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Peace During Political Uncertainty ✌🏾☮️🧘🏾♀️
97 Plays21 days ago
The MDs recap some Oscar fun, give you tips for time change ⏰ , and help you navigate political chaos.
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Transcript
Introduction and Oscars Discussion
00:00:16
Speaker
what's up y'all welcome back to another episode of chocolate with the side of medicine i am one of your hosts amy joe md and i have here with me dr sunshine hey y'all dr chris hello everyone and dr no no hey y'all what's up so um what's up with everybody I also like the way you said chocolate, Emmy Jones. She said it almost like, what was it? Essential chocolate. What do I thinking about? Essential chocolate. yeah
00:00:47
Speaker
Yeah. ah yeah Yeah, because we got all types of chocolate. We got dark chocolate, right? We got milk chocolate. a little chocolate with a little caramel but guess which one has caramel oh my gosh you can get them all with a little caramel can have however you want random did you guys watch the Oscars you know I'm not a big I'm not a huge fan right now I watched some of it but was really upset that I missed the beginning part
00:01:27
Speaker
because that was the part I wanted to see. Oh, the Wicked performance? Yeah. I didn't think they were going to perform in the opening. yeah You can YouTube it You can YouTube it, and it's it's ah it's on there. Because the Oscars, they posted all their performances on YouTube, so you can watch it. It was good. and and but I was actually at an Oscar party, which I... First of all... in office california Is that a California thing? No, no, no, no, no. no no no so Let me clarify.
00:01:50
Speaker
I've never heard of that. Let me clarify on multiple fronts. Number one. I'm not big on the Oscars because truth be told, I'm actually not that big on movies. um I hold the Grammys in high esteem because I'm really into music. But people who watch the Oscars are like, oh my gosh, I saw every nominated movie. like That's not me. like I did not see. that's like i That's just not my jam.
00:02:14
Speaker
ah But one of my friends threw, one of our friends actually, Osa, she threw an Oscar party. So I didn't go to like a celebrity Oscar party. like I was like invited by Tom Cruise like not that kind of Oscar party like literally um somebody threw Oscar party because they go hard and they stand and I just came and I ate food and I drank so it was very nice um but it was interesting because like Dr. k Chris said a lot of the wicked moments in it i actually saw wicked that's what I'm like I saw that one I love wicked I'm like okay I saw that one but like I didn't see a lot of the um
00:02:49
Speaker
The other movies, Onora did great. I didn't even see Dune 2. I saw Dune 1. I didn't even Dune 2. Dune 2 was absolutely amazing. i
Musicals and Cinematic Opinions
00:02:56
Speaker
i I'm very surprised. I couldn't get through Dune 1.
00:03:01
Speaker
yeah I haven't seen Dune 1. I mean, and if you're so if you're in the sci-fi, then Dune is kind of right up your alley. But um the books are extremely complicated.
00:03:11
Speaker
The movie really kind of dumbed those down quite a bit. But the elements from the books are still very like prevalent throughout the movie. oh the books are hella confusing. The movie dumbed it down?
00:03:22
Speaker
Yeah. I didn't quite understand it. I really feel like... Well, I also fell asleep. I also fell asleep. Oh, Lord. The cinematics of Doom are probably the best that you saw for that year. like it was I can appreciate that for Doom.
00:03:39
Speaker
After watching Dune, I feel like it's a very easy movie to fall asleep in, in my opinion. Very easy. And then you wake up and then you're like, what happened? And they're in the desert and you're like, I don't know.
00:03:52
Speaker
Well, that's why you're confused. You missed half the movie. Well, yeah. ah like I don't know how long I slept for. it's It's pretty much a story of colonizers coming to a planet. They want to take all their resources. The people there are fighting back against them. But then another force comes in.
00:04:11
Speaker
They also want the resources. They try to kill the colonizers that came before them. The colonizers side with the indigenous people and they build up an army to fight back. That's it.
00:04:22
Speaker
Oh, look at that. Thank you for that. So then in Dune 2, after the enemy of my enemy is done, we go back to being enemies? Oh, yeah. oh the um So the main guy, Timmy Chalamet's character.
00:04:35
Speaker
So he's, I won't spoil it, but like he, I don't think he's going to be a good person in the final Dune movie because he gains a lot of power. And, you know, when people gets a lot of power, it kind of corrupts them a little bit.
00:04:46
Speaker
So I think right now he has like ultimate power that he got at the end of the last movie. And I don't think he's going to be good. I didn't read the books, but I I'm hearing from like my um partner that did read them. He's like, yeah, this, he's not going to be good. So and i wish him royalty or something. I think he was royalty or something. Right. So yeah his father got killed.
00:05:05
Speaker
Yeah. I saw that part. That part. And you still fell asleep. Well, no, I fell asleep after that part. Cause that was the action. Oh my God. I don't understand.
00:05:17
Speaker
Is there a thing? Don't put in front of a movie. I will to sleep. We already know. We already know you falling asleep. Oh, yeah. There are a couple other ones. There are couple other ones on that list. Like, The Brutalist, I heard, was really good. didn't watch that one.
00:05:30
Speaker
I tried to watch that Emily Perez movie. Is there a such thing as, like, spoilers if it's already been, like, written? think you gotta to wait, like, a year. That's, like, the... No, I'm saying like the general conversation with people, like people were talking about like Wicked spoilers. I'm like, Wicked has been made for decades. Like, do you mean spoilers? Like, now there's a partner thereness I have not watched, I never saw Wicked when it was on Broadway. and Oh, you guys did it? Okay. So I guess if you never saw the play, then I guess there could be spoilers.
00:05:57
Speaker
I'm like, y'all, it's like saying spoilers for the Wizard of Oz. I'm like, what do you mean? It's been out for like, yeah. like with i am I am purposely not reading. And it's funny because i never read it before. so it dawned on me that I was like, man, I wonder what's going part two. And I was like, wait a minute.
00:06:15
Speaker
I can find out what's going to happen in part two. It's everywhere. Yeah. But I didn't look. just a quick, it's a quick ah wiki. It would probably be the easiest read where you could just say, oh, act two of Wicked. What happened? I did not read act two.
00:06:30
Speaker
I went to it. I even opened it up and I was like, you know what? I'm not going to do it. I'm going to experience it for the first time. You know, Wicked is probably the first show I've seen in the movies. like in a long time. And when I tell you, ah I stayed up the whole time, I only had one bathroom break. I was very proud of myself.
00:06:52
Speaker
that is good i was in there no i couldn't say the same i had i had maybe two or three i had one that was still pretty good thing the whole time i was very proud and so i'm like yeah go me yay good for you amy joe i'm a musical junkie so you know i saw wicked i love me a good musical listen it don't matter what i just don't matter much i i don't know what's wrong You know what it is? You've gotten used to watching it at home, right? Because that's my problem. Yes. I can watch a movie, but at home I could pause if I need to go to the bathroom, right?
00:07:23
Speaker
But I can't pause the movie. So... That's true. I'm like, this is hard for me. mean, it's hard when the movie... It's hard when the movie is like two and a half hours long. like I'll admit that. it's It's hard to hold your bladder and then people want to drink and hang out beforehand. And I'm like, damn, now we done drank and hung out. And I'm like, up here we go. All right, out there we got to go. I didn't realize it was going to be a part two because I was like, man, this is awfully long for it to have another part. So I'm assuming they are dragging out the story because there's no way y'all sat in on in the Broadway show for four hours.
00:07:59
Speaker
No. They had intermissions. I mean, they a intermission. But even with the intermission, the show wasn't that long, but you can tell they spend time on like the cinematography and they're walking through the castle and they're doing, it's a lot of like time to kill. I love that part. And, you know, I'm not going to you. Did you watch like the making and how like they like literally like to get the real like feel of everything. They, they grew the, they grew the, like, yeah.
00:08:24
Speaker
They grew the flowers. They did not want any CGI. That's what makes it so vibrant. and everything and I'm like, that's so cool. They literally sang the whole thing.
00:08:35
Speaker
yeah She was singing. Cynthia. oh She is amazing. I love her. Singing upside down. like yeah Everybody was like, we were literally watching her fly and sing upside down and still belting out the song like nothing happened.
00:08:51
Speaker
I'm like, oh my God. That's, I mean, she's she's great. I've always liked her. um But I was like... Too bad her partner is so problematic, but whatever. I won't get into that.
00:09:03
Speaker
oh All is well, but yay for Wicked. yeah Yay for Wicked. I still need to go see it, but I will go see it. i mean the part you saw that You saw the play, though, right?
00:09:15
Speaker
No. Oh! oh that is i I mean, I do like plays. That's just just one of the few I just haven't seen, so Well, you can watch it. It was great. No, I mean, it's on ah it's on demand now, so I can i can watch it. but but you should I mean, I'm just i've been hearing the whole like Cynthia Urbio's part um or solo where she sits at a really high note.
00:09:35
Speaker
And like, oh, okay. I guess I should probably watch this. so Yeah, but Wicked wicked mainly won. Wicked only won for like um the stuff that the stuff that Amy Jo and Chris were talking about. They won for costume design, and he was the first Black man to win. Yeah, I saw that. That was amazing. For that, and like ever, I think.
00:09:53
Speaker
No, that's the first one. Yeah, they won for costume design and um like production design of like the whole... But like the individual accolades they didn't get, but I'm almost positive they're probably going to win it for part two. Because in part two,
Flu Season and Vaccine Importance
00:10:06
Speaker
i was part two gets real.
00:10:09
Speaker
And people are not gonna like the ending of part two either. um So anyway, but but yeah, Anora was a big winner. and i didn't watch Anora. And then I know that Amelia Perez, I tried to watch it, but then I realized it was all in Spanish and then I had to read the subtitles and I was like, yeah, this is not going to work.
00:10:30
Speaker
You're going to up like Amy Jo falling asleep. Nah, it's not that. It's because like when I watch things, I normally am doing other things. So if I have to read subtitles, pay attention.
00:10:43
Speaker
And you in a different language.
00:10:49
Speaker
I mean, as an anime nerd, I only watch the Japanese versions and then have the English subtitles. But, I mean, I'm just used to that. With other ones, you gotta, like, sit down and, like... You gotta sit down and watch it. I had a hard time with Shogun as well, too, because I was like... Oh, Shogun was so good!
00:11:05
Speaker
and so good. you gotta watch it all the through. don't know. Kinda... Eh.
00:11:13
Speaker
a lot for me close to the end i'm gonna i'm gonna try my best over the next year to be more purposeful about like watching movies i'm genuinely interested in and shows and things because i'm not good at that i do that with music but i don't do that with movies and and shows and because i live in la you're right amy joe and chris because i live in l la everyone here is very in tune with when the oscars happened because so many people here like know someone who's in something or know someone who's directing something plus it happens here so I get it like but oh listen if you want to talk to me about shows i can talk about shows all day okay if I wasn't a doctor I think I would be in
00:11:51
Speaker
TV production because I love TV so much. It's ridiculous. So I have the trending topic. It's going to be pretty short, guys. It's not going to be really long. So I found this ah article is and it was like, well, it's on health news. It was like, why the flu is so bad this year? And I was looking i was thinking to myself, like, it is kind of bad because I feel like I've seen a lot of flu more so this year than I've seen we'll see previous years, right? It was bad.
00:12:17
Speaker
it was Yeah, right? Because I'm thinking I'm not not the only one who thought that. Apparently, I'm not. And so they were saying that since October, there's been at least 37 million infections and 480,000 hospitalizations and 21,000 deaths, according to the CDC.
00:12:38
Speaker
yeah As of last week, this was done, what? I got this report like about what, two days ago. As of last week, 98 children have died from influenza. In some states, the flu surges have been so bad that schools and entire district districts had to close down.
00:12:55
Speaker
So they were like, why has it been that bad? And they're thinking that a lot of it, the severity is because like, you know, before we were masking and now we're not masking anymore. And then because we were masking that it kind of waned our immunity. So like we weren't able to, now we're just not able to fight it as well. And not only that, the the two circulating viruses, the H1N1 and the H3N2, think it's the H3N2 i think it's the h three n two has been mutating pretty fast.
00:13:29
Speaker
So it's been a little bit more severe for people when they get the flu. I can't do another pandemic. Oh my God. to it. But so far, they're saying that the vaccine has been pretty effective.
00:13:43
Speaker
And not necessarily effective in the sense that, as we know, just because you get the vaccine doesn't mean that you're not going get the infection. The real point of the vaccine is to help decrease hospitalizations.
00:13:55
Speaker
They're saying that it's kind of like on par with what the normal, um what the effectiveness of the vaccines have been in previous years, like about 48 to like effective.
00:14:09
Speaker
to prevent hospitalization. So that's what they're saying. I think that's an important point to tell people because even though if you get the vaccine and you get the flu, that doesn't mean that the vaccine didn't work.
00:14:21
Speaker
ah Usually if you're coming in with the flu and you need to be hospitalized from it, like, you know, usually I get people that are like older, elderly, and they're just like, oh, I can't walk. Like, I'm so weak. Like, oh, I can't do anything. I just need to come in and stay at night.
00:14:35
Speaker
I'm like, fine, but um but the flu, the vaccine did its job in preventing you from getting into like the ICU because I've actually had a couple cases this year where the the influenza can actually cause myocarditis, which is, they actually attack the heart muscle and that can make you ah very, very, very, very sick.
00:14:56
Speaker
And we've had actually a couple cases of that over the past like two or three months. So, and with those infections, though you're usually in the ICU, And that can be very, very bad and go south very quickly. So the vaccines do work.
00:15:09
Speaker
yeah They typically help decrease the severity of the illness when you do get it. So you should still definitely be getting the the vaccine every year. um And, you know, just say like, oh, I got it this year. It's it's whatever. But you got to be consistent with it in future years for sure.
00:15:28
Speaker
Yep. And then also they were saying that the, so since the pandemic, the flu vaccination rates have also decreased. They've dropped. So a lot of people are not getting the vaccine.
00:15:41
Speaker
And that also contributes to why it's been so severe.
00:15:46
Speaker
And it's not too late to get your vaccine. And you should get your vaccine. You know That might be true. have a lot of patients that came in um recently and you're like, do you want the flu And like, no.
00:15:58
Speaker
But it's weird. They're like, no, I don't want the flu. I'll take the COVID, not the flu. And I'm like...
00:16:04
Speaker
what's up with that okay like yeah no not the flu COVID yes flu no I'm like okay I never understood that either I'm just like they're both viruses we both have something to prevent it why not take both Yeah.
00:16:17
Speaker
And like, I feel like ah a couple weeks ago, it was really bad and it kind of like decreased a little bit, but they're saying like, I mean, you know, flu season is not over. can go well into May.
00:16:29
Speaker
Right. So like, it's not too late to get your flu vaccine and um we might possibly see another uptick. I've also noticed this season, like it seemed like it kind of pinked a little bit later than it normally does.
00:16:43
Speaker
Agreed. Right. Right. Yeah. lot of the people I know, especially like even personally who recently had the flu, of course, did not get the flu vaccine, but we already discussed that that's not a direct correlate. But um they've had like the flu and really severe cases of the flu in the last like month.
00:17:00
Speaker
yeah And I'm like, wow, like it's March. Like what's March now? But you know what i'm saying? Right. Because we started giving out the vaccine, what, September? Right. Into September. Yeah. But then they started, so apparently, think, what is it, the FDA, they they canceled this advisory meeting about ah the flu vaccine. So they meet like once a year to the so kind of figure out like which strain is going to be the prevalent one so they can make the vaccine.
00:17:30
Speaker
And I think they start their production in like July or something, but they meet early on to figure that out. And they canceled that meeting, apparently. So they said that they will have it in time when it needs to be manufactured and produced to have the flu vaccine for next next season. but Well, they're probably still gathering data because normally when they would see numbers waning, they're still high now. So like, okay, well, let's just thiss just finish gathering all the data. And then they'll probably end up meeting later.
00:18:00
Speaker
Cause like you said, the peak was later. So, right. The peak was a little bit later. And the one, the prevalent one, the one I keep seeing all the time that's positive is influenza A, but there's also B. I don't see a lot of B. I have never, I've never seen a B. But I'm always i'm always seeing A and that's the one that mutates pretty quickly and has been changing.
00:18:19
Speaker
Hmm. We had a couple B's admitted to our hospital. really Not that many though. not yeah as it's more I think in the community it's the A that's more prevalent.
00:18:31
Speaker
Of course, the A gets complicated because if you do a point of care test in the clinic, it'll come back flu and it could be bird flu, especially if their symptoms are majority conjunctivitis and abdominal pain. You should think of bird flu.
00:18:48
Speaker
You know, Get the vaccine, wash your hands. Wear a mask. Wear mask we your mask. Please. you know and And also, like if someone in your household has it, you can call your your your doctor and try to get on the medication to like help prevent it. Tamiflu is what we get to treat it But if you have household if you have members in your household that have it, you can get prophylactic dose to help you to maybe...
00:19:22
Speaker
prevent getting the flu so got it good job dr chris i like that yay and one last thing i didn't even realize you know like what the time changes on sunday does it for spring for spring forward already are you sure wait didn't we get rid of daylight savings time or i'll just make a Well, every state doesn't do daylight savings.
00:19:46
Speaker
Oh, okay. I think Illinois still does. but Indiana next to you doesn't. It's still happening, even though it does cause havoc to our health.
00:19:58
Speaker
And they're still doing
Daylight Savings Time Impact
00:19:59
Speaker
it. And I'm really sad about it. Because now we're going to lose sleep. Wait, spring forward, right? yeah Oh, so wait, if you're at work and you work the night shift, that's actually a godsend because you lose, you gain an hour.
00:20:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's a good night. But if you don't. Man, when we see that clock change or flip over from like one to to two, oh my God, it's the best feeling in the world. But I had to work um during fall back during that daylight savings. And that was not fun. Because that was a very busy night.
00:20:29
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, God damn it. We have another hour. Now I know.
00:20:36
Speaker
yeah Well, the problem with it is that because, you know, with daylight saving time, it cuts it so you have less time. So sleep deprivation can cause more health issues, right?
00:20:49
Speaker
Linked to more heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity, and almost numer numerous problems, including like increased tics and fatal car crashes because of it, you know, we're still doing this, even though there's evidence that shows that it is not good for our health.
00:21:08
Speaker
So I read, I saw this article that was giving tips of how to, to mitigate these symptoms, right? How to prepare. And I never thought about that. I was like, oh, I never thought to prepare,
00:21:20
Speaker
for daylight savings time to see if I can like reduce the effects. Right. So like they recommend gradually shifting your bedtime about 15 to 20 minutes earlier for several nights before the time change. So rise early the next day, go outside in early morning sunshine, the week of daylight savings.
00:21:41
Speaker
um It's another way. It's a way to help reset your internal clock. So you don't, have a lot of the the issues that come with it, the fatigue from the sleep de deprivation, moving up your daily routines like dinner time and when you exercise to get your body to adapt to the change.
00:22:02
Speaker
And things that you shouldn't do are afternoon naps, caffeine, like staying on your phone late. That's also going to make things worse for you. So just a little tip.
00:22:12
Speaker
Dang, I do all of those things. All those things. Hey, you still on your phone late instead of going to bed? How would you do that? no like i'll I'll be on my phone. like up to um like I'm on the couch and I'll be like scrolling and I lose track of time. And then I'll go upstairs and then I'll put it on the charger, which is right by my bed. But then when it's there, i don't touch it.
00:22:34
Speaker
like it's It's gone. like It's dead to me. But yeah. yeah I have so many people that are like, I can't sleep. I'm just in the bed on my phone. I'm like, that's why. No, oh that's why. Yeah.
00:22:47
Speaker
No, I never use my phone in the bed. and it's that' so That's why we don't have a TV in our room. Because that's like another way that people can't fall asleep. Oh, yeah. I don't have a TV in my room. And I. Neither do tell I should have one. And I'm like, no. If I'm eating on my phone, I am not sleeping.
00:23:02
Speaker
I know me. Because I'm always trying to watch TV. I like TV. I'm going to watch it. I'm like that. can't do it but i have no problem in front of my couch falling asleep on my tv i could do that do you ever like do you ever like turn the tv on mute and then just like it's like the sound waves from the tv will like I know. That causes me to fall asleep. Nope.
00:23:26
Speaker
It's very weird. I don't know. I can't sleep well. if If there's a TV in a room, at some point I'm waking up or I'm like sitting there until my eyes, I can't keep my eyes open because I'm going to watch it.
00:23:36
Speaker
And I don't know what I'm watching. It's not even that interesting. Like I could be watching absolutely nothing. Listen, Amy Jo knows. I can literally be watching nothing. And I'm sitting there trying to watch.
00:23:49
Speaker
I don't know.
00:23:51
Speaker
You know what I would be doing. You'd be asleep. You'd be asleep. Knocked out. That's all I got for trending, guys. No, that's good. That's good.
00:24:02
Speaker
So for my main topic, my main topic is, you guys know me. Usually my main topics are like more so discussion pieces, but it's really more of like a mental health check.
00:24:13
Speaker
So there was an article that came out from NPR and it was about, um basically they gave you five different ways to control your stress levels in relation to political changes in the country.
00:24:29
Speaker
And I thought that it was interesting.
Managing Stress in Political Times
00:24:34
Speaker
So we can talk about these five things that they feel like you need to take into consideration in order to help you kind of control your stress levels.
00:24:42
Speaker
Um, So shout out to NPR ah for that. So we're just going to go through the five. um We can briefly chit chat about them or I can blaze through them. Doesn't really matter to me. But ultimately, we're going to touch on them.
00:24:56
Speaker
So as we all know, and this is not going to be about politics because you guys know I hate talking about politics. But um so we'll go the five. So the first thing that NPR says that you should do um is to understand what's fueling the symptoms that you're having, like what's fueling the anxiety, what's fueling the stress that you're having.
00:25:18
Speaker
And they've done research that basically shows that usually what's fueling you is the uncertainty of the future, which causes people to internalize the worst case scenario.
00:25:28
Speaker
And because they think about the worst case scenario, it causes you to have even more anxiety. But how you should reframe that is to think about how likely is the worst case scenario.
00:25:41
Speaker
And if you do truly think that that is something that's likely, then you should start preparing for how you in your life personally are going to overcome that worst case scenario.
00:25:53
Speaker
So an example would be worst case scenario, They change a lot of laws or they implement some vi bill or executive order and I lose my job. And it's like, okay, if that's the worst case scenario is you losing your job, then take the time either by yourself with family members, your support system, your partner, and figure out if the worst case scenario were to happen, what is our immediate course of action?
00:26:16
Speaker
Or what can I do right now? to where if that happens in six to nine months from now that I'm covered and I can still navigate the day, I can survive, everything will be fine. So it's almost like being proactive instead of being reactive.
00:26:31
Speaker
But the first thing you're supposed to do is really be honest with yourself with how likely is this worst case scenario? Because usually developing a plan helps to make you feel more comfortable and it can decrease your anxiety.
00:26:44
Speaker
um So that's one aspect. don't know if that helps anyone or anything. but you know what yeah I think I do agree with that. But I think the issue here is that a lot of the worst case scenarios are actually now coming to fruition.
00:27:00
Speaker
right um So I think people right now, i agree, you don't need to be reactive. you need to be proactive and having plan plans set in place. But I think it's also kind of hard when, you know, you have a new executive order coming out like every week or even a couple of times in a week.
00:27:17
Speaker
And, you know, these are, you know, it's just it's hard to keep up with unless you're staying abreast of it, staying abreast of all the topics that are going on.
00:27:28
Speaker
um So, yeah, I mean... This is an offshoot, because this is not the topic we're discussing. But basically what they're doing is... is It's a concept called shock and awe, which is basically there's so much happening at one time that it makes it so that the general population finds it difficult to focus in on one thing, because there's so much happening, which turns into white noise, which causes the general public usually to give up on trying to follow anything whatsoever and just allow it to happen to them.
00:27:57
Speaker
So, for the audience, that's like a... A political ploy that's been executed in multiple, multiple countries over history, over time, forever. But that's what Dr. Nono is describing that's happening, which is true.
00:28:11
Speaker
I'm sorry. Amy Jo was going to say something. I cut her off. I wasn't. No, you weren't? Okay. One thing I'll also ah here. was going say something earlier. I know. I saw your eyes. I saw your face. and I was say. d yeah i am go do it and um so but when it comes this is such a huge deal in my office right now.
00:28:38
Speaker
And I think because the area that I live in is full of like, um, Former military. So there's lots of federal employees, stuff like that. People are so stressed. yeah And, you know, we kind of talk through some of this and i'm so I'm sure the other things that are going to come up, we kind of talk through like, you know, our locus of control and what you can control and all this kind of stuff.
00:28:59
Speaker
And the hard part for like my federal employees um is that. It's, it's always noisy, right? We talk about like the noise of like the stress. It's always noisy every day. They're trying to mind their business. And here comes another email that you got to figure out. Do I listen to this email? Do I not listen to email?
00:29:17
Speaker
Oh, this is legit. No, it's not legit. Wait, another email says don't do it. Let me ask my boss. Like there's no way to like navigate the, the, um, the, the constant stress of it all. Like you can't,
00:29:31
Speaker
You can't say, okay, I'm going to approach that when it comes to it. Like you can't ignore it. Like you've got listen to it. You never know when it's something you got to pay attention to. And then on top of that, watching your coworkers be, you know, marched out one by one, you know, is just.
00:29:46
Speaker
crazy so i was saying i think this this is probably one of the hardest things but isn't this always one of the hardest things trying to not trying to manage chronic stress we talk about it all the time we know it causes disease and it and it causes you know early death and all these things but it is so challenging to be like i'm gonna get rid of this component of stress in real time because you just can't do it and not all the time Yeah, the article talks about that, what Amy Jo just mentioned, all throughout the article.
00:30:15
Speaker
It's like a recurring theme of controlling what's in your control, basically. um And you're only one person and you can only control what's in your your realm.
00:30:26
Speaker
um But that's the aspect of it that's difficult. So they've mentioned that multiple times in the article. um Literally, it has written here, focus on what, yeah, focus focus on what you can personally control.
00:30:39
Speaker
And it helps you to manage your stress. Easier said than done, right? Okay. step number Step number two is to limit how much news you consume. So um this is important because given the shock and awe that we just talked about, you'll notice that if you're the type of person who normally consumes news every day, then this becomes extremely exhausting to you because every time you open your phone, every time you try to follow something, there's so much happening every single day.
00:31:06
Speaker
And it has an effect on you and it has an effect on you emotionally and like mentally all across the board. So there's a long section of this article. I'm not going to go through it.
00:31:19
Speaker
But basically, you need to personally figure out how much news is enough news for you personally to consume. And every person is different. Some people are like, you know what, let's do once a week.
00:31:31
Speaker
That's good enough for me. Some people are like, don't want to know nothing. And they just turn it all off. Some people are like, all right, once a day. But if you notice that you read a headline or you read something in the news and it immediately affects your mood, then that lets you know you're already consuming the news too often.
00:31:45
Speaker
So you need to minimize it. So figure it out. Yeah, I definitely had to do that because I would watch CNN a lot. you know CNN with their breaking news every five minutes is breaking news but it's really what are we breaking like yeah my yeah breaking news okay whatever right and I think one day I watched it and then I realized I'm like oh I'm getting real anxious I'm like you can't do this once a week once every two weeks and sometimes like oh let me just see what's happening and then I'm like mistake watch a show let me laugh
00:32:25
Speaker
I mean, I'm the, I'll watch the local news like every day and then, you know, I'll tune into like, um, have various like independent news channels that I'll follow like on blue sky or whatever. But yeah, it's not something that I, I think before this current administration, you know, I'd be like, oh you know, let me,
00:32:43
Speaker
tune and in every once so a couple times um a day and see what's going on but now with the shock and all i'm just like you know what let me let me pick uh maybe like 10 minutes out of my day see what's going on and then shut the phone off and then that's it you know yeah but you still gotta watch you still gotta know what's happening because that's what they want you to do they want you do yes i want you to not pay attention so you still gotta pay attention The whole game is to overwhelm you. so like what Dr. Sunshine said is so that you don't you don't care what's going on. And, you know, that's that's the point that they want you at. But we don't want to get there.
00:33:19
Speaker
So you got to find a happy medium and you still can be informed, but do it at your own pace. And that's that's that's the important thing. So. So number three and number four are kind of connected, but the article made a point to put a specific distinction between the two.
00:33:36
Speaker
So they both have to do with doing things that you enjoy. So number three is interesting. And they want you to do deeds, as in like activities, that are meaningful to you.
00:33:48
Speaker
So basically, in this portion of the article, they talk about how research shows that activities of meaning to you personally improve your overall well-being. So they're basically saying that you need to do deeds that give you a sense of purpose, whether it's um cooking food for your parents, whether it's being active in a politically activist group that fights for a cause you care about, or it's volunteering at a nonprofit. Like you have to do certain deeds that are meaningful to you
00:34:20
Speaker
And give you a sense of purpose and to highly prioritize that in times of stress, when there's things around you that you cannot control, which I thought was very interesting. So that's number three, which are deeds that are meaningful.
00:34:34
Speaker
Number four ties into number three, but it's a little different number four is, you have to find healthy ways to cope by focusing on things that bring you joy. So this is you personally remembering what brings you the most joy and making sure to put those things on the calendar. That's like going to concerts, traveling, hanging out with your girlfriends, going out for mimosas, like the things that bring you the most joy.
00:34:57
Speaker
You have to focus on making sure that those things occur and occur frequently, like making an active effort to do them, because those are going to be moments where you can actually live in the moment and enjoy what's happening.
00:35:10
Speaker
And that helps you to not forget about what's happening, but for you to remember kind of that life is worth living as as dark and dreary as that sounds. um they make it sound a little fluffier but that's my translation of what they're saying you have to prioritize the moments of joy that you know are important to you which i feel like i feel like millennials are good at that like as a generation ah feel like we're very good at that it's like oh my god the world's on fire everything's burning but i got these beyonce tickets though like it's very right yes
00:35:45
Speaker
So it's very much so like, you know, but me and my girls are going to Cabo. Why? Because bitch, it's my birthday. Like, I feel like they're very, we're very like, we compartmentalize all these like, because for millennials, I'll be real, y'all.
00:35:58
Speaker
We've lived through a lot. um And every generation has its things. But like, I feel like half of the millennials are still traumatized from 9-11. No shade. And that's without even considering all the other horrible things that have happened to us since 9-11. Or even Y2K. Remember, we thought the world was going to blow up for Y2K.
00:36:15
Speaker
Between Y2K with the clock struck and we thought we were just all just going to disintegrate. i don't know what we thought was We stocked her basement with water and beans and rice. I'm just like, and it struck and nothing happened.
00:36:31
Speaker
like, what the fuck? Literally for the average millennial, we've been flirting with like the world ending at least like 20 times. Like whether someone's predicted it, Y2K, 9-11, I don't know, World War III might happen, maybe not, COVID, whatever. It's just been a constant like...
00:36:48
Speaker
It's been a constant thing. Anyway, point is, I think us as a generation, we're very good at that. Like, hey, the world's ending, but isn't it always, okay, cool, I'm still going to go to Mexico. Or like, yeah, I'll see y'all when I get back. I'm to to Italy. All right, cool, bad. World's still shitty, fine. Like, we're just kind of like in this weird space as a generation.
00:37:08
Speaker
But that's number four. Prioritize the things that bring you joy. um any Any thoughts on that one before I go to the last one? I'm going to Mexico on two days. so I'm going to Mexico right now. You see that?
00:37:23
Speaker
Oh, it's great. I can't wait for a beach. It's going to be great. I think that helps build resilience, right? so Yeah. And that's something that you need right to get through the tough times, right? You have that.
00:37:38
Speaker
So the last one is to stay socially connected. So research shows that isolation worsens your health, both physically and mentally.
00:37:51
Speaker
When you start to get so consumed with news, so consumed with the stress, the politics and things that you isolate yourself. um And that makes things happen even faster. As in, if it was going to be a negative outcome, the negative outcome comes faster because you were isolated.
00:38:06
Speaker
So when they say socially connected, this means making sure to reinforce your positive connections with people. That would be family members that you enjoy, because y'all know what I mean when I say that. Family members you enjoy, your friends, blind sisters, um residency.
00:38:27
Speaker
homegirls, eh. um But basically just making a point to stay socially connected. They have a huge caveat here in this ah section of this article that talks about you need to be aware of what healthy relationships are because there is a risk here of spiraling together. Like if you guys can cause each other to spiral into depressions together and that's what we're, we don't want that.
00:38:52
Speaker
So healthy social connections where you're ideally not talking about politics and not talking about doom and gloom, but actually hanging out with homegirls, friends and family that like bring you positive energy and staying connected with those people.
00:39:08
Speaker
there's also there's also There's also a thing here that says like, please make a note that you don't have to have political conversation with every person that you meet in the street. And if you stop doing that, then it'll make your life a lot better.
00:39:22
Speaker
Yes. And a lot of the article emphasizes over and over again that like when there's political tensions, like you don't have to always talk about politics with everyone. Me personally, I have a hard rule that I don't talk about politics with anybody. yeah.
00:39:35
Speaker
That's just how I roll. I used to roll that way because I was a federal employee and it's against my job to do so because my boss is the same person no matter what. Whoever's in office is my boss. So I'm like, I just can't talk about any of that. And I've just carried that into my personal life. So don't talk about politics, period. But, you know, that's that's just how I roll personally. But some people can't help themselves.
00:39:55
Speaker
Some people, that's an icebreaker for them. Like you go to like work mixers and events and I'm serious. I know like grab a so grab grab a wine from the wine bar and they're like, Hey guys, ah how about those executive orders? And you're like, what is happening? Like no one's talking about that.
00:40:13
Speaker
I mean, in the U S it's, it's actually sort taboo to like talk about political affiliations and have all that talk and like just regular casual conversation. but every Anywhere else.
00:40:25
Speaker
so we were not Well, not now, but anywhere else, it's just like, oh, yeah, you know, whatever. But the U.S. now is it's I feel like it's it's a big deal. It's a very big deal now.
00:40:37
Speaker
So girl, I don't. Well, maybe we live two different lives, but I will be honest in the military veteran VA setting. They talk about politics constantly.
00:40:48
Speaker
constantly they are very invested they watch the news constantly they talk about it constantly they have thoughts and feelings about it they it's a constant constant thing so i think it might depend on the circles you're yeah the circle they talk about a lot about office too and i think it's because there's lots of like um retired veterans you know va federal employees and you know, people who work for the state, like yeah there's lots of people connected to government.
00:41:17
Speaker
So even, even as we're not maybe talking about it directly, like something's going to happen, it's going to come up where they're like, well, you know, i was doing this. Well, that's if, you know, depends on, you know, what happens in the next, you know, couple weeks or i just think that people are, you know, really aware aweir Because it's hard here to not know somebody personally that is not being impacted by some executive order.
00:41:47
Speaker
But also live in Columbia. So feel like when live in a capital city... in a capital city Yeah. That also changes it a little bit because it's, you know, lots of things happen here.
00:42:00
Speaker
um You know, like last weekend, um we have a thing called Soda City. So it's like ah it's like a farmer's market. Like it happens every Saturday. It's a good time. It's, you know, it's very chill.
00:42:14
Speaker
You know, there's music, there's food. It's a really diverse group. Like everybody's having a good time. But of course we had like, um you know, the the KKK, you know, marching, you know, right up street.
00:42:27
Speaker
And you're just like,
00:42:31
Speaker
okay. Okay. Oh my God. What? Yeah. Wow. Well, you know, not the KKK, but you know, the the new version of them.
00:42:41
Speaker
Yeah. They got their masks on and doing all this kind of stuff. And like one of them has like a sheriff office, you know, shirt. And you're just like, what gives? Like, this is insane. Yeah.
00:42:52
Speaker
Yeah, way to kill a vibe. I was trying to get some oranges and flowers. Right, because they were a little bit further up, so they weren't they weren't necessarily marching like you know right in the farm's mark. I think you know the the it went on without it without a hitch, but the fact that you know you're aware, like, okay, they're up the street you like doing those different things, like that becomes you know conversation pieces. and so
00:43:18
Speaker
i mean, very needed topic for the time, so thank you, Dr. Sunshine. Yeah, no problem. It's good. and I do what I can. I do what I can. dr Dr. Nono, what we got going on?
Measles Vaccination Awareness
00:43:30
Speaker
right, so we actually got a couple questions. So thank you for sending those in. um So one of these questions can be its own like episodes. so I'm not gonna do that one.
00:43:41
Speaker
um But since we're coming off the measles episode, I think I'll do this one. So the question is, so measles has spread to multiple states now. Should we give our kids any precautions?
00:43:53
Speaker
Thanks. Well, first, um I would hope that your fact children are vaccinated. The first the first defense is to is to arm their immune system.
00:44:08
Speaker
So that would be to make sure that they are vaccinated. um For more detail, you can listen to our previous episode, but remember that the vaccines for children happen at age one, and then they get their second measles, mumps, rubella at age four.
00:44:24
Speaker
um so it's ah it's a two So it's a two step one. Well, two step vaccine, not to say two step one, two one, you know what i'm saying? It's a two step vaccine. um So that would be the that would be the first and most helpful thing.
00:44:38
Speaker
um If your children are vaccinated and you just want general precautions, then it would be the same similar precautions that we would give for any other virus similar to COVID, the flu, um hand washing, masking, make sure to keep your distance, not sharing drinks, things like that nature, stuff that would transfer viruses back and forth.
00:44:56
Speaker
um via droplet it's not airborne aside from that things that you should know stuff we talked about in the other episode is that measles is a lot more contagious than a lot of the other viruses and that's why it's so important to have people vaccinated against it because it spreads really fast and it can take out schools it can take out daycares it can take out things very quickly um so that's pretty much the only input I have um I would think maybe making sure like you're up on top of things like especially your kids in school making sure like you're on top of like if there's an outbreak or something somebody gets sick like you're on top of it to know to maybe if you need to take your kid out of school just to prevent it if you know that there's like oh somebody has measles
00:45:39
Speaker
Yeah. And be cautious at kids' birthday parties, too, because yeah that's ah that's a whole other thing. You're not going to get a notification about a birthday party, but just be be aware, you know, when you talk to other parents.
00:45:51
Speaker
Also be aware yeah where you live, too, because, you know, like in um like in an area in Texas where they've got like a high ah no vaccination rate, they've actually dropped below the hu the herd immunity percentages. that They're down into the eighty s And so the vaccines are protective, but there is there is nothing that really stops you from picking up any virus if somebody is in your home actively infected and contagious and sharing their respiratory droplets ah all over your house. Like...
00:46:32
Speaker
you're going to be impacted by it. Now, because you've got antibodies and you've been vaccinated, it may be a short-lived experience. When you have small kids, it's just not what you want to risk. So I think when there is an outbreak near your home, you've got to be really careful about who gets to come to your home, you know where you're going, you know what you're being exposed to, all the different things, because it just is it's going to be higher risk, especially as more and more communities that do not have the greatest vaccination rates are impacted.
00:47:03
Speaker
And then our um kind of tail end of that. So our current health and human services secretary, don't want to say his name. So he recently came out with a press conference that vitamin A can be used to prevent measles and mega doses.
00:47:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. He literally just said that a couple of days ago. So he did. He quoted the World Health Organization too, so that which is not what they said. No, it's not. Not at all. So they said that in and um and populations that they study with vitamin A deficiency, that supplementing with vitamin A could be beneficial to to that. But it does not prevent measles at all. The gold standard is getting the vaccination.
00:47:45
Speaker
And actually, if you take doses of vitamin a um it's a fat soluble vitamin. So you can't actually, you know, overdose on this vitamin, which, you know, he failed to mention that.
Conclusion and Listener Interaction
00:47:57
Speaker
And it has not been studied at all in the world, has not been studied to the degree that we need to make that recommendation that vitamin A can be used to prevent measles, which is the claim that he's making.
00:48:10
Speaker
um So it's as, as we stand now, if vitamin A cannot be used to prevent measles. The only thing that can be used to prevent is the vaccine. Correct. So, yeah. Drop mic, drop knowledge, Dr. Nono.
00:48:24
Speaker
It's all fresh in my head and I hate that man. So it's, it's weird. Yeah. All right. Dr. Nono, tell the people where to find us. All right, y'all. So find us on our socials. We are on Facebook, Twitter, and yeah, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our handle is at thechocolatemds. Feel free to send us questions to our email, which is thechocolatemds.gmail.com or our website, which is www.thechocolatemds.com.
00:48:53
Speaker
and We have a comment box on there where you can send us questions, advice, what wishes, You think of it, name it, we'll get it. So find us there and we'll see you on the next episode.
00:49:06
Speaker
Have a great day, y'all. Bye.