(Three recent news items lead me to republish a post that predated my Boston.com days. The firstis a new study showing that antipsychotics and stimulants can be used together in treatment of aggression associated with ADHD. The second is a recent New York Times article, The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder, the third an article from today's New York Times: ADHD Experts Re-evaluate Study's Zeal for Drugs. I am hopeful that 2014 will be a year of radical rethinking about what we now call "ADHD.")In the Tony award winning play God of Carnage two couples meet in an elegant living room for an ostensibly civilized conversation about the aggressive act of one couples child against the others. The meeting soon degenerates to reveal the underbelly of conflict in the two marriages. Husband and wife hurl insults, precious items and even themselves with escalating rage. We see, as they attempt in vain to focus on the childrens behavior, the proverbial elephant in the room.

It brought to mind another depiction of the nature of the elephant, presented by the pharmaceutical industry. A recent issue of The Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics features prominently a two page ad from Shire, makers of drugs commonly used for treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A mother and her son sit at the desk of a doctor in a white coat. Behind them is a large elephant draped in a red blanket on which is printed the words, resentful, defiant, angry. The ad recommends that these symptoms, in addition to the more common symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity, should be addressed. This is the message: doctors should be treating these symptoms with medication.

From my vantage point of over 20 years of practicing pediatrics, where I sit on the floor, not in a white coat, and play with children, I believe that the plays depiction of the nature of the elephant is much more accurate and meaningful than that of the pharmaceutical industry. In the play the elephant is the environment of rage and conflict in which the aggression occurs, while in the ad the elephant is the childs symptom. Consider these two stories from my pediatric practice (with details changed to protect privacy.)

Everything was a battle with six year old Mark. Though I asked both parents to come to the visit, Mom came alone. She was furious.Tell me what to do to make him listen. We had a full hour visit, and as she began to relax, she shared a story of constant vicious fighting between herself and her husband. Mark, who had been playing calmly and quietly, took a marker and slowly and deliberately made a black smudge on the yellow wall. His mother was too distracted by her own distress to stop him. I said, You cannot draw on the wall, but maybe you are upset about what we are talking about. He came and sat on his mothers lap. She reluctantly revealed her suspicion that his angry behavior was a reflection of the rage he experienced at home. She agreed to get help for her marriage, and Marks behavior gradually began to improve.

Janes parents became alarmed when her aggressive behavior began to spill over into school. Her third grade teacher told them that not only was she distracted and fidgety, but she seemed increasingly angry. At our second visit, Dad became tearful as he described his cruel and abusive father. He acknowledged being overwhelmed with rage at Jane when she didnt listen. He yelled at her and threatened her. He longed for a positive role model to learn how to discipline her in a different way. He realized he needed help to address the traumas of his own childhood in order to be a more effective parent for Jane.

If the elephant in the room is the childs symptoms, as the drug companies would have us believe, then medication may be the solution. Children taking medication for ADHD often tell me that it makes them feel calm. The full responsibility for the problem then falls squarely on the childs shoulders.

For Mark and Jane, and countless children like them, the elephant in the room, however, is not the childs symptoms. It is the environment of conflict in which the symptoms occur. If the family environment is the elephant, the treatment of the problem is not as simple as prescribing a pill. Families must acknowledge and address seemingly overwhelming problems. The parents relationship with each other, and each parents relationship with his or her own family of origin, often contributes significantly to this environment.

In the supportive setting of my office, Mark and Janes parents were freed to think about their childs perspective and experience. Rather than focusing on what to do they understood what their children might be feeling growing up in an environment of conflict and rage. This ability for parents to think about their childs feelings has been shown, in extensive research at the intersection of developmental psychology, genetics and neuroscience, to facilitate a childs development of the capacity to manage strong emotions and adapt in social situations.

In another interesting link between this ad and God of Carnage, one of the fathers is an attorney representing a drug company. He speaks loudly on his cell phone, seemingly oblivious to the effect of his behavior on the other people in the room. His conversation reveals the profit motive of the drug company taking precedence over the well being of the patient.

God of Carnage was written by Yasmina Reza, a French playwright. While the play itself is hugely entertaining as a witty farce about family life, an important message was in a brief scene at the very end. The telephone rings. The mother answers. It is her daughter, all upset about the loss of her pet hamster, which the father had set free one night because he was annoyed by the animals habits. Suddenly the mood of the play, which was lively with scintillating dialogue throughout, becomes serene as the mother speaks lovingly to her distraught daughter. Perhaps most of the audience was barely aware of the sudden mood change. Yet it lifted this delightful play into universal significance. Freeing herself from the preceding chaos, she calmly gives her full attention to her daughters experience.

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ADHD, the aggressive child and the elephant in the room - Child in Mind - Boston.com

By Brian Swartz

Weekly Staff Editor

HAMPDEN The past comes to life each Tuesday at the Martin Kinsley House, a circa-1794 two-story, wood-frame house located at 83 Main Road South.

Inside this building that witnessed British soldiers marching past in early September 1814, Hampden Historical Society members spend each Tuesday cataloging documents and photos, researching information in the societys extensive archives, and expanding those same archives. Even though they live in the present, for several hours a week, these volunteers delve into the past, sometimes deep into the 19th century

and they would not have it any other way.

All my ancestors back generations have lived in Hampden, said Jerry Stanhope, the Hampden Historical Society president. Some of us have never left.

Past President Ken Rowell was young when he moved away from Hampden. Now a Bangor resident, he retains close ties with his hometown and currently focuses his research on Hampden schools, especially the rural schoolhouses scattered across the town not that many decades ago.

The society has 200 members, not all active, and everyone helping to catalog and expand the societys archives written and material, documents and letters, clothing and furniture volunteers to do so. Its because you love it is why we do this, said Archivist Jean London.

Local preservationists founded the Hampden Historical Society in 1970. According to its constitution, the society exists to bring together those people interested in history and especially in the history of Hampden and the surrounding area.

Understanding the history of our community is basic to our democratic way of life, gives us a better understanding of our state and nation, and promotes a better appreciation of our American heritage, the HHS constitution states.

Excerpt from:
Volunteers keep history alive and pertinent in Hampden

Land Park-Freeport 3 Brm + Bonus room! Updated Throughout!
Remodel just completed! Three bedrooms with updated kitchen featuring new cabinets granite tops, gas range, tile flooring dishwasher. Living room...

By: virtualtourcafe

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Land Park-Freeport 3 Brm + Bonus room! Updated Throughout! - Video

Lorrel Boughton, RN, a nurse in Chilton Hospital's Operating Room, pioneered this new service with her certified pet therapy dog, "Brodie." They visited patients on a fourth-floor medical/surgical unit who opted for the therapy, and then headed downstairs to the Surgical Services waiting room to ease anxiety for visitors. According to Boughton, Brodie was "like a magnet."

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHILTON HOSPITAL

Bill Schaefer of Pequannock is one of the first patients to enjoy Chilton Hospital's new Pet Therapy Program. He is joined by Operating Room Nurse Lorrel Boughton, RN (left), Chilton Vice President and CNO Joanne Reich, DNPc, RN, MA, NEA-BC; and new friend, Brodie.

"Everybody in the hallways and lobby wanted to pet him," she said.

Boughton began training Brodie at the Ramapo Kennel Club in Butler when he was just 4 months old. At a year, he was eligible to take the pet therapy class and became certified upon passing a test. The certification class was taken at The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs Inc., in Morris Plains. Dog trainers from Ramapo Kennel Club will be coming to Chilton in the near future with their dogs to help expand the program.

According to Boughton, the certification process is quite comprehensive.

"The instructors bang pots and pans and ring doorbells to test the dogs' calmness," she said. "In one of the exercises, you have to say, 'stay,' then leave the room for three minutes and come back. Also, they'll approach the dogs using wheelchairs and crutches and other things you'd expect them to be exposed to in a health-care setting to make sure they react appropriately."

Brodie, who is now just a little over 2 years old, has visited Cedar Crest Village in Pequannock, Morristown Medical Center, and Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute across the street from the hospital. He has also made appearances at a reading group for autistic children. In addition to pet therapy for patients, Morristown Medical Center also hold "Ruff Days," which are therapy dog visits to ease the anxiety of hospital employees. Boughton would like to look into a similar program for Chilton employees when there are enough pet therapy dogs and owners.

Many steps had to be taken before Brodie could visit Chilton. He needed a veterinarian's clearance to prove he had a complete physical and vaccinations. All medical requirements must be shown each year to prove eligibility.

Boughton had to do her share as well. She discussed the service with Chilton's administration and the Infection Control Department. The Medical Board then had to approve it. Boughton needed to also register as a volunteer. Brodie wears an Atlantic Health System (AHS) vest with the words, "Pet Therapy Dog" on one side and "Healing Paws," the name of AHS' pet therapy program, on the other.

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Chilton Hospital's 'Pet Therapy Program' helps patients heal in Pequannock

The Internet Archive, a nonprofit institution that's also responsible for the web archive The Wayback Machine, developed the project as a way to experience the very beginning of what it calls a "revolution." As described on the Console Living Room's website, it "harkens back to the revolution of the change in the hearth of the home, when the fireplace and later television were transformed by gaming consoles into a center of video game entertainment."

Consoles brought the popularity of arcade games to the living room and were the start of what is now a multibillion dollar industry. With the growth has come plenty of change and the Console Living Room is an attempt to revive video game history.Speaking about the project, Jason Scott said in a blog post, "Sadly, the days of the home video game console being a present under a tree followed by days of indulgent game-playing are not the same, replaced with massive launch events and overnight big-box store stays."

The graphics and game play may seem primitive compared to what gamers have come to expect from consoles such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One or even the SNES, but there is plenty of joy to be had from games such as "Donkey Kong," "Frogger" or "Ms. Pac-Man." The Console Living Room is archiving new games every day thanks to the efforts of volunteers.

The project uses theJSMESS emulator system, which lets users play these games in their browser without any additional plug-ins or downloads. In addition to giving access to hundreds of games, the Internet Archive also provides information on the consoles and games as well as insight into the significance of a particular system, company or developer. When possible, game manuals are also available for users to browse. While many users will come for the games, there is plenty of history to explore as well.

While emulators and ROMs are not new to many gamers, the ability to avoid sites full of pop-ups without the need to worry about the legality of such an endeavor will make the Console Living Room appealing. Scott says the project is still in beta and sound will be enabled soon.

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The Console Living Room: Enjoy Atari, ColecoVision, Magnavox And Astrocade Nostalgia Online

THERE'S always room for dessert. Regardless of how many slices of lechon or cups of rice had, when the moment calls for dessert, it would require a lot of willpower to resist and say no. Even more so in Country Basket, a pastry shop where sweetness isnt an experience solely for the taste buds.

Call it a room of dessert. A cozy two-storey establishment with bright interiors and playful decor, Country Basket offers a wide assortment of baked goodies like customized whole cakes, cookies, brownies, pastry bars and cupcakes. It is owned and managed by pastry chef, Ellen Lee, who has been in the practice for 10 years.

Ellen said this is her first physical shop, the newest chapter of her career. As a child she used to take short courses in Caro & Marie, and later on pursued her passion by studying baking and pastry at the Center for Culinary Arts in Manila, most notably, at a time when culinary studies was almost unheard of in Cebu. Ellen had her on-the-job training at the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

For almost a decade, Ellen has been supplying pastries to restaurants and coffee shops around the metro. But with her own shop now, she said that she has more room to be creative and indulging in her products.

Country Baskets specialties include the kahlua-fused walnut cake, the white chocolate almond sans rival, and cupcakes, which vary from time to time because Ellen enjoys creating special flavors based on the fruits in season. Also available are cookies, meringue, and bread sticks in packs that are perfect for handy snacks or as gifts.

Country Basket also offers pastas and sandwiches to munch on. The must-tries are the mouthwatering Spanish sardine pasta, and the pesto and chicken sandwicha richly-filled snack that pesto lovers will surely enjoy.

Lastly, on the beverage side, Country Basket has house-brewed cold teas and freshly made fruit juices like strawberry and grapea perfect match to its selection of treats, and a colorful addition to the equally delectable and good-enough-to-eat eye candy interiors of the shop.

Country Basket is in Prestigo Arcade along Gorordo Ave., Lahug, Cebu City. It is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on weekends.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on December 28, 2013.

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A room for dessert

When the Mountain View-based Community Health Awareness Council celebrated the grand opening of its new headquarters this September, the event was billed as the "Miracle on El Camino."

The new building, located near the intersection of W. El Camino Real and View Street, is significantly larger than the organization's previous digs at the corner of Church and Hope streets. CHAC paid no money for the larger space, since both the old and new buildings were controlled by the same landlord, who agreed to swap locations free of charge.

The local non-profit, which focuses on delivering affordable community mental health and substance abuse services to local children, teens and adults, opened its new offices at the beginning of July, and according to CHAC representative Carrie Carstens, the new facilities have been "great."

"It has definitely been a blessing," Carstens said. "We need the space."

Due to the former building's size, Carstens said, the organization was having trouble meeting demand for services. Group meetings and classes on subjects such as parenting skills were constrained, and the limited number of individual offices meant that CHAC counselors weren't able to meet with as many people as they now can.

The Community Health Awareness Council is one of this year's beneficiaries of the Voice's annual Holiday Fund drive.

Supporting CHAC means supporting a stronger, healthier, happier community, Carstens said. The organization offers individual, couples and family counseling; psychotherapy; teen pregnancy prevention and support services; substance abuse support groups; help with diagnosing and treating learning and cognitive disabilities; and many more programs focused on improving mental health and well-being.

Assessment tools

Dr. Stewart Kiritz, chief psychologist and director of training at CHAC, runs the organization's newly established Assessment Clinic, which conducts extensive psychological assessments of local men, women, teens and children at the CHAC offices. Though the CHAC has done this kind of assessment since it was founded in 1973, they only decided to get "really serious about it" a year ago, Kiritz said.

Now they have an entire program devoted to diagnosing patients with learning disabilities and mental conditions, such as ADHD, dyslexia, depression and anxiety.

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Room to grow

Fans of vintage video games rejoice: the geeky crew of Archive.org has powered up the Console Living Room. Its a massive online collection of games for systems like the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision that you can play right in your browser!

Console Living Room is an extension of Archive.orgs Historical Software Collection, and so far it includes the Atari 7800, Magnavox Odyssey, and Astrocade in addition to the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision.

The games are brought to life by JSMESS, a pure JavaScript version of MESS, the Multi Emulator Super System. More than 500 titles are available for the Atari 2600 alone, including classics like Tempest, Pitfall, and Zaxxon.[Read on:Portable Gaming: A Brief History]

And yes, the E.T. game that Atari buried in a New Mexico landfill is playable too. For as long as you can stand it, that is. Move up to the much newer Atari 7800 and youll be able to play much more advanced games with better graphics like Ikari Warriors and Double Dragon.

Archive.orgs official blog post notes that the library will expand rapidly in the very near future, so dont rage quit if you dont see your favorite titles just yet. Also dont expect to hear any sound.

Support for game audio hasnt been implemented yet, but JSMESS is still considered beta software. Its constantly being tweaked and improved, and soon youll get the full classic living room gaming experience you remember right inside your browser.

MESS supports loads of additional systems, like the Intellivision and VirtualBoy. Theres a good chance Archive.org will expand the Console Living Rooms offerings to include them at some point, too!

Visit link:
Console Living Room lets you play hundreds of old-school games in your browser

The mark of a truly top-notch hotel is its service.

In addition to the room upgrades, attentive staff, and perks like champagne, the world's best hotels go above and beyond great service to cater to the every whim of their guests and anticipate every desire.

A recent Quora thread asked, "what are the best service touches you've ever received at a hotel"?The answers revealed some incredible services you probably never knew existed.

"I had overslept [at the Al Faisaliah in Riyadh] and needed to finish some work and checkout quickly so I could make my flight back home. The butler had brought in my breakfast (they have butler service) and saw that I was rushing. He asked if I needed anything and I sarcastically replied "Well unless you can pack my bags." All I heard was a "why of course" and then he proceeded to perfectly fold all my dress clothes into my bags in a few minutes." -- Saikat B.

"When I wanted to eat at the rooftop restaurant but lacked the appropriate attire, Ian [the floor butler] brought a rack of suits to my room. When I called Ian to see when the jet ski rental booth closed, he told me it closed at six but not to worry. I did not know what this meant at the time. A few moments later, Ian called back to inform me that the rental booth reopened so that I could be dragged around on a tube behind a motor boat for a half hour. The Burj al Arab's service was almost uncomfortable." -- Alan D.

"I'll never forget one time on a Disney cruise when my cousin said he wanted nothing for dessert, and they brought out a plate with the word nothing written in chocolate sauce. It was cute, clever, and nice because he didn't have to sit there with no plate in front of him while everyone else ate, and it put a smile on all our faces." -- Kristen B.

"I recently checked in [to The PennyHill Hotel in Surrey, UK] and requested a cot for my daughter. When I arrived they had put a cot in the room, put a couple of blankets in the cot but also left a champagne bucket on the side, a kettle, some still water, a few small soft towels and a teddy bear with a note saying 'we do not have a bottle warmer available however please feel free to use the champagne bucket as a substitute alongside hot water. We have also provided mineral water in case you have milk formula and a complimentary teddy bear for company, hopefully this will be the first of many happy nights here for your family, best regards'." -- Anthony S.

"I unintentionally booked a room with 2 queen beds, instead of 1 king. At check-in, when I realized this, I asked if there might be any king rooms available; the hotel was booked to capacity and there was nothing. I didn't raise too much of a fuss, though, and assured the front desk manager despite his constant apologies it was my fault for having booked the wrong room type, and appreciated their looking in to availability nonetheless."

"I dropped off everything at my room and left the hotel for a number of meetings I had in town that day. When I returned to the hotel in the evening, I found a note from the manager apologizing for my having gotten the wrong room type (even though it was my own fault!). More impressively, though, they had actually disassembled and removed the 2 queen beds that were in the room, and brought in a spare king bed and set that up; while they had no king rooms available, they did have some king beds and used one to turn my room in to what I wanted.

"What's more, they did all of that for just a single night as they upgraded me to a suite that had become available (with king bed) the next night until the end of my stay."--Brian D.

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Travelers Reveal The Best Service Perks They've Every Received At Hotels

This article is about private rooms for personal hygiene. If you have been redirected here from a search on the word "crapper", see also Thomas Crapper. For a room containing a toilet and possibly also a sink, see toilet (room). For a public toilet, see public toilet.

A bathroom is a room for personal hygiene, generally containing a bathtub or a shower, and possibly also a bidet. In North America and some other regions, it characteristically contains a toilet and a sink; hence in North American English the word "bathroom" is commonly used to mean any room containing a toilet, even a public toilet (although in the United States this is more commonly called a restroom). In other countries, including the UK, Australia, France and Japan, homes may have a separate toilet. In Iran almost all homes have two distinct rooms for bathroom and toilet room.

The first records for the use of baths date back as far as 3000 B.C. At this time water had a strong religious value, being seen as a purifying element for both body and soul, and so it was not uncommon for people to be required to cleanse themselves before entering a sacred area. Baths are recorded as part of a village or town life throughout this period, with a split between steam baths in Europe and America and cold baths in Asia. Communal baths were erected in a distinctly separate area to the living quarters of the village, with a view to preventing evil spirits from entering the domestic quarters of a commune.

According to Teresi et al. (2002):[1]

The third millennium B.C. was the "Age of Cleanliness." Toilets and sewers were invented in several parts of the world, and Mohenjo-Daro circa 2800 B.C. had some of the most advanced, with lavatories built into the outer walls of houses. These were "Western-style" toilets made from bricks with wooden seats on top. They had vertical chutes, through which waste fell into street drains or cesspits. Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the director general of archaeology in India from 1944 to 1948, wrote, "The high quality of the sanitary arrangements could well be envied in many parts of the world today."

Nearly all of the hundreds of houses excavated had their own bathing rooms. Generally located on the ground floor, the bath was made of brick, sometimes with a surrounding curb to sit on. The water drained away through a hole in the floor, down chutes or pottery pipes in the walls, into the municipal drainage system. Even the fastidious Egyptians rarely had special bathrooms.

Not all ancient baths were in the style of the large pools that often come to mind when one imagines the Roman baths; the earliest surviving bathtub dates back to 1700 B.C, and hails from the Palace of Knossos in Crete. What is remarkable about this tub is not only the similarity with the baths of today, but also the way in which the plumbing works surrounding it differ so little from modern models. A more advanced prehistoric (15th century BC and before) system of baths and plumbing is to be found in the excavated town of Akrotiri, on the Aegean island of Thera. There, alabaster tubs and other bath fittings were found, along with a sophisticated twin plumbing system to transport hot and cold water separately. This was probably because of easy access to geothermic hot springs on this volcanic island. Both the Greeks and the Romans recognised the value of bathing as an important part of their lifestyles. Writers such as Homer had their heroes bathe in warm water so as to regain their strength; it is perhaps notable that the mother of Achilles bathed him in order to gain his invincibility. Palaces have been uncovered throughout Greece with areas that are dedicated to bathing, spaces with ceramic bathtubs, as well as sophisticated drainage systems. Homer uses the word , loetr, "baths", later , loutr, from the verb , loein, to bathe. The same root finds an even earlier attestation on Linear B tablets, in the name of the River Lousios ("bathing" [river]), in Arcadia. Public baths are mentioned by the comedian Aristophanes as , balanea (Sing.: , balaneon, Latinized as balneum, a "balneary").

The Roman attitudes towards bathing are well documented; they built large purpose-built thermal baths, marking not only an important social development, but also providing a public source of relaxation and rejuvenation. Here was a place where people could meet to discuss the matters of the day and enjoy entertainment. During this period there was a distinction between private and public baths, with many wealthy families having their own thermal baths in their houses. Despite this they still made use of the public baths, showing the value that they had as a public institution. The strength of the Roman Empire was telling in this respect; imports from throughout the world allowed the Roman citizens to enjoy ointments, incense, combs, and mirrors.

Although some sources suggest that bathing declined following the collapse of the Roman Empire, this is not completely accurate. It was actually the Middle Ages that saw the beginning of soap production, proof that bathing was definitely not uncommon. It was only after the Renaissance that bathing declined; water was feared as a carrier of disease, and thus sweat baths and heavy perfumes were preferred.

In fact throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the use of public baths declined gradually in the west, and private spaces were favoured, thus laying the foundations for the bathroom, as it was to become, in the 20th century. However in Japan shared bathing in sento and onsen (spas) still exists; the latter being very popular.

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Bathroom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia