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In health

Cinematherapy and Storytelling as a Means to Navigating Life’s Struggles

Author RosselPosted on Leave a comment

Everyone has a story to tell on the way to handling their emotional struggles and setbacks. Sometimes unconventional approaches to mental health and wellness can be quite effective at managing the way we view and deal with the stories of our lives. For those that are willing to look at more engaging and entertaining ways of navigating life’s difficulties, storytelling and cinema may be an answer.

cinematherapy

What Usually Happens…

Conventionally speaking, mental health has generally been handled in a fairly serious and sterile manner, devoid of entertaining stories or movies as helpmates to soothe human struggle. Often, those seeking therapy or counseling are faced with having to look at their lives through fairly harsh glasses. There is no cushion, or sidebar of opportunity to take a look at our problems more indirectly, like storytelling and “cinematherapy” seem to offer. Instead, the unwavering camera stays forever on the individual seeking therapy and their problems.

What Can Happen…Maybe…

However, just maybe, there is something to be said about tackling the awesome task of dealing with our personal problems through listening to the stories of others can be extremely therapeutic and helpful, offering a different view of our problems and perhaps, different ways of handling them. Perhaps, we can find an emotional guidance system by listening to other people tell the story of what they did when faced with similar problems. One thing for sure is that the opportunity is worth exploring. The art of storytelling is one that has been with us for many years. Hollywood has capitalized off of this ancient art, just as history has. Somehow, knowing what happened to other people, in other places, at different times, both past and present, can act as a roadmap: and what is a road map? A roadmap is a guide, a way of navigating roads that may be a little or a lot unfamiliar to us, and we all know that road maps are immensely helpful. Without them we would be lost, right?

Sometimes the answers to our problems don’t require x-ray vision or an approach that eliminates other life stories and approaches. Often, a well-positioned story or movie is often the salve needed to help in the human struggles.

In health

Why might your tap water look dirty?

Author RosselPosted on Leave a comment

We all know that it’s vital you drink enough water in order to remain hydrated and healthy. But what if your tap water looks dirty and unappealing; you are probably not going to want to drink it. You want to have access to clean and fresh water that actually looks like something you would want to drink.

Of course, if you have a water filtration system in operation in your home you are able to filter your tap water if there appears to be a problem with it, to make it safe to drink. In fact, water filtration is useful at any time, to help removal additives and chemicals that can be found in some tap water. You may be thinking that you drink bottled water so why should you be concerned about the colour of your tap water.

tap water

The truth about bottled water

The truth is that it’s really not a good idea to buy and drink bottled water. It is no safer to drink than ordinary tap water and the plastic bottles end up in landfill or in the oceans. This means that bottled water is not especially healthy to drink and it is very bad for the environment. You need to concentrate on making sure your tap water is safe to drink.

What can make tap water change colour?

If your tap water is usually clear and all of a sudden it turns cloudy and dirty looking this usually means that there has been some sort of disturbance in the water system. The type of disturbance that could be to blame includes the re-laying of water pipes. It’s also possible that dirty drinking water can be caused by breaks or cracks in the pipes supplying the water. It’s important to remember that these pipes run in the ground and come into contact with a variety of different potential contaminants.

You need to make sure that you filter your tap water before you drink it. You also need to make sure that you call professionals such as plumbingdetectives.com.au if the problem with your drinking water continues. The replacement of water pipes should only ever be a temporary issue, so if the discolouration continues you need to have the situation investigated.

We all need water in order to survive; it’s a basic necessity of life. An average adult should be drinking around 8 average glasses of water each day. That is around two litres. If your drinking water does not look good then you are not going to want to drink this amount of water. You should not be tempted to resort to bottled water. You should make sure you have a water filtration system in place and you should get to the bottom of the cause of the discolouration of your drinking water. If the situation does not quickly resolve itself you should make sure you call a professional plumber and enlist their help.

Image source: Pixabay

In health

Reasons Behind An MRI

Author RosselPosted on Leave a comment

When a doctor needs to look inside the body, an MRI is often performed. This is a scan that reveals slices of the area of the body that is examined. It could be of the head, abdomen or lower extremities. Some scans are required to determine if there are any blood clots in the body. The MRI allows the doctor to view the organs and the tissues in a way that can give the doctor a clear picture as to whether there is a tumor or if there are any concerns that need to be addressed.

Open-MRI
The MRI is often done to look at the brain and the spinal cord as an x-ray usually won’t give the proper results. Doctors can detect aneurysms, multiple sclerosis, any abnormalities with the eye, signs of a stroke and if there are any conditions associated with the brain and spine that could result in medications or treatments that are needed.

A functional MRI is done to determine the level of language perception that goes on in the brain. It is helpful after someone has a stroke to determine if there are areas of the brain that have been damaged. When the MRI is used on the heart and other organs, it can look at the size of the heart and the vessels to determine if there is a risk of a heart attack or if a heart attack has occurred. The doctor can see if there is any kind of inflammation in the heart or the vessels along with any blockages.

Tumors can be detected with an MRI. Imaging centers in NJ can view the size and location of the tumor, giving doctors an idea as to what can be done to shrink the tumor or remove it from the body. Common areas that are scanned include the abdomen, liver, lungs and uterus. The prostate and ovaries are also scanned to see if there are any small tumors that might be present. At times, medications might be needed before the MRI so that the doctor can get a better view of the area that is examined, especially if any leaks are suspected.

Image source: middletownimaging.com

In health

Why does your tap water taste bad and how can you improve it?

Author RosselPosted on Leave a comment

Many people have a fascination for drinking bottled water but the good news is that the water you get from your tap can be just as safe to drink; safer in some circumstances. That does not mean that your tap water always tastes as good as you would like it to. If you drink water from your tap you want it to be a refreshing and tasty experience. There are ways that you can make sure of this.

water
One of the best ways to make sure your tap water is as great tasting and safe to drink as possible is to filter it. You can check out the filtered water coolers at Clean and Clear to see which one is the best fit for your home. Let’s take a look at why your water may taste bad and why filtering is a good idea.

Reasons why your tap water may not taste as good as it should

One of the main causes of bad tasting water is chlorine. This is often put into water supplies in an attempt to remove some of the contaminants that may be present. The problem with chlorine is that is does not taste great. If your water has been treated with chlorine then it will likely have a chemical taste and smell. The effect is nowhere near as strong as that created by the chlorine in swimming pools but, depending on how sensitive you are to chlorine, it can still be a problem.

Another reason that your water may not taste great is the presence of metals. Metal such as iron and copper from your pipes can make its way into your water over time. Metal can also be present in the water supply itself. If the problem is coming from your pipes then you will notice it more when you first switch on the tap during the day.

The water that comes out has been lying in the pipes for a while so the metallic taste is likely to be stronger. The most important thing to remember, when it comes to the presence of metals in water, is that lead can be very dangerous. If your pipes are really old, and have not been updated at all since the 1980s, you should have them checked out for the presence of lead.

Why filtration is a good idea

When it comes to dealing with the chlorine in your water, you are never going to be able to completely eliminate it. Filtration can limit the chlorine content in your water though; reducing the odour and taste present. Filtration can also remove metals from your water. If you are having problems with the taste of your tap water then using a water filtration system is a good idea. It is not just the taste of your water that filtration can help with either; it can also remove many of the hundreds of contaminants that can be found in tap water on occasion, making it completely safe to drink.

You can see why it makes sense to filter your tap water; to ensure you get a great tasting drink that is safe and refreshing.

Image source: Pixabay.com

In health

The Problems That Bottled Water Cause for the Environment

Author RosselPosted on Leave a comment

The phenomenon of bottled water is certainly nothing new; it’s been around since the 1980s. Unlike many things that came out of the 80s, such as the Sinclair C5, bottled water has remained high in popularity. The argument about how necessary it is to drink water from a bottle continues to rage and people continue to pay high amounts for water in a plastic bottle that goes on to cause problems for the environment.

bottled water
If you buy a bottle of water you might not necessarily think about the problems that disposing of it can cause for the world; of course one bottle is not a problem on its own but put it together with over 50 million bottles sold each year across the globe and you can see how big the issue is. In areas where fresh drinking water is required for several people it makes more sense to have a water cooler dispenser in place.

The Impact That Bottled Water Has on the Environment

The bottled water industry is big business and you can see why when you consider the millions of bottles of water that are purchased each year. One of the major impacts this has on the environment is the amount of fossil fuel that is used to produce each bottle; the fuel used is equivalent to around a quarter of that same bottle filled with oil.

In an environment where fossil fuels are dwindling, and where the search is on for cleaner fuel, this is not good news. Another issue with plastic water bottles is that the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics from which they are made do not biodegrade but rather photodegrade. This means that they take a long time to decompose; potentially hundreds of years.

The small pieces which they break down into absorb toxic substances which pollute the earth and the water around us. An incredible 10% of plastic produced ends up in the oceans of the world; this is a major environmental concern. Although you may think that plastic bottles are recycled this very often is not the case and they end up in the water or at the bottom of landfills polluting the earth.

Why Bottled Water is Not Safer to Drink

Despite the environmental impact of drinking bottled water, many people still do so because they think it’s better for them; this is not the case. There is even some evidence to suggest that the plastic can contaminate the water and cause issues such as a raised risk of developing some types of cancer. The water in a bottle is also just as likely to be contaminated as tap water.

In the majority of cases tap water is as safe as or safer to drink than bottled water. If you have several people to provide water for it may seem tempting to provide bottles as it’s a simple way of distributing large amounts of water. Given the environmental impact of doing this it makes more sense to put a water cooler dispenser in place, for people to get a drink from.

Image source: Pixabay