Verenicline(Chantix) helps some patients stop smoking

Editor's note:

There are many ways to stop smoking. Working with an addiction specialist can help you develop a plan that will work best for you. In this JAMA report, verenicline helps some patients, but I also have found patients who used other ways to successfully quit and who didn't like the side effects of verenicline. The important thing to know is that there are many ways to quit and the chance of success increases with each attempt. So, the motto I like the best is, "don't quit trying to quit."

 

Understanding The Borderline Mother: Helping Her Children Transcend the Intense, Unpredictable, and Volatile Relationship by Christine Ann Lawson

Understanding The Borderline Mother: Helping Her Children Transcend the Intense, Unpredictable, and Volatile Relationship by Christine Ann Lawson is an extremely important book for any psychotherapist or layperson interested in the impact of parenting by a person with Borderline Personality Disorder. The impact is huge and can be multigenerational. Dr. Lawson, in lay language and with clear case examples describes the dynamics that occur between mother and children and somewhat with fathers. She also has clear suggestions for how adult children can manage the relationship with the Borderline mother. I believe this topic is so important that I am planning on posting a series of articles on this blog as I re-read and study the ideas in this book further. I am developing a new category on the blog which I am entitling, Borderline Parenting. While the focus of Lawson's book is on mother's, fathering plays a critical role as well. In addition to reading this book and being a psychotherapist, I also have personal experiences with the topic which undoubtedly fuel my interest and resonance with the material described. I highly recommend this book. This is article #1 in a series on Borderline Parenting

 

Why Is It So Hard to Change People’s Minds?

Why Is It So Hard to Change People’s Minds?

Our opinions are often based in emotion and group affiliation, not facts. Here’s how to engage productively when things get heated.

BY ELIZABETH SVOBODA | JUNE 27, 2017

For more click here.
Editor's note: Bottom line on why it is hard to change people's minds is fear. They are afraid of losing their group affiliation which to them seems to mean survival.

What is conservation psychology?

Conservation psychology might sometimes be called "ecopsychology". For more on ecopsychology click here.


 

Narcotic Painkiller Use Tied to Higher Risk for Depression

From Health Day on 02/20/15:

FRIDAY, Feb. 20, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- High doses of powerful narcotic painkillers appear to be linked to a higher risk of depression in patients, new research finds.

The study focuses on a class of prescription narcotic painkillers called opioids, which include drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodin. While most people use the medicines to ease pain, widespread abuse of narcotic painkillers is also a growing concern.

The new study involved 355 patients in Texas who reported low back pain at an initial medical visit and still had the pain one and two years later.

Although the study couldn't prove cause-and-effect, people who used higher doses of narcotic painkillers to manage their pain were more likely to have an increase in depression, the researchers found.

For more click here.

Suicide rates in US in 2015 female and male

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To drive slower, listen to slower music