No Christmas Sadness

The Celebration of Savior of the World Birthday ought to be most happiness, joy, and fun-filled celebrations spent with family and friends, right? That Seems Not be the case ! For many, the Christmas Season falls far short of these expectations, which can result in increased stress, mild depression, and feelings of anxiety. We call this emotional reaction “Christmas sadness.”

As you think about the Christmas sadness, you may remember a holiday that left you feeling less than festive – a particular situation that sparked your

Christmas sadness. So, what to do? Before we talk about solutions, let us consider a few things that may fuel these feelings. Keep track of how many of these describe your typical Holy Days:

·         Unrealistic holiday expectations – expecting a Holy Day

·         Excessive time demands – work, shopping, parties, decorating, family obligations

• Nostalgic memories of past Christmas celebrations

·         Conflicted family relationships that may worsen during the holidays

·         Overspending on gifts, travel, and entertainment

• Overindulgence in alcohol and Christmas foods

If any of these ring a bell yes, do not despair. There are things you can do to keep the Christmas sadness away.

·         Maintain healthy habits. Eat healthy foods, get plenty of sleep, and exercise regularly.

·         Adopt realistic expectations. Do not expect a perfect HOLY Day – it does not exist. Avoid comparing your Christmas to what you see on social media. Remember, most people only post the good stuff. Do not expect your family members to get along during Christmas, when there is conflict throughout the year.

·         Create a budget. Stick to it. Overspending only worsens the Christmas sadness.

·         Set appropriate limits. Prioritize demands on your time, and say “no” to certain invitations and activities. Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Pace yourself. Avoid overextending yourself so you do not end up feeling resentful and overwhelmed.

·         Volunteer. Help someone in need or donate a gift to a needy child or family.

·         Enjoy festive Parish and civic activities. Many of these activities are free.

·         Moderate your alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a depressant and can intensify the Christmas Sadness.

• Manage excessive consumption of Christmas foods. Indulging will only add to your stress and feelings of guilt. Eat a healthy snack before going to a Christmas party. Hunger will set you up to overindulge.

If trying to put all of these tips into action feels like too much to tackle, just pick a few that you think will prove most beneficial and try them this year.

Review the list and see how you did. Do you need to add things to your list next year to further improvement Christmas? If yes, make those decisions now while the thought is fresh on your mind, and have your 2018 holiday plan ready to go. By being proactive, you will have one less thing on your commotion list next year.

Christmas Is the Outstanding means to connect with others, to relax and reflect, and to relish feelings of love and gratitude. To keep the holiday blues from diminishing this special time, be mindful of the behaviors and situations that fuel stress and negative feelings, and proactively make choices and decisions that will make your holiday a healthy and enjoyable one.

May the Eternal Physician of the World Heal, Bless, and Protect you.

In case you seek the extra boost, you can contact Dr. Losito via Skype at “menthhealthguy.”

Coping With the Death of a Child in the ED

Health professionals often do not receive formal training in coping with pediatric deaths likely to be encountered in practice. Being unprepared for these intense experiences can negatively affect the health professional and the quality of care provided to survivors. 

After a young patient is pronounced dead in the emergency department (ED), surviving family members are in crisis. ^[5] Survivors can benefit from the engagement of the emergency physician who treated the family member. In addition to making medical decisions during resuscitation, the role of the emergency physician is seen as one of assisting in alleviation of suffering.

A patient's death in the ED, especially the death of a child, is often unexpected. The nature of ED practice is such that the emergency physician often does not have an ongoing professional relationship with the patient's family. Indeed, a patient's death often finds the emergency physician and the patient's family meeting each other for the very first time. This can be a difficult and emotional situation for both physician and family.

In an effort to assist certain care aspects of the child who is pronounced dead in the ED, this article's suggestions are meant only as guidelines to minimize errors. Each patient death is arguably unique. A standard "cookbook" approach by the physician is arguably inappropriate.

Information contained in this article is intended to provide general advice on the subject. As with other aspects of clinical medicine, general advice must be modified according to the individual patient and clinical circumstances. Nothing herein should be applied uncritically to the care of any individual patient or family.

This article is not intended to be encyclopedic. Healthcare professionals can anticipate being students of this topic for their entire professional lives. The author feels this strongly. Accordingly, readers are encouraged to share thoughts and experiences on this subject with the author via email. The opportunity for feedback from readers was a motivation for writing this article. A subject as emotional and potentially controversial as patient death in the ED has many facets. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, each facet contributes to produce a complete clinical picture. Sharing thoughts and experiences is essential to the process of solving the puzzle.

Because a child's death may be viewed as especially tragic, ED personnel may have strong feelings of nonspecific sadness and loss. In the aftermath of a pediatric death, the emergency physician may have feelings that make it difficult to maintain composure. Natural psychological defenses are unconsciously summoned to assist the physician in maintaining composure. A problem may develop if the physician's defenses produce actions that are harmful to survivors of the dead child.

Survivors of a child who has recently died are likely to require emotional support. Every physician cannot be completely supportive of every family member at all times. However, it is reasonable to ask physicians to be aware of their defenses and to avoid actions that interfere with survivors' grief.

"First, do no harm" is a widely known and generally accepted clinical precept. In the care of a patient, the physician should avoid actions that cause harm or produce more harm than good.

Physicians with children may be especially vulnerable to an emotional response to a child's death. If physicians' children are nearly the same age as the deceased patient, physicians may realize suddenly, perhaps for the very first time, the possibility of losing their own children. Physicians with children may also identify with the parents' loss.

Because a child's death may be viewed as especially tragic, ED personnel may have strong feelings of nonspecific sadness and loss. In the aftermath of a pediatric death, the emergency physician may have feelings that make it difficult to maintain composure. Natural psychological defenses are unconsciously summoned to assist the physician in maintaining composure. A problem may develop if the physician's defenses produce actions that are harmful to survivors of the dead child.

Survivors of a child who has recently died are likely to require emotional support. Every physician cannot be completely supportive of every family member at all times. However, it is reasonable to ask physicians to be aware of their defenses and to avoid actions that interfere with survivors' grief.

"First, do no harm" is a widely known and generally accepted clinical precept. In the care of a patient, the physician should avoid actions that cause harm or produce more harm than good.

Physicians with children may be especially vulnerable to an emotional response to a child's death. If physicians' children are nearly the same age as the deceased patient, physicians may realize suddenly, perhaps for the very first time, the possibility of losing their own children. Physicians with children may also identify with the parents' loss.especially tragic.

Crisis

Crisis involves powerful and often uncontrollable emotions. Individuals in crisis may need assistance in moderating their emotions. Recruiting other family members, clergy, friends, and others to support an individual in crisis is often helpful. The physician should repeatedly recommend specific actions for the safety of the person in crisis (eg, "don't drive home, call a friend or cab").

Because individuals in crisis often behave illogically or have impaired decision-making abilities, responsibilities to dependents may be forgotten. Therefore, it is wise to inquire about other children or elderly family members who may require assistance. These individuals may forget about potentially unsafe conditions at home; inquire about safety items (eg, whether electricity to a stove or water to a bath was been left on). The physician should also ask whether the home was locked prior to coming to the hospital.

Grief

Grief is a natural reaction to the death of a child. The grief process begins with understanding that the child's death is real.

The physician should allow (not force) family members to see or hold their dead child. However, the family should be prepared for what will be seen and possibly misunderstood without prior explanation (eg, endotracheal tubes, chest tubes, other resuscitation equipment) when they enter the resuscitation area. Occasionally, offering the family the opportunity to take with them a memento (eg, a lock of hair) helps.

Suffering is a natural part of grief. The physician should accept a wide range of emotions of families suffering from the loss.

Families often feel guilty. If possible, reassure families that they did not contribute (either by acts of commission or omission) to the child's death. Reassuring families that every care procedure that could have been implemented in the ED was implemented is also important.