The Ledger column from 3.21.15
Here is my weekly column from the Ledger. Here I talk about the first year of life and the all so important issue of attachment. Early attachment is linked to overall healthy development and long term social and emotional health.
Let me know what you think!
Here is the link: http://www.theledger.com/article/20150323/COLUMNISTS0419/150329737/1484/life?Title=Healthy-Bonding-Begins-at-Birth
Check out this week’s podcast on iTunes: itun.es/us/YFA95.c http://t.co/htSou4SrUE
Texting, Teens, and Driving
There is an interesting summary of a study that reveals that while the number of teens who are texting while driving is decreasing, they are still doing everything else while they are supposed to be driving. Reading this reminded me of three factoids about teens that I encountered over and over again while researching and writing The Middle School Mind: Growing Pains in Early Adolescent Brains.
1. They don’t believe what adults tell them about focusing only on driving when they are behind the wheel. They are convinced that they are good enough to do something else while driving.
2. They are convinced they are immortal and nothing bad is going to happen to them.
3. They are convinced that they can multi-task–which they can’t, of course. There is a mountain of neuroscience research demonstrating that our brains do not multi-task. It seems like they do because they are so fast. But they don’t. More on multi-tasking later.
IFL Science article on research with MDMA
Many people are unaware that a lot of the drugs that are abused today were first developed to treat medical and mental disorders. When abused, drugs like MDMA and Methamphetamine can be very dangerous. However, it is interesting to read about researchers looking back at the therapeutic effects of these substances.
What do you think about this research? If they are effective, should we use them in treatment? Should drugs like MDMA be treated different than marijuana?
Check out the article here: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/trial-will-investigate-use-mdma-treatment-anxiety-seriously-ill-patients
Article from Today.com about the importance of Breastfeeding
We have always known that breastfeeding is good for the developing child. However, the studied discussed in this article really demonstrated the importance of breastfeeding empirically!
Check out the article here: http://t.today.com/health/more-evidence-breastfeeding-makes-babies-smarter-2D80552630
02.1 Mental Health vs. Mental Illness (take 2):… fb.me/7vdVYA8qF
02.1 Mental Health vs. Mental Illness (take 2)
Welcome to the second podcast of The Mental Breakdown. In this episode, Dr. Berney and Dr. Richard talk about the difference between mental health and mental illness. Unfortunately, there are many stigmas associated with mental illness. Drs. Berney and Richard present a new paradigm for considering mental health.
Note that this is a second posting, as the original podcast was not sent to iTunes.
This episode was produced by Andrew Rasmussen.
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02. Mental Health vs. Mental Illness:… fb.me/2ZWrBFlJX
02. Mental Health vs. Mental Illness
Welcome to the second podcast of The Mental Breakdown. In this episode, Dr. Berney and Dr. Richard talk about the difference between mental health and mental illness. Unfortunately, there are many stigmas associated with mental illness. Drs. Berney and Richard present a new paradigm for considering mental health.
This episode was produced by Andrew Radmussen.
Another education article, this one from The NewYorker: Another great article about the education system. This… fb.me/8nlvCeAbW