Air Travel and Self-Care

Eric Scalise recently wrote an article in Christian Counseling Today entitled “Compassion and Self-Care: Finding the Balance.” He begins the article with telling a story. He was flying to a different country on a way to speak at a conference about stress and burnout. After his international flights being switched around multiple times, he was happy to finally get on his final flight and grab a newspaper. Being one who travels frequently, he was accustomed to the flight attendants and their safety talk at the beginning of each flight and has learned to zone out whenever it began. Only this time he listened and felt the Holy Spirit begin to move in him.

The flight attendant stated, as she had multiple times before, “If we should experience the sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will deploy from the ceiling, above you. If you are traveling with small children, please put the mask on yourself first and then assist the child.” While it may seem more loving, humane, and compassionate to help the children first, the parents need to be in the position where they are able to help facilitate the vulnerable child which requires them to first be in a position where they are able to help.

The analogy to counseling is clear. Dr. Scalise states, “If we want to ensure that we are ‘available’ to the Lord and others, we must take care of ourselves first—appropriately and in a balanced way—or we risk becoming ineffective and, at times, even a hindrance to what God is trying to accomplish.”

If we are called to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1), then it is of utmost importance that we are purposefully taking time for our own self-care.

Got Sleep?

I don’t know how other graduate students do in regard to sleep, but I don’t get as much as I would like. Between working two jobs and keeping up on my school work, I don’t always have the time to get my eight hours per night. That is a shame too because I really like to sleep. I know that when I do not sleep well I can’t function as well the next day. I feel groggy, slow, and maybe even a little irritable. So when I came across this article in the NY Times, I could not help but become intrigued.

Researchers studied how people responded to various tasks during a period of two weeks when groups were allowed to sleep four, six, and eight hours per night. As expected, those who did not get their eight hours hardly had any attention lapses and no cognitive declines over the 14 day period. Those in the four and six hour groups declined each day. By the end of the study, those who slept six hours per night were just as impaired as those who were sleep deprived for 24 hours. They were the cognitive equivalent of being legally drunk.

With most Americans getting 6.9 hours of sleep per night, we’re not thinking as clearly as we potentially could be.

In Dr. Hart’s book, The Anxiety Cure, he talks about sleep and tells us that not getting enough of it diminishes our natural tranquilizers. With sleep producing our natural tranquilizers, no wonder we get grumpy after not getting enough sleep.

So what does this have to do with anything? As most you are probably aware of, finals are coming up. If you want to do well, don’t spend the nights before cramming. Relax. Get some sleep. You’ll be glad you did.

Recovery. It is Different for Everybody

What does recovery mean? In an article in the NY Times, Dr. Suzanne Dooley-Hash asks this question. She became anorexic when she was 15. Now at 45, she isn’t sure if she can accurately describe what recovery means.

In various classes I have taken, I have learned that a person’s level of functionality should be taken into account when determining if there is a problem present. Is that acceptable and accurate? I don’t believe so. Dr. Dooley-Hash states, “I’m a physician at a really high-powered institution, and I’ve published in well-respected journals — I’m functional. I don’t think functionality is necessarily a good measure.”

There is some disagreement among medical professionals what recovery essentially means. As far as anorexia is concerned, medical professions tend to agree that a third of anorexics will remain chronically ill, a third will die of their disorder, and a third will “recover,” whatever it is that that means.

The article states that when looking at research concerning recovery in anorexia, how recovery is defined needs to be taken into account and weighted accordingly. For example, if a patient reaches their normal weight and begins menstruating again, most studies would consider her to be recovered. However other studies examine habits (daily weighing self, calorie counting, etc.) would have a different opinion.

I believe that many mental disorders that we will face will have an unclear line between normality and illness. Honestly, that scares me. I prefer things that are black and white, cut and dry. Unfortunately, even though the DSM-IV looks like a series of checklists, isn’t quite that simple. Being normal and abnormal can mean different things to different people in different situations.

Meet Monty--Yale's Therapy Dog

Yale Law School has made a new addition to their library. His name is Monty and he can now be checked out for 30 minutes intervals by those oh-so-stressed out Yale Law students who are looking for a little bit of therapy. According to the article in the NY Times, dog therapy has been well documents to increase happiness, calmness, as well as general emotional well-being.

As expected, some students are hesitant as to how it will help them deal with their anxiety that goes along with going to Yale, but that does not mean they will not check Monty out for half an hour.

This article made me smile. I have read that horses are useful in therapy, but I have not heard that dogs are. It does not surprise me.

When you look at it, what exactly does a dog offer that is essential to the counseling relationship? Perhaps Rogers’ unconditional positive regard? Exactly. They love you no matter what and don’t care what kind of baggage you bring to the table. Perfect.

If the research tells us that something like this is effective, why not implement this relatively inexpensive form of technique to students at Liberty? What would you think if the next time you walked into the library to see Liberty’s own little Monty staring up at you with a wagging tail? I’d put my books down and take the little guy for a walk.

Obesity in the Church

An article in the LA Times discusses a study conducted exploring aspects of American obesity. All the usual suspects are present—inactive lifestyle, watching TV, and eating too many fatty foods. And there is a new culprit in town—religion?

Yes, religion. Young adults who regularly attend religious activities may be more prone to obesity by middle aged than their peers an 18 year longitudinal study found. Those who are 20-32 years old are 50% more likely to be obese by the time they are middle aged than the nonreligious. Interestingly enough, other studies show that being religious correlates with lower mortality rates. Figure that one out!

What do we do with this? We start taking care of our bodies. Our bodies are the temple God, so doesn’t it makes sense to treat it well?

Skip the potluck, put down the casserole, go outside, and go for a run.

The Ethics of Optimism

Is it okay to let people believe that they are going to be alright when their chances of getting by are slim? An article in the NY Times discusses just that. How does one approach the ethics of informed consent in early-phase clinical trials that only toxicity and dosing and offer insignificant, if any at all, benefit to those involved?

On woman the author of the article talks about is a woman with melanoma in her late 30s, and a mother of three. When the author met her she was coming to her third clinical trial. The growth of her cancer had slowed briefly after one of the other trials, but since then she has been hospitalized numerous times, suffered serious bloating, had a punctured lunch, overwhelming fatigue, and two intractable infections. Surprisingly, she had an amazing sunny disposition.

When being briefed for the Phase I trial that would essentially test to determine the safest maximum dose of a new drug, her response to the doctors was, “Haven’t we talked about this enough?...I’ve been through this before. I know what I am getting into.” Then her voice lowered and she said, “I’m a mother. I would do anything for a little extra time with my children.”

But did she know what she was getting into? Generally fewer than 5% of patients in these clinical trial benefit from it. It could potentially take away the little time she has left with her children. And it did. She did not respond to the treatment.

A study was conducted in several early-phase cancer trials in which the patients said they understood that the purpose of the trial was to advance research, not heal them. Despite their understanding of this, the patients had a sense of what the researchers called “unrealistic optimism.” A majority of the patients believed that the drug would heal their cancer and they would benefit.

So what do we do with this unrealistic optimism? Would we know it when we see it or would we be too engulfed in it to even know it is there.

Personally, I do not see anything wrong with this unrealistic optimism. Sure, people may think that they will be the one in a million that would benefit from something like an early phase clinical trial.

I would not be hesitant to say that it would be wrong to take that last bit of hope away from them and interrupt their unrealistic optimism.