BRAIN WIRED TO PREVENT DELIBERATE OVERRIDE
OF FEAR RESPONSES
(March, 2003) Discover
Magazine, April,
2003, reports two recent studies by James McGaugh of the
University of California at Irvine that show memories of
traumatic experience cause emotional excitement, which triggers
the memory-enhancing cycle all over again, making the traumatic
memory even stronger. By preventing the autonomic reaction,
beta-blockers keep the memory from forming deeper grooves
in the brain, making post-traumatic stress symptoms less
severe.”
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES FOR TREATING AUTISM
(April, 2003) Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self
Healing newsletter,
in its discussion of National
Autism Awareness Month, suggests a variety of approaches
that make a difference, beyond “intensive educational and
behavior modification programs which can offer great improvement
in symptoms, especially when begun in early childhood.”
Approaches that have anecdotal evidence are described in
various web sites including: ANDI,
a gluten-free/casein-free
diet, Omega-3
supplements,
vitamins
and minerals, hippotherapy (horse
therapy), or 800-369-7433, and music therapy, write to
the American Music Therapy
Association, 8455 Colesville Rd., Suite 1000, Silver Spring,
MD 20910.
PBS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
SERIES PROFILES PRISON REFORMER DAVID LEWIS
(June 20, 2003) On Friday, June 20, the PBS public affairs
series, NOW with Bill Moyers, presented a profile of California
native, former addict, and prison reformer David Lewis. Lewis
was hooked on heroin at 15. By age 18, he was in prison where
he ran drugs and made people pay for protection to stay alive.
A personal search for dignity has led to Lewis’ extraordinary
transformation, and today he is president of an innovative
treatment program aimed at breaking the cycle of addiction
and incarceration. For show information about the issues
related to prison reform, visit.
MORE MOMS STAY AT HOME WITH KIDS
(June 20, 2003) Associated Press reports “Nearly 10.6 million
children were being raised by full-time stay-at-home moms
last year, up 13 percent in a little less than a decade...Of
the 41.8 million kids under 15 who lived with two parents
last year, more than 25 percent had mothers who did not
work and stayed home, accocrding to a Census Bureau report.
That is up from 23 percent, or 9.4 million children in
such situations in 1994,” according to the Census Bureau.
TEEN MOTHERS CONTINUE TO DECREASE
(June 25, 2003) The National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS), in a report on US declining birthrates, reported
the greatest decline was among teenage school age women.
The birthrate for girls ages 15 to 17 was 23.2 births per
1,000, a 6 percent drop from 2001 and a 38 percent decline
from 1990.
NEW GENDER GAP
(June 25, 2003) The US Dept. of Education reports that in
the year 2000, women received 133 bachelor’s degrees for
every 100 awarded to men, and the National Center for Education
Statistics predicts that by 2010 women will receive 142
bachelor’s degrees for every 100 awarded to men. Also,
researchers Andrew Sum of Northeastern University’s Center
for Labor Market Studies and Tom Mortenson, publisher of
the Postsecondary Education Opportunity newsletter report
that between 1970 and 1998 male suicide rates for 15- to
24-year-olds increased by 37 percent, compared with a 21
percent reduction for females.
LINK BETWEEN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
(July 3, 2003) The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
(NHSDA) Report, “School
Experience and Substance Use Among Youths” shows that students who had positive school experiences
were less likely to have used alcohol or illicit drugs
in the past year than students who did not have these positive
school experiences. Adolescent females were more likely
than adolescent males to have a positive attitude toward
school.
YALE RESEARCHERS STUDY BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND TEEN ADDICTION
(July 3, 2003) Yale University School of Medicine researchers
say teens are more vulnerable to developing nicotine, alcohol
and other drug addictions than any other age group. Since
the region of the brain that governs impulse and motivation
is not yet fully formed, experimenting with drugs during
adolescence has more of an impact on the brain. An analysis
of more than 140 studies led researchers to conclude that
substance-use disorders constitute neurodevelopment disorders.
The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
[More...]
Inmate Sought Pen Pals Online After Plea in Internet Sex
Case
(July 8, 2003) A Greenwich man who used the Internet to lure
a 13-year-old girl, Christina Long, 12 years his junior,
into a sexual tryst that led to her death, has been seeking
pen pals over the Net while in federal custody. The man,
Saul Dos Reis Jr., who pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter
and second-degree sexual assault, was sentenced to 30 years
and faces additional penalties for two counts of traveling
across state lines to have sex with minors. Mr. Dos Reis
met Ms. Long on the Internet, according to prosecutors, who
said he strangled her during a sexual encounter in his car
and dumped her body in Greenwich in a panic. Hours after
the encounter, prosecutors say, he sent her an e-mail message
expressing regret that he had not been able to meet her.
The Greenwich Times reported he called himself “The Right
One,” when he ran an unusual personal ad - on a commercial
Web site for inmates seeking pen pals and love interests.
He wrote that he was “romantic, always funny,” and enjoyed
“music and dancing. I always have a positive attitude and
have many hidden things as well,” he wrote, and he assured
prospective pen pals that he was “very good at telling stories
which can and will have you shiver.” Mr. Dos Reis promised
to send “drawings, pictures and gifts.” “That’s a predator’s
tactic to attract children and young teenagers,” said Ms.
Long’s aunt and guardian, Shelley Riling, “And that’s exactly
whom he’s targeting.” [More...]
Florida Court Voids a Law on Abortion
(July 7, 2003) The Florida Supreme Court yesterday struck
down a law requiring minors seeking abortions to notify
their parents first, in a 5-to-1 decision, that held
that the law violated the minors’ right to privacy. The
Florida
law, enacted in 1999 but never enforced, required minors
to give parents 48 hours’ notice of their decisions.
In the alternative, minors could try to convince a judge
that
they were mature enough to decide for themselves or,
if that failed, that the abortion was nevertheless in
their
best interest. The court decided the case under Florida’s
Constitution, one of the handful of state constitutions
with an explicit right-to-privacy clause. Applying the
federal Constitution, the United States Supreme Court
has upheld similar notification requirements. [More...] |
