Articles from the Week of June 7, 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
Minds are like parachutes: They only function when open.
Thomas Dewar
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
Mignon McLaughlin
To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow — this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.
Elizabeth Gilbert
What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are but how you deal with incompatibility.
Leo Tolstoy
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd druther not.
Mark Twain
Fascinating Facts
Chinese checkers was invented in Germany (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Volvo gave away its seat belt patent to save lives (Source: InterestingFacts.com)
Do you know in which state it is illegal for monkeys to smoke cigarettes? (Indiana: Source: TriviaClue.com)
Did You Know that World War I Was Responsible for the Development of the Modern Bra?
While obviously not a counseling-related article, I thought some of you might be interested in this fascinating article.
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Man Who Went Viral for Reporting for Driving During Virtual Suspended License Hearing Sets Record Straight
A few weeks ago I mentioned a person who showed up via Zoom for a court case where he was accused of driving with a suspended license, and he was driving his car while appearing for his hearing. It turns out that his license had not been suspended, a clerical error had been made, and the error had not been corrected at the time of his court appearance. So his appearance in court while he was driving was not quite as bizarre as it first appeared.
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Thomas Edison invented the concept of the job interview
“Although Thomas Edison was awarded 2,332 worldwide patents as an inventor, one of his lasting contributions to modern society was not proprietary: the job interview. Edison was not just a prolific inventor — he was also a businessman in charge of an industrial empire. His corporation, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., employed more than 10,000 workers at dozens of companies. Edison wanted employees who could memorize large quantities of information and also make efficient business decisions. To find them, he devised an extensive questionnaire to assess job candidates’ knowledge and personality.” Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Counseling Articles
What is ‘tolyamory’? Here’s how couples keep cheating on the down-low
Probably most of us are aware of polyamory, where a couple allows each other to have sexual relationships with others by mutual consent. Tolyamory is something else. According to some couple therapists it’s more common than polyamory. It occurs where a couple doesn’t give consent to their partner having an outside relationship, but they realize their partner does have other sexual relationships, and for one reason or another (e.g., financial security) they are willing to tolerate this and continue their marriage relationship. If you work with couples it’s probably worthwhile to know about this concept. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are alleged to have this kind of relationship.
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Emotional Cheating Is More Common Than Ever in The Digital Age—Here’s How to Handle It
Interesting article that brings up several points for counselors to be aware of, and also contains some practical steps of how to handle emotional feelings in oneself or how to handle it if someone suspects their partner may be having an emotional affair.
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Age at First Marriage and Marital Quality: Updating Outdated Social Wisdom
For many decades there was the belief that when couples got married in their early 20s they were more likely to divorce as they matured and were no longer good matches for each other. This updated research found that there was little to no correlation between age of marriage and marriage quality.
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Ending the Cycle of Intergenerational Child Abuse
Studies have shown the women who were abused as children are more likely to abuse their own children. Perhaps we can use this information to provide more support for these women and end the cycle of child abuse.
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United Kingdom Orders ‘Emergency Ban’ On Puberty Blockers for Minors
Great Britain and Scotland are now joining a growing number of other European countries in saying that there needs to be more caution in prescribing puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones to children and young teens. Especially in light of the fact that trans men (individuals born as girls who take hormones to become more like men) are experiencing many debilitating symptoms that women usually experience after menopause (see last week’s Counseling News), this ban on wide use of transgender hormones seems warranted.
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Lack of ‘Affirmation’ Is Child Abuse: New Biden Rule Applies Transgender Standard to Foster Care
It seems like our politicians are moving ahead with their policy changes without considering the data from several European nations that used “gender-affirming treatments” for gender dysphoria for several years and are now significantly restricting those practices until more long-term data has been collected and reviewed.
A new rule that is going through the Department of Health and Human Services and is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2024 would say that lack of gender affirmation of children with gender dysphoria would be child abuse, and would disqualify foster parents from being approved to foster a child. This is despite the fact that child who are given puberty-suppressing drugs, then cross-sex hormones, and the sex change surgery (those things would seem to be complete gender affirming treatment) have a suicide rate 12 times higher than other individuals (see Counseling News from two weeks ago). It also fails to consider that several of the European countries that were most “gender-affirming” have severely curtailed their treatments until more long-term studies have been done. And also see the last article in this week’s compilation—a growing number of doctors in this country are saying that “gender-affirming care” harms children.
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Doctors Urge Top US Medical Orgs to Stop Harming Kids with Transgender Surgeries, Hormones
For the last few years, doctors in national medical organizations here in the U.S. have been asking the leaders of those organizations to allow there to be a discussion of the pros and cons of gender-affirming medical treatments, and have been routinely shut down, even though many medical societies in European countries had put pauses on such treatments. This article discusses how some of these physicians are starting to make their voices heard.
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PTSD Has Surged Among College Students
This is a New York Times article, so I’ll give you the gist. Between 2017 and 2022 the percentage of college students with PTSD doubled, to about 7.5%. The researchers, who assessed some 390,000 participants, speculate that it was due to several factors, including campus shootings, shutdown of schools and colleges because of the pandemic, deaths of loved ones from COVID, and social unrest.
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FDA Staff Questions Safety of MDMA Treatment for PTSD
MDMA (midomafetamine) could become a first-line treatment for PTSD. This week the FDA will examine the effectiveness and safety of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD. At the present time SSRIs are commonly used to treat PTSD, but they only work in 60% of cases, and only 20 to 30% receive complete remission so if approved, MDMA might give counselors one more tool to consider. I will be watching for further information and will share it in this newsletter as I become aware of it.
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FDA panel rejects first MDMA treatment amid deep concerns about flawed trials
The panel did meet on Tuesday. While they agreed that MDMA may show promise in treating PTSD, their conclusion was that the research study was so flawed that it needs to be redone before a decision is made on approving MDMA for PTSD.
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Cardio Exercise: Good for More Than Your Heart
If you have a client who is having difficulty motivating themselves to start exercising, or if you are having the same difficulty, here is a short discussion of the many benefits of beginning an exercise program.
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Promising Topline Results for Drug to Treat Concomitant Depression and Insomnia
Some people with major depression also experience insomnia, and insomnia often interferes with any attempt to treat their depression. Here is a promising new medication that significantly reduces both, which has just passed Phase 3 trials showing significant results in reducing both.
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Long-Distance Connections Like Those on Social Media Affect ‘Social Contagion’ Spread
The emphasis recently has been on social contagion that happens as a result of interactions with people with whom one interacts in personal contacts, such as students in the same class. But this research says that social contagion (particularly of attitudes and behavior) can occur through long-distance connections such as the Internet and social media. That makes sense, because we tend to associate with people and groups with whom we share interests and attitudes.
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HANDLING A MANIPULATIVE TEEN
If you’re working with a couple who has a teen who is constantly manipulating them successfully, here’s a brief article by Mark Gregston that contains some ideas you might use as a starting point for a discussion with them.
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New TikTok trend could cause ‘explosive diarrhea,’ experts warn: ‘Dangerous myth’
If you work with teens you may want to read about this dangerous TikTok trend that could cause serious medical consequences if they were to try it. The encouragement given is to take castor oil in order to detox the body. Sometimes it is also recommended to clear up one’s complexion or some other benefit. The article explains the biochemistry involved and why it is so dangerous.
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FDA Approves Nonstimulant Liquid Onyda XR for ADHD
Various people with ADHD respond differently to ADHD medications. Here is a new FDA-approved option that some people with ADHD may want to try. It is a once-a-day medication (although an evening dose is available for those who desire it). It is a non-stimulant and it is a liquid, so it may be more acceptable to those who prefer avoiding stimulants.
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Matthew Perry: The tragedy of extreme addiction is that the body may never recover
This is from a British newspaper, the Telegraph, so you may not be able to read it without a prescription. It’s a very thoughtful article about the untimely death of Matthew Perry, a much-loved comedian. Based on his autobiography “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” he spent many years addicted to both alcohol and drugs. After a long stint in the hospital, he reportedly remained abstinent from both for 18 months and his life was becoming more hopeful. Unfortunately the years on drugs and alcohol had taken their toll on his body. He died from unknown causes. If you have a client who is drinking and using drugs and is reluctant to give them up, Perry’s book might be a helpful motivator for them.
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Gen Z’s love for vaping could be the reason they’re ‘aging like milk’: docs
There have been several articles recently talking about the fact that members of Gen Z seem to be aging faster than normal. This article discusses one possible reason this may be happening.
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They Spent Their Life Savings on Life Coaching
This article is from the New York Times so you probably will not be able to read it without a subscription. It includes several life stories of people who spent thousands of dollars for certification courses, and found they never attained a reasonable income from coaching. So if you have clients who are considering trying their hand at coaching, encourage them to do some good research first.
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Professor by Day. Porn Star by Night. Can He Be Both?
Joe Gow, 63, former professor and chancellor at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, and his wife Carmen Wilson, 56, have been videotaping their sexual escapades for years but it wasn’t until they decided to post them to his OnlyFans page that it created a stir in the academic community. You can read the article about their experiences safely—all the pictures there are G-rated.
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Google Is Using A.I. to Answer Your Health Questions. Should You Trust It?
Again from the New York Times, so I’ll give you a quotation that summarizes the gist of the article.
“Experts say the new feature may offer dubious advice in response to personal health queries.”
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Life gets better - What emerging adults report about living with ADHD
This research study, done in Norway, found that although some people with ADHD continue to struggle during adulthood, some of those with ADHD did find that their lives got better over time. Here is an article about that, and it gives you information about the journal article it was drawn from.
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Remote Amazon tribe connects to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet, become hooked on porn, social media
What happens when you make the Internet available to individuals in a remote village who’ve never been exposed to the world of developed culture. Some good things, but some less-than-healthy things also.
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8 Resources for Preventing and Healing Church Hurt
The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has compiled this set of resources that you might want to save for a time when they will be relevant for use in your church or a church you are consulting with.
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Have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler