Saturday, March 22, 2008

March is MS Awareness Month

MS (Multiple Sclerosis) is believed to be an autoimmune disease that affects the Central Nervous System (CNS). Although anyone can develop MS, it does affect women at rates twice that of men. Symptoms vary greatly from person to person, and can include (but are not limited to) fatigue, difficulty walking, numbness, tremor, stiffness, or speech problems. Some people with MS will develop depression -- at times due to the medications used to treat MS, and at other times due to the psychological impact of the disease process. For more information about MS, please visit the National MS Society or the Ohio Chapter of the MS Society. For a brochure about depression and MS, please click here (opens as a .pdf file).

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Did You Know? About Gambling Addiction

The National Council on Problem Gambling is the national advocate for programs and services to assist problem gamblers and their families.

Their research finds that 2%-3% of the US population will have a gambling problem in any given year. That is equal to 6 million to 9 million Americans. However, only a small fraction seek out services, such as treatment and self-help recovery programs.

Warning signs of a gambling problem include:
• Gambling for a longer time and/or more money than intended;
• Gambling in an effort to try to win back what you’ve lost;
• Lying to loved ones about the amount of time or money spent gambling

For more information and fact sheets, please visit the NCPG website at http://www.npgaw.org/.