What's the deal with textbooks?
Editor's note:Here at Markham's Behavioral Health we are interested in education, how people learn, the function of education in society, how it constributes to human development etc.In 1986, my ex wife, Angela, and I started homeschooling four of our nine children. One of the big things I learned was the great variability in textbooks, how they are chosen by school districts, how teachers use them in their classrooms etc. I learned that some textbooks are very helpful in learning about a subject and some are garbage, yes, I wrote "garbage."After the first year of homeschooling, I no longer used the text books used by the ...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 17, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
NPR - How teens feel about guns in America
Editor's note: Besides the Opioid epidemic, drunk driving injuries and deaths, there is no greater public health threat to the safety and well being of Americans that the prevalence and incidence of gun violence. These public health problems are directly related to the mental health of Americans. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 16, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
78% of Americans support immigration of highly skilled people
Click on image to enlargeEditor's note:For all the scare mongering the Trumpists do about immigration, most Americans support, 78% support immigration of highly skilled people. Thank goodness! The endodontist who did my last root canal told me he was from Libya. The surgeon who removed my malignant melanoma told me he was from Lebanon. The urological resident I just saw for my prostrate related UTI told me he was from Syria. When he told me he and his family was from Syria I started to weep and told him "I'm sorry." He thanked me and continued very professionally with our consultation. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 15, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
7 common questions about workplace romance
Editor's note:These questions often come up in counseling and, in general, workplace romance is always a bad idea. If it develops, at least one of the partners has to decide what's more important: the romantic relationship or the job? One has to go. Except in very exceptional circumstances both are not sustainable.As a manager in human service agencies, romantic relationships contaminate the team morale and contribute to staff splitting. The milieu quickly becomes toxic and it is a paramount supervisory responsibility to deal with the situation directly, explicitly, and firmly. Many human service agencies have "fraternizat...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 14, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
What is trauma informed care?
(Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 13, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Are school lock down drills a good idea
On January 30, 2019,MBH reported some of the dataabout school lockdowns.Here's an interesting video from PBS about this phenomenon: (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 12, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Join the movement for bail reform
(Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 12, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
What are nine signs of burnout?
Skipping lunch.Dreaming about work.Playing the hero.No time for friends.Can't remember the last real vacation.Poor sleep.Negative attitude and irritability.Never feel great.Missing deadlinesFor more click here.Editor's note:I often meet with people who have been diagnosed by their PCP with anxiety and depression and who have been given medications. When we discuss their situations, it becomes clear that they are suffering from burnout. Medications aren't going to help much until life style changes and work style changes are made. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 11, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exposes the problem of corporate money in politics
Editor's note:Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez does a great job exposing the corruption of our federal government. It is very enlightening to see how easily the game is played with corporate money buying our government. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 11, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Success stories - V.A. Wait Times Now Shorter Than for Private Doctors
From New York Times on 01/22/19Wait times for an appointment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have decreased since 2014 and are now, on average, shorter than those in the private sector, a new study shows.Researchers used V.A. data to calculate wait times for about 17 million appointments. The public sector data came from a survey conducted by a physicians ’ search firm in nearly 2,000 medical offices in 30 major and midsize metropolitan areas.The study, in JAMA Network Open, covered four specialties: primary care, cardiology, dermatology and orthopedics.In 2014 the average wait time in V.A. hospitals was 22.5 days, co...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 10, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
What would you ask a philosopher?
If you could, what would you like to ask a philosopher?For more click here.Editor's note:There are five basic philosophical questions which we all struggle with throughtout our lives:Why was I born?What is the purpose of my life?What happens when I die?What is the good life?What will make me happy? (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 10, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Media narrative about gun violence is not based on the facts
From Psychatric Services, December, 2018 by Jeffrey SwansonSince 2000, more than 1.5 million people in the United States have been injured by a firearm, and a half-million have died. This total surpasses the combined U.S. military combat death toll of World Wars I and II. Of these gun deaths, 59% were suicides, and 37% were homicides (1). Mass shootings accounted for less than one-tenth of 1% (2). Still, the national conversation about gun violence tends to focus on senseless rampages by troubled young men while public officials pay lip service to an oversimplified, gun-ignoring solution: “fix mental health.” ...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 9, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Media literacy - Can you believe your lyin eyes?
Editor's note: An area why this idea of misperception is especially egregious is in witness testimony in criminal trials where innocent people are falsely identified and purported to have done things they did not do. Witness testimonies are often inaccurate and unreliable. We tend to see what we think we should see rather than what is really there. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 9, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Record number of firearms found by TSA at U.S. airports
From The Week on 02/08/19Record 4,200 firearms found at airport checkpoints last yearA record 4,200 guns were confiscated at U.S. airport checkpoints nationwide last year, according to a government tally released Thursday. The figure marked a 7 percent increase over the previous year. The guns were found at 249 airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The most guns were found in states with loose gun laws in the Sun Belt, from Georgia to Arizona. Guns were found in carry-on bags at Dallas-Fort Worth airport 219 times in 2018. Asked about the rising numbers, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 8, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Availability of guns increases the risk of suicide
From Psychiatric Services, December, 2018"The national attention currently focused on reducing gun violence provides an opportunity to consider how to use this momentum to make significant headway in preventing suicide. Year after year, abouttwo-thirds of all firearm deaths are suicides(1). Evidence indicates that the availability of firearms is related to suicide rates. In regions that experience changes in levels of gun availability, suicide rates change in the same direction; people who buy firearms are more likely than otherwise similar peers to die by suicide; and people who die by suicide are more likely to...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 8, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
