🚰 Field Notes: America's groundwater crisis

Plus, "screen apnea," dangers of hair straighteners, talks to have with your middle schoolers, & more

Hello, dear friends! The summer is dwindling here; school is starting back up. September can be as much of a new start as January. I do like that beginning-again feeling but I also grieve the loss of my favorite season. The days getting shorter. The air turning chillier. The trees eventually shifting from green to orange-red-yellow to naked limbs again. Winter is harder. I’m working plans for the next Winter Camp, an online gathering to help with the cold dark season, to keep it a little brighter with more connection, movement, and healthy moments. More to come on that soon.

On to this week’s Field Notes, 6 interesting things I’ve run across lately related to our wellness, illness, and the world that influences them —

1} America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow (The New York Times gift link) — This is the most important story I read this week, an analysis of how America is using up its aquifers, water that has been stored for thousands of years below ground, faster than it can be replenished. “There is no way to get that back,” Don Cline, the associate director for water resources at the United States Geological Survey, said of disappearing groundwater. “There’s almost no way to convey how important it is.” What happens if the water is gone? How can crops be grown at a scale to feed the whole country? How do we source water for drinking, bathing, all the things? America has no national oversight on water usage, a short-sighted and scary position.

2} Checking Email? You’re Probably Not Breathing. (The New York Times gift link) — What a headline, right? This was an unexpected story about “screen apnea,” a term coined for how our breathing can be disrupted by tasks triggered on a screen. Stephen Porges, a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who specializes in the autonomic nervous system, “gave the example of cats stalking their prey; often right before they attack, they will freeze and their breathing will become shallow. That, he said, is essentially what is happening when you get an email, text or Slack message: You freeze, read and come up with a plan of action.” A bit of this is not a problem, but every day for hours puts “the nervous system into a chronic state of threat,” Dr. Porges said. What helps? Regular breaks from the screen, reminding yourself to breath more deeply, frequent movement, and maybe a larger screen, too, so you aren’t staring into a narrow spot for hours on end.

3} Black Women Weigh Emerging Risks of ‘Creamy Crack’ Hair Straighteners (KFF Health News) — This story details the disturbing risks of chemical straighteners and the pressure to use them, regardless of the health dangers. “Social and economic pressures have long compelled Black girls and women to straighten their hair to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards. But chemical straighteners are stinky and costly and sometimes cause painful scalp burns. Mounting evidence now shows they could be a health hazard. Relaxers can contain carcinogens, like formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, and other endocrine-disrupting compounds, according to National Institutes of Health studies. The compounds can mimic the body’s hormones and have been linked to breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers, studies show.” I was horrified to read this and hope stories like this one help end the societal pressure to straighten black women’s beautiful hair.

4} Five Conversations to Have With Your Middle Schooler (Raising Good Humans newsletter) — Dr. Aliza Pressman talks with school counselor and parenting expert Phyllis Fagell on her podcast, and summarizes their discussion in this terrific list of topics to talk about with your middle schooler, plus tips on how to do it. Dr. Pressman notes: “Conversations on big topics are best done over time, in fits and spurts, and in the hidden moments stolen in the day.” The 5 topics to discuss (and the post goes into more detail) are safety, pressure, friendships, growth, puberty. For example, under safety: “If you don’t already have one, create a code word for your child so they can let you know if they are in trouble, or want out of a situation but are too embarrassed in front of friends. Let your child know that if they use that word, you’ll come get them right away, no questions asked.”

5} Four of the Things Patients Have Taught Me (Sensible Medicine newsletter) — Dr. Adam Cifu writes “Though I have learned countless things from my patients, a few lessons were so powerful, so extrapolatable, that I forever associate them with an individual.” I enjoyed reading about patients CT, MM, and MH from their doctor’s view. The 4 things Dr. Cifu gleaned are: 1)  “Diagnostic tests give you more than just a diagnosis.” (So true. The validation carries special weight in a patient’s mind and a doctor’s mind, and that affects how they act.) 2) “Patients are the ones who take the medication; they should weigh the risks and benefits” (YES!) 3) “Well-informed adults should be allowed to make what seem to us doctors like bad decisions.” (Of course. And doctors can be wrong! They are human, too. He doesn’t say this, but I will.) 4) “There are two ways that care for patients with ambiguous illnesses; [one way it] goes poorly and one way it goes well.” Much of what it comes down to is communication, honesty, and openness to seeing the patient’s view.

6} A quote I’m thinking about: “Neuroscientists have discovered that when you ask the brain to meditate, it gets better not just at meditating, but at a wide range of self-control skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self-awareness. People who meditate regularly aren’t just better at these things. Over time, their brains become finely tuned willpower machines.” — Kelly McGonigal, PhD, from The Willpower Instinct. Do you meditate? I keep thinking I will regularly, and I keep … not. If you’ve been able to stick with meditating, how? And do you feel benefits? I’d love to hear.

I hope you found something useful here, and I hope you have a lovely last few days of August.

To our journeys,
Brianne