VACCINES: Let's get started.
Getting pretty tough out there. I never realized how important everything about the Christmas season gets you through November. I sat for a moment this weekend, trying to figure out why I was so down. Well, yeah, it could be a global pandemic but it's more than that. Between mid-November and January 1, y crew has eleven annual events including Bracelet of Hope's World AIDS Day Gala. Tomorrow is World AIDS Day. Eleven events with other people, with family, with friends, with staff. All of these events absorbed a lot of time and energy. They also brought consistency and predictability, something we humans need in order to feel comfortable in our own skin. Most of all, these events brought joy. I am missing the spontaneous joy that happens repeatedly at this time of year and I am dreading the idea of a very quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning.
Dark, cold, quiet, unpredictable, and lonely. Yep. That's it. Plenty of reason to feel out of sorts and down. Please reach out if you are very low and it does not seem to be shifting. Talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about using a SAD lamp. That's a seasonal affective disorder lamp. Sunlight hits the back of your eyes where it causes the clearance of dopamine. Dopamine is a brain chemical involved in establishing mood and many other things. Too much of it can lead to a significant depression. With so little sunlight at this time of year, dopamine is not metabolized the way it should be. We need sunlight for that. We all feel lower, slower and sleepier at this time of year as a result. Add COVID 19 and the lack of joyful events and much needed company and we are all at risk for major mood disorders. A SAD lamp emits light that is similar to the frequency of light we get from the sun. Sit in front of it for 30 min a day and the effect can be as significant as a low dose anti-depressant. Christine, my nurse practitioner and I, are putting a SAD lamp in our room tomorrow. Research shows that leaving it in a corner of a room you sit in for hours a day can improve mood, like a big window on a sunny day brightens our spirits. I have never used a SAD lamp before but, this year I am. My mood is definitely off.
Talk to a health care provider or pharmacist before using a SAD lamp. There are some folks who should not use one without medical supervision.
Thirty minutes of brisk activity everyday is also as powerful as a low dose antidepressant. Start slow and gradually increase. Walking is perfect. Daily exercise is a drug that reduces the risk of every chronic condition including cancer and it improves mood dramatically.
Focus on the good. Control negative thoughts if you can. Replace those worried and depressing thoughts with what we know to be true about COVID 19.
It will end. We will control it. We will go back to our normal lives. A vaccine will take us there.
Canada has ordered more vaccine than any other country. We are not in the back of the line when it comes to a COVID 19 vaccine. I wish the federal and provincial opposition politicians would stand down on their attack of our governments perceived lagging in getting vaccines to Canadians. It is fear mongering and we just don't need to be more fearful or more uncertain about our future.
The Moderna vaccine is now in the final stages of research. It is 94 % effective. Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna said in a statement yesterday that because Canada was among the first countries to make a pre-order with Moderna, the country is guaranteed to receive a certain portion of the company's initial batch of doses as long as the vaccine proves safe and effective and is given regulatory approval.
There will be plenty of vaccines, enough for every Canadian who wants one. It is very likely that the first 2 million most at risk Canadians will receive a COVID 19 vaccine by March. Two million may not seem like many but, once these at-risk populations are immune to COVID-19, the number of people who get seriously ill and die of COVID will drop dramatically keeping our ICU's below capacity. This is key. You will feel the winds of uncertainty and hopelessness change dramatically when these precious 2 million are immune. I can't wait!!!
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are mRNA vaccines. The scientific community has been developing these vaccines for 30 years. Their time has come. This technology is not new. There are several scientific facts about these vaccines that make them safe.
In order to understand these vaccines, we need to learn about cell biology and how a virus infects a cell causing disease.
Hold onto your hats because I am going to try to simplify some very complicated science into something we can all understand. Knowledge is power. Once you know how these vaccines work, you can make an intelligent decision about whether or not to be vaccinated; a decision based on science and not conspiracy.
I love the biology of cells. The next posts will be great fun....at least from my point of view.
Please share.
Some upcoming Canadian Mental Health Association webinars:
Men(tal) Health: A Movember Webinar
November 30, 2020 |7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
All about men's mental health. Sign up here:
Coping with Loneliness and Isolation during COVID-19
December 17, 2020 | 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Sign up here:
Check out a great place for mental health support here:
For local assistance with anxiety and depression:
CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca
Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca.
And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk
For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:
No comments:
Post a Comment