Articles from the Week of June 13, 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

"Slowing down reminds you that the journey is supposed to be fun."

Anne Bancroft

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

Thomas Edison

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business."

Michael J. Fox

“We can all fight against loneliness by engaging in random acts of kindness.”

Gail Honeyman

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

Elmer Davis

"The greatest gift is not being afraid to question."

Ruby Dee

Fascinating Facts

High School Student Living in Car Graduates with Several Full-Ride College Scholarships: ‘I’m Going to Give Back’

Read the inspiring story of a high school graduate from a difficult home situation who ended up living in his car while finishing high school and received full-ride scholarships to several colleges and commits himself to giving back even before he starts his college program.

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Ed the zebra captured after running loose for more than a week in Tennessee

The runaway zebra that made national news last week has been captured and safely returned home to his pasture in Tennessee.

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Big Bang theory is wrong, claim scientists

Most scientists believe that the universe came into being approximately 13.8 billion years ago, and there appears to have been nothing before then. However, that creates problems because it raises the question of how all matter and energy came from nothing. Now a group of scientists have come forward with a theory. It does not seem very convincing to me, but I’ll quote from the article, since it is described in the Telegraph, a British newspaper, which you won’t be able to read without a subscription:

“An international team of physicists, led by the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, has now suggested instead that the universe formed following a huge gravitational collapse that generated a massive black hole.

“Matter within the black hole was crunched down before huge amounts of stored energy caused it to bounce back like a compressed spring, creating our universe.

“The new theory has been named Black Hole Universe and suggests that, rather than the birth of the universe being from nothing, it is the continuation of a cosmic cycle.

“It also suggests that the edge of our universe is the event horizon of a black hole, from which light cannot escape, making it impossible for us to see beyond into our parent universe. And it implies other black holes may also contain unseen universes.”

Are you convinced?

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Counseling Articles

We Need to Teach Basic Housekeeping to Our Kids

An article that probably seems common sense to many might be necessary to discuss with some parents. It makes the point that before children leave home at 18 they need to have learned the basics of washing their clothes, purchasing food and preparing at least the basics, having a budget and learning to stay within it, etc. And if the studies cited are correct, apparently a significant percentage of children leave home without receiving such training.

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The least number of steps to lower heart disease risk

For those of us who are sedentary most of the time, which probably includes most of us, it is still recommended to get 9,000 to 10,000 steps per day to reduce cardiovascular disease. However, this research found that 4,000 steps cut cardiovascular disease by 50%, and for those who could only get 2,200 steps, there was still some benefit. So get as much walking in as you can, but if you can’t get 10,000 steps, you will still benefit.

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Saffron May Help SSRI-Related Sexual Dysfunction

SSRIs are notorious for their dampening effects on sexual function—ED in men and impaired arousal in women. Close to 60% of people who take SSRIs report such issues. Sometimes this is improved by changing the SSRI. However, often it’s found that treatments are not effective for these sexual side effects. It’s been discovered that saffron, a spice, best given in tablet form, may help both sexes.

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Massive DMV phishing scam tricks drivers with fake texts

Be aware of these strange messages that claim to be from the DMV

You may have received urgent messages, supposedly from your department of motor vehicles, saying that you owe money for unpaid tolls or something else. According to this article, these are scams. I have already received two. Florida is apparently one state, among several, where these scams are prominent.

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6 Effective Stress Relief Strategies for Mood Balance in Bipolar Disorder

You may have heard these recommended 6 stress relief strategies for mood balance in bipolar disorder before, but this summary by a former editor of bphope is a good refresher. These six stress relief strategies would probably work well for most clients, whether or not they have bipolar disorder.

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Fitbit Data Streams Enabled Accurate Prediction of Mood Shifts in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Research this past year has found that the period between mood episodes for bipolar patients is often not normal mood but of mixed mood symptoms, which can make it difficult for bipolar patients to accurately determine when they are moving into either a depressed or manic state. Here some new research found that an easily available device (the Fitbit) can accurately identify when a bipolar patient was moving into a depressive episode (80% accuracy) and into a hypomanic or manic episode (approximately 90% accuracy). This inexpensive option will enable patients to reach their psychiatrists immediately to make medication and other adjustments. Although the researchers want to replicate their work with further clients before publishing the algorithm, once this is done, it will be a major help to clients and their doctors.

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How to Spot a Mood Shift Before It Hits — and What Helps Most

People with bipolar disorder need to develop the ability to recognize mood shifts early and then find a plan that works for them. This editor from bphope compiled a list of strategies sent in by various clients with bipolar disorder on what works for them. If you work with bipolar disorder clients I encourage you to save this list: it is likely that different strategies will work best for different people, so if you have this list to share, each client can have a copy and decide which strategies or combination of strategies work best for them.

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Seniors' marijuana use reaches new high

Marijuana use surged 46% among seniors between 2021 and 2023. Some seniors use marijuana to deal with chronic health conditions, but professionals caution that marijuana use can increase chances of falls, accidents, interactions with other medications, and other medical problems. Increasing use is most common among the more affluent, so if you have clients who meet these criteria you may want to ask them about marijuana use and encourage them to consult their doctors about advantages and disadvantages and alternatives. As if the four problems mentioned above were not enough, see the next article.

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Hospital Visits for Cannabis Linked to Dementia Diagnoses

The bad news for cannabis users just keeps coming! A large study in Canada revealed that middle-aged people who have hospital visits for cannabis use had a 72% higher risk of receiving a dementia diagnosis within 5 years of their hospital visit than the general population. Cannabis is not a harmless recreational drug!

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Healing Patients by Helping Them Make Friends

People with mental illness often become isolated by staying at home, which may exacerbate their symptoms of anxiety and paranoia. This study found that encouraging them to have some social interaction (e.g., a book club or something similar) improved their mental functioning. This article also talked about experimental research with oxytocin—the bonding hormone—and other opioids to encourage them to make friends, might be helpful in the future, although these treatments are still in the experimental stages. But encouraging patients to find social interactions that fit their interests is something that probably could be helpful to most anyone now.

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Doctors’ warning about ‘insidious’ social media trend damaging teen girls’ health — with girls as young as 7 taking part

If you counsel with girls or young women, or if you have young daughters yourself, you probably should read this article. It describes what researchers have found that young girls are doing that could be harmful.

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Understanding Cardiovascular Disease in Women with ADHD

Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women, outpacing all cancers. And while all women experience an increase in cardiovascular disease at menopause, women with ADHD experience an even greater increase than other women. So if you work with women, especially during and after menopause and particularly women with ADHD, make sure they are having regular checkups with their medical doctors.

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How expressing gratitude can transform your work and life

An interesting article that you could perhaps use with some of your clients.

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Wild, Righteous Fathering

As we celebrate Father’s Day and remember with respect and love our own fathers it’s nice to remember these heartwarming stories from the Narnia Chronicles about Aslan, and remember with thankfulness our Heavenly Father.

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Have a wonderful week!

Henry Virkler