What about biased punishing of black girls in our society?
Dr. Monique W. Morris gave an interesting TED talk which was published on 02/05/19 about black girls being unfairly targeted for punishment in schools.Dr. Morris' talk led to my thinking aboutSandra Bland and Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele who started and organized Black Lives Matter and wrote the book,"When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir."When people deny that racism exists they are ignorant of some basic facts and dynamics in our society. Dr. Morris in 14 minutes gives us a little peep into what its like to be a black girl in our society.For the full TED talk videoclick here. (Source: Mark...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 8, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
New York leads the nation on gun legislation
From Pew Stateline on 02/07/19New York hadn ’t passed a comprehensive gun control package since the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The legislature in 2013 passed a law that limited high-capacity magazines, implemented universal background checks and revoked the gun licenses and weapons of the severely mentally ill.Democrats, after winning control of the state Senate in November, immediately started work to approve more bills.The legislature in January passed six measures that ban bump stocks, extend waiting periods for gun purchases, prevent teachers from carryin...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 7, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Cannibis use disorder lower in states with liberal policies on cannibis availability
This study is one of the first to assess the relationship between policy liberalism and health outcomes, and specifically cannabis use-related outcomes. The findings are published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.For moreclick here. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 7, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
MBH index - Composition of 116th congress of the United States
number of member of the House of Representatives in the United States = 435Length of term of a member of the House of Representatives = 2 yearsNumber of representatives in the Democratic party = 235Number of representatives in the Republican party = 198Number of representatives who are female = 102 = 23%Percentage of Republican representatives who are white men = 90%Number of representatives who are Muslim women = 2 (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 7, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
More Americans are understanding that climate change is real
From New York Times on 01/22/19 by John SchwartzClick on image to enlarge"A record number of Americans understand that climate change is real, according to a new survey, and they are increasingly worried about its effects in their lives today.Some 73 percent of Americans polled late last year said that global warming was happening, the report found, a jump of 10 percentage points from 2015 and three points since last March.The rise in the number of Americans who say global warming is personally important to them was even sharper, jumping nine percentage points since March to 72 percent, another record over t...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 6, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Health insurance uninsured goes up since individual mandate eliminated
Click on image to enlargeFrom Gallup report on 01/23/19The uninsured rate rose for most subgroups in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter in 2016, when the uninsured rate was lowest. Women, those living in households with annual incomes of less than $48,000 per year, and young adults under the age of 35 reported the greatest increases. Those younger than 35 reported an uninsured rate of over 21%, a 4.8-point increase from two years earlier. And the rate among women -- while still below that of men -- is among the fastest rising, increasing from 8.9% in late 2016 to 12.8% at the end of 2018.At 7.1%, the...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 6, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Do you have the integrity and courage to take the road less taken?
Had a discussion Monday with a 30 year old client who has been struggling to discern his calling in life. He told me how he had started down a path the last couple of months and decided last Friday that it wasn't for him.He shared with me the relief he felt in deciding not to continue to struggle with something that just didn't seem right for him. His major fear, he told me, was disappointing the people who had been cheering him on.Well, "to thine own self be true" and if one lives one's life for others, life is very short, but if one lives one's life listening to a different drummer than the one society wants him to liste...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 6, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Can we overcome the psychosis in our society and come to "really see?"
Tim Folger writes in the forward to The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018 about the corruption of speech in our national conversations facilitated by cable news and social media. Mr. Folger points out that this corruption was foretold by George Orwell in his novel 1984 when he coined the term "Newspeak." This idea of the creation of propaganizing memes is at the heart of what is being called in the Trumpian age, "fake news.""Early in 2017, for some strange reason, George Orwell ’s Nineteen Eighty-Four suddenly jumped to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list. Orwell laced his dystopian novel with Newspeak...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 5, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
What do medical social workers do?
From The Cavalier Daily on 01/23/19 by Zoe ZiffThe following describes the role of Medical Social Workers at the University of Viginia Hospital"Medical social workers are integral parts of the hospital and oversee much of the non-medical aspects of a patient ’s recovery. Their duties include assessing the social and psychological states of the patient, leading counseling and group therapy sessions, working with loved ones on a plan of treatment after discharge from the hospital and referring patients to community resources. At the University hospital, each social worker is assigned to a specific unit — such as sur...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 5, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Media literacy - Can you spot a "dog whistle?"
(Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 5, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
What do Child Protective Workers think about their jobs?
Child Protective Workers in Hennepin County Minnesota describe their work. Hennepin County gets 20,000 CPS reports per year which is 60 per day. This video was published on 01/15/19. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 4, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Games people play - "Be Afraid" on the Macro level
"That thing that you do," or "that thing that always happens to you" is the key idea of Schema therapy.Back in the 60s this idea of repetitive patterns of behavior was popularized as Games People Play by Eric Berne, the father of Transactional Analysis.Several decades later the idea of dysfunctional repetitive patterns of behavior became offical with the DSM - III (Diagnoses and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, third edition) axis 2 diagnoses of personality disorders.There is a new tag being created on MBH, "games people play" which will identify articles which describe these repetitive patterns ...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 4, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Is it helpful to talk about past abuse?
Question: Is it helpful to go back and talk about past abuse?Answer: It is to identify the trauma that occured so that the thoughts and feelings about it can be managed. Dr. Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, said that you can either talk it out or act it out. Children act things out all the time and their parents tell them, "Stop crying and use your words."Once the trauma has been identified strategies have to be developed to manage it to diminish or eliminate the influence that it has on one's current functioning.A trauma informed therapist does not ask, "What is wrong with you?" but rather "What happened to you?"It is...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 3, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Psychologists find that adults take girls' pain less seriously
From Science Daily 01/25/19Gender stereotypes can hurt children -- quite literally. When asked to assess how much pain a child is experiencing based on the observation of identical reactions to a finger-stick, American adults believe boys to be in more pain than girls, according to a new Yale study in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. The researchers attribute this downgrading of the pain of girls and/or upgrading of the pain of boys to culturally ingrained, and scientifically unproven, myths like "boys are more stoic" or "girls are more emotive."For moreclick here. (Source: Markham's Behavioral Health)
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 3, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Will American Catholics be disqualified from death penalty juries because of Pope Francis' declaration that the death penalty is immoral?
Will Pope Francis' declaration in August, 2018 that the death penalty is morally unacceptable in all circumstances disqualify American Catholics from serving on death penaly cases? And if these American Catholics are disqualified from serving on death penaly cases does that make it more likely that the death penalty will be used in the United States?From the Washington Post on 01/18/19"In August, Pope Francis declared the death penalty morally unacceptable in all circumstances and committed the church to its global abolition. This pronouncement broke from previous Catholic teaching, which permitted the death pena...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - February 2, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
