Is This the Cure for the Loneliness of American Motherhood?

In a webinar that I hope to give in the Spring (Preparing Yourself and Your Clients for Retirement) I ran across a concept (Co-housing) that I think has some promise for aging retirees.  Each person or couple has their own house or apartment, but there are community places where meals can be made and shared, relationships can be developed, and as people get older and some may lose their ability to drive, others can take them to doctor’s appointments, etc. (more about that in the webinar).

But this article applies the concept to a different group (mothers with children) who could benefit from relationships and support from other women and be able to share tasks such as childcare, etc.

Co-housing is not the same as communal living:  each person or family maintains their own finances, has their own residence, but there is more voluntary sharing in a typical neighborhood  and more support to and from them.

Although there are few co-housing setups in Florida now, I think this is a concept that deserves further consideration. Click here to read full article.

Postmodernism, secularism have increasing influence over Americans’ decision-making: report

This survey contains some important information about the influence of both postmodernism and secularism on American’s thinking. Click here to read full article.

Interabled Couples Share How They Make Their Relationships Work

Interabled couples refer to couples where one partner has a disability and the other doesn’t, or where both partners have disabilities.  This article will renew your gratitude for the difficulties you face, which for most of us are much less than the difficulties these couples face every day of their lives. These couples share some of the ways they make their relationships work and could be an inspiration to couples who are impatient with each other. Click here to read full article.

A Free Magazine

Brain and Life is a magazine I became acquainted with several years ago when going to a neurologist’s office.  It is a free magazine that is published every other month and gives information about all sorts of neurology-related disorders (in plain English) and practical tips for how to deal with those disorders. The article above on Interabled couples is from that magazine.

You can subscribe by going to BrainandLife.org  Since some of our clients will be dealing with one of these disorders and it is very possible that we may as we age, I think this can be worthwhile information to be aware of. 

Marriage & Bipolar Disorder: Tips from a Dedicated Couple

Many marriages break up when one spouse develops or is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  This brief article shares how one bipolar couple have made their marriage work. Click here to read full article.

Is the New Aspirin Advice a Medical Flip-Flop, or Just Science?

I think many of us have grown frustrated because medical advice we have heard for years is sometimes changed, and we wonder if we can trust any medical advice.  This article does a good job of explaining why medical advice sometimes changes, and why this is evidence for the fact that medical research is constantly improving the information we receive.  I recommend that everyone read this article.

One thing that the article does not address, but that I have become aware of through my research for the upcoming webinar on retirement, is that most drug trials are done on people from 20 to 60, and that new findings are that some medications that are totally safe for younger and middle-aged people may not be safe for people 60 and older.   Therefore if you or a loved one is in that older age range it is important to have a physician, or change to a physician, who is staying current on which medications are not as safe for older clients as for those who are younger. Click here to read full article.

Assessment of Cognitive Function in Patients After COVID-19 Infection

We have heard complaints about cognitive dysfunction and “brain fog” in persons several months after COVID infection.  This study used objective measures to study this in 740 participants several months after infection.  It appears that in general the degree of cognitive dysfunction and brain fog is correlated with the severity of the infection:  those who were hospitalized had greater impairment, those treated in the emergency department had less impairment, and those treated on an outpatient basis had least.  This research establishes that this cognitive impairment is real.  The research did not study whether any kind of treatment was effective in ameliorating the problem. Click here to read full article.

Prevalence of Adolescent Cannabis Vaping:  A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of US and Canadian Studies

This meta-analysis examined the results of 17 different studies of middle and high-school students done in the United States and Canada.  Although there was some early reports that high-schoolers were decreasing their use of vaping as they became aware of the health risks, this much larger study (of nearly 200,000 students) found that students are now vaping cannabis products rather than nicotine, and that the frequency of vaping cannabis products (herbs or cannabis oils) had doubled between 2013 and 2020.  Thus if you counsel with teenagers, you probably should be aware of this trend. Click here to read full article.

‘Flesh-Eating’ STD That Causes ‘Beefy Red’ Sores Spreading In U.K.

In case anyone needed an additional reason to believe recreational sex was not a good idea, here is one. This STD is found in the U.K. and in several other countries, and will no doubt spread to the U.S. in the future.  Besides its rather gruesome features, it apparently also increases the likelihood of HIV. Click here to read full article.

Homicide-Suicide Risk Something to Be Aware of During the Pandemic

This study looked at the increasing number of suicides among 55 and older people during the pandemic.  A typical case is a 55-year-old man who is caring for his spouse, who first kills her and then kills himself.  Clinicians are encouraged to watch for possibilities of this occurring in their clients. Click here to read full article.

Bipolar Stability Against All Odds

One of the challenges of living with bipolar disorder is living with the uncertainty that breakthrough episodes can occur at any time. Stephen Propst, the author of this article, has bipolar disorder himself.  He shares some practices that he believes have helped him have more stability. Click here to read full article.

10 Ways to Remain Positive as a Mental Health Caregiver

Although this article is written by a mother of a bipolar child who is also a police officer in Chicago, I think her ideas could be useful to anyone who is a caregiver. Click here to read full article. 

Is that an insult or an acronym?

If you need a little humor today, here is an article about some common medical acronyms that appeared in patients’ medical records, and about which the patients took offense when reading it, not realizing the acronym in medical terminology meant something completely different than it does in colloquial speech.  Probably most of us would be insulted too if these acronyms appeared in our records  Click here to read full article.

911 Call Centers Unprepared for Mental Health, Substance Use Crises

This survey found that many 911 call centers have no training for employees in how to handle mental health crises and substance abuse issues.  Right now this is a problem without a solution.  Perhaps one of you may have some thoughts that can be helpful in thinking through a solution. Click here to read full article.

Another Struggle for Long Covid Patients: Disability Benefits

Some people with significant “long COVID” symptoms find that their symptoms are severe enough that they can’t go back to work, but since medical workups don’t show anything wrong, they haven’t been able to get disability benefits, even when they have a letter from a well-respected medical institution like Mt. Sinai hospital system.  This may be another reason for people to get vaccinated, because even if they do get COVID, with vaccination the disease is likely to be less severe and then the chance for “long COVID” becomes less. Click here to read full article.

Instagram curates anorexia images to teen girls who have eating disorders: docs

The evidence indicates that Instagram has an algorhythm that identifies girls with eating disorders and then sends them more pictures of girls who are also anorexic.  If you are working with a family that has a child with an eating disorder you may want to talk with them about this. Click here to read full article.

THESE ARE THE SMARTEST LIVING PEOPLE IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW

It’s probably good for us to get a sampling of how intelligent some people are to help us keep a healthy dose of humility.  Here’s a sample of some of the smartest people on the planet alive today. Click here to read full article.

Some free resources from Focus on the Family

I haven’t had time to study these resources myself but knowing the typical quality of things produced by Focus on the Family, I feel comfortable recommending them to you or your clients.  These free resources are related to the temptations to pornography and to family members wounded by a partner’s use of pornography. Click here to read full article.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Henry Virkler