Mormon Bloggers

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” Cicero by Linda Shaw  My son was taking his time setting our dinner table. Anxiously, I noticed the absent utensils. I was ready to eat. I wanted to push him to hurry up. But I caught myself. Politely I thanked him, “Great job at getting the plates set. Thanks for the help.” His countenance changed, his shoulders relaxed, and then he quickened his pace. Gratitude has long been touted by theologians and philosophers alike, but only recently has it been empirically studied by psychologists. In 2007 a group of positive psychologists conducted the first known study on the effects of gratitude on childhood and adolescents well-being. (Froh, Sefick, Emmons) Personally I like being appreciated. As a mother, I have long recognized the positive effects of gratitude on my own mood as well as the attitudes of family members. Studies have now shown my instincts are correct. Gratitude: • Creates “optimism,... Read the rest of this entry »

                                             Autism’s First Child Donald Triplett  (click for link to video) by Linda Shaw  In 1943 Donald Triplett, of Forest Mississippi became the first child to be diagnosed with Austism. His parents chose to not only accept him as he was, but created a hometown environment of love and friendship that refused (even at age 77) to allow others to misinterpret or misrepresent him or his “oddity.”  The scientific study of psychology is relatively new. It was organized only as recently as 1879 in Europe (University of Leipzip) and 1883 in America (John Hopkins University). In more recent years psychologists have categorized children’s behavior with greater detail and labels such as Aspergers, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Autism, Learning... Read the rest of this entry »

Early in the history of this blog, I showed some disdain for some of my reductionist biologist brethren who in their frenzy to tie religion to brain impulses ascribed the visions of Mohammed and Joseph Smith to epilepsy.  The desire to reduce the entire unseen world into mechanisms, impulses, and a pile of biological functions drives some science worshippers to distraction.  In the comments, I commented on how rare these seizures really are, and I stand by that comment.  As a child neurologist, I don’t run into spiritual seizures.  However, In fairness, any child who feels a profound oneness with God during his seizures, likely does not have the vocabulary to express the wonder of their experience.  I may just have patients who have this experience who cannot express it.       While the experience is rare, it is not unique.  There are many who have described these spiritual seizures.  Perhaps the most verbal and most eloquent description comes from the great Russian author... Read the rest of this entry »

   Witnessing a seizure is a very frightening experience.  Parents who witness seizures in children fear for their child’s life.  It is extremely traumatic.  Even now, as a trained professional, knowing all the steps I could ever need to take care of the problem, I will feel my heart rate climb with a knot in my stomach as adrenaline starts to flood my system to this day.       So it’s not surprising that in the past, seizures were thought to be caused by demonic possession.  Many an epileptic in the middle ages were treated with exorcism. Matthew 17:15- "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he afalleth into the fire, and oft into the water."     More recently, many in the scientific world have tried to paint religion itself as founded on epilepsy and a diseased mind, as the religious experience of everyone from Mohammed to Joseph Smith have been ascribed to an epileptic fit.   Unfortunately, the EEG was... Read the rest of this entry »

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often. This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.  One could look at this as evidence that women in our society are oppressed, if it suited their purpose.  You could argue that men are healthier because they are more free from the trap of poverty and childcare.  You could also be dead wrong.  This is a perfect example of how using mental health statistics to... Read the rest of this entry »

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often. This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.  One could look at this as evidence that women in our society are oppressed, if it suited their purpose.  You could argue that men are healthier because they are more free from the trap of poverty and childcare.  You could also be dead wrong.  This is a perfect example of how using mental health... Read the rest of this entry »

Gentle Reader, As I opened the steel gates and entered the area where the dairy goats reside, the buck decided to challenge me. He did that odd thing bucks do; he reared up high, standing almost straight upright, then came down on his front feet in a feint, as though he was going to butt me. Now, I could have dropped to my knees and begged him not to hurt me, but, if I had done that, he would have immediately proceeded to wipe the floor with me. Instead of being conciliatory, I yelled at him, jumped toward him, and told him in no uncertain terms what I would do to him if he so much as tried to attack me. Though he is faster than I, stronger than I, and outweighs me by a lot of pounds of hefty muscle, he promptly turned and ran away. This little exercise in barnyard psychology applies to people as well as animals. If a group of terrorists threaten us, or attempt to attack us, or successfully attack us, we could drop to our collective knees and beg them not to hurt us, but it would be an... Read the rest of this entry »