Now I Know Why!!

Well, I have wondered why I often say "We will be along in a minute" and "sure, we will pick it up for you on the way home" when there is only one body, namely mine, in the automobile. Now I know why! Dutch researchers are claiming there is a higher incidence of schizophrenia in non right-handed people! Here is what they say.

Language lateralization is decreased in left- and mixed-handed individuals...which means language can occur in both sides of the brain...not just a boring one side of the brain!! They survey 86 scientific articles and the meta analysis revealed that non-right-handers had significantly higher schizotypy scores than right-handers and this significance remained after removing an outlier of more than two standard deviations.

The research team writes in the journal Schizophrenia Research: “In conclusion, non-right-handed subjects had higher schizotypy levels than right-handed subjects, while there was no difference between strong right- and strong left-handed subjects."

Wow, now I am left handed and we will continue to write...there I go again with the 'we' thing. By the way, one of my favorite patients, from time to time,  wears a sweat shirt that states, "If All The Voices In My Head Paid Rent I Would Be Rich."

Smile today...and right handers, be aware of the lefthanders!!

Headlines-PsychiatryMatters.MD - the essential resource in psychiatry

Perspective is almost everything…when it comes to contentment and peace, that is…

My main therapeutic task in the counseling room is to help the client see 'their problem' from a different perspective. Systems theory states that the way you see a problem will determine the answer you find for 'your problem.' As long as you continue to see the problem the way you see it, then your answer will always be the same! This explains why people repeat the same thing over and over getting the same results and complain…they want different results. If my financial problem can only be understood as a lack of money then I am stuck. Did you even have an Uncle Rudy tell you, "It is not the money you make that gets you into financial trouble, it is the money you spend"? Wow, what a different perspective! When I first heard that I thought, "You are nuts, yeah, but you don't make what I make…", but he was correct and I wasn't.

With all the ups and downs of the economy (our local gas prices jumped 17 cents over night two days ago), the 'erosion' of our 401-Ks, the fear of 'what will happen tomorrow,' it is good to take a slightly different perspective. W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm remind us that the 19^th century millionaire couldn't get a cold COKE from the fridge or jump into her car and run three hours down I 65 to Gulf Shores. She could not GOOGLE anything, nor get instant news delivered to her 'desktop' 24/7. She could not jet to New York City or to Belfast, Ireland. She could not run over to the mall and buy a point-and-shoot camera, Blue Ray DVDs, or a Botox injection. She could not escape our torrid heat in the summer with AC nor have a 'boob job' done by a plastic surgeon. She could not have by-pass surgery to prolong her life or even take the 'wonder drug' (aspirin) to quell her raging headache!!

The poorest of us today are far wealthier than any of the wealthy in the 19^th Century. A worker in 1900 worked for two hours and forty minutes to buy a three pound chicken…99 years later? He would only work 24 minutes! Four years prior to my birth the average worker put in more than two hours to 'purchase' 100 kilowatts of electricity; forty-nine years later the worker put in fourteen minutes.

"Godliness with contentment is great gain…" and I struggle in this world keeping the 'right' perspective. Remember, it is how you view your problem that will determine your answer…if you don't like your 'answer' then you may want to adjust your viewpoint. Looking at and doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results…now that is insanity!

A New Twist to Pro Choice

Tolerance for other people's viewpoints and freedom to choose are sacred rights in our fluid political world today. Points of view are promoted as methods of learning and 'fair and balanced' are mantras for our media driven culture. I remember back when abortion was a horrible word and represented something that was not discussed in polite company. To the determinate of my critical thinking skills, my childhood rarely allowed 'alternative' points of view and if "God said it, then that settled it for me." If God did not settle it then my dad would! My world of information was often guided by the narrow point of view found in our regularly repeated phrase 'our church does not believe in that.' That was said so many times that I wondered, "Did my church believe in anything?" One thing was certain, we rarely discussed anything from a critical perspective.

I remember the first time I knew about suicide (a 'famous' evangelist committed suicide) and no discussion was to be had and the topic was swept away in prayers and all was hushed in the hallowed halls during my Bible School days. Then the abortion movement swept in and again I was left in the dark and not given the opportunity to think my way through and determine what is good or bad, right or wrong, holy or evil in this incredible life changing event.

I was told Roe vs. Wade established the law of the land and that Roe was a precious lady who had to carry her baby full term even though the pregnancy was the result of some horrible crime committed against her. Later I found out that Roe was a precious lady and was pulled into a hoax that was foisted upon our American culture through devious manipulations of the legal system to promote an agenda that I still can't quite wrap my brain around.

Pro choice and pro life are 'lighting rod terms' that ignite the emotions of millions of Americans. Some will even say pro abortion and anti choice to further carve out some political position for some ulterior purpose. Arguments and emotions run high and my faith steps in and sees Pro Choice in a new light. Words, thoughts, images, and music can pierce through the fog of ego defense with powerful messages…I am still critical of my thinking and strive to examine my thoughts and pursue mature life decisions…however, challenge your mind to see Pro Choice a different way and click the link below…listen and you may weep even as I did.

What Do I Want To Do When I Grow Up??

The popular career interest inventory the Self-Directed Search® (SDS®) was recently featured on Good Morning America. All four anchors of GMA took the SDS and reported their results on-air. Sam Champion and Chris Cuomo took the SDS last week and presented their results; this week, Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts presented theirs. You can visit http://blogs.abcnews.com/gma/2008/09/whats-your-perf.html and watch the videos from the broadcast at your leisure.

One of my son's recently did this and discovered some very useful information and career guidance. I have helped numbers of clients with this self exploration. There are careers that many of us have never heard of and this short 30 minute investment of your time (along with $5.00 or so) will not only tell you what you suited for (based on your preferences) but will tell you what educational requirements are needed for your interests. Go ahead, view the videos and then take the SDS…let me know what you find…

American University Professor Akbar Ahmed to Embark on Cross-Country Trip for Ethnographic Study of Muslims in America

I recently had lunch with Don and Glenda Moon (World Gospel Missionaries who reside in Argentina) and during our conversation this was queried by Don. Can someone be a follower of Jesus Christ and still maintain a Muslim culture as his/her main identity? Wow, what a question for someone who lives on the Brass  Buckle that comprises the Bible Belt in America!! Have you, ever contemplated how much of our 'church' can be best explained by our culture...I mean the Wednesday night attendance, the sitting in pews, the organ music (or even the latest fad, 'the praise band') are cultural artifacts not biblical absolutes (and there are many, many more...).

Don mentioned that in India, multitudes of Hindu's are embracing Christ Jesus and still retaining their place within the caste system the main culture of that Hindu country. American churches are still arguing over contemporary worship versus 'traditional' worship (by the way my dad hated the word contemporary...he thought it to be something akin to blasphemy, of course he has been in heaven since 1985 and now he knows better!!) and that plane left the runway years ago. In order to overcome the fear/hatred (those two powerful psychological emotions go together) Americans have for Muslims (and vice versus) it may take some trips like Professor Ahmed is making. May God grant him safety and bless him with His grace.

American University Professor Akbar Ahmed to Embark on Cross-Country Trip for Ethnographic Study of Muslims in America

Living in Patterns

Wendell Berry and his "Solving for Pattern"

"Solving for Pattern," one of twenty-four essays appearing in Wendell Berry's The Gift of Good Land (North Point Press, 1982). "Solving for Pattern" is an important essay about the makeup of good solutions, and it is well worth your reading.

Berry begins by identifying two kinds of bad solutions. The first kind of bad solution brings into play the Law of Unintended Consequences. Berry states, "There is, first, the solution that causes a ramifying series of new problems, the only limiting criterion being, apparently, that the new problems should arise beyond the purview of the expertise that produced the solution." One can think of numerous examples, including me eating a half a bag of Dorito Tortilla Chips whenever I get the munchies: now chips are very efficient at relieving my munchies but they are just as efficient at raising my blood pressure, keep my cholesterol high, and make my heart doctor at UAB upset!

The second kind of bad solution invokes Positive Feedback Loops, driving the system away from stability, and making it increasingly unstable. According to Berry, "The second kind of solution is that which immediately worsens the problem it is intended to solve, causing a hellish symbiosis in which problem and solution reciprocally enlarge one another in a sequence that, so far as its own logic is concerned, is limitless." For example, war and national (and even personal) aggression of all kinds falls into this category.

Wendell Berry then gives a compelling example of a good solution (Earl F. Spencer's 250-acre dairy farm near Palatine Bridge, New York), as well as fourteen characteristics of good solutions. According to Berry, good solutions contribute to personal, communal, and ecological health, by invoking complexity in such a way that there is a cascade of healthful benefits. An example would be when I begin exercising regularly: regular exercise can lead to weight loss, lower cholesterol, improved sleep, improved cardiovascular functioning, greater energy, and it makes my heart doctor at UAB happy! Each of these "byproducts" of exercise can in turn lead to other beneficial outcomes, resulting in a mutually reinforcing web of healthful benefits.

Very often good solutions require paradigm shifts. This was true in Earl Spencer's case, where he completely reframed his farming operation. Such reframing is the centerpiece of a theory of change described by Paul Watzlawick, John Weakland, and Richard Fisch in their book, Change: Principles of Problem Formulation and Problem Resolution (Norton, 1974). In my own work, I seek to help students and patients "look at the problem with different eyes" and with a different perspective. It is reframing and more…it is 'solving for pattern' and avoiding the symbiosis in which the solution and the problem feed each other to an even greater destruction.

Waking Up In Glory, and Finding You Are HOME!

Pauline Sadler, age 89, married 69 plus years to Geary Sadler, died Saturday (July 26, 2008) night at 8:45 (eastern standard time) was/is the mother of my best friend and wife of 32 plus years, Faith.

Pauline was precious, Godly, strong, a person of powerful convictions, and unwavering in her love. She is the person my dad had in mind when he would talk about "her face is set toward heaven like a flint!" That was Pauline, her singular desire was to be like Jesus Christ in every area of her life. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer some 8 weeks ago and knowing that her father died of the same and how her father died caused some anxiety in Pauline's heart. Pancreatic cancer is vicious, swift and severe, the pain is excruciating, the stomach wrenches in spasms, the body burns with fevers of exceeding 104 degrees, in a word, it is horrible!

I asked her how she managed her fears and she smiled and told me of the countless Psalms she had committed to memory and said, "John Mark, if I can bring my mind to focus on the content of the Psalm my fears go way." Listen, when she paid attention to the Psalms she could not pay attention to her fears and they would subside। She truly exercised what St। Paul described in Philippians 4:8 "brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things…" And you know the God of Peace kept her heart and mind free of those fears।

Maybe you have heard that FEAR is best understood as False Evidence Appearing Real and that the word FEAR appears about 365 times in the Holy Bible and that most of those occurrences are statements such as; "fear not", "don't be afraid", "you have not been given a spirit of fear." Someone told me that God put that in Scripture because we should not be afraid but I think they are there because HE knows that each of us will face fear in this world. Pauline faced her fears with grace, love, and the EXCELLENCE of TRUTH…in the face of LOVE and TRUTH, fear wilts and is no more.

Days like these calls upon our faith because our faith is the only sensible thing we possess…it is during these times my mind is drawn to some gospel songs and I sing them over and over, maybe you remember as well:

"Known only to Him, are the great hidden secrets
I fear not the darkness when my flame shall dim
I know not what the future holds but I know Who holds the future…
It is a secret, Known only to Him…"

And then, there is the one that is part of this BLOG'S title…

"Just think of stepping ashore
and finding it Heaven,
of touching a hand and finding it God's
of breathing new air and finding it celestial....
of waking up in glory and finding you are Home..."

That is what Pauline did tonight…she stepped ashore and found the shore was heaven, she touched a hand and discovered that hand was God's, she took a deep pain free breath of air and to her delight it was celestial and she woke up in Glory found she was HOME!

Pauline, tell my mom and dad, "Hello" from their son, and I will there soon!!
--- John Mark Trent, PhD