November 13, 2015
by Agnes Oh, PsyD, LMFT
With the advance of technology, human lives have become increasingly more hectic and complicated. As a result, many people are deprived of the necessary time to relax and play for pure fun. If prolonged, however, this state of privation could engender adverse ramifications on health and relationships.
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Lamar Odom entered the NBA with high hopes. Despite his short college career that was clouded by an arrest in Las Vegas, Lamar had talent that was much desired and was picked 4th in the 1999 NBA draft by the Clippers. Lamar’s story is similar to many athletes that rose above the crime ridden streets of their childhoods to fame.
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October 27, 2015
by Agnes Oh, PsyD, LMFT
Contrary to the common notion, researchers concluded that children with ADHD rely heavily on movement and motor activity to perform their executive functions, as the majority of them have been found to perform better when they are moving.
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October 5, 2015
by Eric Ellis, Psy.D.
If you are suffering from a so-called psychosomatic disorder, you know how deflating it can be to go to the doctor and be told the problem is in your head. Unfortunately, this experience gives people the false impression that there symptoms are not real. In this video podcast, learn how to contextualize so-called psychosomatic issues in a western medicine world.
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September 28, 2015
by Agnes Oh, PsyD, LMFT
After three years of joining efforts with more than 100 high-level health care professionals, attorneys, foster youth/caregivers/advocates, and the Department of Social Services, California has unveiled a sweeping set of guidelines aimed at cracking down on the overuse of psychiatric medication in foster care (de Sá, April 2015). The exhaustive efforts began in 2012 and have given birth to the new proposed measures which recently passed the Senate and are now in the Assembly to be finalized (de Sá, July 2015).
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It’s an uncomfortable topic yet significant enough to talk about despite the uncomfortable feelings and awkwardness a frank discussion may elicit. Suicide. It’s in the news. People reading this blog may know personally someone who has attempted suicide or died by suicide. It’s such a significant issue throughout the world that public service campaigns have taken to multimedia formats to educate the public and to raise awareness that family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers can help prevent an untimely death due to suicide. September has been designated as the time of year to draw attention to the growing tragedy of death by suicide. Aside from the readily recognized tragic elements is perhaps the greatest tragedy correlated with suicide – many people do not realize suicidality is treatable and often preventable.
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The science of happiness has been increasingly gaining public attention in recent years as researchers are trying to delineate the specific determinants of individual sense of well-being or life satisfaction.
What constitutes human happiness has long been considered to be subjective but recent studies are showing that it might not be entirely so.
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According to the National Kidney Foundation, it is estimated that about 12 people die each day while waiting for a kidney transplant. In 2014 alone, about 4,270 patients died while waiting. The average wait time for a patient to receive a transplant is approximately 3.6 years which may vary depending on a number of variables such as health,compatibility, and availability of organs.These statistics are both alarming and discouraging for the patients as well as their families who are desperately praying for a miracle to happen every day. Perhaps their prayers have been heard and are finally being answered by the inception of the National Kidney Registry’s paired exchange program.
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Although the brain is complex, it requires regular maintenance in order to operate at its full capacity. Mindfulness is likened to closing the apps running in the background on a smart phone in order to increase speed and performance. Slowing down and living in the moment can actually improve the function of the mind, body, and overall life experience (Albeinz & Holmes, 2000).
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A new study in the June issue of Emotion found a connection between people with the short version of gene 5-HTTLPR and a more significant sense of humor. The study looked at 336 adults, showing them humorous comics and film clips, and rating the participants intensities of smiles or laughter. Those with the shorter alleles had more intense reactions of laughter or smiles and rated the comics or film clips as funnier than those with the longer alleles of the same gene. In past research, the 5-HTTLPR gene has been linked to regulating serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is thought to be related to mood fluctuations.
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