PsychSense: Sensible Psychological Solutions

I have been sooo busy getting ready for my trip. I still feel like I have a hundred things to do. I will get them done and next Thursday will be steeling myself for a 16+ hours in a plane and I don’t know how many waiting in airports. Well maybe I can blog while I am waiting.

Question From A reader

 Dear Dr Duffy,

Where do I begin? First, a little background: I am a 23 year-old female. I have been married for 4 years to a man that is 20 years older than I. We have had two children age 3 and a newborn. We plan to have more children. They are a wonderful family.

For several years I have felt frustrated and disappointed with life, although I realize that I am extremely fortunate and very blessed. There is an emptiness inside that seems to echo louder with time and yet I cannot put a finger on what is eating away at me.

Why is Global Volunteering Important ?

When some one learned of my upcoming trip to Africa they asked me why I thought it was important to travel to other parts of the world to help others when there is such a great need at home. I had been thinking about this myself and here are some of those thoughts.

1.  To help us to recognize and decrease our own ethnocentricities and prejudices
2. To learn from others about things we have no idea we don’t know.
3. To foster acceptance and open our hearts to those we view as “different” from ourselves.

Hi All,

I am getting more excited as each day goes by. I have soooo much to do. Just figuring out what electronics I need and how to work them is an experience. I bought a Kindle ebook reader and haven’t opened up the box yet.  I had a friend set up my ipod, ( I know some of you techies are laughing at me) and am still struggling with all the features on my new phone. Whew, I never new I would give in to all this tech stuff and be so cool!!!

 Recently a teenage boy who jumped out of a dorm window while drunk left a local college campus and community deeply shaken. He will probably be paralyzed for the rest of his life.  After hearing about this I read a distressing study about teenage self-destructive behavior. The Child and Adolescent Self harm Study From Europe (Brunel University September 4, 2008) reveals more disturbing data about teenagers and cutting.

1.    One out of four cases is not reported and 25% had not told anyone else. How many do we not know about?

Did you know that nearly 5,000 teenagers commit suicide each year and that suicide is the third leading cause of death among those aged 15-24 ?

There has been a number of teenagers suicides in the news lately that have been connected to bullying. Many of use are worried and frustrated about the rising problems in schools with bullying and teasing. The connection between bullying and teen depression and  suicide is becoming clearer.  It has been shown that teen suicide is often related to depression that can be worsened by rejection,  isolation,  being bullied, and not fitting in.