Duality in the Life Cycle
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. I hold no designations in politics, economics or medicine. I am retired from the mental health field. I am a humanitarian and speak from that viewpoint only. Whether you agree with me or not, at least I hope it makes you think. This week, I look at the concept of duality and life cycle issues. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
This week, I was sitting in the car and thought about something that brought to mind the topic of duality. That brought up other concepts and by the time I got home, I wanted to write something. I just tossed the following up from the top of my head onto X formerly Twitter that night. I just tossed the following up from the top of my head onto X formerly Twitter that night. Of course it got deleted the first time (accidental) and I had to do it again with some variability I’m sure. I place the short piece here as a segue to the topic of duality.
Duality
Scars & the world could change its heart
but you need toughen up dear heart
hit me with your best shot
but don't get caught
love and light
but don't give up the fight
no sin here
just pagan tears
why are you angry today
the world mixes messages every day.
The world seems filled with dualities. I remember as a student in University, there was one course I took that was a suggested one. I wasn’t interested in it. I had no talent for memorizing brain parts or other stuff like that. I wasn’t interested in the biological foundations of Psychology and was struggling with it. There were some options given. One of them was working with rats in the lab. I’d have to kill some…humanely of course was the suggestion. I should mention here I refused to take Biology in High School because I would have to cut up dead frogs. I took Chemistry and Physics instead though I was not a math person either. At one point in High School, the Physics teacher told me not to take the second part of it or I’d likely fail it. I was so angry being told I couldn’t do something; I took the second part and passed it well enough. Now, back to the University and the Biological foundations of Psychology course, I talked to the Professor about the course. The sum of the argument was you have “toughen up”. Those were two of the exact words. I was interested in the psychological aspects of human nature and not the neurological aspects. With Psychology, I loved the concepts involved and the ideas I could play with and the potential to help people. I finally went to talk to someone before the course drop out date. I asked if it was necessary that I take that course. I was happy enough when they said that I should take it, but it would not be required to get the degree. The actual decision was mostly made because I wanted to work with people and this person was telling me I had to toughen up. So, in the end, I dropped the course and took something else. The thing I took away from that and I’m sure everyone else who has a sensitive nature and gets the same talk is that it was not OK to be myself I had to be tough. The other message from High School was that other people decided what I was capable of (Physics). I should be someone who could not feel and let someone else control what I could do.
The world sends mixed messages all the time and some of them; I’m still not sure how I feel about. I am using this blog to explore one of them. Right now, it seems the world is telling women that they don’t have the capacity to make their own choices in their procreating life in some areas of the world including the USA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortio.... It seems they pathologize women to a larger extent than men. Women who suffer from PMDD or PMS is a controversial topic. Why? First, what is PMDD and PMS? PMDD is premenstrual dysphoric disorder while PMS is Premenstrual Syndrome. PMDD is suggested to affect between 5-9% of women. They suggest medications usually used with depression, but try to separate why it isn’t depression. On the other hand, "It's a label that can be used by a sexist society that wants to believe that many women go crazy once a month," https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pmdd Yet, at the same time, there seems some women who do suffer from it. They do point out, however, "Women are supposed to be cheerleaders," and "When a woman is anything but that, she and her family are quick to think something is wrong." https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pmdd. The same article suggests based on some studies, “that PMDD sufferers have "normal functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, show biologic characteristics generally related to the serotonin system, and a genetic component unrelated to major depression." On the other hand, “By including PMDD in the DSM-IV, …, emotional displays that are considered normal in men are seen as a mental disorder in women. Any normal hormonal change in people of either sex can exacerbate migraines, thyroid problems, etc., but no one suggests calling...men's hormonal changes kinds of mental illness." https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pmdd
This statement from another source about normal fluctuations and cultural effect was very telling to me. The study suggests that “…self-care and coping strategies were reported to have a beneficial effect on women’s moods, and their ability to control the experience and expression of negative emotion, resulting in significant reductions in premenstrual distress (Ussher and Perz 2017).” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NB... Further they state, “This form of women-centered psychological support can be effective in supporting women in the process of moving from an abject to an agentic subject position, without positioning her as needing to be managed, or her body as an unruly vessel that needs to be contained by experts (Ussher 2008a).” So, are we too sensitive, or are we influenced by factors outside of our control? Why does this matter? It matters because we need to either decide to be victims or decide to be survivors. Does it matter politically? We see what pathologizing the woman’s body is doing and it is causing political and social unrest. We see how women’s bodies are talked about as something that needs to be controlled. We can’t be trusted with our own decisions. If a man has fluctuating changes, in hormones, it is not a mental health diagnosis, but rather a physical health one. https://www.mountsinai.org/care/endoc.... From the link, I see that they treat this under the endocrinology department and not the mental health department. If PMDD and PMS are due to hormonal issues, then would it not be fair to also deal with them in endocrinology or some medical specialty? The same can be said of male menopause https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/male-me.... However, there are arguments as to whether it exists at all or not. Again, it is seen as a medical issue and not a mental health issue, though there is acknowledgement that anxiety and depression can co-exist https://www.healthline.com/health/men... and they state “It’s normal to experience a decline in your testosterone levels as you get older. For many men, the symptoms are manageable, even without treatment. If your symptoms are causing you hardship, speak to your doctor.” Meanwhile, I see menopause gets treated as a mental health disorder. https://focus.psychiatryonline.org/do... “events, and socioeconomic status were found to contribute to first-onset mood disorders during perimenopause. Treatment options include established medication regimens for psychiatric conditions…” I’m not saying problems don’t exist. I’m saying there is a disparity in the treatment of men and women. Women are seen as having a mental health condition while men are seen as having a medical condition.
So, am I being too sensitive? Is there disparity in treatment of women’s life cycle changes vs. men’s life cycle changes? Is it important? There always seem so many questions and yet so few solid answers. There is disagreement and yet there are things that seem to point toward one direction and others to another. I think the following quote gives the most reasonable answer. “You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle.” attributed to Julian Seifter. Of course, this presumes illness but not necessarily mental illness. Many mental health issues have a biological basis. Treating people as human beings is an important step. As Helen Keller is credited with saying, “Women have discovered that they cannot rely on men’s chivalry to give them justice.” It seems in the political sphere this may be true. The thing we have to acknowledge and work with is that the men in our lives are the ones that can help with this transition to women’s mental health being more women’s mental wellness and less about victimization and having to be perfect little wives, mothers, daughters, etc. We need to work together to try to make the most out of wellness and stop pathologizing our life cycles. We need to change the world for the better for everyone and stop entering the bedrooms of the world. We are stronger together than we are apart. We will be able to move forward better together and determine better treatments rather than denying what is happening to ourselves. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope it makes you think. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures! Keep watching because we’re always working on something. Thank you!
The podcast that matches this blog post can be found on Anchor FM: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://aandjpeitreasures.wordpress.com/ and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on:
Spotify for Podcasters formerly Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-... name a few
All my e-books can be found on:
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
You can also find us on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJS08026749
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zp...
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/ej2466
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/e-j-s-151a...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewAandJP...
This week, I was sitting in the car and thought about something that brought to mind the topic of duality. That brought up other concepts and by the time I got home, I wanted to write something. I just tossed the following up from the top of my head onto X formerly Twitter that night. I just tossed the following up from the top of my head onto X formerly Twitter that night. Of course it got deleted the first time (accidental) and I had to do it again with some variability I’m sure. I place the short piece here as a segue to the topic of duality.
Duality
Scars & the world could change its heart
but you need toughen up dear heart
hit me with your best shot
but don't get caught
love and light
but don't give up the fight
no sin here
just pagan tears
why are you angry today
the world mixes messages every day.
The world seems filled with dualities. I remember as a student in University, there was one course I took that was a suggested one. I wasn’t interested in it. I had no talent for memorizing brain parts or other stuff like that. I wasn’t interested in the biological foundations of Psychology and was struggling with it. There were some options given. One of them was working with rats in the lab. I’d have to kill some…humanely of course was the suggestion. I should mention here I refused to take Biology in High School because I would have to cut up dead frogs. I took Chemistry and Physics instead though I was not a math person either. At one point in High School, the Physics teacher told me not to take the second part of it or I’d likely fail it. I was so angry being told I couldn’t do something; I took the second part and passed it well enough. Now, back to the University and the Biological foundations of Psychology course, I talked to the Professor about the course. The sum of the argument was you have “toughen up”. Those were two of the exact words. I was interested in the psychological aspects of human nature and not the neurological aspects. With Psychology, I loved the concepts involved and the ideas I could play with and the potential to help people. I finally went to talk to someone before the course drop out date. I asked if it was necessary that I take that course. I was happy enough when they said that I should take it, but it would not be required to get the degree. The actual decision was mostly made because I wanted to work with people and this person was telling me I had to toughen up. So, in the end, I dropped the course and took something else. The thing I took away from that and I’m sure everyone else who has a sensitive nature and gets the same talk is that it was not OK to be myself I had to be tough. The other message from High School was that other people decided what I was capable of (Physics). I should be someone who could not feel and let someone else control what I could do.
The world sends mixed messages all the time and some of them; I’m still not sure how I feel about. I am using this blog to explore one of them. Right now, it seems the world is telling women that they don’t have the capacity to make their own choices in their procreating life in some areas of the world including the USA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortio.... It seems they pathologize women to a larger extent than men. Women who suffer from PMDD or PMS is a controversial topic. Why? First, what is PMDD and PMS? PMDD is premenstrual dysphoric disorder while PMS is Premenstrual Syndrome. PMDD is suggested to affect between 5-9% of women. They suggest medications usually used with depression, but try to separate why it isn’t depression. On the other hand, "It's a label that can be used by a sexist society that wants to believe that many women go crazy once a month," https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pmdd Yet, at the same time, there seems some women who do suffer from it. They do point out, however, "Women are supposed to be cheerleaders," and "When a woman is anything but that, she and her family are quick to think something is wrong." https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pmdd. The same article suggests based on some studies, “that PMDD sufferers have "normal functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, show biologic characteristics generally related to the serotonin system, and a genetic component unrelated to major depression." On the other hand, “By including PMDD in the DSM-IV, …, emotional displays that are considered normal in men are seen as a mental disorder in women. Any normal hormonal change in people of either sex can exacerbate migraines, thyroid problems, etc., but no one suggests calling...men's hormonal changes kinds of mental illness." https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pmdd
This statement from another source about normal fluctuations and cultural effect was very telling to me. The study suggests that “…self-care and coping strategies were reported to have a beneficial effect on women’s moods, and their ability to control the experience and expression of negative emotion, resulting in significant reductions in premenstrual distress (Ussher and Perz 2017).” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NB... Further they state, “This form of women-centered psychological support can be effective in supporting women in the process of moving from an abject to an agentic subject position, without positioning her as needing to be managed, or her body as an unruly vessel that needs to be contained by experts (Ussher 2008a).” So, are we too sensitive, or are we influenced by factors outside of our control? Why does this matter? It matters because we need to either decide to be victims or decide to be survivors. Does it matter politically? We see what pathologizing the woman’s body is doing and it is causing political and social unrest. We see how women’s bodies are talked about as something that needs to be controlled. We can’t be trusted with our own decisions. If a man has fluctuating changes, in hormones, it is not a mental health diagnosis, but rather a physical health one. https://www.mountsinai.org/care/endoc.... From the link, I see that they treat this under the endocrinology department and not the mental health department. If PMDD and PMS are due to hormonal issues, then would it not be fair to also deal with them in endocrinology or some medical specialty? The same can be said of male menopause https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/male-me.... However, there are arguments as to whether it exists at all or not. Again, it is seen as a medical issue and not a mental health issue, though there is acknowledgement that anxiety and depression can co-exist https://www.healthline.com/health/men... and they state “It’s normal to experience a decline in your testosterone levels as you get older. For many men, the symptoms are manageable, even without treatment. If your symptoms are causing you hardship, speak to your doctor.” Meanwhile, I see menopause gets treated as a mental health disorder. https://focus.psychiatryonline.org/do... “events, and socioeconomic status were found to contribute to first-onset mood disorders during perimenopause. Treatment options include established medication regimens for psychiatric conditions…” I’m not saying problems don’t exist. I’m saying there is a disparity in the treatment of men and women. Women are seen as having a mental health condition while men are seen as having a medical condition.
So, am I being too sensitive? Is there disparity in treatment of women’s life cycle changes vs. men’s life cycle changes? Is it important? There always seem so many questions and yet so few solid answers. There is disagreement and yet there are things that seem to point toward one direction and others to another. I think the following quote gives the most reasonable answer. “You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle.” attributed to Julian Seifter. Of course, this presumes illness but not necessarily mental illness. Many mental health issues have a biological basis. Treating people as human beings is an important step. As Helen Keller is credited with saying, “Women have discovered that they cannot rely on men’s chivalry to give them justice.” It seems in the political sphere this may be true. The thing we have to acknowledge and work with is that the men in our lives are the ones that can help with this transition to women’s mental health being more women’s mental wellness and less about victimization and having to be perfect little wives, mothers, daughters, etc. We need to work together to try to make the most out of wellness and stop pathologizing our life cycles. We need to change the world for the better for everyone and stop entering the bedrooms of the world. We are stronger together than we are apart. We will be able to move forward better together and determine better treatments rather than denying what is happening to ourselves. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope it makes you think. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures! Keep watching because we’re always working on something. Thank you!
The podcast that matches this blog post can be found on Anchor FM: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://aandjpeitreasures.wordpress.com/ and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on:
Spotify for Podcasters formerly Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-... name a few
All my e-books can be found on:
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
You can also find us on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJS08026749
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zp...
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/ej2466
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/e-j-s-151a...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewAandJP...
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A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
A & J PEI Treasures is located on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are a husband and wife team and our companion animals. There are a number of things that drew us to the Island…one of which was the n
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