Polio Place

A service of Post-Polio Health International

emotional health

Lonely and I Eat

Post-Polio Health, Volume 26, Number 4, Fall 2010.

Dr. Stephanie T. Machell is a psychologist in independent practice in the Greater Boston area and consultant to the International Rehabilitation Center for Polio, Spaulding-Framingham Outpatient Center, Framingham, Massachusetts. Her father is a polio survivor.

Question: My husband died a year ago and I am lonely. When I am lonely, I eat too much. Do you have any suggestions for me?

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Stress Reduction Ideas

"Promoting Positive Solutions," Post-Polio Health, Volume 29, Number 3, Spring 2013

Question: I am a 79-year-old male who had mild polio. At every annual medical visit, my doctor urges me to manage my stress and feels strongly about meditation. I have tried it and don’t like it. Sitting in a room, closing my eyes focusing on my breathing feels boring, and I don’t get it.

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Don't Tell Anyone About Your Polio

"Promoting Positive Solutions," Post-Polio Health, Volume 28, Number 3, Dr. Stephanie T. Machell

Question: I found out I had polio when I was 55 years old. My mother’s explanation was that “the doctor told me not to tell anyone.” Can you help me understand why this was told to parents?

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Partner Abuse, Part 2

"Promoting Positive Solutions," From Post-Polio Health (Volume 30, Number 4, pages 8, 9, 10). Part 2.

Dr. Machell addresses female to male and same sex partner abuse: Intimate partner violence (IPV) isn’t just about male perpetrators and female victims. Men can be abused by a female partner. And in same-sex relationships men are abused by men and women are abused by women.

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Building Bridges

Nancy Baldwin Carter, BA, M Ed Psych, Omaha, Nebraska is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

At first she irritated me. A relative newcomer to a literature study group I attend was heading my way, and I didn’t want to deal with her. The previous week she had given me a condescending pat on the head as she threw a bit of baby-talk at me, a common reaction of some folks when they first encounter a person with a disability, and I didn’t want any more of that.

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More Worry as I Age

From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Q: The older I get, the older my friends and families are, and it seems that they have one illness after another. Then there are the kids and grandkids, all with their hectic lives. I worry about them; I worry about the state of the world; I worry about the cost of things; I worry about my money lasting.

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Married 52 Years with Medical Problems

From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Q: My wife, who had polio, and I are in our late 70s and have been married for 52 years. We had our interactions down pat until we both started having medical problems. Do you have any ideas on how to keep the problems from overwhelming our relationship?

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Spirituality In Stillness: To Transcend, Transform, Then Transfuse

Spirituality: It’s Personal
Alison (Sunny) Roller, MA

Presented at PHI's 11th International Conference: Promoting Healthy Ideas (2014)

Definitions

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Relationships: An Overview

Every relationship is built upon unique experiences and qualities. For a relationship to succeed, both individuals will need to cope with any disability. This requires a realistic acceptance of the disability with an emphasis on what one can do, rather than on what one cannot do.

The following are brief general suggestions on how to maintain personal relationships when facing new or increasing disability (Genskow & Genskow, 1997).

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