Graves Disease Questionnaire: Fill & Download for Free

Belonging is fundamental to our well-being. It is a survival need. In 1970 Abraham Maslow explained during a discussion of the hierarchy of human needs that belonging was a need that was required to be met before one could achieve a sense of self-worth.Image: belongWhy is this so?Belonging in a community is something that humans have learned is necessary for survival. If you read many of Alex Cooper’s answers you will quickly learn that in terms of brawn or speed we will lose most of the time against fellow earth dwellers.Hand to hand we are going to lose against many animals—lions and tigers and bears Oh My!So we developed strategies that allow us to win out overall on the planet. And one of those is community. We work together as a group.In order to coexist, it is imperative that we have certain social skills to lubricate social interactions. White lies, reciprocity, sharing of interests, demonstrating appropriate empathy, eye contact, and so on.While we know that autistics have many skills, we also know that there is a double empathy problem[1] —specifically, that means that autistics and non-autistics communicate in such a different way that it is easier for people from different cultures to understand each other than when an autistic and non-autistic communicate.As such both groups can become quite exasperated and avoid such difficult experiences.Belonging is a very basic human survival need that we develop from infancy all the way to the grave, we require other people to help us meet our food, clothing, shelter and non-material needs such as being loved. Experiences that make us feel like we ‘belong’ assure us that our survival needs will be met.Belonging has numerous physical and mental health consequences, including fewer colds and flus, decreased likelihood of cancer and heart disease, better memory, less anxiety and depression.[2]When our experiences do not provide a feeling of ‘belonging’ our biological survival goes into an emergency mode.Our interests, motivation, health and happiness are inextricably tied to the feeling that we belong to a greater community that may share common interests and aspirations.Isolation, loneliness and low social status can harm a person's subjective sense of well-being, as well as his or her intellectual achievement, immune function and health. Research shows that even a single instance of exclusion can undermine well-being, IQ test performance and self-control.[3]Social psychologist and Stanford assistant professor Gregory Walton has demonstrated that:a sense of social belonging can affect motivation and continued persistence, even on impossible tasks. That is, if you don't feel like you belong, you are both less motivated and less likely to hang in there in the face of obstacles.[4]The opposite of belonging is isolation and that leads to the feeling of loneliness. And loneliness or not belonging is one of the biggest problems for autistics.We are a small percentage of the population, about 2%, and so we are different than the majority and do many things to hide it in order to belong.We mask and camouflage[5] , which has devastating consequences for us, including depression, anxiety, suicidality, and health issues.From my personal experience, prior to knowing I was autistic, I never felt like I belonged. I just worked to fit in, with a horrible feeling of inadequacy. After meeting Martin Silvertant , I began to have a better understanding of myself and began to understand that I did belong—I just had a different neurology. This helped me understand both autistics and non-autistics, and have a better ability to connect.I no longer feel alone. I belong to a group of people with divergent neurology, but I also belong to the incredible and beautiful race called humans. I have a mate, both autistic and neurotypical friends, and one child on the spectrum and one not. I feel loved for who I am, better able to express who I am and better able to make some adjustments in my understanding of who I am speaking to.Researchers say that autistics indicate a greater desire to be on our own[6] . I am not sure that is true. We might be more okay with more alone time, but belonging is still critical for us. I have seen in the Facebook community that Martin and I created a fierce desire to be connected and part of a group. We just don’t like doing the same things as non-autistics.Personally I have no desire to be on my own when connected with people I like. Martin and I do most things together daily and when I have an autistic friend I am quite happy to be in their company a lot. The difference is I suppose what we speak about, how we understand each other.Martin and I had a strong worry about personal space when he moved in. But it has never been a problem. We are always together. We like to sit together and listen to audiobooks or sit and work like we are right now. I suppose we just don’t have a need to speak all the time, and we communicate when something interesting comes up. Otherwise, we have a delicious silence. This contrasts with an autistic friend I have with whom we speak more, but again it is topics that we both like. I suppose it is just that when I am with an autistic person their company is about us meeting each other where we are, masks off. It just takes up less energy.If you liked the above article, join our mailing list on EmbraceASD.com for access to members-only content by clicking the link below.Click here to Embrace ASD Subscribe pageFootnotes[1] On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’[2] Relationship Between Loneliness, Psychiatric Disorders and Physical Health ? A Review on the Psychological Aspects of Loneliness[3] The importance of belonging[4] http://Walton's earlier studies demonstrated that a sense of social belonging can affect motivation and continued persistence, even on impossible tasks. That is, if you don't feel like you belong, you are both less motivated and less likely to hang in there in the face of obstacles.[5] Development and Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q).[6] Being on Your Own or Feeling Lonely? Loneliness and Other Social Variables in Youths with Autism Spectrum Disorders

I hate to break it to anyone who thinks Indian government's extraordinary measures are somehow responsible for low Corona count, it is definitely not the case. It is certainly not being diagnosed and reported with the same level of transparency and diligence as other countries with higher counts.I flew from Chicago to Hyderabad via Delhi on March 2nd. Here's my experience-Delhi airport: There was no screening of passengers including ones from high risk countries. Only a handful of airport personnel had masks. No sanitizers anywhere. At a time when rest of the world was already taking extreme measures to control the spread of the virus, it was business as usual at Indira Gandhi international airport.Hyderabad airport: Slightly better screening, passengers from high risk countries were asked to move to separate lines, temperatures were being taken and I think they were given some questionnaire. I saw more people with masks. But no sanitizers or any other precautions.Hospitals : Unfortunately I spent last 15 days in two well known corporate hospitals in Hyderabad attending to my sick father. The way corporate hospitals are handling the whole situation is downright scary. My father had a sudden onset of lung fibrosis that mainly affected the lower part of his lungs, he was severely ill and was 100% dependent on oxygen. The physicians in my family who are practicing in the U.S. were highly suspicious it was Corona. I kept asking the doctors at the hospital to test him for corona as he had all the symptoms, his illness started with sore throat, severe dry cough, breathlessness and finally lung fibrosis and he never had any fever. He is a diabetic but was in decent shape prior to the onset of his symptomsHowever the doctors refused to test him for corona as he hasn't travelled to high risk countries and interestingly they asked me if was in contact with anyone who travelled to those countries? He travelled in metro trains, autos, was shopping in crowded shopping areas in the past one month. How could we tell them for sure who he came in contact with?He was never tested in the first hospital, he became gravely ill. I was so scared for our family, all the medical professionals who were in contact with him and other patients in ICU. Doctors were not wearing any masks, including pulmonologists who were dealing with patients suffering from severe coughs. Elevators were crowded with sick people. It was downright frustrating.We could no longer take the apathy of the doctors at the first hospital so we moved my very sick father to another hospital. This happens to be one of the 3 hospitals that the 76 yr old patient from Karnataka, who passed away later, visited when he was in Hyderabad. So the hospital was slightly on the edge and took preventive measures more seriously but it was far from what it really takes to stop the spread of a highly contagious disease like COVid-19.My father was finally tested for Corona, the test results came back negative but it is 21 days after he first had the symptoms. So we are not very sure what to make of the results. Sadly my dad passed away on march 15th.So far none of us are showing any symptoms. One can only imagine what we are going through, grieving the loss of my father and worrying if any of us caught the infection at the hospital. We were super careful wearing N95 masks, disposable gloves and taking all other precautions. Hopefully we are good.Hygiene and sanitation are a big issue in the hospitals, masks were not being used even by doctors. Door handles and surfaces are not sanitized regularly. These are some of the basic measures all hospitals should take to prevent the spread of diseases even in normal times.Indian government seems to have waited a long time to take the threat of this global pandemic seriously. I would be very surprised if they are able to contain the spread of the disease now.

You cant “rank" addiction. To be honest, the notion and this question is quite offensive really. Like addiction is a funny game, hashtag rank the addiction. Are you kidding me!? Addiction has taken lives, broken up families and destroyed what people are left if it didn't kill them! Addiction is a serious disease of the brain, it very really changes the chemistry and associations of the user. Btw, science has proven these are all the same in the brain, all effect the brain in the same area and it's a very strong connection. VERY. The severity is based on the individual. The list will never be the same. My educated guess is that you have no personal experience with addiction, so this is curiosity, but please dont treat it like some cutesy questionnaire. I can have you visit a few graves, you can ask them what killed them, hint, it wasn't sugar. It's all the same in the brain, but don't put heroin on any list. That's like asking what can kill a person faster, a gun, a knife, or a syringe of heroin. Guess what? The end result is still death. So, what is your point here? Cause I'm leaving frustrated. Dont know if that was your intent, but maybe not be so lacksidasical about addiction. Its not so funny to some…