Interesting Quotes
Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help.
Jane Goodall (although Jane is a primatologist who has spent her lifetime studying and advocating for chimps, I think this statement also applies to our work with individuals and families)
The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers.
Socrates
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
ARISTOTLE
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Einstein
"For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them."
SENECA
“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.”
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
James Baldwin
Valedictorian with Non-speaking Autism Gives Her College’s Commencement Speech
If you only read or listen to one article from this week’s compilation, I encourage you to listen to this six-minute commencement address. I promise you will agree that it was an address to inspire all of us. Click here to read full article.
The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence
For many years a major theory about depression stated that it was due to low serotonin levels in the brain. A very comprehensive analysis which drew from many research studies and meta-analyses that had measured serotonin levels and serotonin metabolites in the brain across many of the most respected journals in the field over the last several years concluded that there was no evidence of a consistent relationship between levels of serotonin in the brain and depression. The analysis is very technical but is available here.
Click here to read full article.
This is an incredibly relevant study for the field of psychiatry and specifically the biological treatments for depression. The most common psychiatric treatments for depression are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which allegedly work by increasing the amount of serotonin available in the brain for transmission of brain signals. But if there is no consistent levels of serotonin available in the brain and depression what does this mean for treating major depression with SSRIs? Stay tuned for further research and discussion of this issue, since an explanation will be important for future treatment of depression through medication.
You Won’t Live Longer by Diet or Exercise Alone, Study Says
This is a New York Times article, so I’ll summarize it in case you don’t have a subscription. Some ads had told people that if they exercise well, it doesn’t matter what they eat, or if they eat a certain way, they don’t need to exercise. This large research study in Great Britain found that unless you do both together you won’t change your mortality risk. So even if we’d like to think otherwise, it’s important to do both together.
Click here to read full article.
Highly Prescribed ‘Benign’ Medication Detected in 10 Percent of Overdose Deaths
You may have clients who are prescribed gabapentin (sometimes by the brand names Neurontin, Horizant, or Gralise) off-label for things like chronic pain. There is concern about this medication because it is being implicated in a growing number of overdose deaths.
Click here to read full article.
From InterestingFacts.com
Humans are the only species known to blush. Blushing occurs when veins in our face dilate and more blood rushes to our cheeks.
Did you know the microwave was discovered by accident from a melted chocolate bar? Perry Spencer, an engineer, was working at the aerospace and defense company Raytheon when he stepped in front of an active radar set. To his surprise, microwaves produced from the radar melted a chocolate bar in his pocket. It took several years from that initial discovery to perfect the modern microwave oven.
Do you know why doctors (and actors and actresses who play doctors) never take your pulse by placing their thumb against your carotid artery? The reason is that the thumb has its own pulse, so using a thumb (rather than the index or middle finger) can result in an inaccurate reading.
Why do birds have hollow bones? You may have heard that it’s to make them lighter, so it’s easier to fly. That’s incorrect. The reason bird bones are hollow is that flying uses much oxygen, so their bones are “pneumatized” (filled with air and are extensions of their lungs). When birds fly they use air both from their lungs as well as their bones.
You missed it: Thursday was national Junk Food Day. Supposedly you were given permission to go off all diets on that day. In case you missed it, there’s always next year.
New 988 Hotline May Help Those in Mental Health Crises
A new hotline for those with mental health emergencies went online this past Saturday. The former suicide hotline will continue to function at its present number, but this new hotline will be available to anyone with any kind of mental health emergency, whether or not they feel suicidal. There is a concern that there may not be enough trained people to fully staff this hotline immediately.
Click here to read full article.
11 Hidden Truths That Unlock ADHD Treatment Success
People with ADHD often receive advice from neurotypicals that just don’t work for someone with ADHD. Here is a good article summarizing a lot of good advice that does work for someone with ADHD.
Click here to read full article.
A Kinder “Time-Out” That Really Works
Although “time-outs” have often been recommended as a disciplinary technique for children in general, these specialists recommend that they do not work for children with ADHD. They recommend a different technique instead. See if you agree.
Click here to read full article.
37 Life Changing Lessons to Learn From C. S. Lewis
If you enjoy C. S. Lewis, you’ll enjoy this compilation from his most popular sayings.
Click here to read full article.
Recognizing Impatience as a Symptom of My Mood Episodes
Here is a short introduction and a video by someone with bipolar disorder, who says that recognizing when she is impatient is an important cue to recognizing she’s having a bipolar episode.
Click here to read full article.
Just 4 Drinks a Week Tied to Brain Changes
More bad news about even moderate drinking: a study of 21,000 people in Great Britain found that even four drinks per week was associated with lowered cognitive functioning. Four drinks per week caused higher amounts of iron in the brain, which was associated with poorer executive functioning, fluid intelligence, and reaction speed.
Click here to read full article.
How to Recover from Being Ghosted
“Ghosting,” as you probably know, is a method of ending a relationship by ceasing all forms of communication and simply vanishing — like a ghost. This article is from the New York Times Magazine, so you probably won’t be able to read it unless you have a subscription. The main points of the writer are (1) that it’s best not to seek an explanation: in some cases it may have nothing to do with you, and if it does, your “ghost” probably won’t respond. (2) She instead recommends investing your energy into developing other relationships instead.
Click here to read full article.
Anesthesia and the Risk for Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction
Quote from the article: “Research indicates that 25% of patients over 75 undergoing a major surgery will experience significant cognitive decline—and half will suffer lasting brain damage.”
However, the article gives several suggestions for things that may minimize the chances for lasting cognitive decline.
Click here to read full article.
Flow State vs. Hyperfocus: On Channeling Your Unsteady ADHD Attention
There are two terms that are frequently used when talking about people with ADHD that are not as well known by many of us neurotypicals. This article describes the difference between flow state and hyperfocus, and how people with ADHD may use these states advantageously.
Click here to read full article.
Organ Transplant Recipients Retain Donor Traits—Why?
This article compiles a fascinating set of illustrations of people who received organ donations and then found their personalities changed in ways that resembled the personality of their donors, even though they had not known or met their donors previously. You may not agree with every point in the article, but I think it raises some fascinating findings.
Click here to read full article.
7 Surprising Ways ADHD Shows Up in the Classroom
This article, by three specialists in ADHD, identify seven ways ADHD shows up in the classroom that are frequently not recognized as ADHD by teachers, and suggestions for how teachers can handle such issues.
Click here to read full article.
4 TIMES IT’S OKAY TO GO TO BED ANGRY
I was interested in what this article would say, since it seems to contradict the biblical command to “not let the sun go down on your wrath.” See whether you agree with this writer about four exceptions.
Click here to read full article.
‘God Created a Brain in My Head’: Boy Born Without a Brain Gets Healed, Inspires Others Toward Faith
This isn’t a counseling article, but I’m including it in case you’re interested. Forty-four years ago a baby was born with triple trouble. He had hydrocephalus (water on the brain), only a partial skull formation (an incomplete skull), and he was born with no brain. The doctor who delivered him said he was unlikely to live more than an hour.
His parents, nurse and congregation prayed for a miracle. He did have a functioning brain stem, which kept his body’s organs working. During his life he has had 25 surgeries, but today he has been married for 12 years and is an ordained evangelist minister. If you’re not sure if miracles still happen in response to prayer, you might enjoy reading this article.
Click here to read full article.
Comprehensive Analysis Suggests Metacognitive Training Can Be Effective in Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders
A meta-analysis of 43 previous research studies found that metacognitive training can be effective in treating schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and benefits were still evident one year after the training was completed. If you know how to do cognitive-behavioral therapy, you can easily learn how to do metacognitive training. See article for further description of the training. The training is available at no cost at www.uke.de/e-mct. Click here to read full article.
Best wishes for the coming week!
Henry Virkler