2020

In Lifestyle

Understanding How Harmony Place Monterey’s Dr. Mark Schwartz Helps Patients With Eating Disorders

July 24, 2020 No Comments

Dr. Mark Schwartz, Clinical Director at Harmony Place Monterey, has a degree in Psychology from John Hopkins University and over three decades of experience in helping people deal with conditions that dramatically affect their lives. He specializes in several spheres, one of which is eating disorders.

Understanding Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are usually neglected and not given the kind of focus that many other disorders are. This is because, most often, patients do not realize that they are not in control of their eating habits. They do not want to express their concerns to a therapist or even loved ones. Whether it is bulimia, anorexia, binge eating, or any other form of an eating disorder, there is still a fair amount of shame and ignorance that surrounds these disorders.

Eating disorders are a symptom of underlying issues that eat away at a person’s self-esteem and confidence. They affect an individual’s manner of eating, a process that offers the body sustenance and is essential to its survival. Patients and their families must understand that while eating disorders have been given a specific and distinct diagnostic classification, they do have commonalities with addictive disorders.

Without therapy, a person who suffers from an eating disorder will continue to escalate until it takes a toll on their health and life. Whether one is bingeing, restricting food, or purging, over time, an eating disorder will worsen. The symptoms of the eating disorder will become habitual and compulsive, and over time it may shadow all aspects of a person’s personal as well as professional life.

Quite like an addiction, an eating disorder continues to grow. After a while, the temporary relief gained from vomiting, bingeing, or excessive exercise will not be enough, and the symptoms will worsen. At Harmony Place Monterey, Dr. Mark Schwartz and his team of experienced therapists offer patients individual as well as group sessions. The aim is to uncover the deep-rooted issues that cause eating disorders and deal with them in a secure and safe environment.

Dr. Mark Schwartz’s Approach to Eating Disorders

Dr. Mark Schwartz advocates the use of therapy to help patients acknowledge core issues that are the root of their eating disorders. He believes that when patients develop new life skills, it empowers them and helps them see themselves in a new light. To this end, Dr. Mark Schwartz and his team of therapists use advanced technology and research to ensure that patients receive the very best care.

Under Dr. Mark Schwartz’s guidance, Harmony Place Monterey uses a wide range of treatments to suit the requirements of patients. These include interpersonal therapy, nutritional therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. As patients begin to face their disorders, they learn to take control of their eating habits and their lives, one step at a time. They learn to deal with their emotions, and with the world around them, in a more adaptive manner. By gaining confidence in their ability to control their eating habits, they also gain confidence in themselves.

Harmony Place Monterey offers both inpatient as well as outpatient programs to suit the needs and requirements of its patients. The right treatment plan is key to a successful recovery from an eating disorder. And this is why Harmony Place Dr. Mark Schwartz does not believe that there is one single plan that caters to the needs of every patient. He says that people who suffer from eating disorders must understand that it is an addiction and requires therapy. If an individual feels that they are not in control of their eating habits, it is vital to seek help.

In Business

Hidden Hazards Around Your Pool

July 23, 2020 No Comments

Having a pool in your backyard gives you an oasis from the heat and a place to get away from the stress of the world. However, your pool could cause stress if you do not control the dangers around it. Everything from the pool deck to the water could cause injuries to you and your family. Knowing how to make your pool and the entire area around it safer will preserve both your mental health and your family’s physical well-being.

1. The Deck

The deck around your pool provides your family with a safe way to enter the water. If you don’t have a deck and an above-ground pool, people can only access the pool via a ladder. Excited kids can easily fall from the ladder while trying to get into the pool. Additionally, not having a deck around an above-ground pool creates a hazard if someone tries to sit on the ledge of the pool. If they fall back, they will tumble several feet backward and strike the ground.

While not having a pool deck is dangerous, you must ensure that you choose a deck with a waterproof, non-slip surface. After installation, you must maintain the deck regularly to ensure the integrity of the surface and that it will not hold water that swimmers could slip on.

2. The Fence

If you have a pool, you must have a fence around it to protect your kids and other children in the neighborhood. In fact, many municipalities require fences with locks around pools to prevent kids from sneaking in and swimming unattended, putting them at risk of drowning. Check your local requirements and make sure that your pool fence stands up to them every year.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a fence that surrounds the pool on all four sides, has a latch that only an adult can open, does not allow children to climb or squeeze through, and stays locked when not using the pool.

3. The Water

Just as you need to regularly check the integrity of your pool deck and fence, you also must maintain the water throughout the swimming season. Poorly balanced pool chemicals or dirty water can cause the pool to have a strong chlorine scent that can affect those with breathing problems. People carrying dirt on their bodies into the pool or using the pool as a toilet are among the biggest offenders of germs in pool water.

To keep the water as clean as possible, have everyone rinse off before entering the pool. Plus, do not allow your children to use your pool water as a toilet. Also, regularly check the pH and chemical levels to keep germs at bay and the water clean and healthy.

A Safer Pool Starts With You

You are responsible for the pool area and its safety. Before and during the summer, check your pool deck, fence, and water quality to keep everyone happy and healthy throughout the swimming season.

Sources

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-play/Pages/Pool-Dangers-Drowning-Prevention-When-Not-Swimming-Time.aspx

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20190701/crypto-other-dangers-abound-around-the-pool

https://www.capitaldeckandstair.com/our-services/pool-decks/

In Finance

Easy Money-Saving Tips that Are Also Environmentally-Friendly

July 18, 2020 No Comments

Trying to save money when you have a family sounds like a nightmare. There are multiple people in your home, all of whom have different wants and needs, to consider. However, it is possible to not only lower your spending but also teach your children to care for the planet. Here are some tips that you should start following at home.

Repair What is Broken

Too many people nowadays choose to toss an item that is malfunctioning or broken and buy a new one. If it can be repaired, it will save you money and prevent another electronic item from ending up in a landfill.

Call a local appliance repairman if your air conditioner, refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, etc. stops working properly.

Your household appliances have a negative environmental impact. Unless you are using clean energy sources, these electronic devices get power from the grid, which emits tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The U.S. still mostly relies on energy sources that are not considered environmentally-friendly.

Moreover, your electronics use rare metals that need to be mined from the earth, which has numerous consequences, and only a small portion of electronics that are thrown away actually get recycled. Repairing what is broken, therefore, will save you money and save the plant.

Stop Buying Food and Beverages Outside

A sandwich will cost less if you make it at home from scratch versus buying it from a store. Your cup of coffee in the morning is way overpriced. Eating takeout instead of a packed lunch is preventing you from saving money at the end of the day.

These purchases might seem small, but they quickly add up. If you spend $5 for a latte, for example, every morning before work, at the end of the month, you would have spent $100 on coffee alone.

Making your food at home may require a lot of work, but it will save you so much money. A bag of beans does not cost much. Brewing your coffee at home is easy and quick, too.

For meals, you do not have to wake up extra early every day. Learn how to meal prep, a practice in which you create meals in advance, and then you put it in a refrigerator to be microwaved when it is time to eat. Some meal preppers spend an entire afternoon to cook meals that they would eat for the rest of the week.

Not only does making your food and beverages at home save you money, but you also cut unnecessary waste. Takeout usually comes with excessive plastic packaging, which you should have learned by now is bad for the environment. Even your to-go paper coffee cups are lined with plastic. Start bringing food whenever you go to work or school.

Buy Second-Hand

There are tons of items out there that are pre-loved but are still in great condition. You do not have to buy a new item every time you need or want something. You can go to thrift stores or use apps to find absolutely anything under the sun.

Thrifting, thankfully, has become not just acceptable but popular among young people. On YouTube or Instagram, you see social media celebrities wearing clothes they purchased from Salvation Army or Depop. Buying second hand is a source of pride because you save money and the environment at the same time!

These are only three tips that will save your family money and instill a love for the environment among your kids. Following these tips, hopefully, will change your lifestyle for the better.

In Tech

Gadgets from Fiction You Can Use in Real Life

July 18, 2020 No Comments

From movies and television to books and comics, so many works of fiction have made use of technological advancements from the corners of different creators’ imaginations to feed the story and build a world filled with adventure and intriguing plots that keep moving forward. Some of these gadgets and tools have become a reality, though, and are already available for different uses today. Read on for some interesting devices that have been previously seen in the annals of fiction.

MSAT Satellite

You may have watched Jodie Foster sift through alien radio signals in Contact or played through the mystery game Firewatch. You may have even marveled at the possibilities that could lie with just a satellite walkie talkie but thought that the capabilities they’ve displayed in those stories were stretched for convenience to the stories. However, today there are MSAT satellite radios that make use of 23,000-foot towers to allow fleets to communicate with each other from the edges of the world. This technology uses push-to-talk functionality that works on land and sea and does not rely on the internet to function 24/7.

That makes it one of the interesting infrastructures currently being used in various trades that straddle the line of the old and new by using existent tech that has merely been upgraded to a more powerful and unprecedented version to be used more effectively.

Hoverboard

Sure, these aren’t quite as commercially available as the Back to The Future franchise may have led us to believe, but they exist now. They are constantly being upgraded and improved to make those easy-cruising dreams come true eventually. Many variations from companies are trying different approaches to achieve both the visual and practical goals that have been created by Sci-Fi’s presentation of the hoverboard. Some of the most promising ones make use of quantum mechanics and magnetic fields. Though this has seen limited hover time, it’s hit closest to the mark and marks a promising move toward what the future might look like for hobbyists and transportation with enough research and further funding.

Full wall TV

Ray Bradbury created many of the most iconic works in science fiction that are lauded today as predicting many of our modern-day knick-knacks, social habits, and gadgets. Among his many imagined tech pieces is the flat-screen television that essentially encompasses a whole wall. It produces a much clearer picture than a projector would and boasts all the capabilities consumers look for in their TVs today. The product that meets Bradbury’s descriptions is Samsung’s offering, “The Wall.” With MicroLED technology, the screen spans 292 inches and is capable of 8k resolution. This entry is a stunning luxury display that is a hallmark of society’s ever-growing fascination for consuming digital media and having tools to make it an intrinsic part of the 21st century’s daily lifestyle.

More and more innovations continue to pour out of inventors and major tech companies that cater to both the common public and massive industries that keep society running. With the way things are going, it seems like anything fiction can be made a reality by tomorrow.

In featured

Useful Strategies on Getting Your Foster Pet Adopted

July 17, 2020 No Comments

Fostering an animal can be a rewarding experience that can do a lot to help these fur babies find a good life and a forever home. If you ever decide to foster an animal so it can be eventually adopted, this can be a great help since there are around 70 million stray animals in America. Every helpful person can make a difference. If you want to make sure that your foster can be for adoption, invest in these procedures to give them their best chance.

Have the animal trained.

This step is especially essential if the animal has some trauma or still acts quite feral. In particular, dogs can have a lot of aggression and inadequate toilet training. Dog training may be a necessary thing to get so that they can be taught in an environment that isn’t harsh and still helps foster some discipline useful for a domesticated life. On top of this, having humans handle the animal can also help the animal get used to interacting with them while feeling safe.

Give the necessary shots.

An encouraging factor for would-be adopters is knowing that their potential pet has its important shots done. Depending on the age of the animal, you can reach out to a veterinarian and find out what you need to get done. If you’re on a budget, just getting the crucial shots to protect them from disease and prevent rabies should be a good start.

Address any medical issues.

Animals in the wild can sustain injuries and diseases over time, so make sure that the first thing you do is get them checked for any underlying problems that need to be addressed. That also helps you be transparent to anyone looking to care for them permanently. Of course, if you come across an animal who is blatantly suffering from injuries or disease, it’s even more critical to get it treated immediately.

Have the animal spayed or neutered.

Contrary to some misconceptions that they are a cruel act, spaying and neutering can extend your foster animal’s life and prevent some health and behavioral issues that would otherwise develop over time. That is a good measure of care for them that also prevents them from mating and possibly creating more strays than the community can handle. More strays lessen the probability of more animals getting adopted and can even pose dangers to the health of the animal population.

Reach out to trustworthy animal groups.

Now, the last important part is getting the word out there that you have a lovable friend up for adoption. Of course, you want to make sure that you won’t end up giving them to a shady character with malicious intent, so it’s best to find groups that advocate for animals. You can either reach out to local non-profits that specialize in this or look online for animal lover groups that are known to boost these types of posts and help find loving owners who won’t abuse or breed the pet.

By doing all of these, you can save a stray’s life and find them a proper home for the rest of their days.

Meta Title: Forever Home: Helping Your Foster Pet Find an Owner

Meta Description: Are you fostering an animal? There are a lot of things you can do to help them get adopted in their “fur-ever” homes. Learn more about them.