Is it a sign of personal weakness or strength for a woman to admit that she has a problem with alcohol or drugs?

One thing about mankind is that every one has a sense of pride that is naturally a part of their mentality. If a woman is able to admit that she has a problem in any aspect, it is a great sign of personal strength. Admitting that you are wrong or possibly have a problem is something that is hard for anyone to do and is an admirable thing. I personally like the fact that people are able to seek rehabilitation programs when they know that they have a drug or alcohol problem. If people begin to admit their problems and seek help for them when necessary, this would be a better world.

What can be done to reduce the stigma and shame that still surround mental illness?

The only answer that struck my mind is better inform society. Mental illness is one of those illnesses that is constantly ignored when it comes to education. It seems that no one ever focuses on mental illness because of their biases that mental illness means someone is crazy or out of place. This way of thinking tends to incorporate its way into education and people fail to force themselves to learn more about mental illness like they do regular illnesses like cardio health or reproductive health. If people will learn to stop thinking that people cause themselves to suffer from mental illness and are outcasts of society, they will also learn that many mental illnesses do begin because the individual could not control it or from some traumatic event that occurred during the person's life. People need to learn that just because they are lucky to have a state of mind that is intact, not everyone was that lucky. They need to learn to accept that mentally ill people are humans too and deserve to be treated the same way. People who are mentally ill see the poor treatments they get from people and it adds to their already diminished self-esteem, which is unfair to them because they deserve every right to be treated like others. The only way people can stop judging the mentally ill is if they take the time to learn more about mental illnesses and how it starts.

Aging Healthfully

My family has history of high blood pressure and diabetes. In order to age healthfully, I make sure that I stay away from foods with high sodium and anything with more sugar than necessary. These precautions will help keep my weight balanced so that I don’t ever become overweight. I also try to exercise a few times a week for at least thirty minutes to an hour so that I can maintain a healthy weight and achieve good cardiovascular health. One thing that I need to start doing is making sure I get ample sleep. College life tends to take away from that because of late-night studying or trying to meet deadlines for reports and papers. It is healthy to get at least six to eight hours and recently, I have noticed that sometimes I barely get four or five hours. Sleep deprivation makes aging earlier more likely, which is something I definitely do not want to do. I guess the best way to go about this is to sleep and wake up early and do homework instead of staying up all night. It will also probably increase my attentiveness in classes.