Megsanity
Women, psychology and expletives.

Stereotypic movement disorders or bodily focused repetitive movements (BFRM) are repetitive actions that may involve physical harm to the person doing them. In smaller children, these movements may be normal as they try to control very big feelings. But they can become problematic, especially in older children. While no specific cause has been found for some stereotypic movement disorders, they do tend to increase with stress, boredom and frustration. And there is a great deal of overlap between stereotypic movement disorders and impulse control disorders like excoriation (skin picking) and many specific behaviors can fall under both the impulse control umbrella and the movement disorder umbrella.

Stereotypic movement disorders are common in those with OCD, younger children, abused or neglected children, those with mental retardation and the autistic population. SMDs also tend to be present with stimulant drug use, such as amphetamines and cocaine, though whether you should walk up to a crack addict and yell, “Hey! That’s a stereotypic movement issue!” is a grey area. I’m going to go with, “Leave him alone,” but that’s me....  continue reading

Nothing makes you want to say, “Fuck you,” to Mother Nature quite like menopause. 

From irregular periods to vaginal dryness to sleep issues to weight gain to hot flashes to thinning hair, to dry skin to a loss of breast fullness, it’s a bitchslap of epic proportions. There is also a loss of elasticity in the vagina which can lead to pain or bleeding during intercourse. As if we needed any more bullshit going on down there after pregnancy made our bladder leak every time we sneeze. 

Menopause can be caused by hormonal changes, hysterectomy (particularly of the ovaries were removed), chemotherapy, or ovarian insufficiency, a condition where your ovaries don’t produce enough reproductive hormones. Ovarian insufficiency can be related to genetic factors or environmental factors such as lack of proper nutrition and is more common in those with certain autoimmune diseases. 

But the changes are not all physical. There's shock, grief at aging, a sense of uselessness, depression and anxiety, insomnia and the list goes on. Let's check out why those things happen and some remedies that can help reduce the symptoms.

Fucking Mother Nature....  continue reading

A year ago, my father passed away. Massive coronary, completely unexpected, utterly devastating. I wrote about it in Grief From Love. The outpouring of support was humbling and I cannot thank you enough. But I also got many questions about it. Did it get better? How did things change? Today I will do my best to answer those questions but I may have done it even better in "Alien Landscape," a short story I wrote that used metaphor to explore my emotions. For more on "Alien Landscape," click here. Otherwise, read on....  continue reading

Ever wonder whether learning a new language is beneficial outside of being able to talk to new and interesting people? If so, I have a special treat for you. And if you want more information on the benefits and struggles of bilingual individuals, check out The Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism, Bilingual: Life and Reality, Tongue-Tied: The Lives of Multilingual Children in Public Education and A Parents' and Teachers' Guide to Bilingualism (Parents' and Teachers' Guides).

By: Olga Mecking

Even before I became a linguist and had my own trilingual kids, I was a language geek. I speak five languages (Polish, German, English, French and Dutch) and use at least three of them in everyday conversation. 

Being bilingual is not uncommon in other parts of the world the way it is in America. Instead of languages, guns and bacon, I associate America with superheroes. And each of you people can become super human and have fun doing it.  All it takes is learning a language. I am going to go all nerdy and science-y on you, but stick with me to learn how new languages gives you super human powers. (Cue evil laugh)....  continue reading

Previous posts have discussed the unique struggles that women in the military face (see more here in Fuck This Shit: Female Veterans, Trauma, Informed Consent and Working Towards Something Better). But when it comes to sexual assault, there is some gray area that we need to address, particularly in cases where women consent under duress. Just because we don’t — or can’t— fight doesn’t mean we are consenting. It doesn't mean you wanted it. And today I have one brave military woman here to share her story with you. 

By: Annonymous

I was 18 years old, fresh out of Basic Training for the United States Air Force.  I was assigned to the 99^th Logistics Readiness Squadron and was a Vehicle Operator. The dorms were co-ed and 95% male. I was treated as “one of the guys” by most. 

But not by all....  continue reading

Stress and the immune system have a relationship as complicated as Common Core math (so I’ve heard). In the short term, acute stress — or the kind you get running from a tiger —  boosts immune function and improves our ability to fight off illness and infection. Escaping from a tiger only to die of an infection would have been a bad evolutionary move and would surely have pissed off even the most chill cave man. 

So, if you’re going to the jungle gym and want to make sure you don’t catch a cold from those germy, monkey-bar-climbing heathens, make sure to be in full-on panic mode by pretending there’s a tiger behind a tree. Plus, what a fun game for the kids!

“Dude…your mom is whack.”

It’s the long term, chronic stress that does us in. That initial immune burst after run for your life is great. But when we can’t come down after it, say because instead of a tiger it’s a pile of paperwork, our stress stays at a lower but ultimately constant level. When that happens, our body starts producing more than the chemicals needed for fight and flight and things go a little haywire.

Okay, okay, a lot haywire....  continue reading