Archive for March, 2011

          Wow!!! Its been a while since I have posted on this blog. Winter has come and gone and now in my “part of the woods”, it is officially spring! Spring is a time of renewal and growth. The spring flowers are beginning to show signs of growth and blossoms for another season. The property I live on is surrounded by woods that continue to be overgrown with “brush and briers”, meaning all sorts of wild growing vines such as raspberries, wild rose, honeysuckle, poison ivy, etc. Once they start their new growth most of our woods become unusable. For the past several years, my husband and I have talked about this dilemma and have done some research into some alternatives for clearing out the woods. In our research we came across the idea of using some type of livestock animals to help. In narrowing the search down even further we decided that goats would be the best and most efficient alternative in helping to clear them out. 

     There are many different species of goats but all require about the same type of care and shelter. We then decided that pygmy goats were the type of goats that we wanted to best suit our situation. They remain smaller so the fencing requirements were different than other types of “full size” goats. They also seemed easier to manage and for many people they become another pet in their family. So after much preparation in getting the area ready for our goats (fencing, housing, feeding supplies, etc) we were finally ready to acquire the goats themselves. Late winter and early spring is a time when many goats give birth to their kids. We purchased two male  baby goats in early March, however, they will not be ready to bring to their forever home until late April or early May due to their ages. In the meantime since we thought we were prepared we also purchased 2 young female goats from another place in which the conditions were horrible and were trying to give them a much better and healthier environment.

      So – our goat adventure had begun. Well as it turns out goats are very sensitive to any change in their diet, environment, and any other stress. The most common ways that goats react to any stress is by developing scours (diarrhea). From the time we brought them to their new house, the one had started to show much major distress. She was coughing on the way home (not good) and had the scours. In all our attempts to help her she ended up dying several days later. The other young doe, who had no scours for the first several days then developed them as well. In doing more and more research about how to stop this awful condition it became more and more apparent how serious this condition in a goat can be. Dehydration is the culprit for many young goat deaths. You see when goats become stressed, they stop eating and drinking fluids. Due to their very small size they quickly become dehydrated and it becomes life threatening. The stress and changes that our new “kid” has been under is tremendous. She was bought from a place that raised large amount of livestock to sell and profit from, her living conditions were very crowded and she had never been outside. There was no socialization with humans, she was never held or handled in a gentle way. We bring her to a new home in which she is picked up and held by humans, is now alone without other goats, her diet had been completely changed,and the weather outside has been colder and more wet than normal for this time of year. Is she stressed? Yes, in many different ways so the onset of the diarrhea is completely understandable.

      We now have her stabilized and her scours are improving every day as is her demeanor. She loves being held and cuddled. She is receiving a healthy diet and very clean living conditions. She has room to roam and play. So what does this goat have to do with a mental health blog? You see people respond in very similar ways to stress and changes but don’t recognize it as such.

     Many people are feeling the effects of stress on their lives. Stress is the result of changes that we can’t control such as a loss of job, financial difficulties, family problems, change in living conditions, grief and loss issues, the list goes on and on. As a result of the stress people react in many different ways. A change in eating habits (some eating more and some eating less or none at all), using and abusing alcohol or other drugs, change in sleep patterns, changes in their moods, and changes in their digestive systems. Most people under stress will give a history of irritable bowel syndrome, in women it can be changes in their menstrual cycles, as well as many other physical symptoms such as aches and pains. 

      Just as the first step in helping to get our new little kid adjusted to her new environment was to recognize the signs for what they were. There had been an enormous amount of changes in her life in a very short period of time. We needed to stop and take those all into account. So when you are feeling the effects of stress in your life by any of the above mentioned symptoms – STOP and evaluate what all has been going on in your life. Is this something that you have control over or is it completely out of your control? If it out of your control there are things that you can do to help yourself better deal with the pressure and stress. 

      Check your diet and try to eat regular healthy meals. Stop eating junk food and if you don’t have an appetite, try to eat small servings of healthy soups or meal replacement supplements. 

      Get regular exercise. Study after study has shown that any type of exercise helps to reduce the “bad” hormones such as coritsol and increase the good ones, dopimine.

      Take a daily vitaman.

      Practice some type of meditation, such as reading the Bible and prayer, listening to soothing meditative music, or doing yoga. 

      Be more gentle with yourself. Realize the stressors in your life and do the best you can. Some days are going to be better than others but give yourself daily praise and work on getting your life in balance so that external stressors don’t have quite the impact on your internal organs as they once did.

     If you continue to struggle, make an appointment with a mental health professional. Talk therapy is very effective in helping you to learn to cope. 

      Until Next Time,    Lory

Lory Naugle, MS, NCC, DCC is a professional counselor in private practice in Shippensburg, PA. She provides counseling in her office as well as by distance means such as Skype, telephone, and email. To contact Lory for an appointment please call (717) 729-3895. She is here to help you lead a happy and healthy life.