Category: News

Certain people have an innate ability to remember random facts. They are great at trivia but can also be insufferable know-it-alls.

So why are some people better at recalling random facts than others? Researchers in Europe believe that it’s because their brains are more efficiently wired than other people’s.

“We assume that more efficient networking of the brain contributes to better integration of pieces of information and thus leads to better results in a general knowledge test,” biopsychologist Erhan Genc, from Ruhr University Bochum, said according to Science Alert.

Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an MSNBC contributor, activist, and co-host of Crooked Media’s “Pod Save The People,” wanted to harvest the mind hive on Twitter and find the most random fact that anyone knows.

“I mean RANDOM random,” she wrote.

The answers ranged from the utterly pointless to the truly amazing. There was also a generous helping of utterly disgusting answers thrown in the mix.

Almost every answer deserved the follow-up question: “Why in the world do you know that?”

Here are some of the most random responses to Brittany Packnett Cunningham’s question: “What’s the most random fact you know?”

Whatu2019s the most random fact you know?nnI mean RANDOM random.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@brittany packnett cunningham.)
1580180672

Most were utterly useless, but somehow still fascinating.

Snails can sleep for up to three years when the weather doesnu2019t suit them.

— ud835udc9fud835udcb6ud835udcc3ud835udcbeud835udc52ud835udcc1ud835udcc1ud835udc52 (@ud835udc9fud835udcb6ud835udcc3ud835udcbeud835udc52ud835udcc1ud835udcc1ud835udc52)
1580180829

pic.twitter.com/IhCEcPpVJN

— ud83cuddfaud83cuddf8All AmErican New Year (@ud83cuddfaud83cuddf8All AmErican New Year)
1580499864

most mammals have twice as many nipples as their species’ average litter size (e.g. humans mostly have 1 kid at a time, but 2 nipples), this is colloquially referred to as the ‘half nipple rule’nnexcept opossums, which for some reason have an odd number of nipples

— Several Irate Bobcats (@Several Irate Bobcats)
1580184771

Muhammad is statistically the most common first name on the planet while Wang is the most common last name on the planet. But I still haven’t met anyone named Muhammad Wang.

Muhammad is statistically the most common first name on the planet while Wang is the most common last name on the planet. But I still havenu2019t met anyone named Muhammad Wang.

— So There I Was… (@So There I Was…)
1580183727

The only word in the English language with all vowels+Y in alpha order is “facetiously”

The only word in the English language with all vowels+Y in alpha order is u201cfacetiouslyu201d

— christy mcguire (FinishEdD!) (@christy mcguire (FinishEdD!))
1580181277

Queen Elizabeth is one of the only people in the world who doesn’t need a passport to travel.
Everyone else in the royal family does.

Queen Elizabeth is one of the only people in the world who doesnu2019t need a passport to travel.nEveryone else in the royal family does.

— Connie B ud83dudc3b (@Connie B ud83dudc3b)
1580181326

NYE goes hard

NYE goes hard

— Mud83dudd4a (@Mud83dudd4a)
1580184004

In DNA, mushrooms are more similar to animals than they are to plants.

In DNA, mushrooms are more similar to animals than they are to plants.

— u2728 No More Mayors u2728 (@u2728 No More Mayors u2728)
1580181372

Some were pretty darn cool.

London Tube platforms have different tilings because when the Tube was originally built, a lot of people who used it were illiterate, and the different tilings helped them know what station they were at.pic.twitter.com/Yw8e04zCJA

London Tube platforms have different tilings because when the Tube was originally built, a lot of people who used it were illiterate, and the different tilings helped them know what station they were at.pic.twitter.com/Yw8e04zCJA

— Sahil (@Sahil)
1580195864

Some were thought-provoking.

You’ve never seen your own face. You’ve seen a reflection, and you’ve seen pictures, but you’ve never actually seen your own face!

You’ve never seen your own face. You’ve seen a reflection, and you’ve seen pictures, but you’ve never actually seen your own face!

— Ruby’s Granddaughter (@Ruby’s Granddaughter)
1580226748

When you look at a flower, some of the photons that entered your eye just ended a 100,000-year journey from the center of the sun.

Nobody else sees them.

Just you.

10% of THOSE will give up their energy to cause a chemical reaction that—literally—makes them a part of you.https://twitter.com/MsPackyetti/status/1221992423905202176 …

When you look at a flower, some of the photons that entered your eye just ended a 100,000-year journey from the center of the sun.nnNobody else sees them.nnJust you.nn10% of THOSE will give up their energy to cause a chemical reaction thatu2014literallyu2014makes them a part of you.https://twitter.com/MsPackyetti/status/1221992423905202176u00a0u2026

— u2796Dustin Milleru2796 (@u2796Dustin Milleru2796)
1580187100

Elephants are the only animals other than humans who have something like funerals. They cover the dead elephant gently with leaves and branches, then stand around in a circle for hours making sad noises.

Elephants are the only animals other than humans who have something like funerals. They cover the dead elephant gently with leaves and branches, then stand around in a circle for hours making sad noises.

— ud83cudf39Saffi u2721ufe0f (@ud83cudf39Saffi u2721ufe0f)
1580182116

There was a day when your parents put you down and never picked you up again.

There was a day when your parents put you down and never picked you up again.

— Bradley King (@Bradley King)
1580186315

Others were disturbing.

Humans have a coccyx (aka a tailbone) which is the remnant of, you guessed it, a vestigial tail. One of our several vestigial features.

Humans have a coccyx (aka a tailbone) which is the remnant of, you guessed it, a vestigial tail. One of our several vestigial features.

— Cat Noone (@Cat Noone)
1580181773

The act of touching glasses to cheers comes from medieval suspicions of poisoning each other, so youd slam mugs together to spill each others drinks into your own to show trust you werent trying to kill them. Europeans man…

The act of touching glasses to cheers comes from medieval suspicions of poisoning each other, so youd slam mugs together to spill each others drinks into your own to show trust you werent trying to kill them. Europeans man…

— james beard (@james beard)
1580182190

Male dolphins can ejaculate as far as 10′ and with such force it can kill a human if that human was foolish enough to attempt zoophilic relations with dolphin.

Male dolphins can ejaculate as far as 10′ and with such force it can kill a human if that human was foolish enough to attempt zoophilic relations with dolphin.

— dr. k still loves Richard (@dr. k still loves Richard)
1580180807

Artificial raspberry and strawberry flavoring comes from the anal glands of a beaver.

Artificial raspberry and strawberry flavoring comes from the anal glands of a beaver.

— u2744ufe0fu2744ufe0f Stephanie Nelson u2744ufe0fu2744ufe0f (@u2744ufe0fu2744ufe0f Stephanie Nelson u2744ufe0fu2744ufe0f)
1580236997

And some could be helpful down the road. You just never know.

If you are attacked by a gator and your arm is in its jaws, push, don’t pull. If you can push the flap open at the back of its throat, water rushes in and it starts to drown and will open jaws, hopefully releasing you.

If you are attacked by a gator and your arm is in its jaws, push, don’t pull. If you can push the flap open at the back of its throat, water rushes in and it starts to drown and will open jaws, hopefully releasing you.

— Anika Noni Rose (@Anika Noni Rose)
1580220908

The Phenomena: “The Doorway Effect”
When you forget the reason you enter a different room.
To retrieve the reason, walk backwards w/o turning around.
It can trigger the memory.

The Phenomena: “The Doorway Effect”nWhen you forget the reason you enter a different room.nTo retrieve the reason, walk backwards w/o turning around.nIt can trigger the memory.

— CK (@CK)
1580185439

This article originally appeared on 02.06.20

Simone Biles withdrawing from the team final in the Tokyo Olympics and subsequently withdrawing from the individual all-around finals after getting a case of the “twisties” has the world talking. She’s received overwhelming support as well as overwhelming criticism for the move, with some praising her for recognizing her limits and others blasting her for not persevering through whatever she’s dealing with.

Some people pointed to Kerri Strug, who landed on one foot after vaulting with a broken ankle in the 1996 Olympics to help the U.S. win gold, as an example of the kind of sacrifice an athlete should be willing to make for their country.

Byron Heath shared some thoughts about that fateful day in a viral Facebook post that has been shared more than 370,000 times in less than a day.

Heath wrote:

“This realization I had about Simone Biles is gonna make some people mad, but oh well.

Yesterday I was excited to show my daughters Kerri Strug’s famous one-leg vault. It was a defining Olympic moment that I watched live as a kid, and my girls watched raptly as Strug fell, and then limped back to leap again.

But for some reason I wasn’t as inspired watching it this time. In fact, I felt a little sick. Maybe being a father and teacher has made me soft, but all I could see was how Kerri Strug looked at her coach, Bela Karolyi, with pleading, terrified eyes, while he shouted back ‘You can do it!’ over and over again.

My daughters didn’t cheer when Strug landed her second vault. Instead they frowned in concern as she collapsed in agony and frantic tears.

‘Why did she jump again if she was hurt?’ one of my girls asked. I made some inane reply about the heart of a champion or Olympic spirit, but in the back of my mind a thought was festering: *She shouldn’t have jumped again*

The more the thought echoed, the stronger my realization became. Coach Karolyi should have gotten his visibly injured athlete medical help immediately! Now that I have two young daughters in gymnastics, I expect their safety to be the coach’s number one priority. Instead, Bela Karolyi told Strug to vault again. And he got what he wanted; a gold medal that was more important to him than his athlete’s health. I’m sure people will say ‘Kerri Strug was a competitor–she WANTED to push through the injury.’ That’s probably true. But since the last Olympics we’ve also learned these athletes were put into positions where they could be systematically abused both emotionally and physically, all while being inundated with ‘win at all costs’ messaging. A teenager under those conditions should have been protected, and told ‘No medal is worth the risk of permanent injury.’ In fact, we now know that Strug’s vault wasn’t even necessary to clinch the gold; the U.S. already had an insurmountable lead.

Nevertheless, Bela Karolyi told her to vault again according to his own recounting of their conversation:

‘I can’t feel my leg,’ Strug told Karolyi.

‘We got to go one more time,’ Karolyi said. ‘Shake it out.’

‘Do I have to do this again?’ Strug asked. ‘Can you, can you?’ Karolyi wanted to know.

‘I don’t know yet,’ said Strug. ‘I will do it. I will, I will.’

The injury forced Strug’s retirement at 18 years old. Dominique Moceanu, a generational talent, also retired from injuries shortly after. They were top gymnasts literally pushed to the breaking point, and then put out to pasture. Coach Karolyi and Larry Nassar (the serial sexual abuser) continued their long careers, while the athletes were treated as a disposable resource.

Today Simone Biles–the greatest gymnast of all time–chose to step back from the competition, citing concerns for mental and physical health. I’ve already seen comments and posts about how Biles ‘failed her country’, ‘quit on us’, or ‘can’t be the greatest if she can’t handle the pressure.’ Those statements are no different than Coach Karolyi telling an injured teen with wide, frightened eyes: ‘We got to go one more time. Shake it out.’

The subtext here is: ‘Our gold medal is more important than your well-being.’

Our athletes shouldn’t have to destroy themselves to meet our standards. If giving empathetic, authentic support to our Olympians means we’ll earn less gold medals, I’m happy to make that trade.

Here’s the message I hope we can send to Simone Biles: You are an outstanding athlete, a true role model, and a powerful woman. Nothing will change that. Please don’t sacrifice your emotional or physical well-being for our entertainment or national pride. We are proud of you for being brave enough to compete, and proud of you for having the wisdom to know when to step back. Your choice makes you an even better example to our daughters than you were before. WE’RE STILL ROOTING FOR YOU!”

Many people shared Heath’s sentiment, with comments pouring in thanking him for putting words to what they were feeling.

We’re in a new era where our lens of what’s admirable, what’s strong, and what’s right has shifted. We understand more about the lifelong impact of too many concussions. We have trainers and medics checking on football players after big hits. We are finding a better balance between competitiveness and well-being. We are acknowledging the importance of mental health and physical health.

We are also more aware of how both physical and mental trauma impacts young bodies. Though Kerri Strug pushing through the pain has long been seen as an iconic moment in sports, the adults in the room should have been protecting her, not pushing her through an obvious injury.

And the way this fall of Dominique Moceanu at age 14 was handled is downright shocking by today’s standards. She said she never received an exam for it, even after the competition was over. So wrong.

u201cIn our sport, we essentially dive into a pool w/ no water. When you lose your ability to find the groundu2014which appears to be part of @Simone_Biles decisionu2014-the consequences can be catastrophic. She made the right decision for the team & herself. @bispingu201d

— Dominique Moceanu (@Dominique Moceanu)
1627483863

“@Carolinafan0279 @Simone_Biles Nope 👎🏻”

u201c@Carolinafan0279 @Simone_Biles Nope ud83dudc4eud83cudffbu201d

— Dominique Moceanu (@Dominique Moceanu)
1627483863

Athletes are not cogs in a wheel, and the desire to win a competition should not trump someone’s well-being. Elite gymnasts already put themselves through grueling physical and mental feats; they wouldn’t be at the top of their sport if they didn’t. But there are limits, and too often in our yearning for a gold medal—or even for a triumphant Olympic story—we push athletes too far.

Now we see some of them pushing back, and knowing what we know now, that’s 100% a good thing.

This article originally appeared on 07.28.21

Justified creator Graham Yost has been busy lately, to put things mildly. Not only does he have his hands full with producing duties for the upcoming Justified: City Primeval revival, but he’s been bringing Hugh Howey fans’ dreams into TV reality while showrunning a Silo adaptation. From the looks of the above teaser, this Apple TV+ series first tackles the trilogy’s initial short-story-turned-novel, Wool, which begins with the last remaining humans (several thousands of them) living in an enormous, 150-story silo that largely sits underground. As a voracious reader of the books, I didn’t know how such a structure could be rendered onscreen, but it looks more than solid. And some of these people are satisfied, but not everyone. The “wool” of the title is both literal and symbolic. Sh*t eventually goes down.

This ominous teaser trailer reveals how only the very top of the silo allows the view of the outside world, which has been left in desolation due to a mystery toxic-apocalypse. Rebecca Ferguson portrays the hard-as-nails engineer who goes a million extra miles to keep the silo running as a self-sufficient society, and as the trailer reveals, she begins to realize that something is sketchy. All answers to those suspicions don’t come too fast in the book series, but I would like to know why Common’s character has access to such a fine leather jacket in this world. From the synopsis:

Silo is the story of the last ten thousand people on earth, their mile-deep home protecting them from the toxic and deadly world outside. However, no one knows when or why the silo was built and any who try to find out face fatal consequences. Ferguson stars as Juliette, an engineer, who seeks answers about a loved one’s murder and tumbles onto a mystery that goes far deeper than she could have ever imagined, leading her to discover that if the lies don’t kill you, the truth will.

The series also stars David Oyelowo as the Silo’s sheriff, Holston, along with a very serious looking Rashida Jones, Tim Robbins, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, and Avi Nash. The Apple TV+ series premieres on May 5.

In 2021, St. Vincent released the ’70s-inspired album Daddy’s Home. Last summer, she did a week-long residency with The Late Show With Stephen Colbert house band, which included a Stevie Wonder cover with a Stranger Things actor and a performance of her song “Down.”

She’s back on late-night television. Last night (March 8), she teamed up with The Roots for a cover of “Glory Box” by Portishead on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The performance is dreamy and hypnotizing. Annie Clark’s vocals are stronger than ever against entrancing guitars. Check out the stunning rendition below.

St. Vincent’s live performances have been plentiful lately. In December, she unexpectedly joined Metallica onstage for “Nothing Else Matters” in Los Angeles at their annual Helping Hands Concert and Auction fundraising event. Pretty soon she’ll be heading out on the road with the Red Hot Chili Peppers for The Global Stadium Tour.

The singer also debuted her new podcast History Listen: Rock in January. “It’s been so fun going back through rock history and revisiting some of my favorite artists and songs, including a bunch that don’t get the recognition they should,” she said in a statement. “When you put it all together, you can see how history repeats and echoes through generations, how music links the past to the present, artist-to-artist. And some of these stories are absolutely wild.”

The Tacoma Police Department announced on Wednesday evening that an arrest had been made in response to an alleged drive-by shooting earlier in the day. While nothing about the suspect was announced other than him being a 53-year-old male, the arrest report indicated that the person was former NBA power forward Shawn Kemp.

According to the police, no one was injured in the shooting, which came after “shots were fired from a passing vehicle in the parking lot on the northeast side of the mall near the Courtesy Tire store.” But according to a new report by FOX 13 in Seattle, those close to Kemp allege that his use of a gun was done in self-defense after he learned the location of “property stolen from his car.”

Sources close to Kemp told FOX 13’s David Rose that he had property stolen from his car on Tuesday, tracked his iPhone to Tacoma on Wednesday and when he approached the vehicle, a suspect shot at him. He fired back in self-defense.

There was no mention of Kemp having property stolen or the shooting occurring in self-defense after someone shot at him first in the tweet by the Tacoma PD. They did, however, say an investigation into the incident was ongoing, and there have been no updates from the department’s Twitter account since the original announcement.

Snoop Dogg is maybe Instagram’s foremost user. He has posted to his feed 13 times in the last 24 hours, so Monday’s (March 6) announcement that Snoop and Wiz Khalifa are co-headlining The High School Reunion Tour this summer already feels like old news.

But we can’t skip over a different post from Monday.

Adam Krueger is CW39 Houston’s Chief Meteorologist and often takes requests from his TikTok followers on which song lyrics he should try to sneak into his on-air forecasts. He was asked to incorporate a Snoop Dogg song, any song, and chose “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” from Snoop’s 1993 debut, Doggystyle.

Krueger seamlessly squeezed in lyrics “From the depths of the sea, back to the block” and “follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me” — the latter was done by promoting his social media handles — before his FutureCast allowed him an opportunity to say, “Pretty soon, we’ll step through the fog, and we’ll creep through the smog, and we’ll be able to see a little bit of sun popping out this afternoon.”

“Then I step through the dog and I creep through the smog / ‘Cause I’m Snoop Doggy” is the actual line, but we’ll allow it. And to cap it off, Krueger outlined a potential cold front with, “It’s like that and as a matter of fact (Rat-tat-tat-tat).”

Snoop Dogg approved Krueger’s performance by reposting it to his Instagram with the caption, “Weather man on one .”

Krueger has since moved on to New Kids On The Block and requests from a local fourth-grade class. See those clips below.

Wiz Khalifa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

With both The Mandalorian and The Last of Us dominating TV screens, Pedro Pascal is killing it right now, so it only makes sense that the actor appeared on the latest episode of Hot Ones where the food is as fiery as his career. While powering through spicy wings with host Sean Evans, Pascal was asked about the intricacies of working with Baby Yoda (a.k.a. Grogu) and what’s it like acting with an incredibly detailed piece of machinery.

Turns out, it’s freaking amazing. Pascal didn’t hold anything back as he explained how his adorable sidekick works:

There’s two of them. One, is like remote and you can carry him around. His head will move around, ears, you know what I mean. Turn towards you while you’re holding him, stuff like that, and kind of be alive. Then, for a good close-up, he’s connected to, you know, the Pentagon. It’s like wires that, in close, you get that really detailed eyebrow movements and eyeballs kind of moving around. He’s a very cooperative and fulfilling scene partner.

But the actor was just getting warmed up. According to Pascal, it’s very easy to connect with Grogu because the little dude genuinely breaks his heart with his eyes and lifelike movements, which Pascal attempted to demonstrate. It was everything.

“It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “Like having to say goodbye to him in Season 2 and getting praise for, ‘Oh my gosh, you have such subtle emotions and you’re dealing with a puppet.’ I’m like, this puppet is making me cry. It’s like… (imitates Baby Yoda’s facial impression and sounds) … and I’m like, damn!”

You can see Pascal gush about his co-star and do his best Baby Yoda impression at the 3:44 mark above.

New episodes of The Mandalorian stream Wednesday on Disney+.

There’s no shortage of advice for getting through difficult times. Unfortunately, most of that advice is either painfully unrealistic or reeks of toxic positivity. Solid advice that is both helpful and comforting is hard to come by, which is why this advice is going viral for all the right reasons.

The advice comes from Elena Mikhalkova—or rather her Mikhalkova’s grandmother—and it goes like this:

My grandmother once gave me a tip:

In difficult times, you move forward in small steps.

Do what you have to do, but little by little.

Don’t think about the future, or what may happen tomorrow.

Wash the dishes.

Remove the dust.

Write a letter.

Make a soup.

You see?

You are advancing step by step.

Take a step and stop.

Rest a little.

Praise yourself.

Take another step.

Then another.

You won’t notice, but your steps will grow more and more.

And the time will come when you can think about the future without crying.

Can we all just pause for a minute to take a deep breath and maybe wipe the tears from our eyes? Because I don’t know about you, but this advice is just what I’ve needed to read almost every day lately.

See on Instagram

I suspect I’m not alone in this either because Mikhalkova’s advice is being shared all over the internet.

.

With COVID-19 raging again and many of us (dare I say, all of us?) struggling with one thing or another, this quote hits. Unlike the clichéd “one foot in front of another” advice that can seem both demeaning and overwhelming, this advice offers concrete steps to take.

Wash the dishes. Make soup. Rest, and praise yourself.

These are things I can do. Well, maybe not soup, per se. But cookies. I can make cookies. And maybe you can make soup. Or knit a scarf. Or sweep the kitchen floor. This is enough.

What this advice taps into that other tidbits lose sight of is that when we’re in the midst of a calamity, even the most simple and everyday tasks are more difficult. Making lunch can seem monumental and the mere thought of doing virtual school for another few weeks can make us take to our beds, sobbing in the fetal position. Advice to “look on the bright side” can be patronizing and counterproductive. This advice does none of those things but, instead, acknowledges that even a small step matters. It doesn’t dismiss the pain, but recognizes that even thinking about the future can be painful and that progress sometimes looks like making it through the day without crying

This advice also goes beyond the “sun will come out tomorrow” reminders and acknowledges that things might not be better tomorrow or the day after that. It will take time for wounds to heal and difficult times to pass, but we need not passively wait for this time to come. We can make soup, rest and be kind to ourselves.

In the early days of the pandemic, I remember feeling like there was so much more I should be doing with all this extra “at home” time. Yet I found even the most basic tasks to be more difficult. In turn, I felt guilty for not being more productive. But what I’ve learned—or rather am learning—is that allostatic load and decision fatigue are very real. Productivity looks different on different days, and sometimes being patient with ourselves is the most productive thing we can do.

Mikhalkova’s advice taps into a mantra that I often recite when I’m struggling: Just do one good thing. Unload the dishwasher. Return an email. Fold the laundry. Hug my kids. Then do the next good thing. Eventually these things add up. Time passes and small steps turn into something bigger.

What I love most about Mikhalkova’s advice—and what is easy to forget in difficult times—is the reminder to praise ourselves along the way. Because sometimes that pat on the back we need the most is our own.

This article originally appeared on 02.07.22

Christine Organ is a writer who lives in the Chicago area with her husband, two sons, and rescue dog. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Ever since Lindsay Clancy was arrested for taking the lives of her three children before attempting to take her own, Jan. 2023, the reality of postpartum psychosis has been thrust into mainstream media. Before Clancy’s lawyers cited the postpartum condition as the main contributing factor into her unthinkable act, psychosis didn’t seem to be on many people’s radar as a response to giving birth.

Psychosis isn’t something that only involves seeing or hearing things that aren’t there, it’s a collective list of symptoms. Some of the symptoms outside of visual and auditory hallucinations is, delusional thinking, paranoia, belief of your thoughts being broadcasted, aggression, disorganized speech, and many more.

But just because someone is experiencing psychosis doesn’t mean they’re experiencing all of the symptoms and most people that are in a psychotic episode are too disorganized to carry out any meaningful thought out plan. As a therapist that specializes in psychotic disorders, it’s tragic to see that the disorder may have contributed to the deaths of Clancy’s children and I also recognize this particular case is acting as a springboard for an important dialogue.

Since this case has hit the news cycle, moms on TikTok are sharing their own experiences with postpartum psychosis and the hashtag #postpartumpsychosis has over 66 million views. Video after video show moms talking about how psychosis presented for them while others are explaining their experience with postpartum depression or anxiety.

Kelsi Ullom is one of the moms that shared her experience in hopes to help other parents recognize the symptoms for themselves or their partners. In her video that has nearly 900K views, Ullom explains that even though she had been experiencing hallucinations, delusions and other psychotic symptoms, she didn’t tell anyone because due to fear of someone taking her baby away.

@kelsipartyof7

Lindsay Clancy story / postpartum anxiety #lindsayclancy #postpartumdepresssion #postpartumanxiety #ppdawareness #greenscreen

Ullom’s fear is not unique. Many people that experience the extreme end of postpartum mental health issues are afraid to tell their health care providers due to fear of their child being removed from their care. I was a trained mental health professional when I had my last child and vividly remember tearfully telling my midwife that I was afraid to inform her of how bad my postpartum anxiety had gotten for that very reason.

The stigma around mental health issues and one’s ability to care for themselves, let alone care for their children isn’t new. We’ve seen the conversation play out publicly when a celebrity parent has a mental health crisis. But when it comes to postpartum mental health disorders, seeking professional help is imperative in many instances, especially with psychosis.

With how extreme postpartum psychosis can be, waiting for a far off appointment isn’t the best plan because it is considered a crisis that requires immediate attention. Yet, due to the nature of psychosis, most people experiencing it have no idea they’re in the midst of psychosis because their thought processes are distorted by delusions. This is why it’s important for partners to be able to recognize the signs.

@youcancallmekait

I don’t know what the answer is, but I know we’re not doing enough to support people post-birth. My friend will always be remembered for the joy and kindness she showed every single person she met. Those final months were not representative of who she was. #postpartum #postpartumpsychosis #ppd #mentalhealth

Psychosis is rare after giving birth and isn’t currently recognized as an official postpartum condition, though it does happen. Psychiatrist, Dr. Susan Hatters-Friedman told Insider that symptoms of postpartum psychosis start suddenly within the first days or weeks after someone gives birth. She goes on to tell the outlet that the longer psychosis is left untreated that the likelihood is higher for the person to die by suicide or take the life of their children.What makes postpartum conditions so unique and separate them from other mental health conditions, is that the focus is generally around the child or yourself. So instead of a delusion about the FBI bugging your home, your brain may tell you that your husband plotting to kill your baby.But with a delusion, your brain doesn’t hop to the logical likelihood. Instead it could make you think that in order to not know the pain of living without your baby that you should walk into traffic with your baby so neither of you live without each other.

Brains are powerful and psychosis isn’t so cut and dry. You don’t think in a way that would make sense if you spoke it out loud and delusions are so strong that you can’t be convinced that they’re incorrect no matter what evidence you have to the contrary.

When trying to explain what psychosis was like to my husband after returning home from having to hospitalize a client, I told him to imagine that his mom just walked in the room and asked him who he was talking to. He looked confused and said, “but she would see you,” so I followed up with, “would she? If she told you she didn’t see anyone and she began to look concerned, how would you feel?” Ultimately, just that quick exchange gave him a small glimpse into the fear, confusion and frustration psychosis could cause.

@kristinadulaney

My postpartum psychosis story #postpartumpsychosis #lindsayclancy #ppp #pppawareness #newmom #maternalhealth #postpartum #postpartumdepresssion

It’s not an easy condition and when you throw in hormones readjusting and caring for a newborn on top of it all, it seems quite cruel that there isn’t more education around the possibility. Hopefully, with the increased conversation around postpartum psychosis due to the sad tragedy of the Clancy children, new parents and medical providers alike will be more aware of the signs.

Symptoms of postpartum psychosis is a mental health emergency and needs immediate intervention from professionals.

I remember sitting in advanced algebra and trigonometry class in high school wondering if I was really ever going to use any of what I was learning. Math at that level meant nothing to me in a practical sense. I planned to study English and education to become an English teacher, so I couldn’t imagine why I’d need to learn the ins and outs of trig.

As it turned out, some of what I learned came in handy in the functions class I was required to take to fulfill my math requirement in college. But again, I found myself sitting in class with zero idea of why I was learning this level of math and suspecting that I was never going to actually use that knowledge in my adult life.

Now I’m a middle-aged adult and I can say with absolute certainty that I was right. In 27 years, I have not used anything I learned in functions. Not once. Not even a little bit. I agonized my way through that class to eek out a B-minus and to promptly forget everything I’d learned because it was utterly useless to me.

To be clear, higher math isn’t useless—it’s amazing. It was just completely useless to me.

You know what would have been useful? Learning about financing a car or a mortgage or understanding how and why and where to invest money. In all that time I was doing trigonometric proofs and calculating polynomial functions, I could have been learning all the various real-life math-related decisions I’d have to make as an adult.

I see the same thing happening with my kids in high school and college. It totally makes sense for students who are interested in going into math and science fields to take math beyond basic algebra and geometry. But for those who aren’t—why? There are so many more valuable things for them to take the time to learn—things that every single person really needs a basic knowledge of, such as:

Basic Psychology/Mental Health Maintenance

Every one of us has a brain and mental health is an issue for a huge percentage of people. Even those of us who don’t struggle with mental illness benefit from learning about how our minds work, gaining strategies for managing our thoughts, emotions and behaviors, and understanding why people do the things they do.

How many people would have been saved by learning how to spot a narcissist before getting into a relationship with one? How many people could mitigate an anxiety spiral right when it starts because they learned to recognize the signs earlier? How many people would appreciate the support and understanding of everyone having a basic understanding of their mental health disorders?

Basic Sociology/Human Behavior

Similarly, every one of us lives in a society. Understanding social connections, relationships and group behavior might kind of come in handy. If we don’t understand the causes and consequences of human behavior, we’re going to be confused by society at best and allow or enable atrocities to occur at worst.

From learning how cults and conspiracy theories work to recognizing how our prejudices can blind us to reality, sociology has useful knowledge we all need to internalize.

Media Literacy

If we’re going to be bombarded with media 24/7, we’d better know how to process it. Understanding how journalism works, what makes a source credible, how information can be skewed and how to recognize misinformation and disinformation is vital. What is bias and how can it be mitigated? How can we recognize when an outlet values accuracy?

So many of the problems the U.S. is facing currently are due to people watching or listening to dubious news sources. Mandatory media literacy courses would (hopefully) go a long way toward changing that.

The Stock Market and Other Investments

I underestimated how much I’d need to know about the stock market when I was younger. None of that economic stuff interested me, but I wish I understood it better now.

But really, it’s investing in general that we need to understand more about when we’re younger, especially since starting young is the No. 1 best advice any financial advisor will give you.

How Banking, Credit and Credit Cards Work

Every single one of us uses a bank or credit union and credit is a huge part of adult life. And yet most people I know have had to piece together how credit and credit cards actually work through advice from friends and family and good old trial and error, sometimes with devastating consequences.

Taxes

Good gracious, right? Not just how to do taxes, but what taxes get used for.

Financial literacy is what I’m saying. We need mandatory financial literacy classes. (Florida has actually just become the first state to require personal finance education to graduate, so yay Florida.) I think I was required to take economics in high school, but it was much more high-level economic theory than personal finance. We need personal finance first, then the bigger picture.

First Aid/Safety/Self-Defense

Most of us probably got some first aid and/or CPR training in health class, but how comprehensive was it? Did it include infant CPR? Do we know how to recognize if someone is having a stroke? Signs of infection?

What about basic everyday safety, like why you shouldn’t leave a car running in a garage or common household fire dangers or how to spot asbestos?

Self-defense seems like a no-brainer. Basically, a “How to Stay Alive and Keep Others Alive” course that includes most everything you need to know to protect yourself and your loved ones on a daily basis.

Navigating our Healthcare and Health Insurance System

Ugh. I’ve been an adult for almost three decades and everything about our healthcare system confuses and frustrates me. Maybe if we required schools to teach young people how it works, it would shine a big spotlight on how ridiculously and unnecessarily complicated it is because no one could possibly explain it in a way that’s understandable. Maybe that would push lawmakers to actually do something about it, because honestly, it’s just a gigantic mess.

There are surely others, but those are the major subjects that come to mind as vital after being an adult for a long while and seeing what my own kids need to have a decent grasp on as they make their way into the world. And honestly, there are some classes that adults should be required to take well into adulthood. Parenting classes, for example. Or local government and voting.

All subjects and courses have value to some people, but if we want students to be prepared for adulthood, we should make sure they are given the vital knowledge and skills every person actually needs and will use.

This article originally appeared on 03.25.22