Articles from the Week of March 29, 2024
Interesting Quotes
Wellness, I came to realize, will not happen by accident. It must be a daily practice, especially for those of us who are more susceptible to the oppressiveness of the world.
Jenna Wortham, journalist
I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.
Joyce Meyer, author
What I know for sure is that when you declutter — whether it’s in your home, your head, or your heart — it is astounding what will flow into that space that will enrich you, your life, and your family.
Peter Walsh, author and professional organizer (Sounds good. I wonder how many of us will do it?)
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
Being President is like running a cemetery; you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.
Bill Clinton
Fascinating Facts
6 Senses You Might Not Know You Had
Interesting article about six senses we all have in addition to the five traditionally-known ones (actually, some experts say we have 32 senses).
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The CIA spent millions training cats to be spies.
“If you’ve ever had a stealthy feline sneak up on you, you might have had the same idea the CIA once did: that cats would make good spies. Indeed, the intelligence agency spent millions of dollars on a program to that end in the 1960s. But as any cat owner can tell you, it probably shouldn’t have bothered: However sneaky and/or intelligent cats might be, they know no masters but themselves. Operation Acoustic Kitty was essentially a disaster, with only one subject making it into the field before the ill-advised — and, quite frankly, cruel — program was scrapped. The idea was to create a sort of cyborg cat by implanting a microphone in the animal’s ear, a radio transmitter at the base of its skull, and an antenna in its fur — “a monstrosity,” in the words of Victor Marchetti, a former CIA employee who went on to write the tell-some book The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence.
“On paper, the Acoustic Kitty agent’s first test was simple enough: sit near a park bench and capture a conversation between two people on a park bench. Instead, according to most accounts, the unfortunate feline was hit by a taxi and killed. Writing of the operation’s failure in a heavily redacted memo, the CIA concluded, “Our final examination of trained cats… convinced us that the program would not lend itself in a practical sense to our highly specialized needs.”” (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
$2 bills are older than the United States.
“In the spring of 1775, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired, beginning the American colonies’ arduous journey to sever ties with the British monarchy. As the war pressed on, the colonies faced a pressing matter: They needed funds. The Second Continental Congress voted to issue bills of credit equal to 2 million Spanish milled dollars, and the first Continental Currency notes (referred to simply as “Continentals”) were born. These notes featured various denominations including the first standardized $2 bills, which were issued on May 10, 1775, more than one year before the U.S. officially declared independence on July 4, 1776.” (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Family Returns Pair of Books 100 Years Overdue, Kentucky Library Says ‘Nobody’s in Trouble’
In what may be a new record for returning long-overdue books, the family of a man returned a pair of books that were 100 years overdue.
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Counseling Articles
Never Enough? Why ADHD Brains Crave Stimulation
Interesting article explaining the neurology behind why ADHD brains crave stimulation. Might be helpful to counselors and parents and ADHD clients themselves.
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Integrity Issues Rampant in Alzheimer's Research, Say Investigators
Alzheimer’s disease is deeply feared, and the rewards when someone develops a cure are immense. However this article documents how much questionable research has occurred and continues to occur in this field.
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Neuralink video shows patient using brain implant to play chess on laptop
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that the first Neuralink patient was reportedly recovering well. In an update there is a video of Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old, who was a quadriplegic after being involved in a diving accident several years ago, who played a chess game using only his brain signals to move the chess pieces. Although there are some controversies about this experimentation, it may allow people who are paralyzed by strokes or accidents to regain some functionalities.
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World’s First Genetically-Edited Pig Kidney Transplant into Living Recipient Performed at Massachusetts General Hospital
Another medical first, not a counseling-related article, has the first genetically-modified pig kidney successfully transplanted into a human. This will have major implications for patients suffering with end-stage kidney disease.
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The realization that transformed how I fight sex trafficking...
A good article on some of the progress that’s being made in combatting sex trafficking, but something to remind parents about.
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The United States was on course to eliminate syphilis. Now it’s surging
This article discusses the effects of syphilis on the developing embryo, and some of the results that occur when it is not treated, including stillbirths and babies born with congenital syphilis, which can lead to serious medical problems. Unfortunately, sometimes syphilis is asymptomatic, so neither the mother nor her partner may know they have it.
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9 Movies About Real People with Bipolar Disorder
I’ve not seen these movies myself, but apparently this reviewer has, and says they portray the challenges of living with bipolar disorder well. It might be helpful for clients with bipolar disorder and their families.
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What Happiness Can We Anticipate on the New Earth?
Not a counseling article, but something you might use with an elderly client. This is a summary of a section from Tolkien on what life will be like on the New Earth. (According to Randy Alcorn’s exegesis, which seems sound to me) before eternity begins God will renew the earth and make a pathway between heaven and the renewed earth, and we will be able to go back and forth between the two.
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Why These Women Chose to Have 5 or More Kids
Here’s an interesting transcript of an interview between the author of a book on women who choose to have five or more children and the researcher who studied them.
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Florida's DeSantis signs law restricting social media for people under 16
If you read the two articles in last week’s Friday mailing that argued that social media has harmful effects on those under 16, this news story won’t be surprising, although for legislators to act so quickly might be. It probably makes a difference that people under 18 cannot vote, so politicians will not face a political backlash. The Florida law says that children under 14 cannot use social media at all, and children who are 15 and 16 must have parental consent. I am sure that tech-savvy children will find ways to skirt the law, but I think if you read the two articles from last week, you will see there is good psychological justification for such laws. There may be some legal challenges, since some of the social media groups will probably oppose it. If none of the legal challenges are successful it is scheduled to go into effect on July 1.
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Academic surprise: Jesus’s healings, exorcisms virtually undisputable
This is in no way a counseling article, but it has been a theological belief that was so prevalent with liberal theologians that some of you may be interested in this change of thinking. For many decades liberal theologians, agnostics and atheists were skeptical that Jesus ever did miracles or exorcised demons. The surprising thing is that now almost all academics across the theological spectrum do agree that Jesus did things that were considered miracles and exorcisms during his earthly ministry. Something about which some of us (not everyone) agrees, is that God continues to do miracles among believers today.
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A Bipolar Expert on Mood Swing Management
This is an interview with Julie Fast conducted by Tanya Hvilivitzky. Both of these people have bipolar disorder and have my recommendation as highly respected writers and bloggers on the topic of living with bipolar disorder. Julie Fast has additional diagnoses she struggles with, but has written two bestselling books, including her newly revised Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder and Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder. If you read the interview and have one or more clients who have bipolar disorder, you may decide to recommend one or both of these books to them.
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10 Covert Signs of a Toxic Friend
This article is written for people with ADHD, who may be particularly susceptible to toxic friends, but I think it could be useful to anyone who finds that they have picked up one or more people who may be “toxic.” It also includes some practical suggestions for expanding one’s range of healthy friends.
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What is Alien Hand Syndrome?
An interesting article about a little-known topic, but worthwhile to store away if you ever have a client who is experiencing it.
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What is Prosopagnosia?
This is not nearly so rare as the medical issue above, and its likely that you already have, or will have, a client with this situation.
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Young Women Favor Femininity Over Feminism, Survey Finds
In a survey that many will find reassuring, 82% of women aged 18 to 24 say they align more with traditional femininity than with radical feminism. You might want to share this with some of the young women with whom you are in contact.
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Porn Harms Girls in 12 Ways: Fight Back with 3 Empowering Mindsets!
This is an article by Staci Sprout, who was first introduced to porn at eight years old when she discovered a copy of Playboy in her father’s drawer and in it, her hero, Nancy Drew, naked. After many years struggling with sexual addiction, she has written a book for Christian girls and women, which is summarized in this article, which might be helpful to young girls you work with and their mothers.
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Interesting Criminal Charges for a Grief Counselor
This “grief counselor” allegedly tried to poison her husband on Valentine’s Day. When that was unsuccessful they were having drinks to celebrate her business success, but she is now being charged with spiking his drink with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl, from which he did die.
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How to Safely Observe a Solar Eclipse
On April 8th much of the U.S. will experience a solar eclipse. Many people, especially children, will be tempted to look at the eclipse momentarily. According to Avnish Deobhakta, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, even a quick look during the eclipse can do permanent damage to our retinas. So please warn children or anyone considering taking a quick look at the sun during the eclipse not to do so, since there is no cure for this type of damage. There are articles available that talk about safe ways to view this phenomenon.
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The 4-Year College Track is Not Right for Everyone (with ADHD)
This article title is not very descriptive of what is in the article. Roughly ¾ of young people with ADHD drop out of college. The author of this article encourages parents of children with ADHD to have their child take one or two gap years before college. He also includes several suggestions for activities to use to prepare one’s child to successfully handle the challenges of college. Highly worthwhile.
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IOC transgender framework goes against science, says academic paper
A group of professionals just published a paper in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports in which they stated something which many have long believed: "Sports face the uncomfortable reality that the inclusion of transgender women in female sports categories cannot be reconciled with fairness, and in some instances safety, for females in athletic sports." This is particularly notable because a few years ago Scandinavian countries were the primary advocates for the transgender revolution. Anyone who is interested in fairness in sports would benefit from reading their entire statement.
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Contraceptive injection linked to brain tumors in women
I’m not even sure whether this has been approved here in the U.S., but a study reported in the British Medical Journal that women who used this injection were 5.6 times more likely to develop brain tumors than those who did not. You probably will not be able to read this article unless you subscribe to The Telegraph.
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I hope you have a wonderful Easter and week!
Henry Virkler
