Search Results for: health caring for an ill family member

Family Members and Control Issues During Illness

Ideally, when you have a serious illness, family should rally around you and offer unconditional support. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes illness can bring out the worst in people, and I’m not even talking about the person who is actually sick. Tensions can run high when you are facing a serious or possibly life threatening illness. All of a sudden, a sense of control has been removed, both from the person affected by the illness and the family and friends around the person. This affects people in different ways. In my family, it seems that we all want to … Continue reading →

Making The Night Shift Work For Your Family

Yesterday I talked a little bit about parents who choose to work the night shift. If you are wondering how it works on a practical level, I have decided to discuss that today. After trying a couple of different approaches to adjusting your family’s schedule to accommodate a parent working the night shift at home you will most likely find a solution that works for your family. When a family or a couple thinks of each day as a twenty four hour period of time, it is easier to find creative ways to do or have the things that you … Continue reading →

Sports And Family Bonds

With the Super Bowl just a couple of weeks away, now is a good time to think about sports and how they relate to family history. Whether you have athletes in the family, sports fans, or both, it is very likely that at least some family members have an interest in sports. If you think about your relatives and what sports they like to play or watch, you may see some similarities between family members. You might also see some major differences of opinion, which can make for memorable family events if there is a game on television featuring the … Continue reading →

LDS Family Services Website

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The other day, I was searching for some enlightenment, for someone I know is going through a hard time right now. I decided to hop onto LDS Family Services website to see what I could find that might be helpful. I found a fountain of information that I thought I had to share with others. There are adoption services links, and addiction recovery links, but I was looking more for someone that I knew was struggling with emotional turmoil in their life. So, I went to counseling services. After clicking on that, I saw a link, Find help for your … Continue reading →

Changes in Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts

This year, flexible spending accounts or FSAs get a little less flexible. There have been some changes in the rules of when you can and can’t use them. Because of changes in the law, 2011 will be different. Here is what you need to know and how you can work with the new rules to make sure that you can still get the health care and supplies that you need. First of all, let us review what an FSA is. It is an account through your workplace. In this account, you can set aside money that is removed from your … Continue reading →

Caring for a Family Member After Surgery

If have a family member or loved one who will be having surgery soon, my heart goes out to you. It can be a stressful time. One of the things that can help is to be prepared at home for the care that your family member will need when he or she is home from the hospital. Here are some practical steps that you can take right now to make it much easier later. Prepared Meals Having prepared meals on hand when caring for a family member after surgery is essential. Please don’t be afraid to relay on other people. … Continue reading →

Caring for Your Aging Parent

Watching your parents grow older can be heart wrenching at times. They not only change physically, but their personalities may change as well. Many will develop health problems. You may notice that their eyesight or that their mental sharpness is declining as well. Our parents took care of us and guided us when we were young and now it is our turn to be there for them. Being a caregiver to your aging parent can be stressful at times. If you are in the position of being the sole caregiver it is especially trying. If you have other family members … Continue reading →

Why Do People Care So Little about People with Mental Illness?

I hear some pretty sad stories in my work as a counselor, but the saddest ones are when the family and friends of an emotionally unwell person refuse to help or even try to understand. I know that the sufferer is not deserving of this treatment yet it is relatively common. Why? Because people are afraid of the unknown. The joke is that, if the friends and family were to educate themselves about their loved one’s plight, there would be little reason for fear. Even those people who will mock their family and friends for being “weak” have a modicum … Continue reading →

Genealogy and Your Health

Did you know that you can use genealogy to keep yourself and your family healthy? Medical research shows that certain genetic disorders, as well as the tendencies to develop certain preventable health conditions, are hereditary. A family medical history is a useful tool that you and other members of your family can use to assist your physicians in caring for your health. Unfortunately, some families are at an increased risk for developing chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers. If you discover any of these conditions as you research your family’s medical history, let your doctor know. Your … Continue reading →

The Relative Effects of Family Members with Narcissistic Personality Disorder

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In addition to looking at what is narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and the diagnostic criteria required for a diagnosis of the condition (see links below), today we are going to look at the damage caused by different family members who suffer from the disorder and the relative effects on the rest of the family. The most devastating situation exists when the mother suffers from NPD. This makes sense because, despite changes in our society over recent decades, it is still the mother who is, and is expected to be, the primary source of love, caring and attention. This situation in … Continue reading →