October 2011
8 posts
8 tags
Gaming Addiction and Alternatives
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two hours a day of screen time for children. This includes “TV, computer, video games and even the newest music players and smart phones that have computer-like capabilities” according to a recent article in US News Health.
I know very few children with that kind of limit, especially if you consider all of the above screens and to a...
5 tags
Do You Kowtow?
According to the dictionary, kowtowing means showing “servile deference” or “excessive subservience”.
When we kowtow on a regular basis to anyone but God, we make the person we kowtow to a god. We also send the message that we are willing to be used and even abused by anyone who needs to fill a power trip desire. We set ourselves up to feel helpless, which is a harbinger and class-A symptom of...
6 tags
Facing Death and the Gift of Life
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” Matt 6:25a
I have just spent a little over a week waiting for the results of medical tests that would have determined whether or not my life would be shortened by about thirty years, give or take ten. The cancer they were testing for has a very poor survival rate, two to five...
5 tags
It's in the Interpretation!
There are three distinct ways those who are at risk for or who have experienced depressive episodes tend to interpret events in order to make sense of them. All three ways help promote a depressive episode.
They tend to see the negative in most everything. For example, if a friend doesn’t return the a phone call or e-mail message, the person with depression will likely think that friend is mad...
5 tags
Marriage, Divorce, and Depression
Today is my parents’ 53th wedding anniversary! Pretty amazing! They tell me that those years were full of good times but also some incredibly hard times. Sometimes I truly wonder how they made it. In honor of that, I have revised a previous post (2010) on depression and marriage.
The United States ranks first in divorce rates; the United Kingdom ranks second. Among religions, Catholics...
5 tags
New Study: Genetic Link to Suicide Confirmed
I don’t usually post these things on the blog. I post them on Facebook. However, this study is of great importance to Catholic Christians who still believe that suicidal behavior is due to weak faith or the sin of despair. It is much more complicated than that.
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5 tags
Self-Importance and Depression
There is nothing more miserable than a sense of self-importance. I don’t mean for the ones that are around such a person. That’s a given. I mean for the person who thinks he or she is important.
We all fall into this category to more or less degree. Whenever we get irritated because that stupid driver in front of us didn’t use the turn signal or an insensitive co-worker interrupted our...
5 tags
St. Francis of Assisi and Depression
Some biographies of St. Francis of Assisi state that he had an episode of depression before his conversion, but no one knows that for sure. What we do know is that he spent over a year agonizing over the meaning of his life.
Sometimes an episode (or two or three) of depression can trigger a deep search for meaning in our lives. Eventually, if we open ourselves to it, we spiritually grow from...
