Dr. Payton
“US AGAINST THEM” IS KILLING OUR COUNTRY
Our country has become more and more divided over the last year and it is hurting all of us. When we demonize people it keeps us from working with them to solve problems. This separates us from those we criticize and actually separates us from even people that we agree with as our being critical…
Read MoreTHE VALUE OF SEEING WHAT HAPPENS
I have been encouraging my patients to trust themselves and choose to “see what happens” in their lives instead of worrying about what might happen. It was last week when I was meeting with one of my patients that this simple understanding came to me…see what happens instead of worrying about what might happen. Frequently,…
Read MoreDo medications for ADHD work and are they safe?
My review of research about the effectiveness and safety of stimulant type medication for ADHD led me to conclude that these medications are very effective and very safe. However, concerns continued to be expressed regarding possible cardiac side-effects, addiction risk and reduced appetite. Recent studies have repeatedly shown that people taking stimulant medication to help…
Read MoreHONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY…OR IS IT THE ONLY POLICY?
My patients have helped me to see the importance of being self-aware and self-accepting. Being self-aware requires that we are honest with ourselves and take responsibility for what we say and do. This means no blaming others, or judging others. When we blame or judge others we are separating ourselves from others, and from ourselves.…
Read MoreBULLYING AND OUR CHILDREN
A 2022 estimate from the National Bullying Prevention Center indicates that one out of five [19.2%] of children experience bullying at school [from the National Center for Education Statistics, 2022]. A study that includes data from 83 countries showed that 30.5% of adolescents reporting being bullied. A national survey conducted by the US Department of…
Read MoreTHE VALUE OF LISTENING…REALLY LISTENING
I have very frequently seen that choosing to listen to others without our personal reactions to what we are hearing is a very good way to be with someone and feel a connection to them. It often is confusing at first as we have been influenced by a commonly held belief that we should react…
Read MoreWe Really Do Need Each Other
The recent Beta Theta Pi magazine has an article about preventing suicide and refers to a Harvard study [The Harvard Study of Adult Development] and comments from the study’s fourth director Robert Waldinger, M.D. [who is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School] who concludes that friendships and relationships in general are highly correlated…
Read MoreWhy Frightening Us Doesn’t Work
I have previously written about the problem of allowing ourselves to become frightened and/or anxious by watching the news on TV as it is often about negative events with no information about what can be done positively to help stop or reduce the frequency of the event or similar events. Seeing these events on the…
Read MoreEverything in Moderation?!
I have previously written about the importance of we [humans] being aware of doing things in a moderate way. Now that doesn’t mean much unless it is defined and it’s meaning clarified. One way that I have thought about this idea of moderation recently relates to what seems to be a problem in that important…
Read MoreIs It Ok to Talk About Your Suicide Attempt?
A recent opinion pieceby Benedict Carey in the April 14, 2014 New York Times national edition, talked about suicide prevention efforts now beginning to include input from the close to one million adults in the USA who have attempted suicide. [About 38,000 americans do kill themselves every year]. Mr. Carey reports that previously, talking about…
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