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Rx Depression

14 Apr

Daily, moderate exercise for 20 to 30 minutes helps ward off depression for people of all ages. ( Monitor on Psychology, 2014, 45(1), p. 19)

Sleep

8 Apr

Irregular bedtimes are linked to behavior problems in children. (Monitor on Psychology, 2014, 45(1), p. 16.)

Hypnosis for Chronic Pain

6 Apr

Chronic pain is a difficult treatment challenge. However, hypnosis is an underutilized but potentially effective therapy for reducing the intensity of pain, having an impact on neurophysiological activity in the brain, and increasing feelings of well-being, self control and sleep. It works on average but better for some than others. (Jensen, M. P. & Patterson, D. R. (2014). Hypnotic approaches for chronic pain management. American Psychologist, 69(2),167-177)  

Read

3 Apr

New research finds that being a bookworm all your life slows the rate of memory decline with old age. So read! (Annals of Psychotherapy & Integrated Health, 2013, 16(3), p. 24.)

Help?

31 Mar

One way to succeed is to help others, but be careful about giving help to takers. (Weir, K. The science of karma. Monitor on Psychology, 2013, 44(9), pp. 28-30.)

Wisdom

27 Mar

Anais Nin: We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.

Novel Comments

23 Mar

Ron Rash’s newest novel, The Cove (2012, New York: Harper Collins) is, in the opinion of many his best so far. It is, in his own words, “a very dark fairy tale” situated in my favorite state, North Carolina. The fairy story has a woman locals think to be a witch, a cursed place  (the cove), a well, a brother and sister alone in the woods, and the town’s version of the evil outsiders (Germans), and a magic flute. 

Rash masterfully uses as his landscape the Appalachia around Mars Hill in the late days of World War I, hence the vilified Germans. He depicts this setting with such detail and lyricism that it has the status of yet another character, perhaps the most complex of any in the story. 

This story, to me, is a powerful portrayal of the effects of prejudice, superstition, and a simplistic understanding of good and evil. All of these seem to me to be traps waiting for us all. Although all of these traps were fallen into in the story and resulted in tragedy, something important did remain, the German player of the flute and his enhanced ability to play it magically because he, indeed, had been to the well and understood more fully the human condition.

Courage

21 Mar

Don Henley: Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge.

We have the best heath care?

17 Mar

Just about all Americans, no matter age, income, education, and the presence or absence of health insurance, have worse health than people in other wealthy countries. Weir, K. The health-wealth gap,.Monitor on Psychology, 2013, 44(9), pp. 36-41.

Wisdom

12 Mar

Lena Horne: It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.

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