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BLR’s new issue -- on the theme of “Finding Home: Family & Connections” -- is now available. 

#blr #bellevue literary review #litmag #new issue #writings on family

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#healthcare network #society #health #voluntary sector network #art #medical humanities #patients #healing

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New BLR Newsletter: -- Why Medicine Needs Poetry -- Celebrating BLR’s Authors -- Summer Reading

#medical humanities #summer reading #litmag #literary #fiction #poetry #bellevue literary review #blr #writing

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BLR editor-in-chief Danielle Ofri talk about “Why Medicine Needs Poetry”

#poetry #medical humanities #medhum #doctors #medical education #danielle ofri #physician writers #creativity #metaphors

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When Patients Mentor Doctors: The Story Of One Vital Bond

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In “I’m taking my body back”, Rupi Kaur explores the relationship between the self and the body as it pertains to trauma and healing.

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When I was younger, I used to be devoted to certain authors for years on end, aiming to read through their entire body of books. It started with Enid Blyton, and as I grew, I was similarly obsessed over Ann M. Martin, Agatha Christie, and J.K. Rowling, among others. Since school ended, however, I don’t think I can name a single contemporary, 21st-century author of whose I’ve read more than two books.

Roxane Gay might be the only exception.

Reading her is an immersive experience like no other for me, and while her subject matter is sharp and difficult to digest, her writing flows in a deceptively smooth and easy way, making her books hard to DNF or even put down (which I always regret later). She is also one of those rare authors whose books elicit visible, visceral reactions from me.

http://bookriot.com/2017/06/13/how-to-read-a-roxane-gay-book/

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At the end of the week, which was long with sleepless nights, Miri picked her heart out of the kitchen sink, put it in a paper lunch bag, and took it to the witch.

“Please,” Miri begged. “Help me fix it.”

The witch was an old woman, with innumerable bracelets and lines around her eyes. She was also a notary, to pay the bills. She let Miri into her home, which was very small and very warm, and had a fire burning even in the height of summer, which it was then, and Miri felt the sweat dripping down her back as she sat in the witch’s kitchen.

Plants hung from the ceiling, their vines withering and dragging, a preponderance of them browning with pending doom. A line of potted Venus flytraps stood along the windowsill, their mouths agape.

RUMPUS ORIGINAL FICTION: Mustard Seeds by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. Illustrated by Megan Goh.

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A voice for the Voiceless

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May Cause

Take this, take it with crackers or bread. Do not. Do not. Do not chew or crush. You are pregnant, may become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. Discard after any person other than the person taking this. Take this, take it at the same time each day, by mouth twice a day, a once a day small meal on an empty stomach filled. 1 refill. 2 refills. No refills left for whom it was prescribed. Use care. Use care when operating a vehicle, vessel, boat, until you become familiar with blurred vision, symptoms worsening, fear, or sadness. Take this, take it with plenty of water. Take the transfer of warning. Do not. Do not. Do not smoke, or drink. Take this extended release, absorb this. This may cause drowsiness, mood changes may intensify this round white significant. This prohibits machinery. This dizziness.

-  Elspeth Jensen, from the 2017 Spring Issue

http://blr.med.nyu.edu/content/archive/2017/spring/may-cause

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BLR PRIZES: Deadline: 7/1 | $1000 Prize in each genre | Judges: Rachel Hadas, Rivka Galchen, Geraldine Brooks https://shar.es/1RE9m7

#writing contest #literary #bellevueliteraryreview #narrative medicine #medical humanities

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What to read when you’re grieving

#joan didion

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Researchers from Princeton University’s Department of Molecular Biology have identified a small RNA molecule that helps maintain the activity of stem cells in both healthy and cancerous breast tissue. The study, which will be published in the June issue of Nature Cell Biology, suggests that this “microRNA” promotes particularly deadly forms of breast cancer and that inhibiting the effects of this molecule could improve the efficacy of existing breast cancer therapies.

Continue Reading.

#mindblowingscience #research #developments #progress #cancer #breast cancer #medicine #medical humanities #blr #Bellevue Literary Review

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He said teach me to give birth. She said you cannot handle the war wombs bring.

Ebony Stewart - “Eve” (Southern Fried)

#birth #ebony stewart #button poetry #poetry #quotes #slam poetry #slam #bodies #medical humanities #blr #eve

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Mental Health Display at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park featuring the most recent issue of the Bellevue Literary Review and Bellevue by David Oshinsky

#kepler's books #Menlo park #bookstore #bellevue #david oshinsky #Bellevue by david oshinsky #blr #Bellevue Literary Review #bellevueliteraryreview #books store #mental health #mental health awareness month

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Mental Health: The Data

Hey, Tumblr! We hope the week two prompts for Mental Health Month are treating you well. In the spirit of the theme, posting it for each other, we wanted to celebrate one of the most helpful communities out there: yours. You’ve helped shape Tumblr into an incredible community for support. To take a look into exactly how it’s flourished over the years, we teamed up with Fandometrics (@thefandometrics) to bring you some sweet, sweet data.

How you talk about mental health

Discussion around #mental health has steadily grown year over year since 2013, with a 248% uptick of original posts and reblogs made between 2013 and 2016. In that same time span, original posts and reblogs about #therapy increased 29%. Much of that conversation was rooted in real people sharing real stories. Emotional and honest stories, like how therapy can help you better understand your life, how to say good-bye to the wrong therapist, or the difficulty of making the sometimes daunting decision to begin therapy for the first time.

There has also been a significant rise in people seeking ways to take care of themselves. The self-care movement has seen huge increases in searches (733%) and original posts (567%) between 2013 and 2016. Over the past six months, we’ve seen total engagement (searches, original posts, reblogs, and likes) around the #self-care tag spike with correlations to holidays and events in the news:

240% increase the day after the US Presidential Election

321% in the days following Christmas and Hanukkah

561% in the days leading up to the Inauguration, and

342% in the days following Valentine’s Day.

Anatomy of a post

To get a better understanding of what the public-facing conversations consist of, we looked at the top posts for the #mental health, #positivity, and #self-care tags from the past few years. We noticed a few trends that continued to appear over and over again:

Masterposts, a one-stop shop of information on topics like learning new hobbies, treating yourself on a budget, and resources for different mental health issues continually pop up in these tags.

Doodles like @thelatestkate’s positive messages illustrated with cats or @gemmacorrell’s Self Care Reward Stickers are a Tumblr favorite. There’s also been a neato collaborative trend where someone doodles a text post made by someone else,  like this art of living by cat principles, by @bisexualpiratequeen and @skunkaru.

Text Art like @sexioto’s reminder to take your meds and @peytonfulford’s message of more self love turn the text itself into art. In the mental health space, text art most frequently comes in the form of reminders, like to stay hydrated and to make yourself a priority.

Make your dash more positive

Because this is all about posting it for each other, here are a few great blogs to make your Tumblr experience more positive and healthy:

Positive Vibes (@posiviibes) provides positive and friendly text art in soothing colors.

LGBT+ Positivity (@goodpositivitylgbt) focuses on messages of positivity and validation for the LGBT+/MOGAI community.

Why Did You Feel Proud Today? (@todayifeltproud), a space to submit your accomplishments, big and small.

For more follow inspiration, check out our roundup from last week. We’ll be posting more each Friday this month. Keep sharing your stories, Tumblr, this month and every month.

#mental health month #mental health #guide #help #staff #tumblr staff #mental illness #blr #post it forward

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Dear Diary: May 11, 2017

Hospitals, Harry Styles, and the last week of high school.

By Lola N., Britney Franco, and Simone Rembert.

#rookie #rookie mag #young adult #teen #diary #illness #hospitals #patient voives #true stories