The Campaign Includes A Vibrant and Authentic Merchandise Collection That Hopes To Drive Large Scale Awareness for The Launch of 988 and Encourages Support of Didi Hirsch and Their Efforts to Prevent Suicide

LOS ANGELES, July 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services (Didi Hirsch), home of the nation's premier Suicide Prevention Center and a leading provider of whole-person mental health and crisis care, is excited to announce a purpose-driven partnership with Self-Care Is For Everyone, an emerging advocacy organization and apparel retailer that aims to make healing resources, reminders and experiences more accessible. This impactful merchandise collaboration and the campaign aim to drive funding and awareness for the launch of 988, the new 3-digit phone that connects people experiencing a mental health suicidal crisis with a trained counselor 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.

The "What If It Gets Better?" campaign includes an awareness-driven merchandise collection that will donate all proceeds to support Didi Hirsch's implementation of 988. The campaign highlights various crisis care frontline workers and volunteers within Didi Hirsch for an intimate portrait of the impactful work of suicide prevention hotlines. As California's lead 988 agency, Didi Hirsch has partnered with 12 other crisis centers across the state, both public and private, who field over 270,000 calls together a year to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The California crisis centers have started receiving calls to 988 since July 16, 2022, when it became available nationwide.

"We at Didi Hirsch are dedicated to working towards the common goal of providing a solution to the mental health crisis our nation faces today," said Didi Hirsch's Chief Executive Officer Lyn Morris, LMFT. "We are excited about our partnership with Self-Care Is For Everyone and know this campaign will help drive awareness of the historical launch and support the cause".

Founded on World Kindness Day in 2018 by three family members and mental health advocates: AJ Martofel, Sasha Aronzon-Martofel, and Jonathan Martofel a licensed marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles, Self-Care Is For Everyone has had a founding commitment to utilizing the platform to encourage mental-health conversations and help prevent suicide. Self-Care Is For Everyone (@selfcareisforeveryone) has distributed more than $680,000 to independent artists and nonprofit organizations serving the mental-health community.

"We feel so grateful that we get to partner with Didi Hirsch to amplify the importance of 988. This new and faster way to access mental health care gives us hope for a better future where those struggling can feel less alone," shares Self-Care Is For Everyone Co-Founder Jonathan Martofel, LMFT. "Being able to give back through this collection is really meaningful because the funds go directly to support Didi Hirsch and help strengthen their efforts in answering these life-saving calls."

988 is more than just an easy-to-remember numberit's a direct connection to compassionate, accessible care and support for anyone experiencing mental health-related distress whether that is thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. People can also dial 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

Self-Care Is For Everyone partnered with mental health advocate and artist Cami Zea (@zeaink) to create the designs for the merch collection. The "What If It Gets Better?"collection includes two unique designs in two colorways available in t-shirts ($29.88) and crewnecks ($39.88), with 100% of the net profits being donated to Didi Hirsch. The designs feature a range of affirmations and healing statements that spell out the words 988 in large letters and remind those who are struggling with their mental health to call 988. Every order includes a free 3" vinyl 988 sticker, access to a digital mental health self-care toolkit, a voucher to try one free month of online therapy, and a campaign postcard with healing affirmations.

The "What If It Gets Better?" collection is exclusively available on Self-Care Is For Everyone's Instagram and website. You can find more information surrounding the campaign and collection at http://www.selfcareisforeveryone.com.

About Didi Hirsch:

Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services has been a national leader in whole-person mental health and crisis care for 80 years. Its first-in-the-nation Suicide Prevention Center operates multiple English/Spanish hotlines 24/7, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline becoming 988 in July 2022, the national Disaster Distress Helpline for those suffering emotionally from natural or manmade disasters, a new line diverting 911 calls from the LAPD disproportionately connecting Black and Latinx young men to care, as well as Teen Line. Didi Hirsch's highly specialized experts also provide outpatient therapy and medication management, crisis counseling and support groups for people with suicidal thoughts, attempts, or loss, as well as suicide prevention training for students, teachers, clergy, police, and first responders. Didi Hirsch serves nearly 160,000 children, adults and families each year through 10 facilities and over 75 schools across Los Angeles and Orange counties. Learn more today at http://www.didihirsch.org

About Self-Care Is For Everyone:

Self-Care Is For Everyone (@selfcareisforeveryone) exists to amplify the voices of mental health advocates through art and design. Self-Care Is For Everyone is a family-run mental health advocacy brand that was founded on World Kindness Day 2018 by mental health advocates: Sasha Aronzon-Martofel, Sasha's husband AJ Martofel, & AJ's older brother Jonathan Martofel, LMFT 126269, a licensed therapist with a practice in Los Angeles, CA. The Self-Care Is For Everyone community is made up of over 1 million mental health advocates who recognize that self-care practices like resting, staying hydrated, and going to therapy are essential in order to keep going and prevent burnout. Each day, @selfcareisforeveryoneshares artwork & reminders that inspire hope, raise awareness, and encourage everyone to talk more openly about their mental health struggles. Self-Care Is For Everyone donates 10% of their net profits and helps raise funds for suicide prevention nonprofits like The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention and Didi Hirsch! For more reminders that are good for your mental health, please visit: http://www.selfcareisforeveryone.com

Media ContactDISRPT PR[emailprotected]

SOURCE Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services

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Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services and Self-Care Is For Everyone Announce Campaign To Spotlight Mental Health and 988 Launch - PR Newswire

As individuals who fear the unknown, loyalists can often spiral down a rabbit hole when thinking about future events. This behavior often leads to "catastrophizing," which Healthline defines as "when someone assumes that the worst will happen."

Whether you have an upcoming exam, a pending performance review with your boss, or a big family reunion next week, there are several healthy coping mechanisms you can utilize to offload your anxieties. To help clear your head of overwhelming and stressful thoughts, The Every Girl recommends meditating using an app such as Headspace, Unplug, or SuperHuman. Meditation has many scientifically proven benefits including improving sleep, increasing self-awareness, and reducing anxiety.

Writing down everything you are thinking or feeling is another healthy way to offload your stress, as recommended by Truity. Using this tactic helps you literally transfer all of the stressful thoughts from your brain to a piece of paper. Once all of your worries have been written down, you can then begin to work through each one. It's important to remind yourself of a few things when looking at that list. For one, not all of these worries are within your control, and not all of these worries are your burdens to bear.

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If You're An Enneagram Type 6, You Should Try This Wellness Trend - The List

University of Minnesota School of Public Health postdoctoral fellow Tongtan (Bert) Chantarat co-led a study, published in Health Services Research, that quantifies problems involving workplace climate, culture and professional discrimination experienced by researchers within the health services and policy research (HSPR) field. His collaborators are Taylor B. Rogers (University of California, Los Angeles), Carmen R. Mitchell (University of Louisville) and Michelle J. Ko (University of California, Davis).

In the HSPR field, researchers use multidisciplinary research approaches to understand health and healthcare problems. Their work includes identifying strategies to dismantle structural oppression and its health impacts. To accomplish this, it is vital that researchers look at challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within their own field.

Prior research has shown significant gaps remain for groups historically and structurally excluded from health professions, including those who are Black, Hispanic/Latinx and LGBQTI+. The study surveyed 906 researchers and trainees in the U.S. to understand the professional climate in HSPR workplaces, such as universities, non-academic institutes and private corporations, and to ascertain efforts to advance DEI in the HSPR workforce.

The research found:

When people talk about DEI, most focus on the diversity part because they can report statistics to show progress, said Chantarat. But, it is just as important to ensure that workplaces have systems to support the success of those from historically and structurally excluded groups. We will not achieve health equity if we continue to uphold harmful environments that push researchers from our workforce.

These findings help identify areas for growth to strengthen the HSPR workplace climate. Prior research has shown that non-inclusive work conditions have driven Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx scholars from academic institutions.

Workplace equity and inclusion are also necessary components for ensuring sustainability of DEI efforts. HSPR research plays a critical role in the work of health equity, and it is vital that self-awareness, accountability and substantive institutional reform occurs within the field itself. The Workplace Culture Survey, which the study team used to collect the data, is available for future projects to use.

This work is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in cooperation with the UC Davis Center for a Diverse Health Workforce. Participant recruitment support was provided by AcademyHealth; however, AcademyHealth did not provide financial support for this project, and was not involved in the design of the study or the analysis and interpretation of the results. Additional technical support was provided by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice, and Health.

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About the School of Public HealthThe University of Minnesota School of Public Health improves the health and wellbeing of populations and communities around the world by bringing innovative research, learning, and concrete actions to todays biggest health challenges. We prepare some of the most influential leaders in the field, and partner with health departments, communities, and policymakers to advance health equity for all. Learn more at sph.umn.edu.

Link:
Perceptions of DEI within health services and policy research workplaces - UMN News

Setting limits can be liberating

In the discussions about work-life, there is plenty of focus on saying no. Setting boundaries, imposing limits and restricting activities seem like logical responses to the too-fast, too-much, too-demanding reality that many people face.

But there are some important new ways to look at why you would say no andon the contrarywhy you should say an enthusiastic yes to other pursuits. In fact, your choices about where to invest and where to divest are important to your career.

An important starting point is to consider when you will want to engage, get involved and participate. Rather than having a world view which starts by shutting down opportunities, it will be more powerful to focus on all you have to contribute and the places you want to plug into your community.

People want to work with colleagues who are enthusiastic and embracing of possibility. In addition, you will feel more rewarded when youre deeply involved in projects you care about. All of these are reasons to lean in with energy and passion.

But saying no is critical to your sanity as well. You want to be a person who sets smart limits, but isnt limited. You want to be selective about where you contribute, but also enthusiastically engaged. You want to be respected as someone who manages your energy, but is also energetic. Of course no one will balance these perfectly, but keeping them in mind can help your career blossom.

Surprisingly, saying, no is a path to finding these balances and to saying, yes enthusiastically. Heres how to think about setting limits in new ways.

For work-life satisfaction and fulfillment, people must come to terms with their limited hours and years. The wheel in which you keep running is fueled by the mistaken belief that if you just go a little faster and work a little harder you can do it all. It is the misguided perception that if you just manage your time a bit more efficiently you can squeeze it all in.

But this is crazy-making. You cannot do it all, and the paradox of efficient time management is that while you may be leveraging every last second of your day, or optimizing your calendar, youll be reducing your personal fulfillment.

The alternative is to embrace your limits. Even though there will always be tremendous demands on your time, you cannot do it all. And this is a good thing. When you realize your time is limited, you can be more selective about how you spend it. Decide on whats most important to you and lean into those activities. Say yes when something is aligned with your passion or your goals. Say no when its not.

People who succeed in their careers tend to be those who have strong brands. They are known for a certain type of expertise or a well of talent in a particular area. When you are clear about who you are and what you do well, and the areas in which youre developing, you will be building your career because people will know you through your choices and actions. Youll say yes to what youre good at and the direction of your growth. And youll say no to everything else. Youll be legible and easy to readsomeone others can understand and count on.

Rewarding careers are the result of current success, but also the result of staying on a journey toward continued development. Choose when to say no and when to say yes by keeping the bigger picture in mind.

Choose to engage when you know an activity is a step on the path to your goals or aligned with your purpose. Give yourself permission to back away when a request lacks alignment with where youre headed. For example, you agree to manage the budget for your association, because you know you can add value and because the work will help you develop your analytical skills. On the other hand, you turn down the opportunity to procure supplies for the neighborhood picnic because while you love your cul-de-sac friends, its not aligned with other priorities, and you know you cant do it all. You will grow your career by developing your skills and growing your talents, so when choosing to engageor notuse this as one a criterion.

Choosing well helps you truly invest.

Growing your career hinges on your relationships and the quality and depth of the rapport you build with others. Making good choices about where you engage is a fundamental part of the relationships through which your career can progress.

Consider the people with whom you want to build connections, and engage in the activities which foster these. Say yes to the opportunity at work in which you will collaborate with people in marketing, because you want to build your marketing acumen and because you want to make a contribution. Choose not to invest your energy when you have less to contribute to a community, or when you have less to learn from them. You value all your colleagues and have a thirst to learn from everyone, of course, but remind yourself that you cant build meaningful relationships with unlimited numbers of people.

Also ensure youre able to spend the time which is necessary to nurture great relationships. Research has demonstrated true friendships are built over about 60 hours. While you may not have to invest quite this much in a strong relationship with a work colleague, your choices for where you engage should allow for real investment of time. If you choose to engage in too much, youll always be flitting from one activity to the next and youll miss the opportunity for the conversation before the call or the reflection time after the meeting.

Emerging from the pandemic, there is a renewed emphasis on the quality of relationships, and on building depth, not just on growing your number of LinkedIn connections. People will help you in your career when they feel they know and understand you, and when they have felt valued by you. And these are only possible when youve been able to invest time and energy in the relationship. Say no to doing it all, so you can truly engage with people and build depth, not just breadth, in your network.

Developing your career requires you to be committed and energetic. People want to work with those who are enthusiastic and passionate about their pursuits. When you make conscious choices about taking something on, your investment will contribute to your credibility.

If you say yes too frequently, you wont really be committing to anything because your focus will be scattered and you wont be able to do anything to your fullest potential. Instead, by choosing when to disengage, youll be able to fully immerse yourself in what you care most aboutand those with whom youre working will appreciate your full contribution on your chosen activities.

Knowing you cant do it all will help you determine what you can and should do. Your own self awareness should power your choices to say no and they will help you flourish in your career.

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Know When To Say No: 3 Ways Saying No Can Build Your Career - Forbes

Linh Ta as told to Andrea Sahouri| Des Moines Register

Linh Ta: Too American or too Asian | Des Moines Storyteller's Project

How this Iowan learned to love all sides of herself, as told at the Des Moines Storyteller's Project's "Love" on, Feb. 15, 2022.

Des Moines Storytellers Project, Mediacom

Editor's note: Linh Tafirst told this story on stage at theDes Moines Storytellers Project's "Love: Stories of companionship, desireand commitment."The Des Moines Storytellers Projectis a series of storytelling events in which community members work with Register journalists to tell true, first-person stories live on stage. An edited version appears below.

Here in Des Moines, thousands upon thousands of miles away from the home they first knew, my parents met.

My dad always said that my mom was the prettiest girl in town.

She had a few other feelings about him. But she eventually got to know him and they married two people with a dream of a fruitlife life they hoped would happen through a Vietnamese restaurant and a family.

A lot of us know the story about how Iowa shone as a beacon of hope when the Vietnam War displaced refugees who needed homes. Thousands of them came here to Iowa, including my parents.

But then what happened?

On an April day Duc Ta and Thanh Nguyen-Ta had me.

They chose the name Linh L-i-n-h because it was a common Vietnamese name, but alsoIowans could pronounce it too.

Jokes on them. Sometimes, they cant.

There was no guidebook for how we were supposed to navigate our lives here. No family recipe to reminisce grandmas Thanksgiving dinner. No creaky home where generations of our family stayed we were just seeds in the air trying to find land that wouldnt spit us back up.

Add on top of that, I was quickly growing into an American child of the 2000s that demanded a Gameboy Color and beads in my hair and a growing desire to be more like a Linda versus a Linh.

When I was 10, I had a crush on the neighbor boy with his bright blue eyes. Wed make sand castles in his backyard and I would twist up grass and make little rings, one for him, one for me.

He invited me over for dinner sometimes and I sat with his family around their laminate table, hands together in prayer. That's where I discovered for the first timefive-minute rice with butter, which I politely shoveled under some food.

They were so freely nice, telling me that I could come over whenever and come play on their swingset.

But for my family, like many other Asian families, there's a lot of love between us, but there's also a reservation to others that can come off as coldness.

That meant misunderstood interactions, lots of nos when I asked if friends could come to our house and a general assumption from outsiders that well they must not like us, so we dont like them.

After a particularly fun day of playing with the neighbor boy, I begged my mom to let him stay for dinner. To my shock, she said yes it was something that rarely, if ever happened and I was elated.

We talked Pokemon cards and laughed about school. He was my best friend and to bring him to my table,I was ecstatic.

But when I looked across the dinner table, twinges of embarrassment kicked in. She didnt have to say it. But I could sense it. The judgment. I avoided my moms gaze and we finished dinner and he went home.

Later that night, I asked her what she thought of him at dinner. Without a beat of hesitation, she said he was rude. No please or thank you. Shoes on inside the house. I went to defend his reputation even though she felt like she was defending mine.

We argued that night as she cleaned up the dishes her fingernails scratching off flecks of food even though we had a dishwasher right there. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed that in her eyes, I chose wrong. I was embarrassed because we were the house where people had to act a certain way, where American families Iowan families were so warm and welcoming and we were so utterly not.

Years later, when the neighbor and I were both teenagers in middle school, we took the bus together. It wasnt together-together, as we had reached that awkward age of self-awareness where one small move could mean social calamity in the vicious world of teenage popularity.

I was no longer the cute, elementary student that charmed people. New school, new students, acne-ridden. To the new kids at my school, I was then that Asian kid.

The new anonymity was freeing and trapping in certain ways. I leaned into stereotypes, pretending I was good at math when I was not good at math. I started making friends with the other Asian kids and felt a new sense of camaraderie I hadnt before.

But one day on the bus, when I was sitting with the other Asian kids, the neighbor boy the one who knew me turned to us and asked: Did you guys get your names from your parents throwing pots and pans down the stairs?

I was able to shrug off the comments from the other kids, but this one, I wasnt protected from. It was a reminder that no matter how hard I tried to assimilate, no matter how hard I tried to fit in, I was the Asian kid, first and foremost.

Plus, our stairs were carpeted. He knew that.

Being the kid of immigrants, its a wave you learn to ride.

Your great aunt gives you a bar of soap and points to your face, you nod and smile and say, "Im taking care of it, I know you love me, dont worry, theres this new three-step process called Proactiv."

When a white guy on Tinder immediately asks you if youre into anime you say well, duh but swipe left.

I let jokes slide by that I shouldnt have. And felt parts of myself slip away that I should have held dear, things that I should have loved in myself like my mothers eyes or my fathers tan skin.

But even among the people I looked like I feared their judgment too. Too Asian for the American people, but too American for Asian people.

I could help relatives with their resumes, but could barely speak with my own grandmother in Vietnamese.

And while I grew okay with being a Linh, the uncomfortable gray area sat with me for a long time.

But love changes things. And loving yourself is hard, oh so hard. But sometimes, when you love somebody else and see parts of yourself in them, it makes it easier to love yourself too.

For me, that started when I watched my little cousins grow up.

The next generation of my family isnt shy about sharing their lives, which is why I know way too much right now about Harry Styles and YouTube drama.

Its so fun watching them live their fun, authentic lives where they dont hesitate to share details about their heritage with their friends and classmates.

But when my little cousin was upset one day and told me the story about a boy who asked her if she ate dogs you better know, I was ready to beat a kid up.

And thats when I realized how badly my parents must have only wanted to protect me from the same cruelties and glares when they first came here so many years ago.

And I love them for who they are trying to keep me safe from a world that can be cruel and instantly judgmental.

I love my cousins for how open they are and how they dont hide themselves. And as they get older and that self-awareness kicks in, I want them to see that I love myself and that there's nothing they need to hide.

And when I think about my life now so many years later and all the different types of people who care about me, I feel forever grateful.

Andyou know what my parents have been doing? Theyve been asking me about when Im going to bring a nice person over.

ABOUT THE STORYTELLER:Linh Ta is a proud Des Moines resident, born and raised. She works as a reporter for Axios Des Moines, a daily newsletter that covers everything from politics to the best eats in town. Prior to that, she worked at the Des Moines Register and Iowa Capital Dispatch. As a new homeowner, her days are spent asking "how the heck do you do that?" and telling her cat to knock it off.

The Des Moines Storytellers Project strongly believes that everyone HAS a story and everyone CAN tell it. None of the storytellers who take our stage are professionals. They are your neighbors, friends or co-workers, and they are coached to tell byRegister journalists.

Want to tell your story at one of our upcoming Storytellers Project events?Read our guidelines and submit a story at DesMoinesRegister.com/Tell.

Contactstorytelling@dmreg.comfor more information.

WATCH:Mediacom rebroadcasts stories from the most recent show on MC22 periodically;check local listings for times. A replay is also available at YouTube.com/DMRegister.

LISTEN:Check out the Des Moines Storytellers Project podcast, which is available on your favorite podcasting platforms.

Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today atDesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.

Excerpt from:
Too American or too Asian? How this Iowan learned to love all sides of herself - Des Moines Register

Ritual treatment of the dead, either through burial ceremonies or other funerary activities is often seen as a signal of self-awareness and interpersonal relationships in animals, which of course includes humans. Finding death rituals in non-human animals can be tricky, but it does happen. Apes, elephants, dolphins, and some birds have all been observed either watching over the bodies of the deceased or otherwise treating them in some socially meaningful way.

Humans, of course, take this relationship with the dead to a level not seen in other animals. Certainly, our relationship with the dead has evolved over time and a critical step in that evolution was recently uncovered in the ancient city of atalhyk, in modern-day Turkey. atalhyk is thought by some to be the worlds oldest city, dating back approximately 9,000 years. The people there lived in houses made of mud bricks and engaged in unusual funeral rites involving the painting of both bodies and houses.

Eline Schotsman from the PACEA laboratory at the University of Bordeaux, and colleagues, were examining human remains at the site to better understand the use of pigments in funeral rituals at atalhyk. Their findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The majority of the deceased in this community were simply buried and left in the ground, not unlike the way we bury our dead today. Some, however, received special treatment. A small portion of the dead, about 6 percent, were painted with various pigments. Its unclear why some individuals received this treatment while most did not.

This is the beginning of social differentiation, but were not sure why some were painted. It isnt based on age, or sex, or specific families. At the moment, we dont really have an answer. We think it was a kind of social memory, Schotsman told SYFY WIRE.

We can think of the rituals as similar to the way modern humans might keep mementos of lost loved ones in their houses as a way of triggering memories of the deceased. The people of the time didnt have photographs or other visual means of remembering, so they used pigments.

In addition to painting the dead, they also painted their houses, and the number of domicile paintings lines up with the number of painted remains, suggesting they were done at, or around, the same time. Adding pigment to the remains and then adding the same pigments to your house offers a visual and tactile connection to the dead which remains even after the body is buried.

Blue and green colors were used for women and children only, which is quite special. Cinnabar was only used for males and only found as a head band. Ochre was used for everyone, Schotsman said.

Theres also evidence that burial wasnt necessarily permanent. Researchers found indications that bones were sometimes removed from the grave and kept in the community for a time. Theyd be passed around and these secondary or tertiary funeral rituals often included the painting of houses and addition of pigment to the remains or the burial site.

The fact that these activities were not evenly distributed across individuals might be an early example of social inequality which evolved over time until it reached its modern form. Its interesting to consider that relationships as complex as racial, sexual, or economic inequality might have gotten their start with stripes of paint applied to the head.

It lends a little more weight to the way we inter and celebrate our dead. Theres no telling how the difference between cremation, standard burial, or a mausoleum might trickle into the future and influence the way our descendants live.

Maybe we should all just slide our bodies into a peat bog and call it a day.

See the article here:
Bone canvas: Ancient humans painted and passed around the remains of their dead - Syfy

Article content

The Toronto Sun takes you straight to the heart of the action.

Whether its local news, provincial and national politics, or the worlds of celebrity and sports, we have you covered.

Some stories set the world on fire. And these ones are the most popular online stories from the past seven days, clicked on by Sun readers like you.

Here are our top stories:

DICTATORSHIP OF THE WORST KIND: European MPs blast Trudeau for COVID rights violation

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the European Parliament speaking about how important it is for countries on both sides of the pond to work together to defend (cough, cough) democracy. Oy.

The Suns Eddie Chau went down a rabbit hole of some of the best comments from the MPs in the room who accused him of violating human rights over how he and his government handled the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa last month. (Was it only last month? It seems like forever ago.)

The most memorable? One MEP described Canada in recent months as a symbol of civil rights violation under Trudeaus quasi-liberal boot, and his invoking of the Emergencies Act was of a dictatorship of the worst kind.

LILLEY: Trudeau warns Canadians, European leaders against politicians acting as he does

Chau passed the baton off to political columnist Brian Lilley who went one step further to question Trudeaus complete and utter lack of self-awareness.

He issued a warning, first to European leaders, then Canadians, against politicians who act just like he does. Um, what??

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Man who fell off Jet Ski shot and killed by his rescuer in South Carolina

Did you hear the one about the man who saved a man and woman who fell off a jet ski, then ended up shooting the man who nearly drowned?

Okay, well, this is no laughing matter but it did happen, in South Carolina, and the shooter was not prosecuted after the shooting was ruled as self-defence.

Just when you thought things couldnt get more bizarre.

ITS AN HONOUR: Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews caps hat deal

From hat tricks to hats, Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is the new face of Lids, the North American sports cap retailer.

It also makes him the first NHL player and first pro athlete from a Canadian team with such a partnership.

Its an honour for me, Matthews told the Suns Lance Hornby. Ive always been into hats; I think theyre a really big part of hockey culture.

Don Cherry may not be a fan of Matthews fashion choices but others sure are. Hats off to you, Auston!

KINSELLA: Breaking down the motive for this undemocratic Liberal-NDP backroom deal

As you already know, the Liberals reached an agreement that would see the New Democrats support Justin Trudeaus minority government through to 2025.

Political columnist Warren Kinsella broke down, then broke down the undemocratic backroom deal between the two parties that transformed Trudeau, the minority prime minister, into Trudeau, majority prime minister something most Canadians didnt want back in October during the election.

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TOP CLICKS: The week that was in viral stories - Edmonton Journal

I had hoped post Brexit that the UK would become a boring, reliable friend of freedom and democracy (Do you find everyone else boring? Youve only yourself to blame, Focus). I had hoped that we would do boring things such as feed and house the entire population. Potholes would be fixed, public transport less expensive and unreliable houses insulated.

Alas, the quest for shareholder value and bone-headed populism has instead produced a constant flow of unlearned lessons from our state institutions and an almost comical lack of self-awareness in the international arena. Ukraine, in her agony to achieve freedom from autocracy, has transformed a comedian into a statesman and leader and maintained a unity of purpose and nationhood. In contrast, the UK has become divided between rich and poor, town and country, young and old and between the smaller nations of the union and England.

Lets embrace the boring and knuckle down to achieving concrete results, rather than promoting hype. Let us sit down and stop thinking that there are shortcuts to success at any level.Richard StylesWalmer, Kent

Viv Groskops entertaining article on boring professions reminded me of the entry that used to appear in the Yellow Pages phone directory in the 1980s: Boring see Civil Engineers.David HarperCambridge

It was great to read your interview with Ruth Madeley about the drama Then Barbara Met Alan (These stories change how people think, Magazine). While Ruths comments are excellent, she says: I dont think it had been done before: two visibly disabled characters, played by two disabled actors, in a loving and sexy sex scene.

However, this was done for the first time in the BBC film Every Time You Look at Me (2004), with Mat Fraser and Lisa Hammond. It was still astonishing that it took this long. My disabled partner, Richard Rieser, ran the 1 in 8 Campaign in the 1990s, which broke new ground in campaigning for disabled people to be shown positively in all mainstream media, culminating in The Raspberry Ripple Awards on Channel 4.Susie BurrowsLondon N1

I read with mounting horror Stuart McGurks piece on the new-age fashion for manifesting what you want (When your dreams come true, Magazine). This turbo-charged individualism was a trend in the 1990s and its sad to see it being peddled again to desperate and gullible young people. Apparently to manifest a dream car or boyfriend you just need to totally focus on what you want. Presumably, people caught up in war and famine, poverty or violence are just not focusing enough? Marianne CraigBrighton

Last week, this paper published its view on the Cass review on gender identity services for children, calling, without a hint of irony, for an end to ideology (Children with gender identity issues are ill served by adults who shut down debate, Comment). For years, the Gender Identity Development Service has been positioned as variably both affirmative or gate-keeping, too rushed or too ponderous. These are false dichotomies.

At GIDS, we take a young persons sense of themselves seriously. Some may refer to this approach as affirmative. However, being respectful of someones identity does not preclude exploration. Recent independent research relates first hand the experiences of young people.

Most of our young people meet the criteria for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Yet only a minority access puberty blockers. Gender dysphoria alone is a poor predictor for who might benefit from a medical pathway.

Our specialist NHS service works developmentally to arrive at a shared understanding of what support may be needed. While we are trained to identify wider psychological or safeguarding needs, we liaise with local services to meet these. We do explore and seek to understand the impact of co-occurring difficulties and neurodiversity, but do not conceptualise the experience of gender incongruence as a symptom to be resolved with extensive therapy.

There is a reason GIDS evolved over decades at the Tavistock it is a place with a long history of holding complexity. Simplistic notions about gender have no place and do not serve young people. Of course, what is universally accepted is the recognition that young people need more support from other services, something we have long been calling for.Paul Jenkins, CEO Tavistock and Polly Carmichael, director GIDS

Thank you for your piece about the forced adoptions carried out in the 1950s-1970s (Were human beings, we deserve an apology, say forced adoption victims, News). My mother was one of those who gave birth in a mother and baby home during that period and the experience scarred her for life. She was one of the few to keep her baby in her cohort only two did so, herself and another young woman who was handing her child over to the grandma to raise. The impact on my mother was tremendous. She has suffered from mental health issues ever since, and when she gave birth to my brother 16 years later, the impact of that delayed trauma was still with her.

She often spoke of the way she was chastised as she was giving birth to me, being told that she was an awful human being and that there was no way she would be able to raise a child out of wedlock. The impact was so extreme that when I was pregnant 40 years later, she had to have therapy due to PTSD flashbacks.

The young women who had their children adopted were not the only ones who suffered. It was all young women who went through that system and the impact reverberates still among women of my age, both as daughters of those who kept their babies and daughters of those who were forced to submit, since that knowledge becomes a form of generational trauma that is handed down.Yasmin Stefanov-KingScarborough, North Yorkshire

Snobbery and stereotyping in the Everyman crossword last Sunday? I fear so: Everyman No 3,936 clue for 21 down: Here you see outsized competitors hover excitedly, primarily? Solution: oche (the line to be toed when playing darts). Not so Everyman after all?David ReedLondon NW3

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Letters: Britain should knuckle down and embrace the boring - The Guardian

Tennis, with all its aging and ailing superstars, has been bracing for big farewells for years. But players like Roger Federer, Serena and Venus Williams and Andy Murray have defied the timeline and the expectations, pressing on and rejecting retirement through competitiveness, stubbornness, and a love of the game and the platform.

Which is why Wednesday came as such a surprise.

Ashleigh Barty, by these new-age standards, was just getting started. At 25, she was ranked No. 1 with three Grand Slam singles titles in the bank, including Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January. Already an icon at home, she had the beautiful game and winning personality to one day become a global brand as the majors and seasons piled up.

But Barty was on her own timeline, and, after long and careful consideration, she is retiring on top, the very top, which might sound neat and tidy but actually requires the self-awareness and the guts to leave quite a few things unfinished.

If Barty remains retired, she will never win a U.S. Open singles title, never win the Billie Jean King Cup team event for Australia, never win an Olympic gold medal, never, with her complete set of tennis tools, achieve the calendar-year Grand Slam that her Australian predecessors Rod Laver and Margaret Court won more than 50 years ago.

But there is more to a champions life than a checklist, and, as Federer and his enduring peer group would surely confirm, it is only worth making the trek to such low-oxygen destinations if you genuinely enjoy the journey.

Barty, a teen prodigy who won the Wimbledon girls title at age 15, has long seemed like someone whose gift took her farther than she wanted to go.

Im shocked and not shocked, Rennae Stubbs, an Australian player, coach and ESPN analyst, said of Bartys retirement. Ash is not an ego-driven person wanting more. Shes happy and now comfortable and never has to leave her town and family again. And shes content with her achievements now.

The journeys, it is true, are longer for Australians, and they had been isolated under some of the strictest lockdowns and quarantine rules in the world during the pandemic.

Barty spent all of 2020 in Australia, opting to remain home in Brisbane rather than travel abroad to compete when tournaments resumed after a forced hiatus. She left the country for several months in 2021, cementing her No. 1 status by winning four titles, including Wimbledon. But after losing early in the U.S. Open, Barty, emotionally drained, returned to Australia and skipped the rest of the season.

That might have been a hint that early retirement was a possibility; that balance and personal well-being were Bartys priorities, all the more so with her financial future secure. But then came her return to competition in January, when she ended Australias 44-year drought by winning the Australian Open singles title without dropping a single set. After her forehand passing shot winner against the American Danielle Collins, she howled with delight.

Perhaps, in retrospect, it was a scream of relief. What looked like her latest achievement turned out to be her crowning one. She did not pick up a racket again, even to practice, after winning the title in Melbourne. She pulled out of the prestigious hardcourt events in Indian Wells and Miami, and then retired on Wednesday, delivering the news in a prearranged conversation with her friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua that was released on social media.

I dont think Ash has ever been part of a current, said Micky Lawler, the president of the Womens Tennis Association, who spoke with Barty on Tuesday before her announcement. This is not a new trend for her. I think she has always been very determined and very clear on where she stood and where tennis stood in her life.

That clarity has been hard-earned. Barty has matured and learned a great deal about herself through therapy and life experience since she stepped away from the tour and its pressures for the first time at age 17, depressed and homesick. Sports comebacks remain all the rage, as Tom Brady continues to make clear. Tennis stars of the past who retired early see Justine Henin and Bjorn Borg did eventually return to competition, however briefly. But the feeling in tennis circles is that another Barty comeback is against the odds.

I would guess that this is her final decision, Lawler said. She added, There would be a much bigger chance of her coming back if she lived in the States or in Europe. The fact shes in Australia and loves Australia and loves being home, I think that plays a big role in how she decided this and when she decided this, and that will make a comeback that much harder.

Lawler said that, in their conversation, Barty also made it clear that she did not want to continue placing travel demands on Craig Tyzzer, her veteran Australian coach.

Lawler said she expects Barty to request to be removed from the rankings, likely before the end of the Miami Open, which concludes April 3. No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland could become No. 1 by winning her opening match in Miami, but if she loses, No. 6 Paula Badosa of Spain could also become No. 1 by winning the title.

Though Swiatek, 20, and Badosa, 24, have powerful games and charisma, Bartys departure leaves a void. Stylistically, her flowing, varied game was a refreshing change from the big-bang approach that has long prevailed. Barty, though she stood only 5-foot-5, had plenty of power and one of the most dominant serves and forehands in the game. But her success was also based on changes of pace, spin and tactics. She could hit over her backhand with two hands, or slice it with one hand and tremendous control, depth and bite.

Her full package often bamboozled more one-dimensional opponents. Other young players possess similar variety, including Russias Daria Kasatkina and Canadas Bianca Andreescu, who won the 2019 U.S. Open. But Barty was the most consistent and irresistible exemplar of variety. She was 3-0 in Grand Slam singles finals, although it bears remembering that she never faced a player ranked in the top 10 in any of the Grand Slam tournaments she won.

That was no fault of her own, but her early departure will again make it challenging for the WTA to create what it has lacked for most of the last 20 years: the enduring, transcendent rivalries that have been the hallmarks of the mens game in the age of Novak Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Serena Williams, the greatest womens player of this era, is 40 and has not played since injuring herself in the first round of Wimbledon last year. She may not play again. Naomi Osaka, her heir apparent in terms of global profile and commercial portfolio, has struggled with her mental health and is now ranked 77th. Emma Raducanu, the talented British teen who was a surprise U.S. Open champion last year, is a sponsor magnet but not yet ready to soar to the top.

Perhaps Barty will take on other sporting challenges. During her first hiatus from tennis, she showed her potential to be a world-class cricketer, and she is an excellent golfer who is engaged to Garry Kissick, a professional golfer from Australia. Other womens tennis stars have switched to professional golf, including Althea Gibson, but that move sounds unlikely given the global travel that sport also demands.

The WTA clearly knows how to crown champions and do business without Barty. Despite finishing the season at No. 1 the last three years, she has not been a dominant presence there amid her long breaks from the sport. But however well-considered her departure, it is still sad for tennis that she did not want to carry the torch forward.

Her character and game would have worn particularly well.

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Despite the Trend in Sports, Dont Expect Ashleigh Barty to Un-Retire - The New York Times

Theres no single way a doctor may approach treating someone for skin picking disorder. Awareness of the condition is still growing, and the solution is different for every person. Some medical providers may prescribe an ointment like Scott received, while others may send a patient to a therapist for a mental health evaluation. McKeaney of the Picking Me Foundation said she creates information packets to send to physicians who are often the first point of contact with someone with dermatillomania and a directory of informed medical providers.

Hollander, the nurse practitioner, gives patients the foundations fiddle packs, which include tools to keep the hands busy and deter someone from touching their body. She said she cant speak for the whole medical community but noted that her nursing background gives her a holistic approach to skin picking disorder that focuses on the emotional factors behind a skin problem; she also refers patients with skin picking disorder to a therapist for cognitive behavioral therapy, which provides people with ways to approach specific behaviors in the moment.

Many skin pickers feel like theyre the only people doing it. But the Picking Me Foundation has run a virtual support group since March 2020 that has grown from three attendees to about 40 per meeting. The foundation now has over 800 members, and its email list has doubled in size since the start of the pandemic.

Mills said she had trouble finding useful forums or treatments on her own when she started her recovery three years ago, prompting her to make social media content as Kim on Skin to help others feel seen and learn more about skin picking disorder herself. She started her recovery by tracking her triggers, writing down when she was picking, how long the episodes were, and how these might be connected to other events that day. Theres even an app she used for this purpose called SkinPick, which provides a self-monitoring tool and a four-week course to help people understand and reduce their skin picking.

After gathering this data, Mills noticed that job stresses were often behind her picking, so she pivoted from a career in finance to one in social media. She now has a full-time job but hopes to eventually focus full time on Kim on Skin.

Mills reiterated how important it is to not downplay someones skin picking as only a habit. Then theyre back to square one, she said, feeling embarrassed and even more alone.

Investing time in recovery is also not something that may come naturally to people with dermatillomania, Mills said.

A large majority are struggling with providing self-care, she said. Because of that, a big investment into themselves, that's really hard for people to justify.

Self-managed treatment depends on the person and their triggers. For McKeaney, avoiding mirrors is important. She splashes water on the sink in her bathroom so she wont bring her face close to the mirror. She also leaves the lights off, keeps the door open, puts a tape boundary on the floor, uses acrylic nails (which are less sharp on skin), and wears pimple patches to hide areas she would be tempted to pick.

Scarlett, the personal coach in England, manages her picking by going on walks, keeping a stress ball in the bathroom, and covering up mirrors with towels. She spoke out on TikTok about skin picking and connects via DMs with others who do it, which makes her feel less alone. She said her skin picking has become less intense with each little change. In July 2020, she decided to enter a bodybuilding competition; knowing the event was coming up served as a reminder to hold back from skin picking.

Picketts advice for anyone who encounters a friend or relative with skin picking disorder is to cite the definition, treatment options, and other resources from the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, and then ask them if theyve heard of the disorder and if they think it might be something they have. This avoids any sense of blame or shame, as if theyve done something they should be embarrassed about.

For anyone who is struggling, I ask them to be as gentle with themselves, McKeaney said. This disorder already tears us apart and doesn't deserve another minute of our time.

This story is part of our Body Week series. To read more, click here.

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People With Dermatillomania Are Turning To TikTok To Spread Awareness - BuzzFeed News