Oscar martin

Source: Pexels/Pixabay My feet patted rhythmically along on the marathon course, my body feeling invigorated.  And then IT happened at mile 21.  As my eyes flicked back up from checking my watch, a vision of two hills stood side by side before merging back into one, dancing with wooziness in my head.  I figured it was just a fluke, but when I looked down and back up again to test that idea, double vision and dizziness nudged me again.  And when we’re talking about someone who shudders at the mere thought of Disneyland’s spinning teacups, well… “Uh-oh. That can’t be good,” I thought. But right then, in the sage words of The Rolling Stones , I didn’t get what I wanted, but I got just what I needed.  A joke.  It floated through my mind like an angel, a divine messenger of ridiculous humor . A guy walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doctor, it hurts when I lift my arm!” And the doctor says, “So don’t lift your arm!” Comedy (OK, admittedly bad comedy) worked … [Read more...] about A Laughing Matter

Malcolm X said that racism is a “cancer.” Decades later, research supports his assertion; not only does racism and discrimination result in tangible disparities for its victims, but also it destroys an individual’s very health and self-concept . At the core of the harmful practice of racism and discrimination is a simple message: some people don’t matter. If racism is a cancer, Hip Hop has proven to be a potent cure. Hip Hop was born as a response to the discrimination and poverty facing African-Americans in the late ’70s. And Hip Hop’s culture is based on the idea and spiritual orientation that in spite of adversity and oppression, everyone is capable of finding a sense of purpose to do something special, creative and innovative. That spirit has propelled Hip Hop to become what has been described as “ the most important youth culture on the planet .” This claim could be based solely on the popularity and influence of Hip Hop on music, with Hip Hop having been … [Read more...] about Why Culture Is Medicine at the Universal Hip Hop Museum

Source: mohamed Hassan/Pixabay We know people who are overbearing and controlling and also other people who are inhibited and controlled. What do these labels mean? How do people form such personalities? Are these personalities related in some way? How can each personality style take steps to make corrections? Controlling People For such people, control means dominating others in an imperious, overbearing way. Such people can be forceful, bossy, and abusive. They make demands on others with forceful talk, “I need you to do this, now.” If others don’t comply, a controlling person becomes angry and may become vindictive, even verbally or physically abusive. The controlling person relies on other people to carry out his/her wishes. Often, controlling people have little self-control . They expect others to exert the control for them. Their expertise is in commanding, not in doing. This entire action in commanding others is a projection onto others of control of a task. … [Read more...] about How Do Controlling and Controlled Personalities Interact?

Source: Adobe photostock, licensed by Ravi Chandra "Violence strips naked the body of a society, the better to place the stethoscope and hear the life beneath the skin.” – Leslie Manigat, former president of Haiti These are deeply disturbing times, times that call for diagnoses and remedies. There has been more than one mass shooting per day in the United States so far in 2019. But almost 40,000 people in the U.S. died from gun violence in 2017 , 1,000 more than 2016. While the murder rate has fallen overall, the percentage of homicides by gun has increased . 60% of gun deaths in 2017 were victims of suicide . Suicide has increased 30% since 1999 , and an increasingly larger percentage of suicides are committed by guns; in 2017, almost half. 70% of suicide victims are white men, and the highest rate of suicide occurs in middle-aged white men. Men commit suicide at over 3.5 times the rate of women because more of them attempt suicide with lethal means, such as … [Read more...] about Compassion for America in a Time of Violence

Source: 1681551/Pixabay For many people, the culture of binge drinking that begins in high school or college extends into young adulthood and beyond. At least one in six adults binge-drink four times a month.[i] These adults face significant risk for both brain damage and addiction . In a surprising study conducted by my colleague Dr. Peter R. Martin at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the brain scans of heavy drinkers showed the same pattern of neurological damage as those of alcoholics.[ii] Because of this damage, heavy drinkers can be as impaired in their daily function as addicted drinkers—with no awareness of their deteriorating cognitive abilities. The definition of heavy drinking requires far less alcohol than most people imagine. Men averaging only 100 drinks a month and women only 80—less than three drinks a day—had significant impairment in their memory , learning, reading, and balance. Because these drinkers appeared to still be functioning normally, … [Read more...] about Heavy Drinking: A Trap at Any Age