Articles from the Week of August 11, 2023
Interesting Quotes
As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better.
Steve Maraboli
Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.
Cheyenne proverb
I don't like that man. I must get to know him better."
Abraham Lincoln
I live in that solitude, which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.
Albert Einstein
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
What good is warmth without cold to give it sweetness?
John Steinbeck
If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn’t have a job if he was any smarter.
John Gotti
Fascinating Facts (from InterestingFacts.com unless otherwise noted)
Bagpipes probably did not originate in Scotland, but in the Middle East. The earliest bagpipe-like instruments have been found in Egypt around 400 BCE.
What is the hottest planet in our solar system?
Venus.
“With average temperatures of 880 degrees Fahrenheit, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. This may come as a surprise to most, as it is not the closest planet to the Sun. It would make a lot of sense if the planet closest to the star in a solar system - in this case, Mercury - were the hottest, and then every planet further away from there would get increasingly colder. However, Venus has a dense atmosphere, which causes it to catch and hold a great number of greenhouse gases, which heat it to its high temperature.” (Source: NeedtoKnowFacts.com)
Do you know what the longest tunnel in the world is?
“In 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland became the longest tunnel in the world. To top that, it’s also the deepest tunnel in the world, extending to 8,000 feet underground. The tunnel, which took 17 years to complete, runs a high-speed rail beneath the Swiss Alps, connecting northern and southern Europe. To build the tunnel, engineers faced an immense challenge with the rock’s unpredictability. Some rock was too soft, making it difficult to excavate and slowing down the work. When the conditions were right, however, the workers used a 30-foot tunnel boring machine that was able to dig a record-breaking 131 feet in a single day.” (InterestingFacts.com)
Interesting Facts about the World’s Population
90% of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere even though both hemispheres are about equal size. About 60% of the world’s population lives on one continent—Asia. The world’s most populated city is Tokyo. Approximately 37.7 million people live in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Monaco has the densest population at approximately 50,000 per square mile (not a good place for introverts)! Although Indonesia has 17, 508 islands, more than ½ its population lives on one island—Java. The town of Monowi, Nebraska has a population of 1.
Counseling Articles
When Parents Lead Their Children Toward Transition
This is an extremely sad article to read, but one that all counselors probably should read, because this problem is likely to come into our counseling offices in the years ahead. It’s about parents who succumbed to the gender indoctrination in our culture today, where they gave permission for their children to receive medication and sexual reassignment surgery, and now that child realizes that that was a path they should not have taken. I encourage all counselors to read this article, for I fear we will all be facing parents in this situation.
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Mom of 3 Puts Her Kids on ‘TV Fast’ for Months and Is Blown Away by the Results
This is an interesting story. This family decided (the children were included in the decision-making) to go on a TV fast for three months. Read the interesting results.
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What to Do If You Catch COVID-19 This Summer
There has been a recent uptick in COVID this summer, and as counselors you may be at heightened risk because of the time you spend in close contact with clients. Here is an article with some helpful advice if you think you’ve been exposed or develop symptoms that make you wonder.
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Intense Exercise May Be Risky in Moderate to Severe Stenosis
Most of the research suggests that moderate exercise enhances physical and mental health. However, intense exercise is one exception to that rule. People with moderate to severe stenosis (blockage of the arteries) may be at increased risk of stroke if they engage in intense exercise. Those with no blockage or mild blockage are apparently not at increased risk if they engage in intense exercise. And for those who just exercise at moderate levels of intensity, it’s healthiest if you keep doing what you’re doing.
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Transgender Policies Put Doctors and Patients at Risk, Says Medical Group
Although most of you who read this compilation are not medical doctors, this article highlights a growing medical risk as transgender people increase in the population. Some symptoms require different urgent care in natal males versus natal females (e.g., heart attack symptoms are different in men than women). Sometimes with surgery it is difficult to identify the natal gender of a patient, and in certain states physicians can face serious consequences by noting the natal gender on a transgender’s file.
One example included in the article was of a biological woman who had had surgery to look like a man. She lost her baby when the doctor didn’t realize her pain was caused by her pregnancy.
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The FDA approves the first pill specifically intended to treat postpartum depression
It is estimated that 400,000 women experience postpartum depression each year. For some this depression recedes after about two weeks, but for others it is severe and lasting, and can be life-threatening. Just recently a new medication was approved specifically for treating postpartum depression. It is taken for 14 days, and many women stated that they started feeling better as early as the third day of treatment.
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How Energy Drinks Are Draining Your Brain’s Power
“Energy drinks” like Red Bull have rapidly become popular among college students who try to study for long periods of time or for athletes who want to enhance their performance in events. These drinks usually achieve this by containing large amounts of both caffeine and sugar. This article summarizes the numerous medical concerns when such drinks are used on a regular basis. This probably should be required reading for parents, teens, and young adults.
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Empowered or Traumatized? A Call for Evidence-Informed Armed-Assailant Drills in U.S. Schools
Unfortunately we probably need drills in schools (both elementary and high schools) about how to deal with armed assailants. These two authors, one a pediatrician and the other a school nurse, discuss the issue of whether studies have been done to identify whether these drills empower or traumatize students, especially those in elementary schools, and what could be done to make them more of the former and less of the latter.
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Is Depression ‘All in the Mind’? Do People ‘Choose Depression’?
This is a 20-minute interview with Dr. Yang, who has a very integrative model of the variety of things that cause depression, including things that are not under our control, as well as things that humans do have some ability to control if they understand what those factors are. Dr. Yang would be an example of a social psychiatrist found in last week’s counseling news, though he might not identify himself as one. For people who have a simplistic view of depression, this might be a very worthwhile thing to refer them to, to help them see that a variety of factors can influence depression and can be used to relieve depression.
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Lifetime Burden of Psychological Symptoms, Disorders, and Suicide Due to Cancer in Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
This study was a meta-analysis of several studies where children, teens and young adults had been treated for cancer. It found that when persons had been treated for cancer during these early years, when they were compared with matched controls who did not have cancer during these years, those treated for cancer had a significantly higher risk of developing anxiety, depressive, and psychotic disorders during adulthood. There was a slightly elevated risk of suicide, but it did not reach statistical significance.
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How to Manage Expectations and Meet Deadlines at Work
People with ADHD often have particular trouble managing expectations and meeting deadlines at work.
Here is a step-by-step guide that would probably be helpful for them.
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"Sensory-friendly" store hours are catching on
This is an article that may be helpful to some of your clients, particularly if they have autism spectrum disorder. Some retailers, museums and restaurants are now having designated hours when the lights are lower, sounds are softer, and traffic is lighter, since some of those with sensory issues may have difficulty adjusting to these places during normal hours. Since as many as one in six children have sensory processing issues, this may be a help to them.
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How to Recognize and Prevent Mixed Episodes — for Good
Since most of us have never experienced bipolar disorder, it is helpful to read a description from those who have. Although many with bipolar disorder will have discrete manic and depressive episodes, some will have more confusing episodes. This author had ultra-rapid (ultradian) episodes, but now often has mixed episodes, where she had both mania and depression at the same time. I encourage you to read her description so you would recognize it if it were happening in a client.
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Bipolar Disorder and Relationships: The Importance of Making Amends
The ups and downs of bipolar disorder are stressful for any marriage, and many marriages do not survive. But this husband’s approach—including having his wife understand bipolar disorder, listening to his wife’s input when he is starting to show symptoms, respecting it, and making amends when appropriate, seem like a good model that would strengthen any marriage.
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Helping others improves health
Several studies support the idea that helping others can often result in improved health for those who help.
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9 Constructive Fidgets That Promote Focus
We’re probably aware that having something to fidget with helps children with ADHD focus better. Here’s an article about 9 fidgets that may help children with ADHD in various situations.
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Video Game Addiction: Signs, Risk Factors, and ADHD Links
Anyone can develop a video game addiction, but those with ADHD are more vulnerable than others to this. This article includes the ICD-11 and DSM-5TR symptoms for video gaming disorder, as well as the most effective treatments.
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I Wasn’t Hysterical. I Was Sick.
Here is a young woman who went through 7 years of excruciating pain, being told by doctors there was nothing wrong with her medically, until one doctor gave her the proper diagnosis and a treatment that brought relief. Particularly if you counsel with young women I encourage you to read this article, so that if you have a client with these symptoms you could encourage her to ask her doctor about this possible cause.
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I hope you have a nice week or weekend!
Henry Virkler
