New Perspectives, Inc.

Well i'm a-gonna raise a fuss, i'm gonna raise a holler About workin' all summer just to try an' earn a dollar Everytime i call my baby, to try to get a date My boss says, "no dice, son, you gotta work late" Sometimes i wonder what i'm gonna do 'cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues' (Eddie Cochran) In a previous posting, I discussed the joys of having a stress free summer vacation, but I have noticed a significant trend among patients this summer. A trend, which at best, seems to be growing in a very rapid pace over the past few summers. This trend is the emergence of what the National Institute of Mental Mental (NIMH) has termed "reverse SAD" or reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is most commonly asociated with the dark and gloomy days of winter where afflicted people suffer symptoms of depression including, but not limited to, fatigue, lethargy, excessive sleep, hopelessness, social withdrawal, decreased in...

April 20, 1999, for educators, students, parents, and most of the nation, will always be known for what became this nation's fourth deadliest school massacre. On this day, 10 years ago, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, both Columbine High School students in Jefferson County, Colorado, embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, wounding 23 others, committing suicide, and forever changing the way this country views high school security and violence. This single action by the two gunmen provoked political and social debate regarding gun violence in teens, gun control laws, the availability of guns in the US, violence in music, film, and video games aimed towards teens, and the ideas of bullying. The memories etched in American history from that day echo 10 years later. The students of Columbine High school, at the time 14-18 years old, are now in their mid to late twenties with families, careers, hopes and dreams. The memories of that horrific day burned in ...

I was involved in a conservation regarding religion. Religion is, at best, a taboo subject which should only be discussed with the knowledge no one is right and no one is wrong. Anyway, the conversation dealt primarily with the idea that religious affiliation is the conduit for spirituality. Spirituality, in my terms, is the belief in a higher power or the belief in someone or some thing is out there controlling all that is going on. Well, I got a little lost in thought last night and my thoughts were confirmed this morning. The question, “to what extent will I believe in someone?” burned in my brain all last night. I departed from the idea of religion and started looking at humanity; more specifically, the people in my life who I should believe in. I try to be a true person whether it is to friends, family, or loved ones. I try to be a person who people can trust, count on, and respect. Lately, I have questioned myself, but I am coming to an understanding th...