Thoughts and stories, by Pal

Long term, short term effects of medicine, Covid Vaccine for children?     from Meridian Magazine, with references.   Long-Term, Short-Term By  Jacob Z. Hess  · October 21, 2021 The following first appeared  in Public Square Magazine . My professional interest in long-term treatment outcomes started when someone I loved dearly began experiencing the anguish of profound depression and anxiety. We did what many families do—encouraging her to “get help.” She subsequently started a treatment designed to provide some immediate relief from the emotional pain. It worked for a while … until it didn’t. A few good weeks or months, and she was right back in it.  Up and down, year after year … with the lows becoming measurably lower over time. What was going on?  I started asking what many families today still wonder:  Is it possible for someone grappling with difficult emotional burdens to find deeper, more sustainable healing? If so, what kind of a tre...

This article, if read and understood, makes so much sense, and has wisdom! The pandemic highlights a logical fallacy that, unless checked, could prove our undoing By  Sharlee Mullins Glenn  · June 23, 2020 The following first appeared in the  Deseret News . We see it everywhere. Either you’re pro-NRA or anti-Second Amendment. If you have compassion for undocumented workers, you don’t uphold the law. Either you want to see Roe v. Wade overturned or you’re a baby-killer. Either you care about people or you care about the economy. These are examples of an unfortunately rampant logical fallacy — the either/or fallacy (sometimes called “false dilemma” or “false dichotomy”). This kind of fallacy builds an argument on the assumption that there are only two options when, in fact, there are several, if not many. This kind of over-simplistic bifurcation is not only misleading, but can be divisive, damaging and downright dangerous. Too often it p...

What We Have Learned – Let Us Not Forget By  Carolyn Nicolaysen  · June 23, 2020 Pandemics are unwelcome visitors, but they can teach us much about our own goals and priorities. Hopefully, we have learned the importance and joy of real, quality time with family. Hopefully we have learned friends are important to our mental health and wellbeing, teaching us to be a better friend and neighbor. Most importantly, hopefully we have learned to trust in the Lord, to pray for His guidance and to experience the peace only He can bring. What many have learned is how really unprepared they were for a self-quarantine and all that entails. Many have discovered birthdays and graduations still happen. Some, meals don’t cook themselves. Others, stores do run out of supplies. Still others, there is a good reason to have a substantial savings account. And, the idea that things happen to other people, well, sometimes we are the other people. Over the past 12 years...

This is a most unusual time to be living, it seems.  But although it is new to us, this type if problem isn't new to mankind!  Read blog # 1185, posted back on March 15, 2020, and read about when my mother was 10, and they had the flu epidemic in 1918.   And they didn't have computers and the helps we have now!  Will our teens be the same after the pandemic? By  Jody Young Steurer  · April 21, 2020 I recently read an opinion piece by CNN columnist Scottie Andrew, titled “Why Teens May Never Be The Same After The Pandemic,” where she highlights the losses teens, especially graduating seniors, face as they wrap up this school year in quarantine. [i] She’s right. Our graduating seniors may never be the same after the pandemic. All 2020 classes, proms, and graduations have been cancelled. End of year sports banquets, final dances, music performances, and academic competitions have all suddenly disappeared without warning. And he...

Coronavirus: Two Doctors’ Tips for Combating Helplessness By  Benjamin Satterfield  and  Angel Lybbert  · March 16, 2020 The following article first appeared in  Public Square Magazine . Dr. Satterfield is a Physician-Scientist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is trained in internal medicine and a specialist in molecular virology with an emphasis in emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Lybbert is board certified in family medicine with added certification in geriatric medicine. She works at Intermountain Utah Valley Senior Medicine Clinic. She has worked in assisted living facilities, VA clinics, outpatient geriatric primary care, and hospice care. The views expressed are their own. The fear around this COVID-19 pandemic is both striking and understandable. Speaking from our expertise and experience in infectious disease and geriatric medicine, we share five recommendations that might be encouraging to those who fin...