Interesting Quotes
''We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.''
THORNTON WILDER
You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.
Thích Nhất Hạnh
''The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.''
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
'When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.''
WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD
Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The best way to predict your future is to create it.
Abraham Lincoln
Nothing will work unless you do.
Maya Angelou
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.
Thomas Paine
Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage: it can be delightful.
George Bernard Shaw
Association Between Screen Time Exposure in Children at 1 Year of Age and Autism Spectrum Disorder at 3 Years of Age: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study
This large study, done in Japan, found that an increase in screen time in the first year of life was associated with an increase in autism spectrum disorder at age three for boys, but not for girls. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Stop the Cycle of Shame for Girls with ADHD
Although I’ve included articles about how ADHD is often missed in girls for years, this article is particularly good because it talks about how the emotional impact of not being diagnosed impacts girls differently than boys. I think this article is another good reminder to all of us to be watching for undiagnosed ADHD in all the girls and women we counsel. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Sophie Freud, Critic of Her Grandfather’s Gospel, Dies at 97
This is from the New York Times, so you may not be able to read it without a subscription. It is an obituary for Sigmund Freud’s last remaining granddaughter. I will just quote one paragraph from the newspaper.
“Sigmund Freud’s last surviving grandchild, she fled the Nazis in Vienna, became a professor in America and argued that psychoanalysis was a “narcissistic indulgence.” Article ---> Link Click Here.
4 Things That Age the Brain and 6 Ways to Reverse Brain Aging
This article repeats many things that you have probably heard elsewhere, but its probably a good thing to be reminded of them so we can keep doing the good things and be motivated to change the things that cause brain aging. One new element in this story is the illustration of a medical doctor who has early-stage dementia and the things he is doing to slow the progression. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Should I Keep One Partner’s Secret in Couples Therapy?: Five Clinicians Give Their Take
As this article shows, not all therapists agree on what should be done. I encourage you to read all five responses and then decide what you believe is the best approach. I believe, contrary to the approach found in some universities today, that it is helpful to hear a variety of viewpoints and then let each person think through the issue themselves. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Is It Love, or Is It Mania? Questions to Clarify
People with bipolar 1 or 2 may find it especially difficult to distinguish between feelings that occur in the early stages of love (i.e., infatuation) and when those feelings are affected by the early stages of a manic or hypomanic episode. Here is a helpful article that gives five questions to help them clarify when their feelings are due to love versus when they are due to an impending manic or hypomanic episode. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Female swimmer fights for women athletes as Lia Thomas goes all in on transgender ideology
This article discusses the debate about whether transgender (in this case female to male) athletes should be allowed to compete against biological females. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Mom’s voice holds a special place in kids’ brains. That changes for teens
The next two articles come from “Science News” which is a fascinating magazine that contains some of the latest news from various fields of science. This first article is one that most mothers of teenagers have been complaining about for many years—their teens don’t listen to them anymore. Now neuroscientists have identified the biological reason for this. In studies, it was found that the brains of children ages 7 through 12 responded more to the voice of their mother than they did to the voice of an unknown woman. Between the ages of 13 to 14 this changes, and teens respond more to the voice of an unknown woman than to the voice of their mother. While this is usually frustrating to mothers, in a sense it is developmentally adaptive: as children approach adulthood their world is expanding, and it is important to be aware of input from the outside world and not just input from their families. Article ---> Link Click Here.
The Growing Recognition of the Importance of Glial Cells
Several weeks ago I included an article about new understandings of glial cells in the brain. There are several types of glial cells in the brain, and each type performs specific functions that are very important to keeping our brains healthy. This article talks about new discoveries about glial cells in various organs of our body. Like glial cells in the brain, there are different types of glial cells in the various organs of our bodies, and apparently each type of glial cell performs specific types of function in that organ. Truly, as the Psalmist said, “we are truly and wonderfully made.” Article ---> Link Click Here.
10 Signs It’s Time to Stop Helping Someone
Sometimes our clients are trying to help someone, but its not working. The Amen Clinic identifies 10 situations that indicate that someone should stop trying to “help.” Article ---> Link Click Here.
James Dyson Created 5,127 Versions of a Product That Failed Before Finally Succeeding. His Tenacity Reveals a Secret of Entrepreneurship
This may be helpful if you have clients whose early attempts to improve their lives haven’t been successful. James Dyson spent five years and had more than 5,000 unsuccessful attempts before he created the first successful bagless vacuum cleaner. Now his inventions are sold in more than 65 countries and Dyson is a multibillion-dollar company. Sometimes we just need to keep trying in order to be successful. Article ---> Link Click Here.
From InterestingFacts.com
Poland has an interesting forest of about 400 pine trees that are bent about 90 degrees at their trunk, and then grow straight up after that. The group is so unique in the world that it is called “the Crooked Forest.” No one knows why these pines have such a unique growth pattern.
The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930. An 11-year-old suggested it be given the name “Pluto” based on the Greek mythological figure who was considered a messenger of the gods, and her suggestion was accepted by scientists around the world.
Do you know what the name for a single spaghetti noodle is? If you’re interested in this item of trivia you’ll find the answer at the end of this week’s compilation of news.
Family Interventions Benefit People With Schizophrenia
A meta-analysis of 90 randomized, controlled studies found that nearly all interventions significantly reduced relapse at one year. Interestingly, the most effective intervention was the simplest, simply giving the family psychoeducation about schizophrenia and treatment options. Article ---> Link Click Here.
ADHD Coaches Association
ADHD coaches help people with ADHD be more organized, identify situations where they would like to be more effective, and then help those with ADHD to develop strategies to deal with those situations. Many of the skills you use as a counselor can be used in coaching, and training in ADHD coaching is available. For more information see the site below. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Don’t Say ‘They’: Why Pronouns Matter
The debate about how to address people claiming to be a different gender than their biological gender is raising questions in both educational settings and employment. Here is a thoughtful biblical discussion from Breakpoint about the issue. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Bipolar Therapy—From Both Sides of the Desk
An interesting article from a therapist who entered the field and then later developed bipolar disorder himself, so he has experienced bipolar from both sides of the desk. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Combining Antidepressants Can Improve Outcomes in Patients with Severe Depression, Study Finds
Several meta-analyses, conducted over the last two decades, have asked the question of whether combining two antidepressants would be more effective in reducing depression than a larger dose of one antidepressant. All of the ones that I have been aware of have reached a similar conclusion: usually smaller doses of two antidepressants was at least incrementally better at reducing depressive symptoms than larger doses of one. This most recent meta-analysis, combining the results from 39 previous studies on 6,751 depressed patients, compared treating patients with one antidepressant versus two antidepressants simultaneously, came to the same conclusion and found the combination treatment was more effective in reducing depressive symptoms. Article ---> Link Click Here.
What Is Healthy Masculinity?
We’ve read many articles about toxic masculinity. Here’s an article describing one author’s thoughts about what healthy masculinity looks like. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Taking On the Bipolar Depression Bully
As you probably know, most people with bipolar disorder usually have much longer episodes of depression than mania. Here is one person’s description of what bipolar depression feels like (she was depressed for about one year) and what eventually helped her get out of that episode. Article ---> Link Click Here.
How Chuck Colson Thought Abortion Would End
Although Chuck Colson has now been enjoying the pleasures of heaven for many years now, his words can continue to inspire us all. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Learn About Confabulation, Also Known as “Honest Lying"
This is an excellent article about confabulation. You may learn, as I did, that you have an inaccurate definition of what confabulation means. If you go to the article you’ll have an opportunity to subscribe to “Brain and Life,” a free subscription to an excellent magazine about neurology and neurological disorders. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Association of Bariatric Surgery With Cancer Risk and Mortality in Adults With Obesity
Although physicians will generally be the primary consultants when people consider bariatric surgery, you may be interested in knowing this. In a group of about 30,000 people who were obese, those who had bariatric surgery had a significantly lowered risk of obesity-related cancer and death from obesity-related cancer. Article ---> Link Click Here.
How Caffeine Impacts Your Health
This article discusses some of the pros and cons of coffee. The primary cons are that it may cause some people to feel jittery, and it may interfere with sleep if you ingest it too late in the day. Some of the primary benefits are that it may make you feel more alert, may boost your mood, may help you lose weight (by boosting your metabolism), and may help decrease heart problems. Article ---> Link Click Here.
Trivial fact to brighten your day: The name for a single spaghetti noodle is “spaghetto.”
Have a wonderful weekend!
Henry Virkler