Articles from the Week of April 11, 2025

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

Don't let schooling interfere with your education.

Mark Twain

I have learned that there is more power in a good strong hug than in a thousand meaningful words."

Ann Hood

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."

Booker T. Washington

"Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

Maya Angelou

“The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.”

Robert Baden-Powell

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy!”

Anne Frank

"Failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it."

Hank Aaron

Fascinating Facts

How an old school photo helped reunite childhood sweethearts after 85 years

Two people, who used to walk to school as young children hand in hand in the 1930s, were reunited after being apart 85 years. The man’s son was researching family photographs and then started attempting to contact the people in the photos.

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Becoming a First Time Mother at 97

Here’s the story of a female tortoise and her husband, both in their 90s, who is a first-time mother, and they may have more children.

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‘Wellness rooms’ are claiming space in many homes

A new trend in homes is to have a “wellness room.” These take a variety of shapes. If interested, read a little about them here.

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Counseling Articles

Aging Parents and Adult Children’s Living Arrangements

An issue that many of us will need to face sooner or later. As parents age, one frequently becomes the caregiver for the other. But if they live long enough, the caregivers may become in need of care themselves. This article talks about a situation that is facing more and more families.

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To All the Boys I've Loved Before: I'm Glad We Are Not Married

A thoughtful article by a woman who dreamed of being married when she was young, dated regularly, was reasonably attractive and probably well-balanced, but never got married. Perhaps one consolation if you’re counseling such a person is that to be single is better than to be in an unhappy marriage.

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A culture that truly values life says no to assisted suicide

As more states in the U.S. consider assisted suicide, Jenna Ellis makes the argument about why our society should not support this trend.

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Adult ADHD Diagnosis Linked to Earlier Death

A very large study from Great Britain found that men with ADHD died 7 years earlier than the general population, and women with ADHD died 9 years earlier than the general population. There appear to be several factors involved. Some of those with ADHD did not receive adequate medical care. Others abused alcohol or drugs or engaged in risky lifestyle behaviors. One implication for counselors would be if you are dealing with a child or teen with ADHD, help them develop healthy lifetime behaviors.

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Steroid Use in Pregnancy Tied to Mood, Neurodevelopment Risks for Child

This study from Denmark has implications for pregnant mothers. Some pregnant women are prescribed steroids to prevent premature delivery or to treat autoimmune or inflammatory diseases. It was found that the use of steroids during pregnancy increases the chances that the child will develop autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other mood-related conditions. So women who might need these drugs should probably discuss with their doctors the cost-benefit ratio of taking such drugs during pregnancy.

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ADHD Rates, Adverse Outcomes Elevated in Adults with Autism

This journal title is a bit misleading. The article is about the fact that children with autism are also likely to have ADHD, and especially if they have both autism and intellectual disability. It is discussing statistical correlations, not necessarily adverse outcomes.

Children with autism are much more likely to also have ADHD (2.7% in the general population versus 27% for those with autism). Children with autism were also 40% for likely to have ADHD if they also had autism and Intellectual Disability.

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Prescription Stimulant Misuse Alarmingly Common

In contrast to an article last week that said that stimulant use among those with ADHD was low (less than 1% for children, less than 3% for teens, and slightly higher for adults), this study found that ¼ of adults with ADHD were abusing stimulant medication. It would certainly be wise if you counsel adults with ADHD who are on stimulants to have some conversations about this.

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Hooters and the Future of the Church

Many Christians are rejoicing that Hooters is filing for bankruptcy, but Russell Moore makes the point that we should not take a victory lap. It is not because our culture has become more Christian, but because Hooters became too tame. With the advent of OnlyFans and online porn, people now can get much more than Hooters offered from the convenience of their home.

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Marriage, Increasing Age Linked to Risk for Overweight and Obesity

I don’t think we needed a research study to tell us this, but here is a study from Poland that tells us anyway. Married men and women both tended toward being overweight (seems that having someone to prepare good meals for you and someone who enjoys preparing those meals and seeing you enjoy them increases the likelihood of becoming overweight). And as age increases and our metabolism decreases, the likelihood of being overweight and obesity increases for both sexes.

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In “My Two Elaines,” Former Wisconsin Gov. Martin Schreiber Shares Advice for Alzheimer’s Caregivers

Here’s a short article by a former governor based on his experience in caring for his wife in the last 22 years of life when she had Alzheimer’s. It reminds one of the news we hear about Bruce Willis, who has frontotemporal dementia. His extended family (both his present wife and his former wife and both sets of children) share the process of caring for him.

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Holly Connor Is Blind, Autistic, and Inspiring Others: “Music Is My Superpower”

Here is an amazing story about a girl who is both blind and autistic but inspires thousands of others.

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Autism’s missing women

This is an article I think every counselor should read because it tells us many things we probably have not heard before.Books frequently tell us that autism is primarily a male disorder, found in males 4 times as frequently as females. This article, and new research, says that autism in females is frequently misdiagnosed, often as social anxiety disorder, an eating disorder, or as borderline personality disorder. This idea that ADHD in females is not as uncommon as typically believed but is frequently missed because it is misdiagnosed is not a fringe idea: the author is an emeritus professor of neuropsychology.

It seems that autism often manifests in girls and women in ways that look different than autism in males. This led to the question of whether we should have different gender classifications within autism, but probably this won’t be the final classification. Anticipate significant updates in the DSM-6.

I encourage every counselor to read this article (and probably save it) so you can incorporate it in your practice. You may already be counseling one or more autistic females whom you didn’t recognize.

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How Decluttering Helps Bipolar Symptoms — and 10 Ways to Start

This article explains why excessive clutter can precipitate a bipolar episode for someone with bipolar disorder. The ten steps would be useful for anyone who needs to declutter their home, whether they have bipolar disorder.

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DoubleClickjacking hack turns double-clicks into account takeovers

This isn’t a counseling article, but it’s a new way hackers have developed that is a threat to anyone who goes online, since we all double-click on a regular basis. This article explains how doubleclickjacking works, and steps we all can take to protect ourselves from this latest threat. An article to have anyone in your family who goes online read.

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Losing My Nonreligion

Note: Skip the “Hits and Misses” blurb at the top and go to the article below.

Here is an article from Jerry Coyne, a prominent atheist, about why he resigned from the Freedom from Religion Foundation because he believed they were promoting transgenderism as a religion rather than based on objective reality. He critiques transgenderism on five bases, and I encourage you to read the first half of his article. His last critique is that transgenderism is trying to inculcate these beliefs in children. I partially disagree with his last critique—I think it is fine to introduce young children to truths such as Christianity when they are young, but I would agree that it is unwise to try to convince children of things that are untrue, and I think he has made the point that transgenderism is based on very shaky foundations through his first four points.

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https://www.wsj.com/opinion/losing-my-nonreligion-transgender-ideology-essay-resign-b7e6d745

‘Dennis The Menace’ Star Jay North Dies At 73

Dennis the Menace, whom many of us remember fondly from watching him on TV years ago, died this past week here at his home in Florida.

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Digital Despair: How Social Media Fuels Teen Anxiety and Overmedication

If you work with teens, this article makes several good points about how social media negatively affects the psychological health of teens who feed on it.

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Christian nurse suspended after investigation over calling pedophile patient ‘mister’

This article reminds us that the question of gender is far from settled throughout the world. In Great Britain a patient who was in a high security prison for sexually abusing several boys was being treated in a hospital and the nurse who was assisting the doctor called him “Mister” when he insisted he was transgender. She was suspended from the hospital for not calling him by his preferred gender identity.

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‘CROSSED THE RUBICON’: Colorado House Passes Bill Treating as Child Abuse Dissent from Transgender Orthodoxy

And in case you thought this was just an issue in Great Britain, the House in Colorado just passed a bill that would remove children from parents who misgendered or “deadnamed” them (deadnaming refers to calling them by the name they were given at birth). One lawmaker said that parents who did this to their transgender children were as bad as the KKK. The bill still has to be passed by Colorado’s Senate and signed by the governor before going into effect, but since the is Senate is majority Democratic and the Governor is a Democrat, this could happen.

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Brain implant can translate thoughts into spoken words

Brain implants are starting to show tremendous advances. In this case, a brain implant allows a person who is unable to speak to convert thoughts into speech. In other cases, brain implants have enabled paralyzed persons to produce body movements through their thoughts. While such brain implants still need further refinements, the next decade should show significant improvements in brain implants in both areas.

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All ADHD Meds Tied to Small Blips in Blood Pressure and Pulse

New research finds that most ADHD medications, not just stimulants, can cause small increases in blood pressure and pulse, but doctors still say people who need these medications should not stop taking them. They instead say the doctor should monitor how they respond to the prescribed medication and change it to another ADHD medication if the change in blood pressure or pulse is concerning.

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What does Jesus' sacrifice teach us about marriage?

Although I think all of us know that the sacrifices we make pale in comparison to the sacrifices Christ made, I think this author makes a good point about how developing the attitude of serving our spouse and sacrificing our wants to the needs of our partner is the essence of what makes a good marriage.

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World’s smallest pacemaker is activated by light

In another miracle of modern medicine the world’s smallest pacemaker, about the size of a kernel of rice, has been invented. It can be inserted via syringe and is particularly useful for newborns whose hearts need occasional help with pacing. It can dissolve when no longer needed, as all its elements are biodegradable.

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Bipolar or Borderline Personality Disorder — How Can You Tell?

People with bipolar disorder often are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for 8 to 10 years before they receive a correct diagnosis. Sometimes they are told they have borderline personality disorder, an error you wouldn’t make if you had carefully studied the DSM-5, but one that could be made by laypersons or those who receive their information from social media. This article clearly explains the difference between the two.

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'Most brutal ever seen': 8 charged in int'l child porn ring selling over 1M videos, photos of violent sexual assaults

I usually don’t include articles like this, but 7 of the 9 people accused in this child pornography ring were in Florida, so I think this brings home that this is happening right here, and according to the article, the pornography was brutal, so the scars will be deep on those subjected to it.

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Teen tech whiz kid with 4.0 GPA made $30M off his startup last year — but he was still rejected by 15 colleges

If you have a young person who was rejected by one or more colleges, please reassure him or her that they are not alone. This student learned to code at 7 years of age, was teaching others by 10, earned a high school GPA near 4.0, and started a company in high school that earned 30 million dollars last year, but was rejected by 17 out of 20 colleges he applied to. I hope someone at these 17 colleges reviews their application processes.

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The Optimal Time to Prevent Age-Related Cognitive Decline–and How to Do It

It appears that the optimal time to prevent age-related cognitive decline is in middle age. This article explains why this is true and steps one can take.

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I hope you enjoyed these articles. Have a wonderful week!

Henry Virkler