Articles from the Week of April 19, 2024
Explanation: Although I scan the Internet primarily for counseling articles, in the process I run across quotes and interesting facts that I sometimes include in these first two sections. If you’re just interested in the counseling articles, you can skip these first two sections and go directly to the section called Counseling Articles. HV
Interesting Quotes
Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.
Vincent van Gogh
Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.
Abraham Lincoln
If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.
Dolly Parton
The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Fight for the things that you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
What brings us to tears, will lead us to grace. Our pain is never wasted.
Bob Goff
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
Jane Goodall
Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times.
Ann Landers
Fascinating Facts
In About 1 Billion Years, the Sun Will Kill All Life on Earth …
“In 5 billion years, the sun will enter its red giant phase and engulf many of the inner solar system planets, including Earth. However, Earth will lose its ability to sustain life much earlier than that, because the sun is steadily getting hotter as it ages. Scientists estimate that anywhere between 600 million and 1.5 billion years from now, the Earth will experience a runaway greenhouse effect induced by our warming sun that will evaporate all water on Earth and make life on our blue marble impossible (except for maybe some tiny microorganisms buried deep underground).” (Source: InterestingFacts.com)
Somehow, I don’t think the Lord is going to allow that to happen: HV
9 Life Hacks to Get Free Hotel Rooms, Flights, And Debit Cards
In case you’re not familiar with the Babylon Bee’s satirical sense of humor, this is a good illustration.
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President Biden claims his uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down during WWII. Historians are having trouble authenticating his story.
Counseling Articles
Faith’s Proven Role in Overcoming Mental Illness
An amazing compilation of statistics on how subscribing to Christian principles helps people dealing with mental illness, but how secular psychology and psychiatry is much more represented in the field than is Christian psychology and psychiatry. I hope each of you can help redress this imbalance in the years ahead.
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Mild Cognitive Impairment, Normal Aging, and Dementia
An interesting article. In the next few years we’ll probably understand these topics better, but this is a good discussion of what we know at the present time. It also discusses cognitive reserve, and how that affects cognitive functioning as we age.
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When Is It Time to Stop Driving Because of a Neurologic Condition?
The ability to drive is a very important freedom for most people, and families may experience resistance when they try to persuade a loved one to stop driving. This article discusses this issue and gives ideas for families.
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These last two articles are from a magazine called Brain & Life. A subscription is free and the magazine contains a lot of helpful articles. So if you work with aging clients or clients with neurological problems I think you’d find it informative. On the website are many articles from past issues. You can subscribe by going to brainandlife.org
The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex
This article is in the New York Times, so you probably won’t be able to read it unless you have a subscription to that newspaper. The main focus of the article is the incidence of “rough sex” in particular sexual strangulation (referred to colloquially as “choking”). A recent poll of 5,000 college women said that 1/3 of them had been choked during their most recent sexual encounter. This method was apparently introduced in some movies over the last few years, and reportedly is common on porn sites. Medical experts say that they fear that the results of repeated choking could be similar to CTE, the brain damage that comes from repeated blows to the head in football, even though the CTE from choking is caused by oxygen starvation rather than physical assaults to the brain. If you work with young women you may want to help them prepare to be assertive with their sexual partners that they do not want this. Although a small percentage of women say choking enhances their sexual experience, many say they only do it because it seems to please their male partners.
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10 Ways My Child with ADHD Has Made Me a Better Parent… to All My Kids
Having a child with ADHD can be a frustrating and demanding experience. But here a parent reflects on how being a parent to a child with ADHD has helped her to become a better parent to all of her children.
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Is Your Child a Target for Bullies?
Children with ADHD can easily become the target for bullies. But any child can become a target. Although this article is written specifically for parents of a child with ADHD who is being bullied, the advice given could be helpful to any parent whose child is being bullied.
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The Marriage Bonus
A review of the book ‘Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization’ by Brad Wilcox
This book by Brad Wilcox has been garnering a lot of attention recently. In it Wilcox, a sociologist, makes the case that traditional marriage is more fulfilling and results in greater financial returns than any of the alternative lifestyles that have been assertively promoted since the 1970s. The reviewer gives evidence of having studied these alternatives to traditional marriage and is in basic agreement with the conclusions and research Wilcox has done. If you have a client who is considering giving up on traditional marriage because he or she would be freer to discover himself or herself as a single person, this book might be helpful for them to consider before making a final decision.
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How scammers have sunk to a new low with an AI obituary scam targeting the grieving
In case you didn’t think scammers could get any lower, here is information about AI obituary scams that target grieving relatives of those who have recently lost a loved one.
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7 Surprising Facts About the History of Bipolar
Bipolar disorder was recognized as a definite disorder as early as the second century A.D., although it wasn’t called by its present name until recently. This article gives us some interesting facts about its discovery over the years.
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I'm an Autistic Doctor. Here's How to Improve Care for Autistic Patients.
This article is written by a medical doctor whose autism wasn’t diagnosed until in his 50s. He identifies things about office settings that are taken for granted by most of us, but that often impact neurodivergent individuals differently.
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Otherwise Healthy Women with Autism in Their 20’s, To Be Euthanized by Dutch, Canadian Governments
Here are stories about two women, one in the Netherlands and one in Canada. Neither has a terminal illness or is in chronic pain, but both have requested euthanasia. In Canada it is called Medical Assistance in Dying, and there has been considerable debate about whether Medical Assistance in Dying should be extended to those with psychiatric illnesses.
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Scotland’s New Transgender ‘Hate Crime’ Law Already Showing How It Leads to Tyranny
Interesting article that alleges that this new transgender hate crime law conflicts with the basic right to free speech. It makes the point that the new Scotland law conflicts with the right for society to allow a variety of views on an issue and to honor our commitment to free speech. Police have already said that they are overwhelmed with complaints about people violating this law and in order to enforce it they would not be able to investigate any other criminal activities. It will be interesting to see how this controversy will be resolved.
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ADHD Meds Reduce Risk for Early Death
A small percentage of parents may be resistant to having their children who have been diagnosed with ADHD take medication designed to treat ADHD, such as Ritalin and Concerta. This research study included 149,000 Swedes and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It found that in the two years after starting ADHD medicines early deaths from accidents and drug overdoses were reduced significantly, and deaths from all causes were also reduced significantly. So if you are working with a family who has someone diagnosed with ADHD and the parents have reservations about their child taking medication this research can be used to reassure them that ADHD medication reduces the chances of early death.
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Lithium Treatment for Bipolar Disorder
Lithium is considered the best treatment for reducing the incidence and severity of manic episodes and for reducing the likelihood of suicide in those who have bipolar disorder. This is a very complete summary of its history, its uses, and other aspects of its treatment. If you have one or more clients with bipolar disorder, it’s a worthwhile investment of time to read.
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Against All Odds: How a World-Renowned Doctor Uses Science and Faith to Treat Blindness
This article isn’t a counseling article, but it’s a heartwarming story of what God and humans working together can accomplish.
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One-Minute Speech Test Could Help Assess Dementia Risk
You may have seen headlines about a one-minute speech test that can assess dementia. A medical journal described it the following way: “The test analyzes parameters such as how quickly someone speaks, whether they hesitate when they talk, how long the hesitation lasts, and how many silent pauses they make.” It claims it is just to be used for an initial assessment and not for making a diagnosis. So at this point I think it is premature to view it as a major step forward in assessing dementia.
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Don’t Expect the First ADHD Medication to Work (Optimally)
This doctor says that 4 out of 5 children with ADHD get significant benefit from medication but often the first medication or dosage doesn’t produce the most benefit. Here he gives suggestions to parents on how to work with their doctor to fine-tune medications on their child to get optimal benefit.
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Suicide Risk Fluctuates Across the Menstrual Cycle, Affecting Different Women Differently, Study Finds
An interesting article. If you work with women that sometimes have suicidal feelings, it might be helpful to have them track the intensity of those feeling over their menstrual cycle, and if they have a time when they are most intense, help them develop a plan for how to deal with those times.
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The Dark Side of AI in Mental Health
AI has the potential to be useful in all sorts of ways. This article identifies one possible use where it might be misused.
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Antipsychotics in Dementia Tied to Wider Range of 'Serious Harms'
Antipsychotics are commonly prescribed to patients with dementia to manage behavioral and psychological symptoms, although there have been some concerns about their safety. This study found that when antipsychotics were given to dementia patients it caused a significant increase in several medical illnesses including kidney injury, stroke, fractures, heart attacks and heart failure.
The authors recommend using non-drug treatments rather than antipsychotics whenever possible.
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Survey Finds Mental Health Issues Increased After Cosmetic Procedure Complications
Cosmetic procedures are becoming more and more common. However, when complications develop people are likely to become depressed, anxious, and develop either body dysmorphic disorder or PTSD.
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I hope you have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler
