NUTRITION ALERT: Nutritious or suspicious?
Some things may feel like deja vú and remind you of past emotional events or of good and bad memories. Power plays may also be in the air. Don't allow the past or the present to stress you out. For that matter, stressing over the future definitely isn’t worth it today!
Make a point of learning from whatever you find yourself reviewing. Avoid losing your cool if you run into any manipulative jerks along the way, and move forward with a lot of solid growth. You need to work on keeping your spirits up.--Michelle Young
Don't have time to find today's hottest health headlines? Here's what
making news as we speak (we opt for the upbeat or amusing, when at all
possible, you can find all the bad news on CNN, right?)
* HORMONE THERAPY: Happy Monday!
* I NEED A HERO: Mad as hell, and not gonna take it anymore!
* MUST READ!: "I had nothing to be ashamed of..."
* POP CULTURE: "Real World" teases DC gay community...
* MUST SEE: Frustrated by opponents of gay marriage? How about this approach?
* MIND BODY: Do you know how awesome you are?
Just a quick comment (or should I say excerpt) about this post above via the blog "Michael's Gay Thought". Great food for thought for a Monday, no matter what your circumstance of the moment may be.
"...the universe or God conspired to make all the moments leading up to your conception happen, so you would be the end result. So it’s pretty important that you’re here. It took a lot of trouble to make it happen. Your contributions as a Gay person can be awesome and they will be different to what any other person will contribute."
And this...
"Everyone in the Gay community is a valuable creation. Some of us need help to realize that because of abuse that has been done to us. Some of us don’t need help to realize our worth and the worth of those around us because we got lucky. The greater burden to help your gay brother or sister falls on you."
Are you a True Blood fan? Or are you more of a Twilight or Vampire Diaries type? So tell us which of our ubiquitous bloodsuckers are hot enough to make your own blood boil, take our poll today!
And while we're on the subject, have you had your own blood checked lately? After all, regular STD and cholesterol checks are an essential part of your health care. Fangs not required, of course.
Vampire Diaries' Stefan, Twilight's Edward, True Blood's Eric and Bill are below, left to right.
For many gay teens, being bullied is akin with acne and angst—it's part of growing up.
The bully’s menace is equally familiar: The name-calling, the beckoning to meet after school, and the wary walks home, peering over your shoulder. But this horror often doesn't end with adolescence. Studies say that as many as 87% of gay men have a history of verbal harassment, 25% have had objects thrown at them, up to 37% have been chased or followed, and as many as 24% have been physically assaulted (10% with a weapon or object) - all for being perceived as gay.
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Though it is not politically correct to say, the truth is those who have come out at an earlier age and those who are more “obvious” about
their sexual identity, such as boys who have more feminine characteristics, tend to suffer the most abuse. Effeminate or not— whatever the rationale these boys have for identifying you as gay—it does not give anyone permission to harass or bully you.
There are several reasons for anti-gay harassment:
1. Some abusers may be trying to assert their dominance and believe that by putting you down, they are lifting themselves up.
2. Some may be following the teachings or philosophy of their own family, church, or even perceptions of government wishes.
3. Some of them may be trying to impress someone like a girl or the leader of the group that is doing this to you.
Perhaps the scariest reason for harassment is because the person doing the harassing is attracted to you, yet his way of coping is to attack you. The attack is both a reason to interact with you and an attack on that part of him that he hates. These people are not always easy to spot. They can be the roughest characters and are often responsible for the worst attacks. So if you suspect this is the case, don't say it to him, it may only increase his rage.
What to do?
By all means, tell someone, especially if you're a teenager still in school. Find someone who will listen—an out gay teacher, a school counselor, perhaps your own parents. But, choose wisely, as teachers, counselors, and parents themselves have been known to fuel the fire rather than help squelch it. Then, put the school on notice that this is happening and has got to stop. This behavior is not tolerated in the workplace, so it is a wonder why so many allow it to happen on the schoolyard.
Next, you have three choices: Fight, Flight, or Talk. If your urge is to stand up to them, make sure you are prepared to take them on or it will make it worse. Take a martial arts class to learn how to defend yourself and increase your self-confidence. Lift weights. Even the odds. Or enlist a group of friends to be there with you. Size is intimidating, whether it is your muscles or the size of your support group. But, remember, hitting another person is assault, so don't do it unless you absolutely need to defend yourself against a physical attack.
Lots of gay men have learned very young to "fight with words." If this is a way that you believe you can stand up to them, then you might try it. One caveat: If you humiliate them, it will usually only increase their anger. Be prepared to fight another day.
Another option is to avoid these guys. This "flight" option has proven effective for many throughout the years, but it forces you to compromise your life to do so. Staying in groups is one way to avoid if the bully is nearby. Ignoring taunts may work to help to bore the bully and encourage him to move on. If you combine avoidance with getting the school or other authorities involved, you may have the most effective and least costly (to you) means of dealing with this.
And what of the talk option? Many shrinks, maybe your mom, and some teachers might go with talking. It may have worked somewhere, but rarely does it work with boys on the schoolyard. First of all, if the bullying is verbal only, you might consider it. But, males often turn physical when they are angry and have run out of words. So, if there has been physical contact (or the threat of it), forget it. If someone suggests the talking option to you, ask them how they were able to make it work. If they haven't done it themselves, they may be just trying to help you avoid conflict... but they are probably not being realistic.
It is certainly unfortunate that many gays (especially teens) may have to deal with this. Unfortunately, the scars go deeper than the surface of the skin. Gay and bisexual men who have been victimized at school report higher levels of substance abuse, thoughts about suicide, and sexual risk behaviors than those who have not. Don't stay alone - find someone to talk about this. You not only need support physically, but emotionally as well.
-- Greg Cason, PhD
Don't have time to find today's hottest health headlines? Here's what
making news as we speak (we opt for the upbeat or amusing, when at all
possible) and other assorted feel good items making headllnes today...enjoy!
* HORMONE THERAPY: And the best chest award goes to...
* MUST READ!: More HIV testing, less discussion, study finds.
* MIND BODY: 7 Thoughts You Don't Want to Think
* MAKE MY DAY: Progress for gay candidates!
* POP CULTURE: "So You Think You Can Dance?" goes gay?
* MUST SEE: Frustrated by opponents of gay marriage? How about this approach?
*MIND BODY II: This is some amazing food for thought for those interested in mind body study. Here's an excerpt from writer Amara Rose of the examiner.com.
"In recent years, scientists have demonstrated in the lab what mystics and spiritual teachers have been saying for centuries: our consciousness creates our reality. Internationally renowned pharmacologist Candace Pert, PhD, featured in What the Bleep Do We Know!? and author of Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel, established that emotional communication begins at the cellular level, with tiny proteins called peptides.
In groundbreaking new research, Bruce Lipton, PhD, author of The Biology of Belief, confirms that our attitudes and thoughts create our physical bodies. He writes, "Cells respond to perception by activating either growth or protection behavior programs. If our perceptions are accurate, the resulting behavior will be life enhancing. If we operate from 'misperceptions,' our behavior will be inappropriate and will jeopardize our vitality by compromising our health."
Adds Rose: "In a nutshell: think negative, create warped DNA. Change your mind, change your body!"
