Articles from the Week of April 8, 2022
Interesting Quotes
The choice to love is the choice to connect — to find ourselves in the other.
Bell Hooks
What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful.
Brene Brown
Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
James Baldwin
“The darker the night, the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief, the closer is God!”
FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."
THOMAS JEFFERSON
“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”
Charles Spurgeon
I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
Alexander the Great
From Interesting facts: The human brain runs on less power than a 60-watt bulb.
Number of neurons in the human brain: 86 billion.
The Motherhood Myth Is Crushing Women with ADHD
If you counsel mothers who have ADHD, this article is for them. It gives many helpful and practical tips from a counselor who is also a mother with ADHD. Click here to read full article.
Biden declares support for trans surgeries, puberty blockers for kids, adolescents
This past Thursday, which some have labelled Transgender Day of Visibility, Biden announced his support of puberty blockers and surgery for children and teens with gender dysphoria. Click here to read full article.
Transgender Cyclist Booted from Championship Race After Female Opponents Threaten Boycott
Here is a story of how female athletes successfully got a male, trying to compete as a transgender female, removed from the competition. Click here to read full article.
Mothers and Fathers Misunderstand ADHD in Different Ways. Here’s How.
This is a brief article, but it makes some good points. It might be helpful when you’re working with parents of a child with ADHD. Click here to read full article.
Association of Antipsychotic Drug Exposure in Pregnancy With Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders:
A National Birth Cohort Study
Mothers are sometimes given antipsychotics during pregnancy to treat bipolar disorder, major depression, or severe anxiety disorders. Since antipsychotics cross the placenta a concern some mothers have is whether taking this medication might increase the risk of having children with a mental disorder. This was a large cohort and they were followed for up to 14 years. It was found that there was no increase in mental health disorders in children from any of the antipsychotics with the possible exception of aripiprazole. The slight increase in frequency of disorders with aripiprazole was so small that even this result merits further study. So mothers who need antipsychotic medication for stabilization can be encouraged that taking antipsychotic medication, with the possible exception of aripiprazole, will not harm their baby. Click here to read full article.
Association of Low- and No-Calorie Sweetened Beverages as a Replacement for Sugar-Sweetened Beverages With Body Weight and Cardiometabolic Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Some people attempt to reduce weight gain by using low-calorie and no-calorie sweeteners in drinks and carbonated beverages. This meta-analysis combined data from 17 studies. It concluded that use of low-calorie sweeteners was associated with reduced body weight, body mass index, percentage of body fat, and intrahepatocellular lipid, providing benefits that were similar to those of water. Click here to read full article.
Fine Particulate Matter Exposure From Secondhand Cannabis Bong Smoking
This past week the House passed a bill making cannabis smoking legal throughout the United States, even though this is opposed by President Biden and may not be passed by the Senate. Many young people do not believe that inhaling second-hand cannabis has any significant harmful effects. In reality, cannabis smoking produces several hundred carcinogens, many at higher concentrations than normal cigarettes. Click here to read full article.
A quote from the research study stated: “This cohort study suggests that, contrary to popular beliefs, bong smoking is not safe. Decades ago, many people thought SHTS presented no health risk to nonsmokers. Scientific research since then changed this perception and led to smoke-free environments.3 Incorrect beliefs about SHCS safety promote indoor cannabis smoking.1,2 Nonsmokers are exposed to even higher concentrations of SHCS materials during “hot-boxing,” the popular practice in which cannabis smokers produce high volumes of smoke in an enclosed environment. This study’s findings suggest SHCS in the home is not safe and that public perceptions of SHCS safety must be addressed.” Click here to read full article.
Will the metaverse end the megachurch?
An in-depth article about how on-line church services are impacting in-person church attendance. In some cases churches have closed their doors or combined with other churches, and in other churches they still offer in-person services and virtual services so that people can choose what they prefer. Click here to read full article.
Gambling Disorder Not Uncommon but Often Goes Undiagnosed
Although this article is written for psychiatrists, it is probably relevant for any mental health professional. Apparently gambling disorder is as common as schizophrenia, but often goes unrecognized. Probably it is worthwhile to include a question or two on gambling in intake questionnaires or intake interviews. Click here to read full article.
Transgenderism has a science problem
A good article discussing what makes a treatment be able to claim empirical substantiation and showing why the articles asserting puberty-blocking drugs and genital surgery as treatments for gender dysphoria do not have adequate empirical substantiation. Click here to read full article.
Bipolar & the Entrepreneur Advantage
Probably many of us have heard stories of people with undiagnosed or untreated bipolar disorder who made disastrous decisions with their money or their businesses and suffered terribly as a result. This in-depth article discusses that fact that people with bipolar disorder can become very successful entrepreneurs if they recognize and treat their bipolar disorder and recognize the strengths and weaknesses that go along with having bipolar disorder. Click here to read full article.
Does Moderate Drinking Protect Your Heart? A Genetic Study Offers a New Answer.
For many years it was said that moderate drinking, e.g., one or two drinks a day for men, did not affect people negatively and may even have some beneficial effects. Recent studies have shown that even small amounts of alcohol are detrimental to the brain. Now a recent study has found the same thing about alcohol and heart health. Since this is a New York Times article you may not be able to access it, so let me just quote a major point made by a doctor from the Cleveland Clinic after reading the research study. “There is no level of drinking that does not confer heart disease risk. The risk is small if people have an average of seven drinks a week when compared with none. But it increases quickly as the level of alcohol consumption rises.” Click here to read full article.
‘It Was Our Happy Place’: Families Cancel Disney Trips, Abandon Disney Plus Over Company’s Woke Ideology
It is the beginning of families cancelling their trips to Disneyland and subscriptions to Disney+. Apparently even though there are many (some say a majority) of Christians who work at Disney, it seems the leadership has agreed with the policies advocated by the far left. Click here to read full article.
“Medical Gaslighting Convinced Me That I Didn’t Have ADHD”
An article by a woman who spent 20 years being told by doctors she didn’t have ADHD when she actually did. If you have a client whom you suspect may have ADHD, encourage them to go to a doctor who is truly knowledgeable about ADHD so they don’t get inaccurate diagnoses. Click here to read full article.
Maryland’s Infanticide Bill
I believe I carried an earlier column on the proposed Maryland bill. Here is a fuller discussion of the proposed bill and the ethical implications of it. Click here to read full article.
Top Christian rips Biden for ‘outrageous and vile attack against our precious kids’
Both Franklin Graham and James Dobson (the founder of Focus on the Family) have labeled President Biden’s statements about gender suppressing hormones and gender surgery as “vile.” Click here to read full article.
Sheriff refuses to remove Bible verse from office: 'We need more Jesus'
The atheist group Freedom from Religion has been threatening offices around the country to remove any religious sayings from their property or FfR will take legal action. I wanted to draw attention to this courageous sheriff who has refused to capitulate to their demands. Click here to read full article.
Why Deaths of Despair Are Increasing in the US and Not Other Industrial Nations—Insights from Neuroscience and Anthropology
Interesting discussion of why “deaths of despair” (death by suicide or drug or alcohol overdose) are increasing in the U.S. but not in 16 other industrialized nations. Click here to read full article.
VIDEO: Couple Touched With Viola Player’s Serenade for Their 67th Wedding Anniversary
This doesn’t have anything to do with counseling, but if you need to read a heart-warming story, here is one. Click here to read full article.
What Is Inattentive ADHD? Symptoms, Characteristics, Diagnostic Considerations
Inattentive subtype of ADHD is often misdiagnosed as something else, especially in girls and women. This is so unfair to these girls and women. Please read this good article to help you be aware of how these symptoms look. Click here to read full article.
Is a Burned Out Doctor Better for Patients?
This research study had a result that probably few of us were expecting, and one that I believe might apply to counselors as well. It found that conscientious physicians who were moderately burned out had better patient outcomes than those who had never been burned out. So this study may be suggesting to be conscientious, and then try to find the best line between caring for our clients and not letting ourselves become exhausted. And I think a similar finding might apply to many careers: the conscientious worker may push themselves to the point of tiredness to try to do the best job they can, whatever that job may be. Click here to read full article.
‘I have my sugar daddy that I see’: Potential juror in Parkland shooter case tells judge she has more important issues
Just when I thought I’ve heard everything something like this comes along. A potential juror for the Parkland shooter case here in Florida asked to be excused because she is married but must see her “sugar daddy” every day. Her request has gone viral. Heaven help us! Click here to read full article.
I’m a Conservative Professor Who Opposed Safe Spaces. I Was Wrong.
Since this is from the New York Times, you probably won’t be able to read it unless you have a subscription to the paper. I’ll try to summarize his main points. This professor doesn’t agree with the idea of having students become hypersensitive to microaggressions. His emphasis is on creating classroom environments where students have the freedom to discuss a variety of ideas but recognize some social norms that will make such discussions “safe.” For example, he encourages students not to quickly label anyone who disagrees with them as racist or some other pejorative label. In other words, he believes college should be a place where students have the freedom to voice a variety of views but do so in a way that shows respect for those who hold opposing views, so the classroom becomes a safe place to voice and justify a variety opposing opinions. Click here to read full article.
Have a wonderful weekend or upcoming week!
Henry Virkler
