TIP Health

COMPULSIVE BUYING DISORDER...WHAT A JOKE

A CONFESSION...

That's probably what you're thinking. But this is something that's on the trend for those in their early 20's. Early financial independence occurring at a time when most of us are still trying to find our identity can be dangerous. I would know because I probably have fallen victim to this. I find myself trying to define my identity through new material possessions. Now I don't know if I would characterize myself as having a disorder (denial is of course the first reaction), but I've definitely wasted away countless hours sitting on the computer surfing the hottest deals on consumer goods I absolutely don't need.

I think I fall under a peripheral category of compulsive buying disorder...considering I rarely purchase anything. Honestly, this is probably worse because I have nothing to show for the time spent glaring at the computer screen. I find myself pondering the importance of new steak knives (which I have never used in my 23 years of existence) or another set of headphones (although I have three). I make justifications for the potential purchase. Occasionally I give into the temptation, clicking the 'oh so dangerous' "checkout" button only to cancel the orders in the last minute before they ship.

I think what scares me the most though, is that this compulsion to buy is only limited by the embarrassing lack of financial resources. What happens when I start earning more? Sure, I invest. I allocate funds appropriately. Maybe I will never fall prey to debt, maybe I will never have to worry about money. But that's not the problem. I'm letting myself be defined by material possessions. I'm letting that dollar/rupee bill control my life.

So am I really financially independent?

DO ANY OF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A SIMILAR SITUATION? WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO?

THANK YOU

MOB JUSTICE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

This has been making waves on social media, and I'd be very surprised if you haven't already heard about it. But if you are one of the few who has just emerged from his/her cave and managed to get cellphone reception, here's a recap:

A man reportedly attempted to r**e a teenage girl in the city of Ganganagar, India. Local passerby's found him restraining this girl on a wall in an alleyway and dragged him out. A few became many, and without fail, as in any questionable situation in Indian streets, our typical mob mentality took over. This mob apparently took the alleged ra**st to a local butcher's shop where they proceeded to beat him with sticks for an hour. And to top it off...or "chop" it off, they hacked off his p***s with a meat cleaver.

Excessive much?

Personally I feel criminal activity should be left to law enforcement. Do I feel enraged that any human could feel like they can take advantage of another against their free will? Yes. But we have given the rights to uphold justice to our judicial system, and if we don't have structure then we're no different from animals right? In one angle, what happened in Ganganagar is quite scary. It's scary that the primal urges of an individual took over and were channelized on a girl. It is ALSO scary that the primal urges of the many (aka mob) took over their senses and led to a very non sterile penectomy.

Anyway, I'm interested to read your thoughts...

THANK YOU

TRIPLE H # 2

It's been a while, but here's a Hyderabad Health Hazard warning for you:

Here's something shocking:
Did you know that there are only 4 FOOD INSPECTORS for the 20,000+ eateries in Hyderabad? FOUR

That's it. That's who we have validating the food safety standards in our eateries. Can you imagine how difficult it is to cover the whole city???

The job of the food inspector is to examine/scrutinize the food preparation process and to take samples and get them tested in a lab. The GHMC Lab isn't even properly equipped to tackle this load.

GHMC, you can do better.

Talk about a "TRIPLE H Threat"

DRINK RESPONSIBLY

PubMed can be an interesting escape from the work day. It can also be the source of some startling information. For those of you that have never heard of PubMed, it's a free search engine of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics.

Did you know that in a study conducted in 119 universities in the USA, 80% of the college students regularly consumed alcohol (about a couple of drinks a week)? And half of those students binge drink on those occasions (more than 4 drinks in a 2 hour period). This has led to an steep increase in alcohol related injuries.

The reason why this interests me, is because intermediate/college students in India have taken to this fad by storm. And what concerns me is the lack of regulation that prevails here in the States. Youngsters can get by without being carded. Law enforcement can be managed. And anyone can buy alcohol in wine shops.

And to make matters worse, the sale of alcohol has never been more accessible now that the tenders for alcohol licenses have become easy to acquire in the Telangana region. Wine shops have been popping up everywhere.

And sadly, I fear things are going to become worse in Hyderabad. My focus isn't drunk driving, I know recently the situation has become quite stringent. My concern is underage drinking. Though 18-year-olds are considered legal adults, their brains are still stuck in adolescence. The part of the brain that's in charge with seeking rewards and stimulation is still dominant and the part that could prevent impulsive behavior is still immature. They're more likely to take risks, and impairing their judgement is just a recipe for disaster.

Here's another fact: girls that have had 4 or more drinks in a span of 2 hours are 19 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

So be aware of your friends and family, everyone wants to have a good time, but no one wants to get hurt, physically or emotionally.

I think a lot can be done to reduce the availability of alcohol to underage drinkers.

DRINK RESPONSIBLY

Here's one that we've all heard: "Friends don't let friends drive drunk."

Here's one I heard the other day: "Friends don't let friends get out of control."

THANK YOU