Articles from the Week of March 15, 2024

Note: I’m sending out the Friday mailing a day early because I’ll be at an all-day conference tomorrow. I’ll put counseling news that comes in tomorrow in next week’s mailing.

Interesting Quotes

The traumas we inherit or experience firsthand can not only create a legacy of distress, but also forge a legacy of strength and resilience that can be felt for generations to come.

Mark Wolynn

Someone who has experienced trauma also has gifts to offer all of us — in their depth, their knowledge of our universal vulnerability, and their experience of the power of compassion.

Sharon Salzberg

I'm just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I'm alive.

Brené Brown

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

Sometimes raising children’s the hardest job in the world. Then they turn around and do something that makes it all worthwhile.

Jim Anderson (Robert Young) in “Father Knows Best”

Our heads are round so thought can change direction.

Francis Picabia

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Martin Luther King Jr

Fascinating Facts

Be thankful for our present Daylight Savings Time system: An earlier proposal by William Willett suggested changing times eight times a year! The reason he proposed changing times was that with the former system his golf games in the winter often had to end early because of darkness (Source: HistoryFacts.com)

Pope Francis was once a bouncer at a nightclub.

“Long before he assumed the papacy in 2013 . . . the future leader of the Catholic Church helped keep the peace at a bar in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina.” (Source: InterestingFacts.com)

Florida is the flattest state in the United States. (Source: NeedtoKnowFacts.com)

The world's narrowest street is only a foot wide.

“If you suffer from claustrophobia, you might want to avoid the world’s narrowest street. Spreuerhofstrasse — located in Reutlingen, Germany — measures 1 foot, 0.2 inches at its tightest, and a meager 1 foot, 7.68 inches at its widest, at least when last evaluated for Guinness World Records in 2006. The 65-foot-long street is also limited vertically; those over 5 feet, 10 inches have to duck at the exit, and many who pass through are pelted with drips from overhead gutters. Despite those inconveniences, tourists flock to the record-holding passageway. Sandwiched between two buildings in Reutlingen’s oldest area, Spreuerhofstrasse was initially created not as a tourist attraction, but by a 300-year-old construction faux pas.” (Source: InterestingFacts.com)

Surprise: An ‘Extraterrestrial’ Gadget Was Something More Familiar

You probably won’t be able to access this article unless you have a subscription to the New York Times, so I’ll summarize the gist of it. In 2014 a meteor fell from space and landed in the ocean near Papua New Guinea. Several years later Avi Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard, drew on seismic data from near the site, looked for crash remains on the ocean floor and proposed that the remains “may reflect an extraterrestrial technological origin.” Many scientists were skeptical of Dr. Loeb’s hypothesis that this was evidence of some technically advanced culture from outer space.

Last fall, Benjamin Fernando, a planetary seismologist at Johns Hopkins University, led a team that re-examined the nearby seismic signals and concluded that they were not evidence of the extraterrestrial, or anything close to it. On Tuesday, Dr. Fernando will present the data in detail at a scientific conference. His team concluded that the seismic signals were caused by a normal earth truck passing by a seismometer. Since none of Dr. Loeb’s team were seismologists they misinterpreted the data. Dr. Fernando’s recommendation: If you’re going to draw conclusions from seismic data, make sure you have a seismologist on your team.

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Counseling Articles

Prevalence of Female Psychopaths: More Common than Believed

Interesting article, suggesting that female psychopaths may be more common than previously estimated because female psychopaths are more likely to express their psychopathy through manipulation and seduction rather than violence. See what you think about this reasoning. Obviously, using DSM-5 terminology, this would be called Antisocial Personality Disorder.

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Leaked Files Reveal What Doctors Knew about “Gender-Affirming Medicine” for Kids

Last week many files from WPATH (the World Professional Association of Transgender Health) were leaked and I included two articles on this matter. You may not have had the time or interest to read these in-depth articles, but Breakpoint staff took the time to read them and provide a helpful summary. Despite the fact that transgender activists and WPATH) have been telling us that transgender ideology is “settled science” the reality is that transgender activists and doctors have been ignoring many of the problems associated with “gender-affirming medicine” as these files show. If you didn’t have the time to read those more in-depth articles, I encourage you to read this summary from Breakpoint.

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Man Saw Aborted & Miscarried Children Living and Growing in Heaven!

Many of us have a strong faith of what awaits us in heaven based on what we have read in the Bible. But there are some questions that the Bible does not answer, such as children who die very young or even before they were born. This book was written by a person who had a near-death experience (NDE) where he believed he was given a tour of heaven by two angels before returning to earth. While we don’t have biblical authority for what he experienced, his experiences are consistent with other believers who have had NDEs and written about them. I’ve read his and other books, and I think what he recounts is likely to be valid. I think this book helps parents who wonder whether their children will be in heaven and whether they will remain as infants. I encourage you to read this small part of his book (and even the entire book if your time and interest allows). I think what he has shared will be very comforting to parents who have lost a young child or even a child who was stillborn.

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There were several good articles related to ADHD this week, so I’m including them with the following links:

The Teens’ Guide to Making Meds Work

We often hear horror stories of how high a percentage of teens with ADHD do not complete college, often at least in part due to their failure to stay with the ADHD treatment. This ADHD coach has what seems to me to be a good approach: During the last couple years of high school she encourages teens to take ownership and responsibility for their ADHD and their treatment, so that change is well-established before they leave home.

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The Body-Brain Connection: How Fidgeting Sharpens Focus

We’ve known for several years that people with ADHD can often pay attention better if they can fidget, and small, quiet fidgeting tools have even been developed for children to take to school to help them stay focused without disrupting other students. Now we are beginning to understand why fidgeting helps. This article gives us several kinds of fidgeting that people with ADHD can use. You’ll notice that all of these fidgeting activities do not involve complex cognitive tasks. We’ve learned from other studies that the brain can only focus on one complex cognitive task at a time. This will be a handy article for you to use whenever you work with clients with ADHD.

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Should Women Stop ADHD Meds During Pregnancy?

Since more women are being diagnosed with ADHD, a greater number are asking whether they should continue to take ADHD medications during pregnancy. Previous studies had found that there were small increases in certain issues when mothers continued ADHD medication during pregnancy. This study looked at this issue again. The results are interesting, and one of the recommendations was that the decision should be based on the personality and life situation of the mother involved. If you counsel with women who have ADHD and are of child-bearing age I recommend that you read and save this article for future reference.

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 ADHD, Bipolar, or Both? Getting an Accurate Diagnosis

It is estimated that as many as ½ of those with ADHD may have one of the bipolar illnesses, so accurately diagnosing both is important, because they require different treatments.

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Faith and Bipolar Disorder: Finding Peace with My Illness

This man, when he shared what he was feeling with friends, was told he needed to pray more. Eventually he received a correct diagnosis. He shares how his faith has helped him cope with the ups and downs associated with his illness.

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Starting ADHD Medications May Lower Death Risk

Combining the data from several studies, these researchers looked at the mortality rate for those with ADHD who started ADHD medications versus those who did not go on medication. They found that deaths from unnatural causes (e.g., unintentional injuries, suicide, and accidental poisonings) over a two-year period were significantly lower in those who started on medication versus those who did not. There was no difference in deaths from natural causes, but since people being diagnosed with ADHD were probably younger people, one would not expect many deaths from natural causes in this age cohort. So if you have a youngster recently diagnosed with ADHD and parents are wrestling with whether or not to start them on medication, this research might help them feel more comfortable giving medication a try.

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End of articles about ADHD

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Don’t Let Loneliness Harm Your Health

We’ve heard from various professionals about an epidemic of loneliness here in the U.S. and how it can shorten the lifespan significantly. The Harvard study, which has been going on for 80 years now, has emphasized the health benefits of people having at least a couple deep friendships in order to maintain optimal health.

I volunteer in pastoral care at Jupiter Medical Center a couple mornings a week where I visit patients, talk with them briefly, and offer to pray with them if they would like me to do so. In all the time I have been volunteering, one patient stands out above all others. Unlike most of the patients, many of whom are recovering from serious illnesses, surgeries or other procedures, she was in the most pain of any whom I have met, but it wasn’t physical pain. It was the pain of feeling desperately lonely—that there was not a single person in her life who cared for her. Her sadness was so overwhelming that I alerted my supervisor so she could follow up with her as well.

If you have clients who have a very limited support system, the following article might be helpful in motivating them to start some activities that would enable them to meet people and develop some friends with whom they could give and receive support.

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Boca-area man pleads guilty to attack on therapist in his home

A very scary story highlighting the dangers of seeing clients in their homes. Although this happened in 2022, it’s only coming to trial now.

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I hope you have a wonderful week or weekend!

Henry Virkler