Most dogs, because of their wonderful characteristics, never fail to attract attention wherever they go. With their soft, fluffy hair, kind round eyes, cute little noses, and joyful strutting, it is not hard to understand why a lot of people easily fall in love with them. What makes them really amazing, though, is their seeming ability to show unconditional love and loyalty to the people they live with. Also, they usually project so much liveliness and playfulness that any person cannot help but feel the same way. On the other hand, their calm disposition when they are lying on their owners' lap or anywhere nearby can also cause a certain feeling of comfort and peacefulness. These are actually the same characteristics that make it so easy for dogs to create strong bonds between them and their keepers.
Dogs are observed to bring out a lot of positive feelings and reactions from people. Because of this, a lot of recent studies had been conducted regarding their effectiveness in being instruments for relieving stress, anxiety, and depression. One study stated that having dogs can actually lessen people's stress and anxiety through improving people's moods, improving their social support, encouraging them to exercise, and eliminating their feeling of loneliness. Another study showed that men with AIDS had a lesser tendency to experience depression by keeping dogs as pets. Also, dogs had been noted to provide a sense of companionship to people and are even said to improve a person's self-esteem. They prevent people from experiencing and thinking about negative feelings and ideas, thus, lessening the possibility of those people to feel stressed, anxious, and depressed.
Among the most stressful and, possibly, depressing professions there are, considering the pressure imposed upon them by other people, are probably those of Hollywood stars. Aside from the load of work that they have to handle, they also have to watch out for possible reasons that people can find and use to criticize them. Hollywood actors and actresses are actually forced to do certain things such as to constantly show happiness, to always dress well, or to lose more weight, especially when they need to appear in public, even if that is not how they really feel or what they really like. This must be the reason why a lot of Hollywood stars keep dogs as pets. They probably need these canines to relieve them from all the stress, anxiety, and depression that comes with celebrity fame and fortune. Famous actors and actresses such as Will Smith and Courtney Cox have been noted to say that their dogs help them to become more happy aside from the companionship and sense of security that these canines provide. Another article about celebrities and their dogs reported that people in Hollywood choose to have pet dogs because ?they need the unconditional love and support man's best friend provides.? Among the Hollywood stars who are known as dog lovers are Paris Hilton, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom, and Jessica Alba.
Aside from Hollywood stars, other famous and powerful people such as politicians, a dictator, and monarchs, surprisingly, have pet dogs. Among those personalities are George W. Bush who has a Scottish terrier named Miss Beazley. Bill Clinton has a cocker spaniel and a Labrador retriever. Adolf Hitler had a dog named Blondi. Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Koningin of the Netherlands are also dog lovers. Dogs must have made so much difference in their owners' lives that some of them are even given large amounts of inheritance after their owners die. Luxury-hotel queen Leona Helmsley and tobacco heiress Doris Duke have been reported to have left their dogs at least 12 million dollars and one hundred thousand dollars, respectively.
You know, I never even thought anything was wrong I took it as just being a teenage thing and really thought no more about it. I remember myself in those teenage years worrying about my looks and going on diets and silly stuff like that, it was what a lot of my friends did too.
I didn't even pickup on the fact that Amy would just play with her food at the dinner table and just shift it around her plate, eating very little. Of course I would say to her about not eating her food, but she would say she had a lot to eat at school, or at a friends place or some other excuse and I would fall for it.
Now in hindsight I feel really guilty as a mom for not being more aware of things at that time and I go through the "if only I had noticed back then I maybe could have done something" but I didn't and the 10 years of living hell was about to begin.
Amy had always been a beautiful intelligent girl, always thinking of other people, always nice and kind. When she was 8 she would always do things for her grandmother (who had come to live with us) she always asked if she needed help cleaning or if she could do anything for her. She always volunteered to take Gran's dinner to her and bring back the dirty dishes; nothing was too much for her.
Amy was 12 when her grandmother passed away. We thought she would be really upset but she seemed to handle it probably better that any one, even her younger brother Ben seemed more upset. We put it down to the fact that Gran had been sick for over 6 months and we had explained to her that we thought Gran would not live that much longer.
Even at the funeral Amy did not cry but seemed to be in full control, but again I was too upset at losing my Mom, that I did not really pay attention.
My God! What an idiot I was back then how could I miss all the little signals that Amy was sending me? Why didn't I see the warning signs, how could I have been so stupid? They were all there to be seen but I didn't notice a thing.
I think what really sent Amy on the trip that nearly cost her life was what to her, became a major disappointment when she was 13. Amy just loved to dance and she was good at it and she had a real passion for dancing.
She always said the she wanted to be a dancer when she grew up and if any dancing came on TV she would not miss it. Even if there was a family outing or a birthday party, if dancing was on TV she would refuse to go, until the show had ended.
I have to tell you at this point that Amy was not a typical little 13 years old. She was quite developed for her age with breasts and more of a mature shapes to her body, more like a 16 year old that a 13 year old.
Most of her friends were still waiting to develop breasts and were still the thin little girls with no shape. I didn't know it then but Amy was teased about her body by some of the girls at school, who would call her fat and tell her she had a big bottom. Of course this was not true, Amy was just more developed but to her she was starting to think she was really fat.
It was the 18 November 1996 that I believe was the catalyst for the 10 years of hell we were about to face. Amy had been practicing for months to get into the school dance troop. It was the auditions for the Christmas extravaganza and Amy wanted so badly to get the lead dance role.
Two days before the auditions she got ill and by the time her dance trials came she was not in good health. She failed to get the lead role; in fact she danced so badly she did not even make the team. When she was leaving the stage I heard one of the girls who was successful say, I told you are too fat.
This episode in Amy's life was a major turning point (or trigger) that started her 10 years of suffering with anorexia-bulimia. This was the start of my horror anorexia-bulimia ordeal.
Both Lliorlance & Irina Webster are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Lliorlance has sinced written about articles on various topics from Alternative Medicine, Birth Control and Depression Cure. Choose Variety of High Quality Medicines at ">Online MedicinesEnjoyed Reading this. Lliorlance's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Irina Webster has sinced written about articles on various topics from Weight Loss Pills, Wellness and Mental Health. Dr Irina Webster MD is the Director of Women Health Issues Program which covers different areas of Women Health. She is a recognised athority in the eating disorders area. She is an author of many books and a public speaker.. Irina Webster's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.