Note:  If you have children who will be going to primary or secondary school this Fall, please make sure to read and pray about the significance of the article (Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children), and then pray about the possibility of sending this information to your school board members and school administration.

Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial

There have been questions about the advisability of children wearing masks when they go back to school in the Fall.  This research has some important data that every school board should consider when making decisions about mask-wearing by children this Fall.  Put this information together with the information in this Friday mailing included two weeks two ago (i. e., that there were 11 pathogens found in the masks of children where the masks had only been worn one day, and some of these pathogens were more dangerous to children than COVID), and I think these two research studies provide very strong medical evidence that masks should not be required for children going to primary school or high school this Fall. Click here to view article.

Study Links Schizophrenia Medicines’ Anticholinergic Impact to Risk of Cognitive Impairment

This study found that there was a relationship between the amount of anticholinergic effect in antipsychotic medication used long-term and risk of cognitive impairment.  The amount of anticholinergic effect in both first and second generation antipsychotics varies considerably, so if you have a client who is taking antipsychotic medication, they may wish to talk with their psychiatrist about the medication they are using and switching to one that has lower anticholinergic effects if possible. Click here to view article.

18 Ways To Get Rid Of Hiccups

Probably we’ve all had hiccups at some time when we wanted them to stop, or we have had a client who complains of having hiccups regularly that they do not like.  Here is a brief list of 18 methods that may provide relief. Click here to view article.

Zuranolone Eases Core Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

Untreated postpartum depression has serious effects on both mothers and babies.  Here is an article about a new treatment that is effective and in Stage III trials. Click here to view article.

6 Reasons ADHD Treatment Fails

Good, brief article on six reasons ADHD treatment sometimes fails, and some suggestions on how to prevent that failure. Click here to view article.

When ADHD Drains and Strains Sibling Relationships

Whenever parents have a child with a long-term mental health problem, it often causes beliefs among the other children of unfairness, partiality, etc.  This definitely happens when one child has ADHD.  Here are seven suggestions about how to handle family issues when one child has a chronic mental health problem, whether that be ADHD or something else. Click here to view article.

Duke University study refutes USA Today’s claim that biological males are not advantaged in women’s sports

This past week a USA Today article argued that the claim that androgenized males who now identify as women do not have an unfair advantage when competing in women’s’ sports.  This Duke study shows very clearly that the USA Today claim is untrue, and that greater attention needs to be paid to the issue of how to fairly treat transgender women versus natal women in sporting competitions. Click here to view article.

Psychedelic drug eases severe PTSD

Some people have severe PTSD that does not respond to either therapy or drugs.  This research study found that psychotherapy, when combined with Ecstasy, did help a considerable number of people to the point where they no longer met the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD. Click here to view article.

Implants turn thoughts into text

Imagine being paralyzed so you could no longer talk or write, but your mind was still able to see and comprehend, but you had no way to communicate your thoughts to others.  A new experiment is beginning to show that it may be possible to help such people communicate their thoughts or needs to others. Click here to view article.

I Have a Disability Too, I Told My Patient

— Disclosure can benefit patients and the healthcare system alike

There continues to be controversy about whether counselors should engage in self-disclosure with clients.  Here is one medical doctor who has chosen to sometimes share her disabilities with her patients, and the responses she has received.

The article uses as word that you may not know the definition of—ableism.  It’s Merriam-Webster definition is: “Discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities.”    It often is accompanied by the belief that anyone who is different is inferior and needs fixing.  I think that whole way of thinking and about self-disclosure is something that is worth discussing. Click here to view article.

Emotional Hyperarousal and Rejection Sensititivity: Two Symptoms that Often Accompany ADHD

By Ellizabeth Broadbent

Here is a quote from the article, which is written by a person with ADHD.  “The diagnostic criteria for ADHD includes nothing whatsoever about the crushing rejection we feel from a single comment or missed invitation, the overwhelming emotions that send our hearts racing and then sinking, or the shame all of this causes. Here is how I experience these little-known ADHD symptoms, and how I manage it all.” Click here to view article.

The Challenges of Bipolar Disorder in Young People

This article, by Jane Brody, discusses some of the difficulties in correctly diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder in young people.  Frequently it is misdiagnosed as ADHD, but treating a bipolar child with stimulants can launch them into a manic psychosis.  I think there is now recognition that pediatric bipolar disorder does exist, and the earlier it is accurately diagnosed and treated, the better the prognosis. Click here to view article.

How Much Must I Give Up for My Schizophrenic Brother?

This is a question from a sibling who, together with his wife, has cared for his schizophrenic brother for several years.  They are now facing retirement and his wife doesn’t want the brother to continue living with them.  The Ethicist gives some interesting thoughts to consider. Click here to view article.

Therapist-Guided Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs Internet-Delivered Supportive Therapy for Children and Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sometimes children and teens either live too far away from a therapist to come in for therapy, or sometimes their social anxiety disorder is so severe that they can’t come to an office.  This study compared Internet-delivered CBT versus internet-delivered supportive therapy and found that internet-delivered CBT was significantly more effective in reducing symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder. Click here to view article.

Unhappily Married or Happily Divorced – Which is Better for Kids?

There is a belief that kids do better living with happily divorced parents rather than unhappily married ones.  This author says this is not true and explains why she takes that position. Click here to view article.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on negative symptoms in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis and outpatients with chronic schizophrenia

Probably not many of you work with people with chronic schizophrenia, so I’ll just give a quick summary of the data.  As you might expect, people with schizophrenia had an exacerbation of negative symptoms during the pandemic.  The recommended treatment was behavioral activation. Click here to view article.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Henry Virkler