MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from Tips, Tools, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic by Joanna Charnas.  6. The Same Pep Talk   I’ve had the same chronic illness for forty years, and I continue to have occasional relapses that necessitate staying home for one to two weeks to recover. I’m frightened every time this happens, and with each episode, I give myself the same pep talk. I remind myself that, with one notable exception (when I had a relapse and a sinus infection simultaneously), I always recover within two weeks. I tell myself my illness isn’t progressive, and so this relapse will be like all of the others, and I’ll be able to resume my regular activities in at most two weeks. I remember that eventually I always return to a functional state, and all I need to do is take care of myself and I’ll be fine. These re lapses never get easier and they still frighten me, but giving myself a pep talk and remembering how well I’ve managed over the decades helps me get through...

Part of a series on the coronavirus pandemic written by MSI Press authors to share expertise, help, and hope,  Tips, Techniques, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic  focuses on physical and mental well being during any time of crisis. Topics include meditation and mindfulness; positivity; managing setbacks; laughing at oneself; overcoming chal lenges; friends, family, and others; managing daily tasks; adaptive solutions; tricks and tools; and miscellaneous musings. Joanna is also author of: Living Well with Chronic Illness 100 Tips and Tools for Managing Chronic Illness and A Movie Lover's Search for Romance . More posts about and by Joanna Charnas may be found HERE .

Being sick is the pits! The authors of these recommended books know. They are not only experts; they have also lived the experience. Read one, read them all! They are available at discount from MSI Press webstore (use code FF25 for a 25% discount). All are available on Kindle. How to Be a Good Mommy When You're Sick Soon after receiving her Bachelor's Degree, Dr. Emily Graves was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and given a prognosis that she would be confined to a wheelchair within ten years. Shortly thereafter, pregnant with her first and only child, Emily's kidneys shut down. Thus, began a new chapter in Emily's life: balancing chronic illness, motherhood, and the professional ambitions that had caused her to excel as an academic and meet her husband. Today she is still fighting chronic illness, but she has found some answers as to how to manage that fight while being a good mother and spouse and continuing to pursue her professional ambitions. In this...

  Excerpt from Tips, Tools, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic (Charnas) 5. TOUGH TIMES   Running a therapy group on happiness is one of my favorite job responsibilities. There’s a huge industry focused on happiness. While doing research for the group, I learned that optimism boosts happiness, so we discuss this concept in the group. Like many of the things that make people happy, optimism may be innate, or we may have to mindfully develop the habits and skills that boost this attitude. Here’s my template for optimism:   Be hopeful. Show up. Do your best. Let go. Repeat.   Over the years, I’ve found it’s a winning formula. For more posts by and about Joanna and her books, click HERE . For more book excerpts, click HERE . For more pandemic books that are still relevant, click HERE . the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out info...

    Recently released: audiobook book edition of  Living Well with Chronic Illness  by Joanna Charnas. Book description Living Well with Chronic Illness is a self-help guide for anyone who has a chronic illness or who knows and cares about someone else who does. The 20 chapters concisely address a comprehensive range of issues including daily routines, relationships, medical and legal services, a joyful life, and much more. In our hectic, information-laden world where the Internet places billions of contradictory facts at our fingertips, the straightforward content of this book is an alternative resource for people who want to feel better and don't want to spend hours searching for answers. The tools inside, presented with compassion, humor, and a wealth of knowledge, are for those who want to apply and enjoy new health-promoting ideas immediately. Living Well with Chronic Illness evolved from the author's personal experience with chronic illness and 26 years as a ...

  A HERO'S SUICIDE   b y Joanna J. Charnas   This following essay was written in 2017 but has not been previously published.   Earlier this week I learned that one of my former patients killed himself. I’m devastated and can’t stop thinking about him. His name was Ryan Larkin.   Ryan was a Navy SEAL. He completed four tours of duty, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as a corpsman. Ryan arrived at the inpatient psychiatry ward of the hospital that employs me four weeks prior to discharging from the Navy, and he remained with us for a month.   While he was in our care, I became concerned about Ryan’s treatment. His attending psychiatrist was a skilled and caring provider, but the other players in the larger mental health system seemed mostly fearful of Ryan. Fear is not an optimal state in which to deliver care. My colleagues repeatedly expressed concern about his opioid use and labeled him “drug seeking.” In 2016 the country had a new awareness of the burge...

  a happy Shenan (CB) lounging with a happy Murjan  March 1 and business taxes loom big: due the Ides of March. (Not a very perspicacious day....) So, I thought I would give myself a little extra time, not prepare a new column of my own making, and simply share a delightful youtube video by one of our authors, Joanna Charnas. She says, " Happy Cat, Happy Life! " An oldie, but goodie! Enjoy! For more Caturday posts, click HERE .   For more posts about Joanna and her award-winning books, click  HERE .    For book reviews, interviews, videos, and more, check out Joanna's title pages at the MSI Press website:  100 Tips and Tools for Managing Chronic Illness,   A Movie Lover's Search for Romance ,  Living Well with Chronic Illness   and  Tips, Tools, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic . To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount, use code FF25 at  MSI Press webstore . Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to...