Teens Think e-Cigarettes Are Safe

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

In the October 2016 journal, Pediatrics, researchers evaluated the numbers from the 2012 and 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey. This cross-sectional survey of 6th to 12th grade students looked at how students perceived the harm and addictiveness of e-cigarettes. 

Inside the e-cigarette

It is documented that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are now the most commonly used tobacco product by American youth.

E-cigarettes are battery powered devices that heat a liquid containing nicotine and often a flavoring. This warm vapor is inhaled.

Teens are unaware of the dangers of e-cigarettes. 

About 3 of every 4 students believed that e-cigarettes were less dangerous than paper and tobacco cigarettes. Just under half believed that e-cigarettes were less addictive than cigarettes. 

Read the research paper.

More information: E-cigarettes and Lung Health (American Lung Association)

A parent's worst fear, the death of their child.

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

Before I get started with this article let me give you a warning. This article is about an adult subject. I know a lot of young people read this website. This subject matter is not for the young or faint hearted.

I have been a family therapist for well over 30 years. In my experience the hardest pain for adults to deal with is the death of their child. For most parents it is simply gut wrenching and devastating.

On numerous occasions I have supported parents whose child died in a car accident involving alcohol, or who have died from a drug overdose. 

In these painful situations most families want to climb into a hole and hide (die). The pain is great and made even greater by the social embarrassment of the drugs in their young person’s life.

An important message

Below you will find the obituary of 24-year-old Molly Alice Parks. I have great respect for Molly’s parents who want to help others during their most painful loss.

Obituary for Molly Alice Parks

March 13, 1991 - April 16, 2015 

Manchester, New Hampshire | Age 24 

Loving Daughter, Sister, and Granddaughter

OLD ORCHARD BEACH- Molly Alice Parks, age 24, who most currently resided in Manchester, NH, passed away in Manchester on April 16, 2015 as the result of a heroin overdose.She was born in York, Maine on March 13, 1991, a daughter of Tom and Patti (Michaud) Parks.Molly graduated from Old Orchard Beach High School in 2009 and attended one year at SMCC until her addiction took over. Most recently, she was employed as a delivery driver for Portland Pie Co. in Manchester, NH. She enjoyed theater, fashion, reading – especially Harry Potter, and will always be remembered for fearless personality and her trademark red lipstick. Along Molly's journey through life, she made a lot of bad decisions including experimenting with drugs. She fought her addiction to heroin for at least five years and had experienced a near fatal overdose before. Molly's family truly loved her and tried to be as supportive as possible as she struggled with the heroin epidemic that has been so destructive to individuals and families in her age bracket.She is survived by her parents- Tom Parks and his wife Pat Noble of Saco and Patti Michaud Parks of Berlin, NH; sister- Kasey Parks of OOB; step siblings- Dustin and Delayna Denicourt of Biddeford; maternal grandparents- Rita and Raymond Michaud of Berlin, NH; paternal grandmother- Ruth Parks of OOB; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and a niece.If you have any loved one's who are fighting addiction, Molly's family asks that you do everything possible to be supportive, and guide them to rehabilitation before it is too late.Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 22, from 4-8 PM at the Old Orchard Beach Funeral Home, 36 Portland Ave., Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064

From Tribures.com

Important contact numbers for you to have and share

If you or somebody you love is struggling with addiction, here are some resources to help you help them:

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Helpline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Always open 24/7

Mental health links of interest

List of common street drugs and what they look like

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

FYI: Toys ‘R’ Us Recalls Pacifier Clips Due to Choking Hazard

Toys ‘R’ Us Recalls Pacifier Clips Due to Choking Hazard;

Sold Exclusively at Babies ‘R’ Us and Toys ‘R’ Us

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2016/Toys-R-Us-Recalls-Pacifier-Clips/

Recall Summary

Name of Product: Babies ‘R’ Us pacifier clips

Hazard: The pacifier clip’s spring mechanism can break and release small parts, posing a choking hazard.

Remedy: Refund

Consumers should immediately take the recalled pacifier clips from babies and return the product to Babies ‘R’ Us or Toys ‘R’ Us for a refund.

Consumer Contact: Toys ‘R’ Us at 800-869-7787 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or online at www.toysrus.com and click on Product Recalls for more information.

Recall Details

Photos Available At: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2016/Toys-R-Us-Recalls-Pacifier-Clips/

Units: About 53,000

Description: This recall involves Babies ‘R’ Us pacifier clips sold in an assortment of six colors and character designs, including a red monster, blue monster, monkey, giraffe, owl with one eye closed, and an owl with both eyes open. The pacifier clips have a circular plastic cover affixed to a metal spring clip and a fabric strip with snaps at the other end. The recalled pacifier clip assortment has model number 5F6237F and “^®2014 Geoffrey, LLC” engraved on the back to the plastic cover.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received two reports of pacifier clips breaking. No injuries have been reported.

Sold exclusively at: Babies ‘R’ Us  and Toys ‘R’ Us stores nationwide from February 2015 through April 2016 for about $4.

Importer/Distributor: Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., of Wayne, N.J.

Manufactured in: China

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!

What is a preliminary study in psychology, and why do babies twitch while they sleep?

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

Mark Blumberg, Ph.D., of the University of Iowa, received a 5 million dollar MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health for his work studying brain activity in young organisms. First, congrats to Dr. Blumberg, and second, I bring this up because of a press release I read this week from the University of Iowa (UI). 

What is preliminary research?

Preliminary research is where all good research starts. It is “pre”, before, more research is done. It is a starting point towards answering a question. But, just a starting point. It is the first few peer reviewed papers of many to come.

Dr. Blumberg said in the UI press release, “You would think that when animals are asleep, they’re not going to have that much brain activity, and then when they wake up, the activity will be really robust, because they’re awake,” he said. “You would think the brain would reflect the behavior. But we’ve seen exactly the opposite.”

With this observation and many questions about early development, Blumberg and his colleagues are looking into why babies twitch while they sleep. He first looked at baby rats, and now is doing observational studies of human babies with support from the Gates Foundation. 

Initially it was thought that babies twitched during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep due to dreaming. But Blumberg speculates that there is a developmental component, that sleep twitching may help the development of the infant’s nervous system. 

For example, infants that are learning to hold their heads up show more neck twitches than infants that have more control over their heads. The thought is that twitches help the growing nervous system test the electrical infrastructure and prepare for the next developmental achievement.  

“Preliminary” leads to press speculation

Further along in the press release we see clinical speculation. I bring this up not to bad mouth this researcher but as a warning to the reader. Often in press releases, and especially in the title of them, the study information is exaggerated into what is hoped to be found in the future. In this case we have this:

Blumberg’s research could be important in understanding neurodevelopment disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia.

The research could also be used to help people who have suffered from strokes or amputations to regain control of their nervous system as their brain restructures itself.

Please note, the research into baby twitching is being done, there is no research being conducted concerning autism, schizophrenia, strokes, or amputations.

I have talked with researchers that are surprised by the speculations made by university or corporate press releases. The writer of the press release, often not a scientist, hopes the press release will get circulated around the world by newspapers and bloggers. The goal of a press release is to get noticed and to shed a little light back on the university or corporation. 

So, keep a critical eye when reading press releases, or articles written based on press releases.