The end of the week and the beginning of summer it seems. Enjoy the weather.
- The neurological effect of neglecting children’s needs — The Guardian — Dysfunction is bred not born is the implication of this article. It’s nice to see the tides turning. We all have dysfunction, every last one of us and we learn it from our parents who are, just like us, subject to their parents dysfunction. When we finally own the power of this reality we will be able to really heal ourselves and our children. “What’s likely is that love – and its absence – isn’t the only reason for feral and violent behaviour. Genes may play a small part. But predictive behaviour is just that – it’s predictive, not a certainty. Nature versus nurture is now acknowledged by many to be too simplistic. Somewhere in the adult attempts to juggle work, time, selfishness and money, all children are losing out.”
- Exercise – It Works For Depression — BrainBlogger–This is hardly new news, but it’s a good idea that it be repeated. People seem to resist exercise and the bad thing is lots of psychiatric drugs make exercise difficult. If possible one should try exercising first. One chapter of the book is dedicated to movement. Schwartz cites an important study in it — the SMILE study (Standard Medical Intervention and Long-term Exercise, conducted at Duke University), which found that vigorous exercise three times a week for half an hour or forty-five minutes reduced symptoms of depression as effectively as antidepressants.
- Government Report Finds Dangerous Residues in Meat — Alternet — I often link to articles about our food supply because much of the chemicals and drugs used in agriculture and factory farming effect our mental health and general well-being. A new Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released last month finds the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) fails to test for many drugs in cattle, inadequately tests for others and fails to recall meat which is clearly contaminated. — “Between July 12, 2007, and March 11, 2008, FSIS found that four carcasses were adulterated with violative levels of veterinary drugs and that the plants involved had released the meat into the food supply. Although the drugs involved could result in stomach, nerve, or skin problems for consumers, FSIS requested no recall,” says the report.
- Just a little trim — Tao of Chaos — As a matter of fact, you can’t do much of anything worth a damn if you’re afraid to cut off what needs cutting off, throw away what needs throwing away.