Articles from the Week of October 4, 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
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Aesop
We are stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share.
Rania Al-Abdullah
Calvin: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.
Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
Fascinating Facts
The voice actors who played Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor) fell in love and were eventually married (Source: InterestingFacts.com).
Why Is Pluto No Longer Considered a Planet?
“Discovered in 1930, Pluto was long considered our solar system's ninth planet. But after the discovery of similar worlds deeper in the Kuiper Belt, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.
“According to the 2006 IAU Resolution, ‘a dwarf planet is an object in orbit around the Sun that is large enough to pull itself into a nearly round shape but has not been able to clear its orbit of debris.’" (Source: nasa.gov/dwarf-planets)
Amazon Dropped a $19,000 Two-Bedroom Tiny House with a Front Porch
If you didn’t think you could afford your first house, here’s a home for $19,000 with electricity and plumbing included.
Several other options are also pictured at this site.
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The only U.S. President with a Ph.D. was Woodrow Wilson (in History and Political Science) (Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Counseling Articles
Happy 100th Birthday, President Jimmy Carter
On October 1, 2024 the country celebrated Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, the first U.S. President to reach that milestone. President Carter did not have an especially distinguished presidency. Some say he was too conservative to be supported by the liberals of his time, and too liberal to be supported by conservatives. He also took some theological stances that conservative evangelical Christians disagreed with, most notably on the issue of biblical inerrancy. But he is best known for his post-presidential work, establishing the Carter Center in Atlanta, which continues to work for world peace, eradicating disease, and building hope.
‘Chroming’ is killing some kids. Experts explain this trend
You may or may not have heard of this new trend, but all counselors and parents probably need to know about this new practice, because it can have dangerous consequences.
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Technically in love: Individual differences relating to sexual and platonic relationships with robots
You may not have the time or interest to read this entire article (it’s long), but it looked at male and female attitudes towards gender and how these related to male and female interest in either friendships (robofriendships) or sexual relationships with robots (robosexuality). As might be expected, men with more critical attitudes towards females were more likely to desire sex with female robots, with whom they could also express their hostility toward women through robots without legal repercussions.
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9 Reasons Why Women Are Really Cool
If you need a sip of humor from the Babylon Bee you could sample this article.
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The Success Sequence and Millennial Mental Health: How Following the Sequence Helps Young Adults Flourish
This research has implications for our counseling with young people and the Sunday Schools in our churches. When young people followed the following sequence—graduating from high school, followed by getting a full-time job, then getting married and then having children—they were more likely to become financially secure and less likely to become emotionally distressed than those who skipped any of these steps.
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FDA Approves First Novel Drug for Schizophrenia in Decades
Most drugs that attempt to treat schizophrenia work on either dopamine or serotonin pathways. This drug works on other pathways, so hopefully it might be more effective for patients for whom previous medications have not been sufficiently effective.
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Research Says You Can Change Your Personality
While some people, even some counselors, say you can’t change your basic personality, this writer, who is also a psychologist, disagrees. She says it is possible to change the ways we customarily think, feel and behave. It is also possible to change our work habits, so that even if we were not initially suited to being successful in a given field, we can become better candidates for success. For those of us in the counseling field, this means we have more reasons to offer clients hope and help.
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Rise and Sigh: Morning (and Evening) Routines to Reinforce Calm
Morning routines can often be stressful, especially for parents of children with ADHD. This article was clearly written by someone with experience getting mornings with children off to a pleasant start. Probably some good advice for parents of children who have ADHD but could be helpful for any parent whose mornings are not as organized as they would like.
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Kids are being sexually assaulted by people they meet on social media. Here’s how to prevent it
I think every parent of young girls and every counselor who counsels children and teens should read the read the results of this study. Most parents of young children would not let their children go to bars, but an increasing number of young people are being met by adult men at the modern equivalent of bars—social media. Men, posing as young people, form trusting relationships with these teens, and then agree to meet them in person. Because they have formed a trusting relationship, these young people agree to meet them someplace near the home. The average sexual assault victim was a 13-year-old female! Please warn parents to tell their children, especially their girls, of this new danger and help them develop ways to keep themselves safe.
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Can Consciousness Exist Without a Brain?
This article will probably amaze you. Some people are born with a medical condition called hydrocephalus, where water displaces what is normally brain tissue. These people, if they survive infancy, grow up with only about 5% of the brain tissue that others have. Yet many have lived normal social, emotional and relational lives, often going to college, having families and professional careers, and it wasn’t until adulthood that a brain scan revealed they were missing 95% of the three-pound tissue we consider the brain. To learn more about this puzzle and a possible explanation for how this could be possible, read the article.
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Surprising Medications and Supplements That Could Trigger or Worsen Bipolar Disorder
A surprisingly-large number of medications (e.g., epi-pens) and supplements can trigger bipolar disorder. Someone who knows they have bipolar disorder should make sure all their medical providers know this so they are not unwittingly prescribed medications that could precipitate an episode. At other times some medications can precipitate bipolar-like symptoms or reveal a latent bipolar disorder. In case of a substance-induced bipolar-like disorder, usually stopping the offending medication will stop the bipolar-like symptoms.
This is a comprehensive list, so it should probably be kept by any clients with bipolar disorder and those who counsel them.
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Bipolar Disorder and the Role of Faith in Stability
Thousands of people will attest that their faith helps them cope with their mental health struggles. This article focuses specifically on how religious faith can help provide stability to a person with bipolar disorder. Also, there are several books and journal articles included in the bibliography that discuss how religious faith can help people with other mental disorders.
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Turning Regret into Reset After an ADHD Diagnosis
Some women do not receive an ADHD diagnosis until midlife. This obviously produces a multitude of feelings. This article focuses on helping women navigate this challenge if they become aware of this during midlife.
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Married with ADHD: How Real Couples Make It Work
Many articles about ADHD in marriage focus on the impact ADHD has on the neurotypical spouse. This article focuses on the impact ADHD has on the ADHD spouse. Some of the challenges that these couples face are the same ones every couple faces. However, some of the marital problems are amplified by the effects of ADHD. Of the spouses interviewed about 20% thought that ADHD did nothing to improve their marriages, but many cited that one or more of the ADHD symptoms added something positive to their marriages.
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Trendy sex move to ‘intensify orgasms’ could ruin your romps forever: doctors
Some couples have been attempting to intensify their orgasms by something called “edging” which refers to coming almost to the point of orgasm, then stopping, then starting physical stimulation again, with the thought that a subsequent orgasm will be more intense than the initial one would have been. Medical professionals say that this practice could cause permanent damage to male sexual functioning. See the article for specific information so if you have a client who asks you if you think they should engage in it you can give an informed answer. To this point no evidence has found that it can have permanent harmful effects on females.
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My life with 4 lb., 14 oz. miracle baby with trisomy 18
Most fetuses with trisomy 18 do not survive until birth, and many die shortly afterward. As a result, many are aborted while in the womb. Here is a story of two mothers who carried their babies to term, with some moving thoughts about their experiences and about the gift of life.
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Two articles encouraging Christian therapists and teachers to stay firm in their Christian beliefs
Biden-Harris Admin to Pay after Losing Religious Freedom Case
This is part of an article encouraging Christians that we have been having some victories in court cases where Christian groups have pushed back against government groups trying to force Christian counselors to cooperate in processes that go against their Christian beliefs. This is part of another groups’ promotional material: however, one crucial quote captured the main emphasis of the article. Be encouraged that if we stand up for our convictions, even though there may be initial rulings against us, if we persevere often we will be successful in preserving our right to practice our faith.
“A U.S. district court ruled faith-based healthcare providers and employers are exempt from performing or paying for harmful “gender transition” surgeries, procedures, and counseling in violation of their religious beliefs.”
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For another article that shows that if we continue to affirm our Christian principles, often in the long run religious freedom will win out.
Va. school district pays $575K settlement to teacher fired for not using trans pronouns
A Virginia teacher refused to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns. The teacher was initially fired for his refusal. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented him in court, and the public school district will now pay him $575,000 for failing to respect his religious convictions. This will probably set a precedent and make other public-school systems reluctant to punish Christian teachers for following their religious convictions.
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Largest brain map ever reveals fruit fly’s neurons in exquisite detail
Scientific advances occur every month. Here is the most detailed map of the brain ever seen. Although its only the brain of a fruit fly this means that in the coming years this technology can be applied to the human brain as well.
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What your brain's microbiome means for your health
Another recent discovery about the brain and mental health. This article describes how things like bacteria, viruses and fungi in the brain tissue affect the brain’s functioning.
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How to Adjust to Changes in Your Sleep Schedule
For people with bipolar disorders, any change in their sleep schedule can cause problems. Fortunately, the upcoming time change this Fall seems to be the easier to adjust to for most people with bipolar disorder than the one that occurs in the Spring. This article includes some helpful suggestions to use with either time change.
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Binge Eating Disorder, Often Untreated, Typically Persists for Years, With Infrequent Remissions, Study Finds
Binge eating disorder has often had unanswered questions, and some research studies have found conflicting results. This research study tried to answer some of those questions and continued over a duration long enough to view remissions and likelihood of relapses. It found that without therapy Binge Eating Disorder often persists for many years, with infrequent remissions. Other research studies have shown that with therapy there is likely to be substantial recovery and much less likelihood of relapses.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed these articles and new discoveries!
Henry Virkler