Articles from the Week of June 21, 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

Happiness is not made by what we own. It is what we share.

Jonathan Sacks, rabbi and philosopher

Money is but one venue for generosity. Kindness is an even more valuable currency.

Alan Cohen, inspirational author

Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways, it can change someone else's life forever.

Margaret Cho

Think of giving not as a duty, but as a privilege.

John D. Rockefeller Jr.

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

Pablo Picasso

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

When men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom.

John Gray, “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus”

Fascinating Facts

Christopher Columbus was not the first explorer from Europe to discover America. Leif Erickson, a Viking Norse sailor, discovered America about 500 years earlier than Columbus. Interestingly, neither Leif Erickson nor Christopher Columbus were searching for America (Source: HistoryFacts.com).

Winston Churchill was in an automobile accident and was prescribed alcohol for chronic pain, so he was allowed to use alcohol even during Prohibition (Source: HistoryFacts.com)

Counseling Articles

Top Memory Exercises for Seniors

As we get older (some would say “ancient”) some of us start worrying about our ability to remember. Here is a set of memory exercises recommended in the Seniors Magazine. Probably most everyone can find a few that appeal to them.

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Men’s brains change when they become dads

We’ve known for some time that women’s brains change during pregnancy and after they become mothers. It is believed that these changes help women to bond with their children. This research found that men’s brains also change after a child is born and hormone levels also change, which is also believed to help them bond with their newborns. Normally the Washington Post doesn’t allow one to read articles without a subscription, but in this case it did, and I hope it will allow you to do so also, because the article is interesting.

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The Family-to-Prison-or-College Pipeline: Married Fathers and Young Men's Transition to Adulthood

Young men who grow up in intact, married families are much more likely to graduate from college, whereas young men who grow up without a father in the home are more likely to go to jail or prison.

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On Father’s Day, Remember the Fatherless

Obviously by the time you read this, Father’s Day will be passed for this year. But I think this story brings out the sadness that comes when boys grow up without a father in the home. Let’s do all we can to support such families and encourage our young men and women about the importance of committed, married love.

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Alzheimer's Slowed by Intensive Lifestyle Changes

This is a small study developed by Dean Ornish, but if replicated on a larger group and with adequate controls, shows promise. Ornish’s program does not cure Alzheimer’s but does slow the progression. And the lifestyle changes could be done by anyone while waiting for further research to be done.

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Unanimous Thumbs-Up from FDA Advisors for Alzheimer's Drug

Here is a new treatment that seems promising in the treatment of Alzheimer’s. The FDA advisors only cautioned that it was only tried with people with mild cognitive impairment who had few or no tau tangles, so it will need to be tried on this group.

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Practical Tips to Manage Bipolar Hypersexuality and Protect Your Relationship

Hypersexuality sometimes occurs during hypomanic and manic episodes for those with bipolar disorder and it can cause serious damage to one’s marriage and finances. This article is a good introduction, although the first sentence has what I believe is some incorrect information. I believe that the hypersexuality that occurs during manic or hypomanic episodes is not the same as sexual addiction. But other than that the article contains some helpful information for bipolar clients and their spouses.

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Ability to forgive strongly correlated with human flourishing: study

A study of Americans found that those who were engaged with the Bible and those who were willing and able to forgive scored higher on a measure of human flourishing than those who were not.

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Harvard Study Suggests UFOs May Belong to a ‘Stealth Civilization’ Living on Earth

When I first heard news of this study I thought it must be science fiction. But apparently there is a group of investigators affiliated in some way with Harvard who believe that there are some extraterrestrials living secretly among us. The idea seems a bit far-fetched to me, but since it is possible that some of your clients may ask you what you think about this idea, I’ll include a link so you can be informed.

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Mom Allergic to Breastfeeding? Rare but It Happens.

Lest we be judgmental in situations where we should not be, take a moment to read about this condition, called “lactation anaphylaxis.”

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ER admissions for self-harm have now quintupled among 10- to 14-year-old girls

ER admissions for self-harm have also doubled for girls between 15 and 19. If you work with this population, clearly there is a lot of pain here.

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“There Are Two Sexes: Male and Female” — With Remarkable Clarity Federal Judge in Kentucky Blocks Biden Administration’s Proposed Title IX Expansion in Six States

Will Parents Stand Up When the Government Threatens Their Parental Rights? The Proposed Title IX Expansion Makes the Stakes Abundantly Clear

The first fifteen minutes of Albert Mohler’s “Briefing” has an excellent, thoughtful discussion of these two related issues. I encourage you to listen to this and think through these issues for yourself.

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Friend to the Lonely

This is not a newspaper or journal article. Mary (my wife) and I read “Our Daily Bread” as our daily devotional, and I thought this section from June 18 was particularly interesting. “Holly Cooke didn’t have one single friend when she moved to London for a job. Her weekends felt miserable. The city itself tops the list for feeling blue—with 55 percent of Londoners saying they’re lonely, according to a global survey, compared to just 10 percent of residents in neighborly Lisbon, Portugal.”

“For connection, Holly defied her fears and formed a social media group called The London Lonely Girls Club—and some thirty-five thousand have joined. Small group meetings every few weeks offer park picnics, art lessons, jewelry workshops, dinners, and even outdoor exercise sessions with puppies.”

What happens to your brain as you sleep

A brief (three minute) informative video of what happens while we sleep. You may have heard some or much of this information before, but it’s a good reminder of all the processes God has designed to happen when we sleep that keep our brains healthy.

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Bipolar Disorder Psychosis: Sneaky Hallucinations

This article is written by Julie Fast and contains the most complete description of the hallucinations she and other people with bipolar disorder experience that I have read. She has bipolar disorder for several years and went to several doctors for years before it was rightly diagnosed. Caution: She says she has bipolar II, but the DSM-5 says that if a person has hallucinations while in a manic state this automatically classifies it as Bipolar 1. However, the article is worthwhile to give you a sense of what bipolar hallucinations are like.

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Managing Money When Shopping Like You’ve Won the Lottery

This article is written by a woman with bipolar disorder and describes what a person in a manic state who begins psychotically spending during that state can do, and the aftermath that can occur. It also includes the steps she and her husband have taken to prevent this from wreaking havoc on their finances in the future.

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Surgeon General recommends warning label on social media for youth

You’ve probably already seen this, but our Surgeon General has recommended that a warning label should be put on social media similar to the warning on cigarettes. I’m not sure this would do much good: I think education by parents on appropriate use of social media would be more effective, and then them putting healthy boundaries on children’s use of social media dependent on the child’s age.

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How to Reclaim Your Edge at Work: ADHD Advice

Lots of good advice in this article for those with ADHD to help them succeed at work.

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“The Fairy Godmother of ADHD:” An Interview with Jessica McCabe

Jessica McCabe is one of the new stars in the ADHD world, with a you-tube channel, a book, and a new baby. She probably has some tips and attitudes that would be helpful to young people who are struggling with their ADHD and believe they’ll never be successful.

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What parents should do when their child deconstructs from the faith: Deconversion expert

When children tell their parents that for some reason, they are leaving their Christian faith, how should parents respond? Here this former pastor and researcher, who has written five books on deconversion, gives some practical advice.

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More Israelis requesting copies of the New Testament after Oct. 7, Messianic Jewish group says

Jews for Jesus is seeing a significant increase in Jewish people requesting copies of the New Testament since October 7.

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I hope you have a wonderful week or weekend!

Henry Virkler