What action do you take when realizing you are running around in circles?

Sometimes we just need to stop!

Running around in circles is usually a reflection of stress. This may be from some mental, emotional or physical strain.

Anxiety or working beyond reasonable limits may result in stress related symptoms like headaches, elevated blood pressure or maybe even some degree of depression.

Looking after our selves may be a challenge to our deeply rooted values and beliefs about ‘selfishness’, ‘self-centeredness' and ‘priorities’. However, if we do not care for self in a holistic way how can we care for those we love and others for whom we have a sense of responsibility?

As our Easter Season continues many of us will be thinking about a more holistic sense of being. What do we need to change in our life to fulfill that sense of spirituality within?

Consider leaving a comment reflecting your thoughts. Who knows what encouragement your words may give to others? I would like to hear from you.

Links in this article lead to a range of views in the hope you will find something meaningful to your own life journey.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Dystonia and commonly held perceptions: the sound of a funny voice or a portrait in the mind’s eye?

Fragile, computer illiterate little old lady? Not on your ninny, sweetheart!

This story reflects a personal experience encountered by the writer during the past fortnight.

Noticing more money than expected in her every day savings account the war widow checked her internet banking system. One regular fortnightly bank authority payment had been returned to her account with a comment. The message stated, “Payment rejected. Payments Service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.” Alarmed, the woman hears her forceful strangled sounding voice muttering aloud, “what does this mean?” Carefully checking account numbers on her internet banking screen, there is nothing different in the numbers. She notes the transaction occurs successfully on a fortnightly basis over the previous 15 months.

With spasmodic dysphonia and cervical dystonia, the woman has difficulty using the telephone keypad and speaking. Continuing to make approximately six to 10 calls plus several emails per day to her own banking institution and the company whose electronic system is suddenly rejecting payment, she persists in her efforts to resolve the situation. Alas, both institutions continually state the problem remains with the other.

Physical ability rapidly spiraling down, the woman’s effort to speak coupled with the sharp increase in pain from spasming neck, shoulder, arm, hand and vocal cord muscles result in her need to manage the situation some other way. Requesting technical support people at both institutions speak to each other on her behalf, the woman hears nothing for several days. Time to initiate a fresh approach!

Following a visit to the banking institution holding the woman’s personal accounts, further telephone calls and emails are forwarded on her behalf by very supportive staff. The situation continues with no resolution. Some major technical system difficulty within the company constantly rejects the payment. More telephone calls by several people to that company confirm their belief the problem is with either the woman herself or with her banking institution. Then, as is frequently experienced by people with dystonia, a bitter sweet outcome to a problem situation!

One very supportive bank employee suggests reversing two initial numbers of the BSB. The numbers appear to belong to an outdated financial transaction system. Achieving success by reversing the two numbers, transaction is accepted!

Feeling elated, the woman makes a courtesy call to the other company. Now two weeks since initial contact, she tells the young woman answering the phone of the result. Checking their accounts the young woman returns to the telephone stating the money has not been received. Suggesting the transaction may not show until the next working day, the woman is abruptly told reversal of the numbers would result in the money going somewhere other than to one of their accounts. The younger woman infers something to the effect that the problem is a lack of knowledge and ability to use internet banking because it is not happening to other customers. After a long pause she makes further statements referring to the woman’s inability to speak or to be understood. One suggestion is rather rudely made to take someone who can speak properly to her bank and sort it out.

Unable to initiate any speech in response, the woman bursts into tears resulting from two weeks of frustration, distress and fatigue. Other very hurtful and derogatory remarks are made both by the younger woman and another who also telephones the older woman back. Evidently they consider they are spending too much time on a problem situation that is not their responsibility.

When informed of the war widow’s great distress, staff at the banking institution holding her accounts are very supportive, reassuring and helpful. Unable to speak without great effort, the woman now ponders her options.

It seems the sound of an ageing lady with a funny voice and pain from a body twisted with muscle spasms when speaking on the telephone leads some to assume she is computer illiterate, lacks technical savvy, is unreliable with her problem solving skills and is not to be taken seriously. Well, we will see.

Disability Advocacy and Information Service Inc, and Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission are two avenues of support and action that may be available to people experiencing discrimination or social injustice. When approaching either of these services, referrals to other appropriate avenues of address are offered.

Those of us with spasmodic dysphonia may not have a voice but we can still roar. When our bodies are painful and twisted we may not be the first cab off the rank but just watch us run with the wolves. We are not God’s police, it is true. However, we are not damned whores either.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Feel as though you have slogged away all day without doing anything?

I can let you into a little secret as long as we get to SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!

The frequent physical movements associated with dystonia can be equivalent to the effects of working out for 18 hours a day. It is even greater for people whose dystonic movements continue during sleep. For these people, the affect experienced is equal to working out for 24 hours per day.

Dystonic movements of muscular spasms and tremor may result in significant levels of fatigue and diminished stamina thus making life more difficult to get through the day. However, we need to remember there is a risk of confusing fatigue with feelings of lethargy or a lack of motivation resulting from depression or some other medical condition.

Learn more about dystonia in all its forms. These links will take you to Dystonia Australia and the Australian Spasmodic Torticollis Association. Navigate your way around these sites and you will find links to other Dystonia sites in countries around the world.

As you learn more about this neurological disease, please consider how you may assist through donation to the appropriate Dystonia organization in your country of origin. Dystonia scientists require on-going funds to help them advance research leading to finding a cure for dystonia. Until a cure is found, the only hope for sufferers of dystonia in its various forms is to receive treatment of their symptoms.

I would like to let you know, I am traveling North to the beautiful little town of Cooktown tomorrow. My son and I are visiting my husband’s grave, an Australian War Grave, and also catching up with family and friends in that area. We return to Cairns mid week and will be back blogging then. Meanwhile stay safe, stay well and stay involved with learning more about Dystonia.

Sue Bayliss, Cairns, Australia.

Do you know about Myoclonic dystonia?

Myoclonic dystonia (also referred to as myoclonus dystonia) is an uncommon form of dystonia often mistaken for essential tremor. Myoclonus is evident when sudden electric shock like, rapid jerking movements occur either alone or alternatively, in combination with the sustained muscular contractions and postures common in dystonia. Hence, the term myoclonic dystonia is used to describe this form of dystonia. This specific type of dystonia most commonly occurs in childhood but is different to early onset dystonia. The latter usually affects the legs whereas myoclonic dystonia affects the upper body in the neck, trunk and arms. Positive identification of myoclonus dystonia is now possible through scientific research results identifying a gene specific to this uncommon form of dystonia.

Although treatment for myoclonic dystonia is predominantly given in tablet form, treatment is not essential. Some people may decide not to have treatment. If people decide they will follow through with a treatment plan, a combination of drugs may be prescribed to treat both the myoclonus and the dystonia. In addition to these drugs, botulinum toxin is usually used in addition to the oral medications. Myoclonus can skip generations, and is somewhat variable in severity between people, even within the one family. Like other forms of dystonia, this disease does not affect the person’s mind, nor does it affect their senses.

Feelings of anxiety may intensify the symptoms of myoclonus. This is particularly so in any form of dystonia. The good news is, speaking to a genetic counselor about genetic issues can reduce anxiety and offer a better understanding of the implications this condition may have upon other family members.

If you would like to read more about myoclonus, click on the links above. They will take you to Dystonia Australia and to Dystonia U.K.. Over the coming week I will focus on other less common forms of dystonia. Meanwhile, if you have specific questions about your own health or that of a relative, there is no substitute for your family doctor or a member of a Dystonia Treatment Team working with people suffering from the many forms of dystonia.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Turning pain into gain!

Chronic pain from neurological conditions such as cervical dystonia (link-scroll down to ‘do drugs help’) and also some other forms of dystonia may be difficult to live with. It can change the direction of our life. This does not always mean for the worse. If you experience chronic pain from dystonia or some other cause, perhaps a combination of chronic diseases such as dystonia and arthritis or some other form of degenerative bone disease, relief is available .

Pain is our body’s way of telling us something is not quite right. Apart from minor bumps, scratches and small pains requiring minor relief available from a pharmacy, pain basically falls into two categories. Firstly, acute pain is sharp and severe requiring immediate emergency intervention. Secondly, long term pain or chronic pain becomes part of our life. Like all areas of ongoing situations in life, we need to plan for chronic pain. Pain requires management that not only controls the actual pain and discomfort but enhances our lifestyle.

Exercise and diet are important components to managing pain. Good general health and a positive mental and emotional outlook on life are essential for managing pain control and enjoying life. Reducing anxiety through relaxation and meditation is a helpful approach. Physiotherapy by a physiotherapist trained in techniques specific to your medical and or neurological condition may be helpful. Regardless of which physical, emotional and spiritual remedies you choose your treating specialist in consultation with your family doctor and other allied health workers are the people to be talking with about your pain control and medication management program.

Some medications can actually intensify discomfort and pain. It is possible to overdose, even on medication we think of as being very safe, such as paracetamol . Using codeine for long periods of time or unsupervised may lead to dependence, addiction or other serious medical side effects.

I hope this article is helpful. Please take time to return to the links above and save to your files if they are useful. If you would like to leave a comment or email me directly, you are most welcome. I will get back to you. Also, take the time to check out the links on Cairns and Australia below. They will take you from one end of Australia to the other! I hope you enjoy them.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia. (s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au)

Don’t take them with you mate, please!

Heaven knows, we really do need them here. From February 17th to the 24th Queenslanders Donate are celebrating Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week.
This celebration is their annual campaign to raise awareness of organ donation and to encourage people to register with the Australian Organ Donor Register.

Organ donors can save lives. Organ and tissue transplantations can help the many Australians who are suffering life threatening illnesses, including heart, kidney and liver diseases, diabetes and cystic fibrosis. There were 218 organ donors in Australia in 2004, while there are nearly 2000 Australians waiting for an organ transplant at any time. Sadly, many of these people may die waiting for a transplant.

Last month, Australian health ministers changed the Australian Organ Donor Register to a register of consent, rather than intent. This means that when a person has registered their consent through the Australian Organ Donor Register, clinicians will no longer need to seek the consent of the person’s family.

The Health Insurance Commission has useful information on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

The Australian Department of Health and Ageing releases media statements encouraging all Australians to register.

HealthInsite has a topic page on Organ Donation where you can find other useful information. (please note the dates on this site may not have been renewed. This is an annual event)

Queensland Health Events Calendar 2007-08 is a great way to catch up with some of Queensland Health's important events.

Are your kidneys ok? Do you know, 63% of all organ transplants are kidney related? Watch out for more about this tomorrow.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Muscles spasming? Do the old RSN trick, now!

Okay, okay. I have heard all the acronyms before. They really annoy me. I get in a fluster just trying to remember what they all mean. This is enough to get me feeling stressed and fed up with it all. I can feel my neck and shoulder muscles tightening. When I go to say something I’ve got a funny voice! Dear God! Will it ever end? I really need to dig into my emotional toolbox for some Reduce Stress Now formula.

Beyondblue’s Fact Sheet number 6 says “stress is a response to an event or situation. It can be positive or negative. Stress is common in daily life and may be associated with work, family or personal relationships. It usually means that something is happening that is causing worry and affecting how we are thinking and feeling.”

By following the link in the first paragraph and downloading the above mentioned Fact Sheet 6, you are able to explore simple ways to reduce stress in your life right now. The exercises are simple, able to be done in privacy, at work, in a group or wherever you are at the time when you need to do one or more RSN exercise such as:

- Slow breathing exercise.
- Muscle tension exercise.
- Muscle relaxation exercise.

This Fact Sheet includes other information about stress management strategies and lifestyle. Whilst you are in the Beyondblue site, take time to check out the Home page and other great fact sheets they have. Printing them and putting in a folder makes a good resource pack.

Hopefully, when I return to Brisbane for my next treatment for spasmodic dysphonia and also for cervical dystonia I will be relaxed enough to not swallow while the needle is stuck through the front of my throat into my vocal cords. That is most definitely when I need to remember the old RSN routine!

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Is cervical dystonia caused by stress?

The answer to this frequently asked question is answered by the Australian Spasmodic Torticollis Association (ASTA) as follows.

There is no evidence that cervical dystonia is caused by stress although just as with many movement disorders the symptoms are often made worse when the patient is under stress.

So what does cause cervical dystonia (CD)?

The ASTA further states,

The cause of CD is unknown but it is widely accepted that the area of the brain known as the basal ganglia is implicated in the condition.

The basal ganglia is in the inner grey matter of the brain and acts somewhat like a computer as it sorts messages from the brain and directs the action of nerves and muscles using chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.

There is thought to be an imbalance in these neurotransmitters in patients with CD.

At present research is being done on hereditary factors of the condition.

Certain types of dystonia are known to have a genetic basis, in particular generalized dystonia in children but there has been recent interest in genetic factors in the focal dystonias of which CD is one.

As many of us know from our own experiences, symptoms of CD and also other forms of dystonia may intensify significantly when we are experiencing elevated levels of stress. Therefore, applying behavioral strategies in stressful experiences may well assist us to manage our dystonia.

When things do not go as we hope in our day to day lives it does not help to think it is our entire fault. One Stress Management Team says,

Blame is a senseless action. You are the master of your own destiny, you can achieve whatever you desire and the only force that stands in your way is your own fear. So utilize your power to decide and do it.

The stress management team also offers effective ways to manage stress by discussing,
- Definition of stress.
- Causes of stress.
- The consequences of stress.

The three highlighted links above lead to more interesting information relating to this article. I hope they are useful to you. You are welcome to leave a comment or contact me by email: s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au - I will get back to you.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Irresistible femme fatale?

Oh how I wish but regrettably, no. Just a funny voice and a pain in the neck.

Simply, the voice of post treatment phase when living with dystonia. Specifically, laryngeal dystonia also known as spasmodic dysphonia, and cervical dystonia also known as spasmodic torticollis requiring treatment with botulinum toxin injections into the appropriate muscles.

With soft, breathy sounding voice, I returned to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital two days after receiving treatment for spasmodic dysphonia in the Ear, Nose and Throat Botox Clinic. On this second occasion, I received treatment in the Neurology Department Botox clinic for cervical dystonia. Feeling the effects of bruising and the stress associated with this treatment, it was indeed a good feeling to be heading out of the hospital and off to the airport for the two hour plus trip home to Cairns in Far North Queensland (FNQ).

There has been torrential monsoon rains in FNQ for the past week. Cyclonic weather resulted in wide spread flooding throughout the region and made for pretty harrowing flying conditions. How wonderful that feeling of getting through the door of home sweet home!

Arriving home brought a magnitude of thoughts and feelings to mind and body. No vocal spasms when speaking. However, the tight spasms and broken voice now transformed into soft and sometimes highly pitched sounds that are the confirmation of successful reaction to Botox treatment. Along with that comes the dysphagia resulting in thickening drinks and liquid type foods. This is a small price to pay for ease of speech. Feelings of comfort and relief from painfully twisted neck and tightness of shoulders seems to drape me like a cloak of soft velvet. Yes, it is so good to be home.

Thoughts creep into mind about the need to travel several times a year for treatment. The distance is approximately 3,200 kilometers, round trip. Brisbane is a welcoming city. Medical facilities are available. Transport is excellent. Appropriate services are there. Recreational opportunities abound. There is family support from close family members and also extended family. The needs of people living with dystonia are so much easier to provide for in a city where treatment is available. These kinds of thoughts become temptations to act.

Many people living in non-metropolitan cities as well as rural and isolated areas face difficult decisions about meeting their medical needs and also their social needs. Home and family presents as a pull factor just as the lack of medical services in some geographical areas becomes a push factor in decision making. This may present some people with an experience of personal conflict.

Living with any disability is not just about the disability. The experience encompasses a multitude of factors requiring decisions that would not otherwise need to be made. In relation to dystonia, becoming more aware of this neurological condition and supporting research in your own country will lead to curing dystonia rather than treating the symptoms. Watch out for public campaigns focusing on dystonia during 2007 and consider giving your support in what ever way you can. Many people both now and in future generations will really appreciate your efforts. If you would like to comment, please leave a message. Alternatively, I am happy to hear from you by email at s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au and I will get back to you.

I hope the many links in this article are of interest to you. Wherever you are, I hope your day is full of happiness and joy.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Living with Dystonia and re-creating our lives.

Re-creating personal lifestyle can be full of satisfying and fulfilling activities. This is particularly so when speech is effortful, broken and exhausting, neck and shoulders painfully contorted, or other forms of dystonia are troublesome. Sometimes, our lives are not what we expected at this point in time. Looking for alternative activities and hobbies not only enable us to learn new skills or developing the skills we already have, we may also become aware of a creative, healing power within. This creativeness or re-creation of our sense of self has a powerful effect upon our perception of self-worth.

Allowing our abilities to develop, expressing a part of us that neither our self nor others have been aware, can surprise the most skeptical of personality types! Tapping into an online library or handicraft sites requires skills of computer literacy and research ability alone! However, I do hope the highlighted links to the sites in this article provide you with ideas enabling you to extend your skills or alternatively, explore new skills. This is one way people living with dystonia are able to manage the frustrations associated with daily life.

If you would like to leave a comment about what helps you, living with dystonia, I will reply. Meanwhile, in solidarity and hope let us keep on keeping on together.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Dystonia and pain relief.

(This article includes links to three sites providing good information about paracetamol.)

Although spasmodic dysphonia is not painful, it is very uncomfortable when attempting to speak through spasming vocal cords. The effort of speech for a spasmodic dysphonia sufferer leads to frustration, fatigue and possibly, tension headaches. Unlike vocal cord spasms, cervical dystonia causes spasms that may contort a persons head and neck area into painful positions. This condition results in greater levels of pain if the person also suffers from arthritis. In addition to Botox treatment, one of the safest pain relief medications for dystonia and arthritis is paracetamol.

The on-going use of paracetamol for chronic medical conditions needs to be monitored by your physician. However, there is good information available giving tips for safe use of paracetamol for all ages.

When taken as directed, paracetamol is both safe and effective. It is also possible to overdose on paracetamol. In event of extreme doses taken, it is necessary to seek medical intervention immediately, even if no symptoms are evident. Overdose of paracetamol can lead to liver damage. If medical assistance is sought promptly, it is possible that no long term ill-effects will be experienced.

If you would like to leave a comment, please do. I will reply. Meanwhile stay well, stay safe and stay informed about health matters. We are all responsible for our own wellbeing. After all, life is so full of wonderful experiences. Who wants to waste time being a pain!

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Cervical Dystonia: a pain in the neck!

For your convenience and access to information and resources, each highlighted link in this article leads to a different site. You will be able to find other resources in your country.

Although I have mentioned the use of Botox for treatment of Cervical Dystonia (CD) in previous blogs, there are other articles associated with pain I would like to recommend. Pain can be a difficult experience to describe. Different parts of the body reflect different degrees of discomfort or pain. Bone pain is very different to muscle spasm. Pain associated with circulatory problems is different to headache pain. There are different drugs used to treat pain. Acute pain requires a different approach to chronic pain. Diet is central to all areas of health. Lifestyle can be both seriously affected by pain and is also essential in managing chronic pain.

All the above mentioned variables contribute to how we manage our every day life. The pain associated with CD can be more intense than the tight feeling of spasming vocal cords resulting from spasmodic dysphonia (SD). Arthritis contributes to the pain of CD. So it goes on.

Living with discomfort and or chronic pain need not be a crippling experience. We are not expected to be martyrs, constantly suffering from the ageing experience. Life is a gift to be enjoyed. It is too short to be obsessive about a physical disability. Together, let us move on knowing others share our experiences. We can also share our joy, our friendship, our knowing that future time will provide treatments to cure dystonia in all its forms. The hope of cure in time to come is worth the treatments we now receive to relieve the complex symptoms of cervical dystonia and also the other dystonias.

I hope you have found something here enabling you to feel more confident in making informed decisions about your treatments. Whatever you are thinking, always discuss it with your medical team. They are here to assist us and in many ways, our relationship with treating specialists, family doctors and other health professionals, is reciprocal.

You are welcome to leave your comment or email me at s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au and remember we are only a touch type away from each other. Have a great day.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Spasmodic Dysphonia and telephone phobia!

This article discusses an excellent service in Australia for people who have a hearing and or speech impairment. Countries other than Australia may have similar services.

ACE refers to Australian Communication Exchange, connecting anyone with everyone. This service in Australia is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people who are deaf or have difficulty with hearing, speech or communication, to use the telephone. The service allows people with a hearing and or speech disability to telephone or to receive calls, anywhere. The service provides for local, interstate and overseas, telephone calls for either personal use or for business. Confidentiality is assured. Other people without hearing or speech disability use an ordinary telephone to take or return the calls.

Choices for people to utilize this telephone call service are as follows.

Type and read calls, also known as text to voice calls, allows a Relay Officer (RO) to become your ‘voice’. As you type your message/conversation on the keyboard of your phone, the RO reads your words to the other person. Listening to how the other person replies, the RO types their words back to you. You read the message on a small screen above the keyboard. Calling a person is easy. With this type of call you do not use your voice at all. You can make a call by phoning the National Relay Service (NRS), following the prompts on screen and type away.

Type and listen calls, also known as hearing carry over calls, are for people having difficulty with speech but have no problem with hearing. Whilst you type your words into your phone, the RO reads them to the person you are calling or hearing from. You listen to the other person as you would in any straight forward phone call. The only difference is, you type your side of the conversation.

Speak and read calls, also known as voice carry over calls, are for people who can not hear well but still prefer to use their own voice or a voice device. The relay officer types the other person’s conversation for you to read but then you use your voice to speak, knowing the other person is able to hear you. If you wish to telephone another person with the same disability as you have you can both use your voices but read as the RO types your words to each other. In this way you both do all the talking but the RO does all the typing for you as you read what the other person is saying.

Speak and listen calls, also known as speech to speech relay calls, are for people having difficulty speaking and or communicating but prefer to use their own voice or voice device to speak to the Relay Officer. This type of call is good for people who find others have difficulty understanding their speech on the telephone. The RO, trained and experienced in listening to people with speech impairments, is able to re-speak all or a part of your conversation to the other person if they have not understood you.

A TTY (teletypewriter) is a telephone with a small keyboard, allowing you to type a message. Keystrokes are converted into signals and transmitted via a telephone line. There are different styles of telephones, depending on your particular need.

To access a TTY telephone in Australia, you may contact the Telstra Disability Service. Your doctor or speech pathologist is able to sign the application form verifying your need for this type of service. Cost to the consumer is the same as any Telstra home telephone. You can access the National Relay Service site by clicking the link at the beginning of this article for plenty of information about the service. For people in countries other than Australia, contact your local telephone company or your disability services agency for information. However, by browsing through our Australian site you may have a more informed opinion on which type of TTY phone service you require before following it up in your own country.

I use my TTY telephone when my voice is very strained and effortful. I also use this phone following Botox treatment when my voice is very soft and breathy sounding. The phone can also be used as a regular telephone by anyone else in my home. This service is of great benefit to me, reducing that feeling of horror that goes with, 'Oh, dear God! I've actually got to use the telephone'.

I hope this information has been useful to you. Please, leave a comment if you would like to. I am happy to reply.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.

Faith, hope and … umm … what is that other thing again?

Stress! That is it, S T R E S S. Think about it. We will always have some degree of stress in our life. This is a perfectly natural state and is quite unavoidable. It is the ebb and flow of strength and fragility throughout our life. When we get really stressed out and our stress becomes distress, what is it that actually holds us together? Faith and hope are the two variables we tend to fall back upon. Although as individuals, we probably each go about things a little differently. Some folk choose to do things really differently to most and that is okay. Underlying feelings seem to be much the same though, even when expressed in different ways. Feelings of stress are the effects of strain. This strain may be physical, psychological or emotional. Sometimes, we experience a combination of all three.

Hopelessness! Despair! Depression! All pretty rotten kinds of feelings. Thoughts that sneak in at these times are invariably of the stinking thinking kind, to say the very least. These feelings and thoughts seem to go hand in hand with all kinds of stressors and crises during our lives. It is a natural reaction to seek emotional protection from any state of distress and hope for something better.

Hope and despair are at opposite positions on a continuum with varying degrees of happiness and depression in-between. Most of the time, we fit in there somewhere between hope and despair. When we are feeling the effects of stressful situations, it is hope that gives us relief from feelings of tension and frustration. Hope is the promise of improvement in the future. The promise of hope relieves stressful situations associated with our health, coping with a disability or with any life situation.

There are very strong elements of emotion involved with hope. These emotional elements are what we refer to as faith. Faith is the very stuff we hope with. Evidence of what we can not see but we know within our heart and our mind that it exists. We talk about religious Faiths, the major religions within the world all proclaiming faith in the one true God. Some people call this belief a strength or force greater than themselves. Every evening when we go to bed we do so in faith that the sun will rise in the morning. We believe we will do things we are planning, before the time is even in existence. As children we believe in and rely upon our parents, sometimes on others carers and or family members, to care for us and protect us as we grow. These are all examples of faith and also of hope.

I hope this article is giving you something to think about in your life in relation to stressful situations you may experience. My experience of stress in relation to my spasmodic dysphonia and also cervical dystonia is that I develop a fear of speaking on the telephone and a fear of falling over or not being able to see what is at my feet when my head pulls back from muscles tightening. I do have faith that the medical team working with me will be able to offer on-going relief for me with botox injection treatment, speech therapy exercises and physiotherapy. My hope is that I will continue to live as independently as I can and enjoy my relationships with family and friends.

Would you like to read about other stress related topics such as stress management or any other areas of interest? Please let me know by leaving a comment or you are welcome to email me at s.j.bayliss@bigpond.com.au and I will get back to you.

Sue Bayliss. Cairns, Australia.