BDBH Head Chatter

The shift in how we perceive alcohol - moving from viewing it as a warm, rewarding comfort to recognizing it as destructive - happens across two distinct levels: the chemical wiring of the brain and cognitive reframing.  The Neurobiological Shift (How the Brain Changes) Initially, alcohol floods the brain's mesolimbic pathway with an artificial surge of dopamine, signaling a quick, easy reward. Ov er time, however, neuro-adaptation changes how the brain experiences the substance:  Down-regulation and Tolerance: To protect itself from constant overstimulation, the brain turns down its dopamine receptors and produces less natural dopamine. Alcohol stops producing the original "high" and instead leaves a deficit.  Anhedonia: Because natural reward pathways are dampened, ordinary pleasures feel flat. Alcohol shifts from being something consumed for pleasure to something used simply to escape discomfort, restlessness, or withdrawal.  Erosion of Executive Control: Chronic ...

Today is August 6th, 2023, and I’m hopefully on the tail end of COVID, and this is my experience. I went to the doctor on Monday, July 31st, because I felt horrible. I felt like warm death. I’m not sure how warm death feels, but I’m sure the way I felt is exactly how it feels. I was lying in bed and trying to work between clients. I’m a licensed counselor, and I said, “Gurl, take yo azz to the doctor.” I eventually canceled the rest of the day, drove myself to urgent care, and was told it was COVID; I thought it was just a cold, fever, or something simple. I told the NP, “I thought COVID was over.” I didn’t really think that, but I kinda sorta did. She said, no, it’s not over; I was given a prescription for PAXLOVID and began taking it that night; I took the prescription by the instructions in the pamphlet.  The first night after beginning the medication, I had chills and coughing. I switched between hot and cold like a light switch. By the second day, the chills stopped. I believe...

Imagine the possibility of each of us operating in our own reality. To show this, draw a straight line on a piece of paper. The bottom would be your birth, and the top would be death. The middle is where you are right now. If we exist on this continuum, our lives would mimic the ideal. Now imagine that every time something difficult happened to us, it kicked us off the “straight and narrow.” The new path becomes a reality at that time, altered by that life event. Every time something happens, this pushes us further from our true selves.  The most authentic version becomes altered. Failing to regroup puts us in this faux reality. Imagine existing in this faux-reality since the age of five. You may not even know how to re-group at this point. And because everyone has different life experiences and milestones, everyone has a different faux-reality. Now compare how people in society relate to each other.    Imagine if trauma, ...

Is there anything worse than respecting someone, adoring their demeanor, acknowledging their accomplishments, and loving everything about them, and then hearing that they don't hold you in the same regard? To spend time and energy trying to relocate your position in their head? This can be a defeating task. There is no winning in this fight, because if you happen to move to a better position, the haunting thought of why you were held in such disregard can keep you awake at night. Categories and labels are how we sort life. Many say they don't like labels, but aren't they necessary? Say you travel. You decide to try a local dish. You cannot pronounce it. You taste it anyway. Your partner asks you the inevitable, "What does it taste like?" Now it tastes like nothing you've ever tasted, but you cannot say that, so you say, "it tastes like chicken." Now there is a connection. Now, they may try it. Let's call the person in the first paragraph your men...

The dysfunction of society when someone makes a decision, and the ridicule that follows. Not because it was a wrong decision but because there are rules and laws in place that state that that decision is unacceptable under all circumstances. The moralistic crossroad that one must endure to either not make the decision or make it and die internally for eternity. There is no choice for some, either way. Rules are rules. Accepting the position of the martyr, some do with pride, though the outcome can be destitute or shame. However, both had the option of a team that would commend quietly and not hold liable for following the ‘rules,' or one that would congratulate for following the rules, but moralistically and socially it is suicide. All the while constantly reminding of ‘not doing anything wrong’ becomes the background noise of the psyche. Then comes the praise, but legal battles to defend morals and to have extended basic decency.  When faced with a decisio...

What are you doing tomorrow? What did you do today? What did you do yesterday? I never knew how important daily goal setting was until I began adulting. Before I started taking daily goal setting seriously, I would have all good intentions for the next day. I would contemplate on what I would do, how much I could get accomplished and how effective I would be. That is until I was on my way home from work the next day and began to regurgitate my time only to realize that I could not remember one thing that I had accomplished or completed. Now that would not be difficult if I was working for someone else. I would be held accountable. However, working for myself and knowing that that empty feeling would be a direct reflection on my bank account motivated me, but it did not ignite me.  What ignited me was being tired of feeling like I had done nothing with my life that day. Like my greatest accomplishment was waking up and driving to work and driving h...