Why Vaccinated People Are Getting ‘Breakthrough’ Infections
I know I’ve been including a lot of COVID articles the last few weeks, but because COVID is an important threat to all of us right now, I think it’s worthwhile to stay up with this information. If you’re not interested, you can just ignore them. This is a good explanation for a question a lot of us have: why are fully vaccinated people still having breakthrough infections? Although they are happening, most fully-vaccinated people only have asymptomatic COVID or very mild cases (there have been a few, but very few deaths in fully vaccinated people). So the vaccines do, for the most part, prevent severe infections and death, so they still seem to be worth it. Click here to read full article.
We Are Doctors. Here’s the Truth About Transgender Females’ Bodies and Athleticism.
Here is an article by Michelle Cretella, M.D., the director of the American College of Pediatricians, explaining the biological reasons why it is unfair to girls and women to let transgender females compete with natal females in athletic competitions. Click here to read full article.
How the 18-40-60 Rule Can Conquer Negativity, Anxiety, and Worry
In case you hadn’t heard about the 18-40-60 rule, I hadn’t either, but this article by the Amen Clinic is fun to read and I think has an important point to make. Click here to read full article.
What Is Complex ADHD? Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment
This won’t come as a surprise to those of you who work with ADHD patients. Apparently about 80% of children and adults with ADHD also have another co-existing mental condition. This article talks about what those are and ideas for treatment. Click here to read full article.
Electroconvulsive Therapy and the Risk of Suicide in Hospitalized Patients With Major Depressive Disorder
In a study of some 28,000 patients hospitalized with Major Depressive Disorder, there was a significantly reduced risk of suicide if electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was included in the treatment. Click here to read full article.
Sperm Parameters Before and After COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination
One of the reasons given for COVID vaccine hesitancy by a small group of people was that it would make men infertile (or at least less fertile). This small study (45 men) found that there was no change in fertility after receiving the vaccine. Click here to read full article.
The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online
In case you have clients who are vehemently opposed to getting one of the COVID-19 vaccines, they may have been listening to Dr. Joseph Mercola. While I don’t agree with everything the New York Times prints, I believe, based on hearing both points of view, that this article documents well that he is a major source of misinformation. While it is certainly true that a very small percentage of people have a negative response to the vaccines, the likelihood that they will have much more serious results if they contract COVID themselves is also true. And the saddest thing is people who die of COVID begging for the vaccine and the doctor has to tell them it’s too late for it to do any good. Click here to read full article.
Finns Turn against Puberty Blockers for Gender Dysphoria
First, Great Britain, then Sweden, and now Finland is now turning away from puberty-blocking drugs for teens. The article includes some of the reasons why all three countries are turning away from this as a standard approach for treating gender dysphoria. Click here to read full article.
Journal of Medical Ethics Says Parents Should Lose Rights Over Children
Lest you think this is not an important issue, the Journal of Medical Ethics just had an article arguing that when a child wishes to change their gender and the parents disagree with that course of action, the parents should lose their rights to have a say in their child’s decision. Let’s hope we could learn something from Great Britain, Sweden and Finland before legislating that into law. Click here to read full article.
Loneliness, Aging, and Polypharmacy
This study found that lonely elderly persons were more likely to be given additional medication by their doctors, but the researchers recommended that doctors (and obviously counselors) encourage the elderly to become more socially active instead. Click here to read full article.
Beyond CBT: See Which Psychotherapy Fits Your Bipolar
In addition to medication, CBT is the predominant psychosocial therapy used with patients who have bipolar disorder. This article briefly describes some of the other psychosocial therapies that are being used with these patients. Click here to read full article.
Scientists Finish the Human Genome at Last
This article probably doesn’t have much application to your work as counselors (yet), although for you young counselors, there may be applications during your lifetime, but I think it can strengthen your understanding of the human genome project, and it can strengthen your faith. A few years ago scientists often referred to portions of the genome they didn’t understand as “junk DNA.” They don’t use that term much anymore. As they study the genome more they find that each part of the genome has important roles to fill—they just didn’t understand those roles at first. But another primary role that the genome can fulfill is that as we understand the amazing complexity of the human genome, it makes is harder and harder to believe that something so complex could be the result of random mutations. If you discovered a box on the beach that contained the computer code for the latest version of Microsoft Office, how likely are you to conclude that some random set of events produced that code? And the human genome is more complex than that by far. Click here to read full article.
What Does “Demisexual” Say about Christian Hope?
A couple weeks ago Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, daughter of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, announced that she now identifies as “demisexual.” I think she is taking a common human experience, and identifying it as a new sexual orientation. Whenever we work harmoniously and closely with another person for a period of time, we may feel an attraction for that person. But the only way we can maintain healthy work relationships and healthy marriages is to maintain good boundaries in those relationships. To give ourselves permission to use those feelings as the grounds for sexual relationships is likely to destroy those working relationships and our marriages. See what you think. Click here to read full article.
Inconvenient Truth: No One Actually Changes Gender, Only Persona
An article by Walter Heyer, who experienced gender dysphoria, and was encouraged by his gender therapist to take cross-gender hormones, have feminizing surgeries, and who lived for eight years as a woman. He now says that it is impossible to change one’s gender, only one’s persona (the image we project in public). He has authored a book Trans Life Survivors, that tells the story of 30 people engaged in sex-change therapies, and the devastating impact it had on their lives.
He has also developed a website, SexChangeRegret.com and has a blog (WaltHeyer.com) where he discusses the negative consequences of treating gender dysphoria by encouraging young people that the answer to their gender dysphoria is through sex change.
Although some of you who are younger may not be aware of this, for many years the standard treatment for gender dysphoria was counseling, rather than attempts to change one’s sex, and many people were able to resolve their gender dysphoria successfully through psychotherapy. Click here to read full article.
11 Ways to Benefit from the Healing Power of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
From the Amen Clinic, a good summary of the various mental health conditions that can be improved through use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. These include brain trauma, Alzheimer’s Disease, and long-haul COVID. See article for the entire list. Click here to read full article.
Meet the New New Atheists, Not Like the Old New Atheists
The New Atheists were an aggressive bunch, who in the first decade and one-half of the 21st century asserted that the world would be better off without Christianity. But the New New Atheists have started to realize that without the calming effect of Christianity, Western culture will not survive. While they are still affirming atheism, they are also saying that we need the moral foundation that Christianity provides, and some are even encouraging people to go to church. Click here to read full article.
After the ADHD Diagnosis: Experts Answer Your Top 10 Questions
When parents first receive a diagnosis of ADHD for themselves or one of their children, they often have several questions. This article answers 10 of the most frequently asked questions with good answers based on what the research says, and will often quiet some of the anxieties parents have about treatment options. You might want to answer some of these questions yourself. Often your answers, followed by these written answers, will assure adults that those answers represent a consensus of opinions. Click here to read full article.
Have a wonderful weekend! I will be out of town next week, but you can still reach me via email (hvirkler@aol.com) or by cellphone (561-317-4369).
Henry Virkler