I read about an incident occurred the other day in the city of Denver, Colorado. July 1st, Mayor John Hickenlooper was scheduled to read the State of the City Message, an event that includes a public ceremony. He asked a popular local Jazz singer, Renee Marie, to sing the National Anthem prior to his reading of the State of the City Message. Unbeknownst to him, the singer proceeded to with a completely different song, one thought of as the Black National Anthem. The background tune was the Natio

Interestingly a study just released reports that teenagers between the ages of 12 and twenty one years old are drinking and have access to alcohol from adults at home. This should not be surprising news.The fact that many underage adolescents are drinking should be a matter of concern to parents across the nation because of the death rate among young people as a result of alcohol intoxication. Whether it's from driving under the influence of alcohol, using bad judgement and engaging in risky

One woman writes to Mental Help Net:I have heard so many comments about the woman having no sex drive, but what if it's the man? My husband's sex drive has considerably lowered in the past two years or so, and talking about it has made it worse. He used to work away from home and told me multiple times he sometimes masturbated as many as three times a day. Now, living back at home daily, he no longer masturbates, yet, we rarely have sex. I feel constantly rejected but, while I do not wan

I have am once again reminded of the importance of the above question because my wife and I are planning to relocate from Colorado to Florida. In planning the move we find ourselves faced with the daunting question of what items we want to take with us, sell or discard.Have you ever noticed that it can be difficult to get rid of stuff? For purposes of this posting I define "stuff" as any type of possession, from money to houses, papers, frying pans, newspapers, magazines, old

There was a time, quite recently, when the question was raised as to whether fathers were necessary in the rearing of children. I believe that research and common sense have put the question to rest. Discarding the research and focusing on those raised without the presence of a father, it is clear that many of them would have been better off if a father had been present.In my opinion, based on both my life and professional experiences, human beings need the presence of both mother and father to

Two recent studies came to the same conclusion: as we age, socializing helps keep our minds sharp and, perhaps, even prevents dementia. Study 1:The first study was conducted by Dr. Karen Ertel, a post doctoral fellow at the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her team found that those people who were socially integrated (socially active) had less than half the memory decline of those who were socially isolated.Dr. Ertel's team collected

Is it possible that in our daily lives of "quiet desperation" we over look daily miracles because we take so much for granted? I am asking this question not as a religious person because I am not religious. In fact, I am not even asking this question as a spiritual person and I do not believe that I am particularly spiritual. Instead, I am asking this question as simply and only, a living person who, along with everyone else, is trying to understand life and the difficulties we human b

In the previous posting we discussed the invisible disorder, PTSD. The discussion included a variety of reasons why Iraq and Afghani veterans have difficulty getting the help they need if, among other things, they suffer from PTSD. One of the greatest obstacles these veterans face is their own resistance to admitting they need help. The physical injuries suffered by these veterans are caused by combat, are visible and are both explainable and, in certain ways are acceptable. However, because PTS

I have the privilege of working with some very special people thanks to my wife and her involvement with an organization called Puppies Behind Bars and the Psychiatric Service Dogs that she provides to Iraq and Afghani war veterans with PTSD. Puppies Behind Bars does the primary training and my wife, through her organization, Golden Kimba Service Dogs, finishes the training for and with the veterans. These special people are the veterans who have served their this nation in Iraq and Afghanistan

Have you ever reached the point where you just cannot listen to another person's comments anymore? Have you ever reached the point where the sound of the television feels like it's over whelming noise? Have you ever reached the point where you do not want to go out to see or talk to anyone because your day has been filled with too much? Have you ever reached the point in a day where, if you have to deal with one more problem you will either shout or cry?Frequently, I hear the term "

It remains experimental. All the facts and information is not in as yet. The possibilities are wonderful and exciting. It's called DBS and that stands for Deep Brain Stimulation. In effect, what DBS really means is that Brain Pacemakers might be used to cure people of the most intractable and resistant types of depression.During the many years of my experience in mental health I came across patients for whom all the newest and oldest types of treatment for depression were unsuccessful. For t

The history of the abuse of women is well documented and incontrovertible. What is more hidden and wrapped in myth is the fact of the abuse of men. It is probably counter intuitive to think of men as subjected to emotional and physical abuse as the hands of women but it does happen.Dr. Robert J.Reid, MD recently lead a study just published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (May 2008) that discussed domestic violence and looked at the statistics involving abused men and women. T

Do you remember that wonderful song from "Porgy and Bess," "Summer time and the livin is easy, fish are jumpin and the cotton is high, your Poppa's rich and your Momma's good lookin, hush little baby, don't you cry..."That wonderful show was written about a different time and a different type of life. It was not a better type of life, but it was very different. How is summer time different today?When America was primarily an agricultural society, summer vacation f

One of the most difficult and frustrating conditions for patients and therapists to treat are those involving sexual fetishism and masochism. Definitions: According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Edition IV, Sexual Masochism involves the act of being humiliated, bound or otherwise made to suffer. The criteria for Sexual Masochism is that the need to have this done lasts for at least sex months, the urge to do this is recurrent and engaging

It has been intuitively known for many years that reading aloud to young children promotes a love of reading and prepares them for school. Now, there is evidence to support those beliefs.The results of a study were published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. Young children whose parents read aloud to them went on to have better language development, literacy skills, and a love of reading by the time they entered school compared to those children who were not read to.The study also su

Many people have responded to a posting called "The Deleterious Effects of Child Abuse. The article can be found on the link below:http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_index.php?idx=119&d=1&w=5&e=45What is concerning about some of the responses to the article is that those who suffered abuse at the hands of parents when they were children seem to be convinced that they are permanently scarred and damaged. I have also had patients who, in reliving the memories of trauma a

How does the media refer to it when they the present economic crisis is discussed? They refer to it as a recession, an economic down turn, a slowing of the economy, a depression? Actually, they avoid using the term "depression" and constantly ask if there are signs of a recession? The fact is if you are one of the Americans who has been "laid off," foreclosed on your house for inability to make mortgage payments, working part time because it is impossible to get a full time j

It is a well known fact that adolescence can be, for many, a time of emotional turmoil and stress. Beginning with the pre teen years, boys and girls experience a huge surge in hormones, development of the major sexual characteristics that we associate with men and women and start the process of the final stage of separation from family and local neighborhood.It is for these and many other reasons that there has been an increase in the number of teenagers who engage in self cutting behaviors.On T

Self Magazine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, working jointly, published the results of a survey of American women between the ages of 25 and 45. The number of women surveyed were 4,023 and came from every social, economic and ethnic group. A shocking 65% of the women surveyed reported having disordered eating behaviors. An additional 10% admitted to the types of symptoms consistent with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. An amazing 31% of these women admitted to p

Just when I thought we, at Mental Help Net, had done a good job of writing and commenting about the issue of bullying, new and troubling information was revealed that should remind all of us that this is a very complex topic. What I am referring to are the results of a study just published in a journal called Sex Roles (December 10, 20-07) and the researchers are J.E. Gruber and S. Fineran.The study compared bullying and sexual harassment among a large number of Middle and High School students.