Articles from the Week of July 28, 2023
Interesting Quotes
He was swimming in a sea of other people’s expectations. Men had drowned in seas like that.
Robert Jordan
This is a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before.
Maya Angelou
The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions."
Leonardo da Vinci
''And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.''
JOHN STEINBECK
When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things — not the great occasions — that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.
Bob Hope
The secret to longevity is ice cream.
Paul Marcus, centenarian
There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.
C.S. Lewis
Retirement is a blank sheet of paper. It is a chance to redesign your life into something new and different.
Patrick Foley
Failure is a greater teacher than success. Listen, learn, go on.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
“Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will evade you, but if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder.”
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Fascinating Facts (from InterestingFacts.com)
Your entire skeleton is replaced every ten years, with about 10% of it replaced each year.
Which two popes were Harlem Globetrotters? Actually they didn’t play on the team. They were named honorary Harlem Globetrotters--Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis since both of them have visited many countries in their role as Pope (globetrotters in a different sense of the word).
Counseling Articles
What If We Are Not the Only Creatures in the Universe?
The Congressional hearings on UFOs this week may have caused some of your clients, especially those more anxiety-prone, to worry about whether these extraterrestrial beings will ever attack earth. The hearings have asserted that these visitations are no longer just conspiratorial theories believed by a small group of people of questionable mental stability.
If your clients are believers you may remind them that God’s promises to His people, e.g., “I will never leave you or forsake you,” “Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you” etc. remain unchanged, and God is sovereign over all creation, including any other civilizations that exist. Sometimes fear of the unknown is the greatest anxiety trigger. C.S. Lewis wrote about the possibility of other worlds and other groups of beings in his space trilogy, which, although fictional, provides some fascinating reading about what such other civilizations might be like. Those three books are Perelandra, Out of the Silent Planet, and That Hideous Strength. Fascinating stories for children and adults alike.
Does Exercise Really Boost Cognition?
Apparently there are design flaws in most of the research done that has concluded that exercise boosts cognition. This article explains what those are and plans for a better-designed study. However, most experts agree that exercise does benefit physical health, and it probably boosts mental health as well, even if this latter conclusion has not been satisfactorily proven yet.
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What Changes Happen in a Brain That Is Faithful, Spiritual, Mindful?
An interesting 12-minute interview with Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist who has been doing brains scans on people while they are engaging in things such as meditation, prayer, etc.
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Bipolar disorder linked to increased alcohol-related mortality
A 14-year study of 47,000 people with bipolar disorder found that they had a six-fold increase in early death when compared with peers who did not have bipolar disorder. The main causes of early death included alcohol (29% of the deaths), followed by heart disease and stroke at 27%, cancer at 22%, respiratory diseases at 4%, and diabetes at 2%. Liver diseases were the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths, followed by accidental alcohol poisonings and alcohol dependence. In addition to medical causes, suicide was also a significant cause of death among those with bipolar disorder.
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When Mothers Got CBT for Postpartum Depression, Emotion Regulation in Their Infants Improved
Probably most counselors receive training on how to use CBT to help clients reduce depression. This research shows that such therapy helps not only mothers, but also their infants, and that failure to treat depression in the mothers increases the likelihood of children developing mental health problems later in their lives.
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Winner Of $1 Billion Powerball Jackpot Excited to Finally Be Able to Afford an Apartment in L.A.
Fun headline from the Babylon Bee.
The Chinese Communist Party is rewriting the Bible
The Chinese Communist Party is attempting to suppress all religions, including Christianity. One of their plans regarding Christianity is a ten-year plan to rewrite the Bible. Many other organizations and individuals have tried to do this in the past: good luck trying!
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The Depression Treatment Gap for Teens — And How to Close It
Children with ADHD often also have depression, and many are unwilling to seek treatment for it. Here is an article about the dangers of untreated depression and some suggestions on how to work through that resistance with teens.
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YouTube Censored Detransitioner’s Story While ‘Glamorizing’ Pro-Trans Content
This article summarizes the very disparate treatment that YouTube gives those with affirming transgender posts versus the treatment YouTube gives those posts where people shared that becoming transgender did not solve all their problems, and ultimately decided to transition back to their natal gender.
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What’s Causing Pandemic of Adult Children Who Won’t Ever Again Speak to Their Parents?
Dennis Prager writes a thoughtful analysis of three different reasons why some adult children are totally cutting off communication with their parents. If you counsel with one of these people or with their parents, you probably would find this helpful.
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What Is Bed Rotting and Is It Actually a Problem?
For the last three weeks the term “bed rotting” has been found repeatedly in psychology and psychiatry reports, so it’s important to know what the term means and whether you need to change anything in your counseling as a result of it.
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10 Things You Don’t Want to Know about Bipolar … Unless You Want to Manage It Successfully
A very practical and worthwhile article by Stephen Propst who was a popular writer who lived for many years with bipolar disorder (he passed in 2022). A reminder that the things we write can continue to help people, even after we’ve passed.
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Association of Labor Epidural Analgesia, Oxytocin Exposure, and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children
In today’s maternity wards many women are given epidural analgesia and oxytocin during delivery. Some women are concerned about whether any drugs they are given prior to and during delivery could have a negative effect on their children. I’ll just include one quote from the article and you can decide whether you want to read the entire thing. “The findings of this cohort study suggest an association between maternal LEA [labor epidural analgesia] and ASD [autism spectrum disorder] risk in children, and the risk appeared to be further increased if oxytocin was also administered. Oxytocin exposure without LEA exposure was not associated with ASD risk in children. These findings must be interpreted with caution. Further studies are needed to replicate or refute the study results and examine biological plausibility.”
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The Unsettling Rise of Microwave Syndrome
We had diplomats in several countries complain about this last year, and it seems to be a growing issue, affecting women and children more than men. I would encourage everyone to read this article and, if you hear of a microwave tower being considered in your neighborhood, pray about what your response should be.
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Doctors Around the World are Speaking Up
I mentioned last week this international group of doctors who are encouraging our medical organizations to start looking more carefully at some of the dangers they are minimizing in order to keep promoting this transgender movement. Here is one way you can become involved if you feel so inclined.
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Does acupuncture work for chronic pain? Here’s what the science says.
Some people are promoting acupuncture for chronic pain. Here’s a balanced article about what science reveals.
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What Stops Me from Starting?
People with ADHD are legendary for procrastinating, so this article is written for and will probably be most applicable to them. But if you have a client who has a problem with procrastinating, whether or not they have ADHD, I think you (or they) will find some helpful insights in it.
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“Here’s What Happened When I Revealed My ADHD on LinkedIn”
Here is a remarkable story of a person who learned he had ADHD and a learning disability, his journey through college (it’s challenges and how he eventually conquered those challenges) and his most recent experience in sharing his ADHD and learning disability on LinkedIn. I think every one of us can learn something from his story.
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Ultimate Comparison of the Best Smartphones for Kids in 2023
If you have a parent searching for the best smartphone for their teen or tween, here is an in-depth comparison done by a group that is highly respected (The staff of Defend Young Minds).
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Study Says One-Third of Americans Choose ‘Sleep Divorce’
The term “sleep divorce” has been appearing in more and more articles recently. It refers to couples who sleep in separate rooms for a variety of reasons, and apparently it’s occurring in one-third of marriages. Read this WebMD article for a brief discussion.
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The ADA Benefits All People, Not Just “Americans with Disabilities”
This week marked the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This short article reminds us of things included in that Act that benefit us all, not just those with disabilities.
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Young woman files $1M suit against doctors who left her maimed after trans surgery
Another lawsuit that I think may eventually cause therapists and doctors from quickly starting young people on transgender treatment protocols without doing adequate assessments first.
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Don’t fall prey to fake ‘girl dinner’ trend outrage, food experts say
Another unhealthy trend fostered by TikTok. If you work with teen girls and haven’t heard about it, this article will tell you what it is.
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‘Vape tongue’ is a common issue with potentially disturbing aftereffects
If we needed one more reason to convince others and ourselves that vaping is not a good idea, this article gives us that reason.
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Nonstimulants: A Better Option for ADHD?
Recent research found that viloxazine was better at suppressing hyperactivity and inattentiveness in both children and adults with ADHD. Since it is not a stimulant it may end up being preferable to stimulants, especially for those individuals for whom stimulants cause side-effects.
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Surgeons Reveal They’ve Engineered Female-Like Organs in Boys as Young as 15
Some surgeons now report that they are providing sex change surgeries on boys as young as 15. They explain that they prefer to provide the surgeries to boys while they are still at home, where parents can help with the post-surgical care. For example, for the surgery to be successful, boys must dilate their “neovaginas” for at least two hours per day for the first year, and it is a painful process. Thus it’s better if parents are there to provide support.
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Have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler