Psychology Help Today

People who use porn wonder, "'How... can something that isn't a drug, isn't an extra-marital affair, isn't actually sex with someone else, cause such devastating problems as divorce, getting fired, and not being able to get sexually aroused by a real live partner.' "The truth is, using pornography can make you go blind-- blind to the power and control it can eventually have over your life.  Though we might stare intensely at it, we don't see, often can't see see, how and why it is so powerful.  Did you know that porn can actually rewire your brain?  That's one reason why some people who use porn become preoccupied with sex, develop problematic sexual desires, and experience sexual functioning problems.  And if your brain has been changed, it can be difficult to see clearly exactly what is happening and how it's affecting your life. "Porn is an extremely alluring and compelling 'product,' capable of delivering ...

"What do music composers Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig Van Beethoven, Artists Michelango and Vincent Van Gogh, Physicists Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, Renaissance Polymath Leonardo Da Vinci, President Thomas Jefferson, and Microsoft Founder Bill Gates have in common?  All are known or suspected of fitting somewhere on the autism spectrum. As a "spectrum" disorder, autism represents a wide array of symptoms--from mid to severe--that affect individuals differently, however a common core of indicators influence the neurological development of social skills, empathy, communication, and flexible behavior.  This developmental disability also crosses every racial, ethnic and socioeconomic group." - Eric Scalise and Stephanie Holmes in Christian Counseling Today, Vol. 20, No. 2 This is an amazing list of people that have a disorder that parents fear.  Yes it is a challenging diagnosis but as this list shows, all is not lost. Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSA...

Children love movement.  Regular movement activities not only help children stay healthy, also it enhances their learning abilities and sets a solid foundation upon which more complex movement skills are established. Adult used to deal with obesity but it is now prevalent in the school age and preschool populations and is increasing at alarming rates.  Regular movement helps children decrease the chances of becoming obese and thereby avoid disease like  heart disease and Type II Diabetes.  Movement and exercise also helps them teaches them a lifestyle to stay healthy well into adulthood. Movement is necessary to learning.  Children use movement to learn about and explore their environments and the properties of objects.  They stimulate most areas of the brain, especially the center responsible for maintaining focus and paying attention when they move.  It is in movement that their brains release neurotransmitters that enhance short-ter...

A thoughtful article on financial stress in the Reporter-Herald: "Being short on cash may make you a bit slower in the brain, a new study suggests. "People worrying about having enough money to pay their bills tend to lose temporarily the equivalent of 13 IQ points, scientists found that when they gave intelligence tests to shoppers at a New Jersey mall and farmers in India. "The idea is that financial stress monopolizes thinking, making other calculations slower and more difficult, sort of like the effects of going without sleep for a night. "And this money-and-brain crunch applies, albeit to a smaller degree to about 100 million Americans who face financial squeezes, say the team of economists and psychologists who wrote the study published in Friday's issue of the journal Science. "Our paper isn't about poverty.  It's about people struggling to make ends meet," said Sendhil Mullainathan, a Harvard economist and study co...

I love this article I found in my Sunday Reporter-Herald: "As of August 2013, the average American's credit card debt totaled $15,263; mortgage debt averaged $147,591; and student loan debt hit $31,646.   And many households have all three!  No wonder you report that you're more stressed than you were 10 years ago.  Twenty percent of you now say you live with extreme stress daily, and we think the real number is even higher than that. "It's not news that financial woes fuel tension, sleepless nights, relationship problems and depression.  But a new report reveals that debt is also linked with higher diastolic blood pressure --- that's the second number in a blood pressure reading that tells you the pressure level BETWEEN beats.  We say you should aim for 115/75. "High diastolic pressure signals high-blood pressure problems. And that can double your risk for heart attack and weaker recovery post-heart-attack; triple the odds for digesti...

"Approximately 25% of all children in the United States will experience at least one significant traumatic event before the age of 16, with 15% of girls and 6% of boys developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Unintentional injury remains the leading cause of death among those aged 14 and younger, while nearly 38,000 injuries occur on a daily basis that require medical attention--nearly half-million emergency room visits annually for traumatic brain injuries.  More than 10,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year, and the most common tumors are brain-related. Each year, somewhere between three to four million reports of childhood abuse and neglect are filed with state and local Child Protective Services (60% of all cases are under the age of 13).  Over 800,000 minors are reported missing each year (2,200 times every single day).  Minors account for 39% of the homeless population in the United State (almost half of those are under ...

"When we choose well, the paths of surrender, relationship, acceptance and trust lead us to Him and His power. "Now we are standing in front of another fork.  This time, we're seeking a path that will deliver us to something we're all looking for: joy,   What's interesting, however, it that the trail to joy is unmarked, full of rocks and overgrown  weeds, and rarely traveled.  As a result, whenever we arrive at this fork, we almost always choose the wrong path--and end up wondering why we're lost. "To put this is plain terms, we often think possessions and things will make us happy.  Food, Sex. Money.  A new dress, couch, car, home, job or spouse.  We think that if we rearrange the circumstances, everything will get better.  Eventually, some of us figure it out, at least some of the time, that isn't how it works.  The external possessions and things are enticing and may offer temporary pleasure, but ultimately, they don't mak...

Last, I wrote that love addicts and avoidants develop unhealthy patterns of dependency, distance, chaos, and often abuse.  In this article, I will describe the types of love addiction. The types of love addiction are: * Obsessed love addiction: This type of addiction comes with the inability to live independently from another person, or a feeling of possession.  The person may continue the obsession years after the relationship has ended. * Codependency addiction: This type spins around the desired person.  The partner’s life is the focus, not the love addict. * Relationship addiction: This often manifests as an addiction to the idea of having a relationship, instead of the development of an authentic relationship. There are two types: those who are constantly in and out of relationships and those who will not let go of a bad relationship for the sake of having a healthy relationship. * Narcissistic love addiction: This type is all about the love addict, ...

Love addicts and avoidants form relationships that inevitably lead to unhealthy patterns of dependency, distance, chaos, and often abuse. Familiarity is the central engine of the love addiction. Each is attracted to the other specifically because of the familiar traits that the other exhibits.  These are patterns learned in childhood and continue into adulthood despite the pain that is caused. When the two addictive lovers come together --- a common and predictable relational process is ignited. Reference  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_addiction This cycle of love addiction encompasses a push-pull dance full of emotional highs and lows where the one is on the chase (love addiction) while the avoidant is on the run. They both engage in "counterfeit emotional involvement” which consists of melodrama and negative intensity.  This dance creates the illusion of true love, intimacy, and connection. The negative consequences of love addiction can vary. Depen...