Articles from the Week of September 8, 2023

Interesting Quotes

Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

Albert Einstein

I did not always think he was right, nor did he always think I was right, but we were each the person the other trusted.

Joan Didion

There's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.

Susan Cain

Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.

Robert Waldinger (Dr. Waldinger is the editor of the 80-year Harvard study on what helps people to be healthy)

Anxiety is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.

Jodi Picoult

Do you really want music in the shower? I guess there’s no better place to dance than a slick surface next to a glass door.

Jerry Seinfeld

"It all comes to this: The simplest way to be happy is to do good."

HELEN KELLER

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.

Elbert Hubbard

Happiness is not a goal, it’s a by-product.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Fascinating Facts (from InterestingFacts.com unless otherwise noted)

What state capitol sits on top of a volcano?

Answer: Jackson, Mississippi. (Fortunately it’s a dormant volcano.)

The ocean’s color is gradually changing due to several factors. We’re accustomed to the ocean being blue, but as the oceans become warmer the phytoplankton, which produces much of the world’s oxygen, is changing and this is one of the factors that is causing the oceans’ color to gradually become greener, especially in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.

What was “Mountain Dew” initially slang for? (from AnyTrivia.com)

Mountain Dew was originally a term for moonshine.

Counseling Articles

Want Help Managing Bipolar Disorder? Use This Word to Set Yourself Free

Women often are taught that it’s rude to say “no” to any request, but as this female author with bipolar disorder says, it’s imperative that women with bipolar learn to say “no” to keep from being overwhelmed with so many activities or responsibilities that they precipitate another mood episode. This article could be a good discussion starter with any client, male or female, with or without bipolar, if they have difficulty saying “no.”

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One in 5 Males Worldwide Has High-Risk Genital HPV

One in three males worldwide have one of the strains of HPV, and one in five have the cancer-causing type of HPV. Even if clients do not abstain from recreational sex for moral reasons, they need to know the dangers of random sexuality.

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10 Parenting Myths You Need to Get Over — Like, Now

Parents are often told rules they must raise their children by in order for their children to grow up healthily. This mother of multiple children with ADHD who also homeschools them has some good commonsense points to make.

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A Tale of Two Styles: Why Modesty Matters

If you have a female client who brings up the issue of clothing, this article, though written by a Catholic woman has, I think, some thoughtful comments that all Christian women could consider.

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How Companion Animals Can Participate in Treatment of Mental Illness

This article is a good reminder of the many ways pets (primarily dogs and cats) can provide healthy interaction, not just for those with mental illness but also for those without a diagnosis. Sometimes we may be skeptical because some people seem to be claiming that animals are “service animals” when they are simply pets, but I think that may cause us to overlook the fact that animals can provide therapeutic benefits in a number of ways.

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10 Signs You May Have an Addictive Personality

Many of us may have heard about people with addictive personalities, but we may not know exactly what factors increase the likelihood that a person is more likely than normal to develop a substance abuse or other addition. Here’s a short article from WebMD about the characteristics that make up someone with an addictive personality.

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Watchdog Group Ranks Harvard as America’s Worst School for Free Speech

This isn’t a counseling article, but I thought some of you might be interested. College is supposed to be a place where there is freedom to exchange ideas and let people grow by having them learn to sort out true assertions from false ones. Apparently political correctness has overshadowed the idea of free speech, even in places that identify themselves as being bastions of free speech, such as Harvard University. 55,000 students at some 250 U.S. colleges and universities completed surveys regarding how well their respective colleges encouraged the free interchange of ideas. On a rating scale from 0 to 100 Harvard University ranked as zero and was the lowest ranking of any of the 250 schools included in the survey.

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Cannabis-Involved Traffic Injury Emergency Department Visits After Cannabis Legalization and Commercialization

As more and more states legalize marijuana, one question has been whether this will affect accidents and emergency room visits. This Canadian study did confirm what many have suspected—that such legalization has significantly increased the frequency of vehicle accidents resulting in emergency room visits.

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6 Tips to Help You Sleep While Manic

It’s extremely important for people with bipolar disorder to get regular sleep, but especially if one is in a manic or hypomanic phase, that may be particularly difficult. This person seems to give these suggestions based on her personal experience, so I don’t know how well they will generalize to others, but if you have a client with bipolar disorder, these suggestions may be worthwhile for them to try.

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Feeling Bad About Yourself? Check Out These 10 People from The Bible Who Did Way Stupider Stuff Than You

Fun headline from the Babylon Bee.

Youths With Suicide- and Self-Injury-Related Emergencies Are Often Missed by Standard Hospital Identification Methods

This research study shows just how difficult it is for medical doctors to identify young people who are at risk for suicide or self-injury. If one or more of you feel inclined to try to develop a better screening tool, this is definitely needed.

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How Do We Know the Treatment Is Working?

Almost any ADHD treatment will need some fine-tuning during the early weeks of implementation and then some periodic assessment after that. This article talks about why monitoring is important and gives readers the option of downloading an ADHD monitoring guide from the Internet.

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How To Treat Autism

This is bound to be a controversial article, but I think its worthwhile to consider ideas that are sometimes considered “outside the box” such as this one and be open to different points of view. If you read the article you’ll see that the physician writing it has a plausible rationale behind his theorizing.

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FDA Approved Eye-Tracking Device May Speed Autism Diagnosis, Studies Suggest

One challenge for pediatricians has always been how to diagnose autism during the early years of life, since the sooner treatments can begin, the better. This eye-tracking device has been approved for use with children from 16 to 30 months to aid in the diagnosis of autism by doctors.

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Referral Guidelines for Pastors

Many pastors say that they were not given adequate training in Bible college or seminary about how to comfortably refer parishioners to professional counselors. I have written an article giving counseling referral suggestions to pastors and acquainting them with the Baker Act, the Marchman Act, the new 988 hotline, how mental health problems can sometimes masquerade as spiritual problems, eating disorders treatment, pornography addiction treatment, etc. It has its own tab at the SFACC website. Would you please read this article and if you believe that it would be helpful to your pastors, associate pastors and any others in your church who sometimes need to make counseling referrals, tell them about this free resource?  Thank you!

Have a wonderful week!

Henry Virkler