Are positive childhood experiences good for you as an adult?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. ~ Author of Basic Parenting 101: The Manual Your Child Should Have Been Born With

I am often asked by parents, “Did I mess my kids up”. This common question happens after some parent/teen argument that was particularly nasty.

I like to point out that parenting is a very long marathon and one nasty argument is not very powerful. The goal is to get the kids to 18 with both eyes. This often is hard, because kids often like to do stuff that endangers themselves.

Studies have shown that long term negative childhood experiences can lead to an increased likelihood of adult depression and underdeveloped relationship skills.

In this study, the authors looked at positive childhood experiences and how they influence adulthood wellbeing.

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Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental Health

In this cross-sectional study, in JAMA Pediatrics shows adults that reported higher incidences of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) also reported lower incidences of depression and/or poor mental health (D/PMH).

The researchers’ state: 

Conclusions and Relevance  Positive childhood experiences show dose-response associations with D/PMH and ARSES after accounting for exposure to [adverse childhood experiences] ACEs. The proactive promotion of PCEs for children may reduce risk for adult D/PMH and promote adult relational health. Joint assessment of PCEs and ACEs may better target needs and interventions and enable a focus on building strengths to promote well-being. Findings support prioritizing possibilities to foster safe, stable nurturing relationships for children that consider the health outcomes of positive experiences.

Obtain a PDF of this research paper.

Please let me know what you think by clicking the “comments” below.

Should you call an ambulance or drive a gunshot victim to the hospital?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. ~ Author of Life's Laws For New Adults: Mastering Your Social I.Q.

Let’s start off with a theoretical problem: 

You come out of a restaurant just as a man you do not know gets shot right in front of you. The gunman runs off and the gunshot victim and you lock eyes.

The victim is bleeding from the center of his body, you find yourself taking your shirt off, putting it to the man’s abdomen, and applying pressure. You can’t believe what is happening, as you yell, “Call a doctor! Call a doctor!”

Your thoughts are racing. “What if he bleeds out before the ambulance arrives?”

You think to yourself, “My car is right there, should I drive him to the hospital? It’s not far, but I’m not an ambulance driver. I have no idea what to do! I have no emergency medical training.” 

Should you transport a gunshot victim, or should you wait on emergency medical services?

Before you read on, take a minute to play the thought game. You desperately want to save this person’s life, what should you do? Wait for help, or get your patient to the ER?

Free cartoons at copitch.com

A study in JAMA Surgery found…

Do whatever gets the patient to the Emergency Room the fastest. For most injuries, the prehospital support of an ambulance was often best. But when it came to gunshot or knife wounds, the evidence showed that time was the most important factor. The faster the victim got to the hospital the better. 

The senior researcher, Elliott Haut, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says:

Typically, protocols for prehospital interventions are established at a regional or statewide level, which allows first responders to determine what, if any, medical procedures should be performed prior to and during transport to the hospital, Haut says. But research studies have rarely, if ever, evaluated or compared all of the effects of system-driven pre-hospitalization policies, leaving ideal prehospital care strategies undefined, he adds.

Read the report 

I’m too bored to do this for another second!

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. ~ Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

I am often asked by patients, “How can I get myself to do stuff I don’t want to do?”

To this, I give the simple answer, “Switch up the stuff you’re doing, so that you aren’t totally bored.”

I am not a big believer in willpower. At best, people can only bully their way through a task for so long. Willpower may work for short bursts, mainly when you are newly motivated, but it doesn’t work in the long run.

In the real world, we often have to do stuff that needs to be done, but we get no direct reward for doing it. We like the idea of getting the boring project done, but we really don’t want to do it.

The project could be laundry, exercise, or a big report—we want it done, but we really don’t want to do it.

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Break it up into small chunks

The old question is: How do you eat an elephant? The answer: One bite at a time.

For example, if I am working on a large writing project I take regular breaks, usually every hour and fifteen minutes. Then, for the next 15 minutes, I do something else that needs to be done, such as move laundry from the washer or clean the bathroom. Yep, it’s true. I don’t want to do the laundry or clean the bathroom, but I do want it done.

After 15 minutes, I go back to my writing project. (I have a load in the dryer as we speak.)

By changing activities, I have found that I can get more done and stay motivated to complete tasks.

Research from the University of Toronto backs up my actions

University of Toronto (U of T) News reports, “…according to new University of Toronto research, there may be no noticeable dip in our motivation and ability to do something as long as we switch up tasks throughout the day.”

Dan Randles, is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Michael Inzlicht, a professor of psychology at U of T Scarborough. He says, “While people get tired doing one specific task over a period of time, we found no evidence that they had less motivation or ability to complete tasks throughout the day.”

Humans, monkeys, and rats laugh, but why?

I am asked this question often, "Why do we laugh?" My common answer is, "As social animals it helps us deal with the stress of being social animals."

In this 17 minute TED Talk, Dr. Sophie Scott, talks about her own and other's research into the subject.

Most of this TED talk is information based and quite interesting, but by the end I was gasping for air in full laughter. Then she explained why. Educational and fun... not a bad way to learn.




Sophie Scott, Ph.D is the deputy director of the University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. 

Did you hear about the lady that said she was haunted in L.A. California?

In this TED talk we meet Carrie Poppy. She feared she was haunted. Her story is fascinating.

Even after a home cleansing ritual she heard voices, she felt uncomfortable, she was scared and confused... She needed to know the truth.

(13 minutes long, worth every second.)

Does exercise help memory of people over 50?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. ~ Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the answer is, yes. 

The researchers conducted a systematic review with multilevel meta-analysis. This is fancy speak for looking at many studies and redoing the math to see if the combined data confirmed what the individual studies showed.

The research group was just under 13,000 adults, 50-years of age and older. A total of 39 studies were evaluated. 

• 18 studies looked at aerobic exercise (walking, running, or swimming).
• 13 studies looked at resistance training in the form of weightlifting.
• 10 studies focused on a combination of exercise programs.
• The rest of the studies analyzed tai chi and yoga.

All exercises helped, but the type mattered

The analysis showed that aerobic exercise and tai chi helped overall brain function, while resistance training increased the participants’ memory.

In conclusion:

This is another study which shows that as we age it is important to keep moving. As I have said many times before, the best exercise for you is the one that you will keep doing, day after day. 

I think I will go for a walk now …

Read the full article:

Northey JM, Cherbuin N, Pumpa KL, et al Exercise interventions for cognitive function in adults older than 50: a systematic review with meta-analysis Br J Sports Med Published Online First: 24 April 2017. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096587

CDC Vaccine Recommendations for the 2016-2017 Influenza Season

On Septermber 15, 2016 the Center for Disease Control released their Vaccine Recommendations for the 2016-2017 Influenza Season.

CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months or older receive an influenza vaccine every year, by the end of October if possible. However, CDC continues to recommend that influenza vaccination efforts continue as long as influenza viruses are circulating in the community. Significant seasonal influenza virus activity can continue into May, so vaccination later in the season can still provide benefit during most seasons.

Read the CDC Recommendations

Slip of the tongue - Is it normal?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. - Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

Dear Dr. Phil,

I am in tenth grade and an OK student. 

I find that I constantly make stupid mistakes when I speak. My mom says that I don’t do it that much and that everyone misspeaks. I use the wrong word, but it sounds like the right word to me. I am noticing it a lot and don’t want kids at school laughing at me.

Keith, Reno Nevada

Everyone makes word replacement mistakes

Keith, my heart goes out to you. It is hard being in high school. But, rest assured, tripping over your own tongue is simply a part of life. There are two major ways we do it, both normal and often funny. So, before I explain, please let me give you some advice. Allow yourself to laugh at yourself when you trip over your own tongue.

If you flub up on purpose, it is called a joke or a pun. I love puns. I love the way it makes my kids moan with embarrassment when I pun. Also, a good portion of my cartoons are puns. That little play on words that tickles the funny bone. So, when you trip up, go with it.

There are 2 common verbal mistakes that often cause snickering: malaprop and mondegreen.

Malaprop

A malaprop is a mistake we make when we accidentally replace a word or phase with one that sounds similar. Sometimes this turns out to be hilarious. 

Once, when I was a kid watching Archie Bunker in the TV show, "All in the Family", I almost wet my pants. Archie was upset about “Orthodox Jews” but he accidentally called them “Off-the-dock Jews.” This infuriated my mother, which made me laugh even harder. 

My mother disliked puns, seeing them as a form of low class humor. She, and people of her time, called malapropisms, dogberry’s, after the character in William Shakespeare’s play, "Much Ado About Nothing." A line I like from the play is when Constable Dogberry tells Governor Leonato, "Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons", when he meant to say, “apprehended two suspicious persons.” (Act 3, Scene V)

Malapropism gets its name from the the fictional Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play, "The Rivals" (1775).

So, we have to laugh at malapropisms, they are part of the human condition. Take some solace in that they are not unique to you.

Mondegreen

Mondegreens are words or phrases that we mishear. It can happen in normal conversation, and is very common when listening to songs.

If I am walking through the mall and someone yells, “Bill” it will get my attention. It sounds close to “Phil” so I might actually hear it as “Phil”. 

The word, mondegeen was coined by Sylvia Write in an essay entitled, "The Death of Lady Mondegreen” in Harper’s Magazine (1954).

Write gives an example of this, using Psalm 23:1-6 to illustrate her point:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Is often heard as:

Surely Good Mrs. Murphy shall follow me all the days of my life…

One Christmas, when my oldest son was only 6, he was upset with his mother and me when we told him that he was messing up the words to Jingle Bells. He was positive the words were, 

Bells on bobtail ring

Making spirits cry

not,

Bells on bobtail ring

Making spirits bright

This cartoon’s wording came from a similar conversation with my kids about “All of the other reindeer” from Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer, written by Johnny Marks.

We can all easily and often mishear or misspeak. 

Got a favorite mishear or misspeak? Leave it in the comment section. Thanks!

Why we blink is more complicated than we think

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. - Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

The basic explanation about why we blink is to keep our eyes moist and to wash away dirt with our tears. This is interesting but, it seems like people blink much more than we need to keep our eyes damp and clean.

Eye Tear Chart and Flow of Tears Chart

Japanese researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, in 2013, that eye blinks allow the brain to momentarily process visual information. They explain:

The results suggest that eyeblinks are actively involved in the process of attentional disengagement during a cognitive behavior by momentarily activating the default-mode network while deactivating the dorsal attention network.

It seems that by packaging visual input into small data bursts, our brains can quickly transfer this input information to different parts of our brain to analyze it.

Science and magic

Way back in 1896, Joseph Jastrow wrote in Science his laboratory observations of how slight-of-hand experts trick our observations.  In the last 20 years or so, psychologists interested in how we perceive, have looked at how magicians can misdirect an audience, use banter to distract us, or give us mind puzzles to gently confuse us, so we miss visually what is happening right in front of our eyes. 

In April of 2016, in PeerJ, Richard J. Wiseman and Tamami Nakano took this type of eyeblinking/brain research one step further. Their basic question was: How does a magician use, knowingly or not, our eyeblinks to trick us? They wrote:

Given that blinking is associated with the relaxation of attention, these findings suggest that blinking plays an important role in the perception of magic, and that magicians may utilize blinking and the relaxation of attention to hide certain secret actions.

The research showed that the magicians did their slight-of-hand when the audience blinked, thus hiding the secret action. It seems magicians are able to trigger or anticipate when we will blink by using banter, mind puzzles, or boring misdirection. And, isn’t it interesting we as an audience participate and blink when the magician expects us to.

This is a fun and well implemented protocol done in the real world conditions of watching a magic trick.  Psychologists, magicians, as well as law enforcement, may need to look at the implications this has on how we humans perceive our world.  

Please let me know what you think by clicking the “comments” below.

Nutritional supplements: a difficult conversation to have with patients

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. - Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

Food as medicine

Almost daily patients tell me about nutritional supplements and how they have heard…  

Often parents tell me about how removing something from their child’s diet, or adding something to their child’s diet is supposed to change their child’s behaviors.

Adults tell me how they recently started to add something to their daily diet and how they have already started to notice a positive change. 

These anecdotal stories are interesting but not scientifically based. We humans can easily and inadvertently fool ourselves. 

To make this subject more confusing is the fact that there is an industry that is trying to sell nutritional supplements to solve all sorts of problems. This industry is not allowed to say they cure anything, but they can cleverly allude to “curing things”. 

Examples of “cures” without actually making a medical claim:

• Boosts energy
• Heart friendly
• Calming and restful
• Promotes a good night’s sleep
• Supports memory and learning
• Used by millions of active people around the world

This industry spends a lot of money promoting their pills and powders.

If you want to learn more, may I suggest you read the Federal Trade Commission’s Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/dietary-supplements-advertising-guide-industry

Should I discuss nutritional supplements with patients?

I often wrestle with the benefits of discussing nutritional supplements with patients. I want to help educate, but teaching the complexities of science based medicine is time consuming and daunting. Often if I even slightly bring up the subject, patients will stiffen and perceive me as being judgmental of them. 

So, as long as the food supplement is inert and not getting in the way of sound treatment protocol, I smile and say. “I’ve noticed that people that eat a well balanced diet, sleep enough, and walk a bunch everyday report that they feel better. I guess my mom was right. She was big on veggies, walking, and getting enough sleep.”

Nutritional supplements and cognitive decline

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported:

NIH STUDY SHOWS NO BENEFIT OF OMEGA-3 OR OTHER NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS FOR COGNITIVE DECLINE

While some research suggests that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids can protect brain health, a large clinical trial by researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that omega-3 supplements did not slow cognitive decline in older persons. With 4,000 patients followed over a five-year period, the study is one of the largest and longest of its kind.

https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=nihpress;e6a9cb7.1508

This was a well structured study. Sorry I can’t report that we have found the magic pill, but it is better to have sound clinical evidence than simple anecdotal stories and hopeful speculation.

Add your comment below:

Copitch, Inc. is back to normal after the fire

Philip Copitch, Ph.D.
Author of Basic Parenting 101: The Manual Your Child Should Have Been Born With

Out of the phoenix

After my office was accidentally burned down, I found that I had to stop doing some activities that I enjoyed, but couldn’t allot any time towards. One guilty pleasure was writing this blog.

Now that the fire is behind us, I look forward to penning some science based articles and answering your questions.

So, feel free to send me general psychology questions. Remember, I am a therapist, but I am not your therapist. Thus, I am not offering any personal clinical help here.

Have questions about, marriage, family, or your neighbor's child--I look forward to reading them. Want some psychology term explained in plain English, I’ll try my best. 

Do I really only use 10 percent of my brain?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

Dear Dr. Phil,

There is a new movie that says I am only using 10% of my brain. Is this true? If so, did Albert Einstein really use more than 10% of his? My teacher said Einstein used lots more.

Thanks, Bob from Newark, NJ

Dear Bob from Newark, NJ,

This is a question that I am asked often. I say that with amazement, because the idea that nature is forcing us to carry around the excess weight of 90% of our brain that we never use, seems unbelievable to me. However this myth has prevailed for years.

You use all 100 percent of your brain.

In the movie, Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freemen proclaims that people only use 10 percent of their brain. Freeman is a great actor but not a neuroscientist, but due to his stage presence and authoritative voice, I will be asked about the “10 percent of your brain myth” all summer.

You use all of your brain throughout the day, everyday. Even when you appear not to be doing anything, the electrons in your brain are constantly firing at different rates.

If you are not using your pinky finger on your left hand, the corresponding brain tissue that controls that finger is ready to go. It may not be firing right this instance, but it is on standby if you need it. 

How did the myth start?

In a book that I highly recommend, How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, the writer of the preface, Lowell Thomas, a trusted journalist, misquoted psychologist William James. Dr. James said that people often use only 10 percent of their brain’s latent (not yet developed) potential. This became interpreted to mean 10 percent of their brain -- period. I do not know for sure, but this may be how my headache began.

I once talked to a self professed psychic who was convinced that her gift came from her ability to use more than 10 percent of her brain. When I told her she used all of her brain, she was modest and told me that she hoped to someday, after she practiced and expanded her psychic skills.

The 10 percent of the brain myth has been used a lot in Science Fiction. And, other than bothering my sensibilities, it probably doesn’t matter much. But sometimes myths have real consequences. 

Teachers and the 10 percent myth

I do have a concern about medical myths when they are being passed on by professionals. In a study out of England and the Netherlands, “researchers surveyed 242 primary and secondary school teachers who were interested in the neuroscience of learning.” What they found surprised me. The report states, “Results showed that on average, teachers believed 49% of the neuromyths, particularly myths related to commercialized educational programs.”

So I will “happily” spend my summer telling people about the fallacy of the 10 percent of the brain myth. If you can help me spread the word, thanks. I doubt we can kill this myth, but maybe we can lower its viral spread by say, 10 percent.

Let me end today with my favorite quote from William James, the man who is often called the father of American psychology, “Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.”

Let me know what you think. Please comment below.

Antidepressant drugs and drug-induced liver injury

Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

The American Journal of Psychiatry reports

December 2013, researchers reported in The American Journal of Psychiatry that common antidepressant drugs can cause liver damage in humans. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) was found in 0.05-3.0% of those taking antidepressants.

The researchers did a PubMed review from 1965 to the present, and reported that all antidepressants can induce hepatotoxicity (liver cell damage or destruction), especially in elderly patients or patients taking multiple prescription medications. This chemically driven cell damage was found to be unrelated to drug dosage and generally occurred between several days and 6 months of starting the medication. 

The antidepressants associated with greater risks of damaging the liver are:

• iproniazid
• nefazodone
• phenelzine
• imipramine
• amitriptyline
• duloxetine
• bupropion
• trazodone
• tianeptine
• agomelatine

The antidepressants that seem to have the least potential  to damage the liver are 

• citalopram
• escitalopram
• paroxetine
• fluvoxamine

The researchers conclude:

Although an infrequent event, DILI from antidepressant drugs may be irreversible, and clinicians should be aware of it.

Advice for teens - build a life rather than live one

Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Author of Life's Laws For New Adults: Mastering Your Social I.Q.

Ashton Kutcher gives great advice

In August 2013, Ashton Kutcher got the “old man’s award” from the Teen Choice Awards. He talked passionately about working towards one’s goals. Watch his 5 minute speech.

When opportunity knocks

Ashton’s speech reminded me of the story of opportunity knocking.

A young man was looking for a way to make money. He didn’t want to just make money; he really wanted a way to make lots of money. He also wanted to feel good about himself as he made his dreams come true.A knock came at the door. The young man opened it to find an older man wearing dirty overalls and work gloves. “I am opportunity,” the older man said. “I came to help you get to your hopes and dreams.”“You don’t look like opportunity,” the young man said. “You’re dirty and look really tired.”“What should opportunity look like?” the man at the door asked.“I guess he would look cool. Like a multimillionaire: wearing a tux and driving a sports car.”“It seems to me that you are confusing opportunity with extravagance,” the man at the door said. “Opportunity doesn’t wear a tuxedo. Opportunity is a diamond in the rough. You have to work with opportunity and polish it into a diamond.”

As Ashton says: you have to build your life - starting with opportunity in the rough - in order to shape and live the life you dream of.

Let me know what you think.

Vicodin, Xanax and the message

Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

Behind the humor, painkiller abuse is deadly

In the January 2014 issue of Consumer Reports, the following tidbit of information was exposed:

What I got from the sports-like shirts is: if you take this drug you don’t need to exercise to stay healthy or to be happy.

I am probably overreacting, but… I regularly work with patients that want some sort of pill to solve a medical or mental health problem. 

The fact is that putting on a comfortable shirt and exercising, often helps people physically and emotionally. 

A 15 minute walk does wonders for our mental health and our overall physical health. 

Vicodin, is also called Lortab or Norco

This combination medication is used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It contains a narcotic pain reliever (hydrocodone) and a non-narcotic pain reliever (acetaminophen). Hydrocodone works in the brain to change how your body feels and responds to pain. Acetaminophen can also reduce a fever. (WebMD)

Xanax

Xanax is used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. It belongs to a class of medications called benzodiazepines which act on the brain and nerves (central nervous system) to produce a calming effect. Xanax works by enhancing the effects of a certain natural chemical in the body (GABA). (WebMD)

Recent FDA changes concurring Vicodin

In October 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced changes in the way Vicodin may be prescribed by your doctor. The FDA statements starts:

Over the past several years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been carefully evaluating and weighing the appropriate use of opioid analgesic drug products. For the millions of American patients experiencing an acute medical need or living with chronic pain, opioids, when prescribed appropriately, can allow patients to manage their pain as well as significantly improve their quality of life.However, in recent years, the FDA has become increasingly concerned about the abuse and misuse of opioid products, which have sadly reached epidemic proportions in certain parts of the United States. While the value of and access to these drugs has been a consistent source of public debate, the FDA has been challenged with determining how to balance the need to ensure continued access to those patients who rely on continuous pain relief while addressing the ongoing concerns about abuse and misuse. Read the complete statement

Let me know what you think about this issue. Please leave a comment.

December 2013 CEUforTherapists.com Newsletter cartoons

December 2013 
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