Health & WellnessS


People

Children who have an active father figure have fewer psychological and behavioral problems

Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behaviour problems in boys and psychological problems in young women, according to a review published in the February issue of Acta Paediatrica.

Swedish researchers also found that regular positive contact reduces criminal behaviour among children in low-income families and enhances cognitive skills like intelligence, reasoning and language development.

Children who lived with both a mother and father figure also had less behavioural problems than those who just lived with their mother.

The researchers are urging healthcare professionals to increase fathers' involvement in their children's healthcare and calling on policy makers to ensure that fathers have the chance to play an active role in their upbringing.

People

Chameleons and copycats: How mimicry affects interpersonal persuasion

Social scientists have long been intrigued by the human tendency to mimic the behavior of others. Now, a new study from the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research expands the field, exploring the potential for mimicry to influence product consumption. The researchers find that watching someone else eat a certain food - in this case, either goldfish crackers or animal crackers - will cause the viewer to be inclined to eat the same thing. Additionally, in another experiment, participants who had their posture and speech mimicked by a salesperson rated the product higher and consumed more of it.

Butterfly

Best of the Web: The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses

"The book is a challenge to the drugging of children, but the heart of the book is really about how to work with and be with young people in a way that is not suppressive." --John Breeding

This timely book calls for a halt to the epidemic drugging of young people in our society today for so-called ADHD. John Breeding is a clear, strong advocate for young people and a great ally to parents wanting support to resist pressure to label and drug their children. He offers a wealth of information and guidance to concerned adults on biopsychiatry, on schools, and on counseling children.

Prior to writing the book, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, John wrote an 18-page booklet containing the germ of his thinking on this topic. The entire text of this booklet is included below. If you like John Breeding's ideas, you will probably want to order his book HERE.

Comment: SOTT has heard from a couple of sources that John Breeding is affiliated with Scientology. For example, have a look at THIS BLOG. Another item states:
Dr. John Breeding on [Alex Jones] website and sells two of his books. Dr. Breeding is a psychologist who warns about the dangers of giving children Ritalin and other dangerous drugs and offers alternatives. The alternatives spring forth from Scientology and are spiritually dangerous.

Dr. Breeding is definitely affiliated with the "church" of Scientology. Breeding quotes Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard in his book, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses and his website links to the Scientology front group, Citizens' Commission on Human Rights. Indeed, Dr. Breeding calls this powerful force for Scientology "an awesome organization." (Quote source: Stars Shine For Human Rights Freedom Magazine) They in turn sell his books and have given him at least one prestigious award. Scientology's Freedom Magazine website features an article written by Dr. John Breeding.

According to an article on the Houston Psychiatric Society website, Dr. Breeding's organization, Texans for For Safe Education is a Scientology front group. This assertion fits right in with the fact that Scientology's Citizens' Commission on Human Rights awarded Dr. Breeding for his work with the Texas State Board of Education: [SOURCE LINK]
SOTT wishes to state, right up front, that we don't believe in tossing the baby out with the bathwater. We also do not promote "Black and White" thinking - you know, the "you are either with us or against us" type of thinking that has gotten this planet into the shape it is in right now.

There is good, and there is evil, and there is the specific situation that determines which is which.

Whether or not Dr. Breeding is affiliated with the Church of Scientology or not does not seem to interfere with his rational, decent and humane analysis of what is being done to our children. In fact, from the point of view of the "black and white thinkers," you could even say that anyone who attacks John Breeding for exposing psychiatry and the evil experiments being done on America's children via the psychiatric establishment and the pharmaceutical industry, is definitely on the side of the same gang that was behind 9-11. Think about that for a moment.

John Breeding's defense of children against evil psychopathic psychiatrists and Big Pharma puts him squarely on the side of humanity. We could also say that the Church of Scientology, being against evil psychiatry and Big Pharma could also be said to be wearing a white hat. We are not promoting Scientology here, we just assert that they have a right to exist and we note that they do have a pretty good record of doing good works, getting people off drugs, helping them live productive lives, and so on. We also notice that those who attack them have their own axe to grind, the same way those who attack us have an axe to grind.

Having said that, we also wish to note that it is also possible that psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry have, at times, done very beneficial things for humanity, we just can't think of any right off hand.

Nothing is ever easy; there are no clear and simple criteria; the devil is in the details; and you are still required to think.

SOTT thinks that there is a lot of good in the work of Dr. John Breeding, and the critics be damned.


Attention

Discrimination against blacks linked to dehumanization, study finds

Crude historical depictions of African Americans as ape-like may have disappeared from mainstream U.S. culture, but research presented in a new paper by psychologists at Stanford, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California-Berkeley reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes.

In addition, the findings show that society is more likely to condone violence against black criminal suspects as a result of its broader inability to accept African Americans as fully human, according to the researchers.

Co-author Jennifer Eberhardt, a Stanford associate professor of psychology who is black, said she was shocked by the results, particularly since they involved subjects born after Jim Crow and the civil rights movement. "This was actually some of the most depressing work I have done," she said. "This shook me up. You have suspicions when you do the work - intuitions - you have a hunch. But it was hard to prepare for how strong [the black-ape association] was - how we were able to pick it up every time."

Calculator

Misery is not Miserly: New Study Finds Why Even Momentary Sadness Increases Spending

How you are feeling has an impact on your routine economic transactions, whether you're aware of this effect or not.

In a new study that links contemporary science with the classic philosophy of William James, a research team finds that people feeling sad and self-focused spend more money to acquire the same commodities than those in a neutral emotional state. The team's paper, "Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More," will be published in the June 2008 edition of Psychological Science and will be presented at the Society for Social and Personality Psychology's Annual Meeting on Feb. 9.

Bulb

New York, New York: Study determines difference between abstract and concrete jungle

The Big Apple, a densely populated metropolis of more than 8.2 million people in the 332 square miles of blocks, boroughs and buildings, could have been named metaphorically by outsiders as a fertile land of opportunity. New York City, in other words, can be considered concretely as a geographical location with a large population, but it also can be viewed symbolically as the gateway to America.

Health

Doctor who? Are patients making clinical decisions?

Changes in society and technology are influencing how patients see their physicians.

Doctors are adjusting their bedside manner as better informed patients make ever-increasing demands and expect to be listened to, and fully involved, in clinical decisions that directly affect their care. In a study just published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Dr. J. Bohannon Mason of the Orthocarolina Hip and Knee Center in Charlotte, NC, USA, looks at the changes in society, the population and technology that are influencing the way patients view their orthopaedic surgeons. As patients gain knowledge, their attitude to medicine changes: They no longer show their doctors absolute and unquestionable respect.

Health

Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain

Want to lose weight" It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Alarm Clock

Symptoms: Metabolic Syndrome Is Tied to Diet Soda

Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome - the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure.

Comment: He can't be serious, or his level of ignorance is shocking for an associate professor. Here's a hint for him: The name of the chemical begins with "A". It is a deadly poison and was banned as a food additive for many years before Rumsfeld forced its approval in 1981.


Ambulance

Botox Linked To Respiratory Failure And Death, FDA Advises

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified the public that Botox and Botox Cosmetic (Botulinum toxin Type A) and Myobloc (Botulinum toxin Type B) have been linked in some cases to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses.

In an early communication based on the FDA's ongoing safety review, the agency said the reactions may be related to overdosing. There is no evidence that these reactions are related to any defect in the products.

The adverse effects were found in FDA-approved and nonapproved usages. The most severe adverse effects were found in children treated for spasticity in their limbs associated with cerebral palsy. Treatment of spasticity is not an FDA-approved use of botulism toxins in children or adults.