FRC Weekly Articles

Let’s talk about grief

09/09/2023
Cathy Brownfield

Someone said to me, “Grief is not something anyone really wants to talk about.” Ah. The topics we really don’t want to talk about rank right up there with banned books which are my favorite reads, always prompting the question, “Why?”

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More older adults struggle with substance use disorder

07/22/2023
Cathy Brownfield

There is an epidemic we don’t hear much about. There is just no denying that aging has its issues. But for some older adults, things become even more complicated. This issue is substance use disorder (SUD) which often is unintentional, often misdiagnosed and untreated because some of the symptoms mock signs of conditions associated with aging.

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Combat Medic: No brother or sister left behind

06/03/2023
Cathy Brownfield

“The thunderous sound of the Black Hawk helicopters echoed through the night as we closed in on the enemy compound. Our mission was high-risk – a direct action raid to neutralize a high-value target associated with Al-Qaeda. As a special ops combat medic in the 75th Ranger Regiment, my role was multifaceted, providing medical care in the most intense and challenging environments imaginable,” writes Marshall Bahr, M.D.

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Looking for a little bit of hope

02/18/2023
Cathy Brownfield

Recently someone spoke of hopelessness after the mills closed and the effects on the residents of Jefferson County. The remark took me back to the late 1970s and early 1980s in Columbiana County. The tumble of the region into depression – economic, emotional and psychological – came back to me in full color. Families were torn apart. Men who were used to supporting their families, suddenly, were unable to find any job that would support their families. Difficult, difficult, times in an area that had always been prosperous.

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This month: Loneliness Awareness Month

02/11/2023
Cathy Brownfield

During the pandemic, just about everyone seems to have complained about the social isolation. Loneliness and alone are not the same thing. And, as it turns out, loneliness is the opposite today of what the ancient philosophers defined it. The bottom line is that we are social creatures and isolation is not a good thing for us. Too much of anything is not a good thing.

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