Articles from the Week of January 19, 2024
Interesting Quotes
Admire as much as you can, most people don't admire enough.
Vincent van Gogh
We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives.
Maya Angelou
The more you are focused on time — past and future — the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.
Eckhart Tolle
“It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage”
HARRISON FORD
“I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
It is never quite safe to think we have done with life. When we imagine we have finished our story fate has a trick of turning the page and showing us yet another chapter.
Lucy Maud Montgomery
If you look for perfection, you will never be satisfied.
Leo Tolstoy
You know you’re getting older when your favorite late-night show is the six o’clock news.
Garfield
Fascinating Facts
Some Police in India still use pigeons to relay messages. Police in one part of India still rely on about 150 carrier pigeons to relay important messages. (Source: Interestingfacts.com)
The world’s largest underground city housed more than 20,000 people. The city, which can be visited and explored today, is in Turkey. It is believed to have been built by the Hittites in about 1200 BCE as a defense against marauding Islamic groups. (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
One Way to Make Decisions: Ancient Persians reportedly debated big decisions twice: once drunk and once sober. (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Fun Headlines from the Babylon Bee
Chameleons have a tongue which is approximately twice as long as their bodies. You may wonder how they keep such a long tongue in their relatively small bodies. A chameleon’s tongue contains elastic tissue that allows them to effectively store this secret weapon folded up like an accordion. When hunting prey, muscles contract in the mouth, like pulling back the string of a bow, and once that tension is released, simple physics takes over. The chameleon’s tongue propels forward with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it speed in a process scientists call “elastic recoil.” Once released, it can go from zero to sixty mph in one-hundredth of a second. (Source: InterestingFacts.com)
The loudest known sound ever known on earth was the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano. On May 20, 1883, Krakatoa, a volcano on Rakata Island in Indonesia, erupted with a force never seen — or heard — on Earth. The explosion was estimated at 310 decibels and traveled around the earth four times before it eventually dissipated. (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Counseling Articles
Mom Judged for Her ‘Lazy’ Parenting Approach Reveals How Her 2-Year-Old Twins Can Now Organize Their Breakfast Table
If you do family therapy I think you’ll find this article interesting. This young mother may be on to something that could be applied in many families today and be quite helpful.
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Is It Possible to Sleep Too Much?
You may have heard some comments about this topic. Here is an article that identifies what the author believes are some negative results of too much sleeping and gives some suggestions for reducing sleep time if you are over the recommended lengths of sleep.
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9 Ways to Make Amends and Seek Forgiveness
Although this article was written specifically for people with bipolar disorder, it includes some good suggestions about making amends and seeking forgiveness for anyone who has done something that has damaged a relationship.
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Study: Risk factors for early onset dementia, dementia before the age of 65, identified
This study of about 350,000 people in Great Britain identified 15 risk factors associated with early-onset dementia (dementia that occurs before the age of 65). If you have clients who are engaging in some of these behaviors this might be a helpful article to encourage them to make some changes.
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Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain Tied to Arrhythmia Risk
This Danish study found that when medical cannabis is used to treat chronic pain there is a modest increase in arrhythmias in patients.
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'Fake Xanax' Tied to Seizures, Coma; Naloxone Ineffective
A relatively new recreational drug here in the U.S. (its been used in Europe for several years), called by various names including “fake Xanax” has been tied to a number of serious medical issues requiring several day stays in hospitals. If you have clients who like to experiment with various new drugs, please warn them of the serious cases resulting from use of this drug.
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Two Articles from Science News
The January 13 issue of Science News has not been posted on the Internet yet so I will summarize two articles that have relevance for counselors. One was “Electricity may help treat the brain.” When people have severe brain injuries caused by car accidents or other things, there are often significant cognitive impairments. There are at present no significant treatments for this. A recent small study involved placing electrodes in the thalamus and stimulating that area. The six subjects reported improvements in their lives and received increased scores on cognitive measures. This study opens the door for further research.
The second article was titled “Any movement is better than none.” Many clients who have lived sedentary lives for many years find starting an exercise regimen difficult to maintain. This research found that even small daily increases in movement produced measurable benefits. So if you have a client who is having difficulty starting an exercise regimen you can encourage them that even small increases in activity can be beneficial and hopefully, starting small will make it easier to gradually increase their activity levels.
I’m a psychologist — here are 3 ways to tell if you’re a secret hoarder
Here’s an article by a psychologist who is featured on the A + E series “Hoarders.” I think we all have a general idea of the symptoms of hoarding disorder which affects about 2.6% of people, but the pictures accompanying this article make it worthwhile looking at them. The discussion by the psychologist gives you a better sense of what motivates people to become hoarders. The article will also make you very thankful you’re not married to one.
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When the Stigma of Bipolar Strikes Too Close to Home
This is an article about the pain that comes when family members respond to a family member who has bipolar disorder with prejudice and non-acceptance.
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‘On Ozempic I immediately lost all desire for alcohol’
You probably won’t be able to read this article unless you have an account with the Telegraph, a British newspaper. The point of the article, which I have seen in several articles in different periodicals, is that people who were problem drinkers and started taking Ozempic or Wegovy for weight loss found that their desire for alcohol vanished.
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City Is Country’s First to Be Named ‘Sensory Inclusive’
Children with autism, ADHD, and some other disabilities that cause them to not be able to tolerate situations that most of us are not bothered by sometimes have difficulty navigating stores and athletic arenas, etc. Philadelphia has for some reason lots of children with sensory disabilities, so it is admirable that they would be the first to make efforts to provide services that help such children.
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Why School Stress Is Devastating for Our Children
This article is written by a book entitled Nowhere to Hide: Why Kids with ADHD & LD Hate School and What We Can Do About It, which might be helpful to refer parents of children with ADHD and learning disabilities to.
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The Silent Epidemic Eating Away Americans’ Minds
This article takes a historical look at something that has been growing gradually but is starting to have significant effects on both children and adults. If you work with either group I encourage you to read it and think about whether to consider bringing some of the suggested solutions into your counseling practice.
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New, Potential First-in-Class Schizophrenia Medicine Reduced Positive and Negative Symptoms in Phase 3 Trial
This sounds like a breakthrough in medicines for treating schizophrenia. In a placebo-controlled trial with 250 patients, the new medication significantly reduced both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
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What Is Love Bombing?
“Love bombing” is a type of manipulation that some of your clients may have experienced. This article describes what it is and gives good suggestions about how to extricate oneself from such a relationship.
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Japan’s husband-throwing event aims to strengthen marriage bonds
Even though I taught marriage counseling classes for many years, I never knew about this marital tradition. Apparently in Japan husbands are thrown down a snowy hill. The tradition is thought to strengthen marriages, although its not clear how it does that.
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Catfishing
This was an excellent CEU presentation today (1/19/23) and I think it would be a great investment of an hour for you to learn about it, since I think there’s a good likelihood that you will probably have one or more clients who are either targets or perpetrators of catfishing in the years ahead. Valentino said that he will get this posted on the SFACC website in the next day or two, and I would highly recommend that you take the time to learn more about catfishing and how to treat it.
Nighttime Light Linked to Macular Degeneration
Although this is not a counseling article, most of us depend on our vision in many ways. This research found that when people live in urban environments and are surrounded by significant light during the nighttime hours, their likelihood of developing macular degeneration increases. If you live in such an environment there are relatively inexpensive light-blocking window shades or sleep masks available.
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Screen Time for Kids Under 2 Can Lead to Developmental Problems, Study Says
Most parents think that if they need a little time to prepare a meal, use the restroom, or have some quiet time to themselves, it doesn’t hurt to put their young child in front of the TV or iPad. This research says that this isn’t the best choice—even small amounts of time effects the wiring in the infant’s brain, and the more time infants spend in this kind of environment, the more likely they are to develop sensory problems.
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The Benefits of Pulsed Electromagnetic Frequency Therapy
Pulsed electromagnetic frequency therapy is a non-invasive therapy that has been shown to be helpful in a number of clinical situations, including pain, inflammation, wound healing, and bone repair, as well as psychological conditions like depression—providing a potential option for those looking for an alternative to medications and surgery, or anyone who has not found relief with conventional treatments. So this might be something to encourage your clients to discuss with their physician if traditional treatments have not been successful.
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Have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler
