Articles from the Week of May 26, 2023
Interesting Quotes
"Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."
Albert Einstein
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
[If] we terrorize ourselves with self-doubt, our only relief is to get moving again.
Twyla Tharp
Happiness is not a goal, it’s a by-product.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Fascinating Facts
Interesting facts about Antarctica: (1) Although it doesn’t look like it on maps, it is 1½ times the size of the United States. (2) There are no official time zones in Antarctica, and (3) at least 11 babies have been born there (Source: InterestingFacts.com).
As far as we know, the earth is the only place in the universe that has fire. That’s because fire needs three things: heat, combustible material and free oxygen. The earth is the only place we know of that has enough free oxygen to support fire (Source: InterestingFacts.com).
Counseling Articles
Internet Use a Modifiable Dementia Risk Factor in Older Adults?
This large study of 18,000 older Americans found that moderate use of the internet was associated with lower risk of dementia (remember, though, that correlation doesn’t prove causation. Probably those with moderate cognitive abilities are the ones who use the Internet moderately.)
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How Parental Alienation Harms ADHD Families
If you do marriage counseling, occasionally those couples will end up divorcing. Especially in high conflict-divorces, one or the other may try to alienate the children from the other parent. This is tremendously harmful to the children, whether or not ADHD is part of the picture. This is an article that reminds us of the ways it can occur and is a good reminder to us as counselors to try to do some preventive counseling so that neither parent engages in it.
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“What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up? Happy.”
Leaving adolescence and moving into adulthood is challenging for many young people and especially for those with ADHD. Here is some good advice from a psychologist who has worked with many young people who have ADHD as they make that transition.
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Long-Term Impact of Childhood Trauma Explained
We know that childhood trauma increases the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders in adult life but the exact way that does it has not been explained. This article from Medscape Psychiatry explains what may be the reason this occurs.
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Impact of Child Abuse Differs by Gender
Another useful study included in Medscape Psychiatry.
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Three Surprising Studies on Exercise Restriction and an Exercise Sweet Spot
If you are an endurance athlete or if you have one or more clients who are endurance athletes these three studies may be of interest to you. The bottom lines: (1) participating in high endurance sports does not prevent you from all cardiovascular issues. (2) Even if you have some risk factors, with careful medical supervision you can probably participate in even endurance sports. (3) Moderate exercise is always preferable to the sedentary lifestyle.
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Profiteering Off the Body Insecurity of Teens
Most articles about body insecurity in teens are about girls. This one is about body insecurities in boys and some of the supplements being promoted to boys that may be harmful to their health.
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Tim Keller: Pastor, Author, Theologian
Probably most of us have been blessed by the ministry of Tim Keller, now with the Lord.
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Heartbroken family calling for action after 13-year-old’s death from ‘chroming’
A new adolescent trend is taking the lives of young people—chroming. If you haven’t heard of it yet, here are some details.
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ADHD and the Midlife Crisis Crisis
Several years ago there were several popular books suggesting that most men and women would have a midlife crisis. Now the suggested statistics are that between 10 and 20% of men and women will have one. However, for adults with ADHD, the suggested frequency is that somewhere in the vicinity of 50 to 60% of men and women with ADHD will have one. Read this article for more thoughts on this phenomenon.
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Eating Disorders in Teen Girls Doubled During the Pandemic
Not only did eating disorders in teen girls double during the pandemic, but there were also increases in anxiety disorders, depression and ADHD.
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5 Proven Ways Porn Harms Kids that No One Talks About
Kristen Jenson, the author of Good Pictures, Bad Pictures gives a summary of the additional things she has learned about how porn harms children, and some very practical ways to work with children to prevent or minimize those harms.
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Study Says Casual Pot Use Harmful to Teens
In case you’re tempted to skip this article because you believe you already know this information, please don’t. This article is a summary of a research study in the Journal of The American Medical Association of 68,000 teens. It demonstrates that there are many more harms of recreational pot use in teens than previously known.
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Social Media and Youth Mental Health
The U.S. Surgeon General has been making some thoughtful advisories in the last few weeks, and this week is no different. This one is packed full of information on young people’s use of social media, the positive things it can offer, but also the harmful effects it can have.
He concludes his advisory with specific suggestions for policymakers, technology companies, parents and caregivers, children and teens, and researchers can do to increase the benefits of social media and decrease the harms it can cause. Worthwhile reading.
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Target sells pride merch from ‘Satan respects pronouns’ brand
My focus in this compilation of articles is to provide news that can be helpful to counselors and their clients, but in this case one well-known retailer, Target, has started selling merchandize that may cause some Christians to choose to shop at other stores. For example, one of the retailers they feature offers products that include skulls, horned goats, and other images from the occult. That organization also promotes products that include sayings like ““Satan respects pronouns,” “Gay as Hell,” and “Join My Gay Cult.” According to several sources Target’s market value lost 9 billion dollars in valuation in one week.
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Later note: news reports today (Thursday) say that Target has pulled this merchandise from some of their stores.
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The Anti-Christian Los Angeles Dodgers Deserve The Bud Light Treatment
Although it’s hard to understand the relationship between major league baseball and sexuality, the Los Angeles Dodgers are sponsoring a gay pride night in which they have also invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that mocks Roman Catholic nuns, whose motto is “Go forth and sin some more.”
After receiving quite a bit of negative backlash, the Dodgers rescinded their invitation, but after that made a later decision to invite them once more. It seems hard to understand why any groups such as the Los Angeles Dodgers or Target would want to support groups that could cost them the loss of millions of customers.
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10 Brand-New Subjects Being Taught In Public Schools This Fall
Another great tongue-in-cheek article from the Babylon Bee, in case you need a little humorous pick-me-up today.
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Rapid-Acting Brain Stimulation Method May Reduce Major Depression by Reversing Information Flow Between Brain Regions
One thing that is now becoming clear is that there are many different causes of major depression, so that is why it is helpful to have an array of approaches when one approach doesn’t work.
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Another risk from marijuana use
Another article in Medscape found that marijuana users had a 4 times higher risk of developing peripheral artery disease than those who were non-users (I couldn’t include a hypertext link to the full article because of requirements regarding subscriptions).
Have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler