Notes for May 7, 2025

Notes for May 7, 2025

One in four children aged 18 and under living in the U.S. has at least one immigrant parent. KFF

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California has become the world’s fourth largest economy at $4.1tn after the US at 29.18tn, China at 18.74tn, and Germany at $4.65tn, California just displaced 4th pace holder Japan at $4.02 tn, (The Guardian Weekly May 2, 2025)

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A new contraceptive for males called Adam is a hydrogel tht blocks the sperm ducts in males for up to two years. It is still in trials but seems promising, Once approved it will offer an alternative to condoms, and vasectomies. (The Guardian Weekly May 2, 2025)

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In talking with a client this week who lost her 18 year old son in a motor vehicle accident, it was noted that the physical body dies but the spirit lives on in the stories we tell about the deceased person’s life.(David G. Markham)

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In talking with another client this week, it was noted that rumination, ahedonia, and anxiety accompanied by dread can be significant signs of depression that can respond well to antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. (David G. Markham)

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Based on observation it seems that most people get into the mental health field because they come from dysfunctional families in which they played some sort of mediating role. They have been in training for the profession since birth. They can spot dysfunctional behaviors at 1,000 yards and are alert and ready to manage themselves so as to manage the problematic behaviors. They make excellent therapists. They have what seems to be an intuitive sense about things. (David G. Markham posting to Clinicians' Exchange)

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The definition of personality disorders I like is people who engage in "repetitive patterns of dysfunctional behaviors." The first step in treatment is identifying and naming the repetitive pattern, and then coming up with ideas about how to change the pattern. Part of this change effort is client awareness and intention to do something different, and another part of it is changing external circumstances which motivates a new adaptation to those circumstances. Irvin Yalom points out in his book Hour Of The Heart that this external circumstance to which the client can adapt and engage in experimental behaviors is the therapeutic relationship with the therapist. (David G. Markham posting to Clinicians' Exchange)

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There are many different practice styles when it comes to outpatient psychotherapy and reasons for meeting with clients. I remember a decade ago when one of the health care panels I was on said that the average number of outpatient sessions for mental health providers was 3-4. That was when they were giving 20 outpatient sessions per year. (David G. Markham posting to Clinicians' Exchange)

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Is there a role for the elder in our society in the US in 2025?

When asked what old age means to them, one 68 year old woman said "Downgraded."

Are elders segregated in our society and marginalized to the periphery and the biggest hope that our society has for them is that they not become a burden to the younger generations.

If anything, the elder is joked about in condescending and patronizing ways.

In Stephen Jenkinson’s book, Come Of Age: The Case For Elderhood In A Time Of Trouble, Charles Eisenstein writes in the forward:

Stephen Jenkinson explores (among other things) what our cultural fetish for youth and growth, security and control, have done to aging and the aged; why we have so many old people and so few elders. The attempt to prolong and preserve youth, which amounts to a denial of death, is precisely what thwarts the transition to elderhood. In my understanding, an elder is someone who knows she is going to die, someone who knows failure and limit.

Jenkinson, Stephen. Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble (p. xvii). North Atlantic Books. Kindle Edition.

The wise elder has stared death in the eye and knows they are going to die and has come to understand what a good life is and is not. It is this kind of wisdom that is sorely needed in this world so enamored with money, celebrity, and power.

Where are the wise elders who can show us the way to a satisfying and fulfilling life? Do you know any? (David G. Markham posted to Gerontology and Health Promotion and Aging class discussion forum on 05/07/25)