Lawrence Traynor on Health Wellness

to stop drinking – even when it causes extreme personal or social harm. Unfortunately, 47% of men and 42% of women do not receive the substance abuse treatment they need from the Big Bottle and or the Little Bottle.

Not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic, but anyone whose life is negatively impacted by alcohol on a consistent basis is usually considered to have a problem with alcohol.

Even people who drink only during social activities or only drink beer or wine on the weekends are susceptible to an alcohol use disorder. Alcoholism is hereditary and oftentimes referred to as a family disease.

In the extreme, those with a severe alcohol dependency may feel they simply cannot start their day without a quick, harmless swig or two of vodka, or finish their day without a glass or four of whiskey, gin or vodka straight or on the rocks.

Alcoholism has been described not only as a disease but as an “allergy” as well. Can you imagine someone being allergic to nuts or certain seafood thinking that just this once it will be OK to eat them knowing for certain how violently ill they will become upon consumption? This is the insidious, insane behavior of the afflicted mind of an alcoholic and addict.

Alcoholism is a progressive disease. It is imperative we remember our loved ones and their families that are slowly losing their addiction battle with the Big Bottle and or the Little Bottle are sick and suffering from a disease and not a simple lack of willpower. In an alcoholic’s mind there is no such thing as one when it comes to a bottle of beer or a glass of wine.

The disease of addiction is described in Twelve Step literature as being “cunning and baffling” for a reason. Why? Alcoholism is the only disease that tells the person suffering that they really don’t have a problem with their alcohol consumption and if their friends and family members would just leave them alone to simply drink in peace then everything would be fine. This is the power of the denial so often associated with this disease.

What men and women must do when caught in the vortex of addiction and denial is to reach out and ask for help. Anyone reading this who is battling addiction knows that reaching out for help is what logically you should do but don’t or can’t. Surrender does not come easy. An alcoholic and addict will resort to seek help only when their addiction leads them to hitting their “bottom” allowing them to become ready and willing to finally give up being sick and tired of being sick and tired.

There are only two “bottoms” an alcoholic will experience. There are what are referred to as high bottoms and low bottoms.

Examples of an alcohol addict’s low bottom oftentimes include DWI’s, divorce, bankruptcy, job loss, house arrest and jail.

Fortunately, in my case it was a high bottom. I remember it had snowed earlier in the day on January 22nd, 1992. It was a cold, wintry afternoon living with my wife and children on the outskirts of Boston.

It was Super Bowl Sunday and the refrigerator was stocked with beer planned well in advance for watching the big game on television. The life changing conversation between my wife and myself took place in our kitchen. I was unaware and not prepared for her ultimatum of either immediately stopping my drinking and getting help or losing my marriage and children. That was it. That was my bottom.

I proceeded to open the kitchen refrigerator door, took out the last bottle of beer I had and threw it as hard as I could into the woods of our backyard. The bottle made a violent, smashing sound as it hit and splattered off a nearby tree. I have not had a drop of alcohol since.

If a loved one, family member or maybe “just another guy in the diner” is struggling and losing their battle with alcohol (Big Bottle) or (Little Bottle), pills remember it is not a question of their willpower or self-control. They are sick and have a disease. Pray for them of course, let them know you love them and care about them but most importantly tell them they are not weak willed, that they have a treatable disease and that there is help. In order to get them to realize they need help and surrender you must either talk in a whisper or scream louder!

Lawrence (Laurie) Traynor lives in Jacksonville Beach, Florida – a retired executive, volunteers his time free of charge in helping Jacksonville addicts and alcoholics, their loved ones and their families locate public and private drug and alcohol assistance resources. Tel (904) 553-1600

I recently spoke with Estella Pyfrom. This phenomenal woman had a vision after retirement and invested her entire life savings to start Estella’s Brilliant Bus. Her organization is a nationwide success. This shows that if you have a vision, set goals, discipline yourself and work persistently you can make your vision a reality.

Aaron Robinson: When you began this initiative, you used your pension - your entire life savings. What was it that you saw or envisioned that made you want to take on such an amazing endeavor? Estella Pyfrom: I knew that it was a big dream; it was a big idea to be able to go into something like this. As I was growing up, my dad use to say, ‘if you want to dream, dream big. If you want something to happen you have to put forth the effort to make it happen.’ And also, ‘you don’t have money, don’t none of your relatives have money, so if you want to make something happen you gotta work to make it happen. Nothing will be handed to you on a silver platter.’ So I knew I had to put together a no failure plan to make this work because failure is not an option. I put together a 5 year plan so that I could not fail to make it happen. As a result of that I went through the years of putting together this puzzle while planning. Then during that time I wrote my plan.

Aaron: That’s amazing! Some people give up on their vision but you didn’t, what was instilled in you along the way of your life path that made you want to give back to the community, especially undeserved youth? Estella: Giving up, to me appears to be like a road to failure. Anything you do, there will be challenges. Winners never quit and quitters never win. So that stayed in the back of my mind. If I was going to make something happen there wasn’t any way that I was going to quit. When faced with a challenge, I just proved that I had to work harder and work around that, stay in my lane, keep my focus and it was going to happen.

Aaron: Where would you like to see Estella’s Brilliant Bus in the next 10 years? Estella: In the next 10 years I would like to see a bus in every city in the U.S., or as many of them as possible. That is the focus that we have, that is the direction that we are going to be going.

Please visit www.estellasbrilliantbus.org to learn more about Estella’s Brilliant Bus

Words-of-Encouragement Inspirational Quote By Earnest Pugh

I don’t care what you’re dealing with, or what struggles you’re going through. It’s a lot going on with the Senate, a lot going on with the Congress, and a lot of things going on in the Whitehouse. Don’t allow fear, doubt or unbelief to grip your heart. Draw unto God. The bible says if we draw unto Him then He will draw unto us. What I like about drawing unto Him and Him showing up, He don’t just come to take sides – God comes to take over when He comes into a situation.

(Excerpt taken from a prior interview with Consciousness Magazine.)

School Bus

Pollution

I’ve heard that school buses cause a lot of pollution, especially for the kids riding inside. Is anyone making greener school buses yet? Jake McConnell, Philadelphia, PA

Now that school is back in session, those big yellow diesel-fueled school buses are all over the roads again. While they’re relatively safe—and definitely old school—they’re also big polluters, chugging along at 4-6 miles to the gallon while creating a cloud of harmful airborne pollutants.

According to the non-profit Clean Air Trust (CAT), some 25 million American kids travelling on half a million school buses every day are exposed to five to 15 times more air toxins than the rest of us. “Those buses travel more than four billion miles each year and these kids spend three billion hours on [them],” reports the group. “About 90 percent of these buses run on diesel fuel, annually emitting 3,000 tons of cancer-causing soot and 95,000 tons of smog-causing compounds.”

If you don’t think all that pollution is having a negative effect, think again. A March 2019 study from researchers at Georgia State University found that students did significantly better on standardized English tests and marginally better in math when they spent their commutes riding in school buses retrofitted to reduce emissions

by 95 percent as compared to students riding in non-upgraded buses. The researchers conclude that “engine retrofits can have meaningful and cost-effective impacts on health and cognitive functioning.”

Luckily the retrofits are easy to come by and relatively inexpensive, especially when you factor in the costs of health care to treat sick kids, not to mention the price tag for raising kids’ test scores in other ways. Retrofitting 10 percent of the average school district’s bus fleet in Georgia, for instance, would cost less than $100,000, a drop in the bucket of the state’s $10.6 billion K-12 public schools budget.

And beginning in October 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set aside $9 million to help pay for upgrading older diesel school buses nationwide. School districts and other public agencies charged with transporting school kids can apply for rebates of up to $20,000 per bus to help cover the retrofits on up to 10 individual buses.

Retrofitting is a great start, but even better would be replacing old buses with new, more efficient all-electric

models. But few school districts can justify the $300,000 price tag to replace perfectly functional older diesel buses. That didn’t stop the school district in White Plains, New York, though, which purchased five electric buses last year with financial help from the local utility, Consolidated Edison, and a grant from the state.

These outside contributions helped bring the final cost to the school district down to something along the lines of buying new diesel buses. While ConEd gets the benefit of good public relations and good karma, it also gets to use the buses during the summer as excess electricity storage that can be moved around to where it’s needed most (when the air conditioners are blazing). White Plains is hoping other school districts across the country will follow a similar model to clean up their acts.

CONTACTS: Clean Air Trust, cleanairtrust.org; “School bus emissions, student health and academic performance,” sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/ S0272775719301530#!.

CM Corner w/Tocarra Eldridge

Hip Hop Artist Keith Murray

Fun and energetic describes a part of Keith Murray’s character extremely well, especially after he performs at a show that electrifies his audience. It’s always great to meet individuals

that have a true passion for their craft; nonetheless, who loves their fans and listeners. I thank him for being an amazing artist!

Ending Suicide

By Vinay Saranga M.D.

Suicide is a growing issue in America, with an estimated 44,965 Americans ending their own lives each year, or roughly 123 each day. Think about that for a moment: 123 people each day saying they’ve had enough.

Suicide is the worst possible outcome there is not just for the individual, but for the family he or she leaves behind. Quite often this involves parents and grandparents, children, siblings and friends who are left wondering why. Why did he do it? Why didn’t I see the signs? Could I have done more? Is this somehow partially my fault? Was I not nice to him or her?

As mental health professionals, it hurts us too. If the person didn’t get help, why not? Was he or she denied access to mental health benefits? If he or she was under our care, where did we go wrong? Did we not see the signs or prescribe the wrong course of treatment?

When it comes to suicide, there are no straightforward answers. In fact, most of the time, we never get answers unless the person left behind a note, and even then, we are still often left scratching our heads in disbelief and dismay.

The reality is, we need to have open conversations about suicide, depression and overall mental health all the time, 365 days a year. We need to end the stigma surrounding mental illness immediately or unfortunately, suicide will continue to needlessly end the lives of so many around us.

The only bit of good news is that suicide is preventable, but an intervention must take place. The driving force behind a suicide must be properly dealt with before it spirals out of control, whether this is a mental illness, nasty divorce, job loss or anything else.

We can provide hope and support by starting a conversation. Reach out to help normalize the topic. Don’t hesitate to seek treatment for mental illnesses. It is not a sign of weakness. Someone suffering from heart disease wouldn’t hesitate to seek help for their heart condition. The same normalization needs to be visible in the mental health community. If you suspect someone might be suicidal, here are some things you can do to help.

Talk Again, help normalize the topic by conversation. Simply asking someone if they are thinking about suicide is a good step. Never promise to keep their suicidal thoughts a secret. Be open and non-judgmental. Encourage immediate professional intervention through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273- 8255. It is available 24-hours a day.

Connect Professional help is essential. Don’t just suggest it because they might be unlikely to follow through. Do it for them. Someone who might be suicidal could be suffering from deep depression, mania and other conditions that sometimes prevent clarity. Do the research and help get them set up with an appointment with a mental health professional like a clinical psychologist, psychiatrist or licensed counselor.

Support If someone in your life is contemplating suicide, constantly remind them that there is hope. There are many successful treatments which can help turn how their feeling around. Life is worth living. Continue to support and communicate with them. You can increase their feelings of connectedness and share your ongoing support. There is evidence that even a simple form of reaching out, like sending a card or email, can potentially reduce their risk for suicide. Remember, loneliness is a major cause of depression.

Let’s put an end to this horrific epidemic once and for all. The more we continue the conversation and bring attention to it, the more people we will reach and save.