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The things witnessed and actions taken during military service can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder and other debilitating illnesses.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Sam Rhodes, a nearly 30-year U.S. Army veteran, says he was scarred by nightmares of his combat experiences in Iraq upon returning home to Georgia. He also had depression, he says. Yet, Mr. Rhodes missed the camaraderie of his squad and felt lost when he returned home. For a time, he says, ending his life seemed the only way out.
Then he began to care for his stepdaughter’s horse. “Cleaning stalls, putting up fences; it made me feel like I had a purpose in life. It’s amazing how it really got me to calm down a little bit,” he relates in an interview with CNN.
Seeking to share the relief he felt, Mr. Rhodes built his own horse ranch and created Warrior Outreach, a nonprofit that, among other things, provides free access to horses for veterans, service members, and their families through its twice yearly Horsemanship Program. For Mr. Rhodes and the other veterans who frequent the ranch, there has been no miracle turnaround. .
“Guys can come out here, especially if they are having a rough go at it, and just kind of forget about what’s going on in the real world,” veteran Michael Christensen says. “The fact that we can network and just say, ‘Anytime you need something, here’s my number, call me’ ... It builds a network of veterans that can help each other.”
Two perspectives on anorexia
Identical twins often share many of the same interests, but they also can experience differences in how they view themselves.
Take the case of Bridget Yard, an identical twin and journalist who, in a CBC radio report, describes her life with an eating disorder and a twin sister who proved to be her savior.
“I sometimes thought I wouldn’t survive my teenage years, or early adulthood, because of my illness. But once I let Brianna in on my secrets, we began to deal with them together. She continues to be my greatest support as I enter recovery and work hard to live a healthy, full life. But we both still struggle with something. Why did I develop an eating disorder, and not Brianna? We were raised in the same environment, by the same loving parents. Our DNA is identical. I want to know what tipped the balance. Why me?”
The clues were there early on. Bridget was insecure and shy as a teen, and she says she was struggling to accept issues that included her feelings of bisexuality. Brianna was confident and outgoing. Hunger became a way for Bridget to quiet the demons of insecurity and establish some control. “I pushed my sexuality further back into the closet than my eating disorder,” she says. “That closet was full up, and it was killing me to continue the charade.”
Howard Steiger, PhD, tells Bridget Yard that the twin with anorexia nervosa often is found to be more perfectionistic and prone to being concerned with making errors and with others judgments. “Now we don’t know, is that a sort of a life experience thing that causes that to become more expressed? Or is that a secondary thing because of starvation and the effects of malnutrition? Or is it maybe a prenatal effect, that meant that one of the twins was programmed to be a little more perfectionistic than the other?” says Dr. Steiger, director of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute’s Eating Disorders Program at McGill University in Montreal.
Genetic changes, even before birth, might have a role. Whatever the causes, personal acceptance and recognition of her strengths and frailties have helped Bridget find a new path.
“Brianna has a phrase that we use a lot: ‘Nothing to it but to get through it.’ I used to hate that. It’s so cold, and things aren’t always so simple,” Bridget says in the interview. “But now, I embrace it. I know I will never have to do this alone. There’s nothing to it but to get through it – honestly, and together.”
Is that phone call real or robo?
In the few minutes it takes to read this column, some 400,000 Americans will have picked up the phone to hear a robotic voice harping a product or cause. If robocalling were a disease, it would be an epidemic.
Some robocalls are positive, reminding us of appointments and coming events. But about 40% are scams.
“Every time my phone rings it interrupts the work I’m doing,” says Hannah Donahue, a media strategist in Los Angeles. “Even if I don’t answer the phone, it’s disruptive.” She receives about six robocalls a day, starting as early as 7 a.m. and continuing into the evening.
And it might not be as easy as simply not answering a call when your business life depends on your phone. Missing a call can mean lost work.
Robocalling has been around for decades. But the frequency of use has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2018, the estimated number of monthly robocalls in the United States has risen from about 2.5 billion to 4.5 billion, as reported by NBC News.
The increased efforts by robo-scammers might reflect changing consumer behaviors. “The [telecommunications carriers] started to identify the bad guys,” says Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a company that provides voicemail and call-blocking services to iPhone and Android users. “Call-blocking apps started to scale up and get publicity. What we figure is that bad guys started having to call more to get through.”
Technology is another driver. Setting up a robocall enterprise is easy and cheap.
The best advice for now is not to answer calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. “We still get a ton of spam, but Google and everyone has gotten so good at filtering email that you don’t notice,” Mr. Quilici says. For now, robocalling remains a frustration of a plugged-in life.
Work, ethics, and the millennials
A few months ago, several Google employees reportedly quit over the company’s involvement in a military project. Their decision might have come with the knowledge that their skills were transferable and that another job would not prove hard to find.
Still, the decision to resign might be a sign of how different generations approach work, according to a BBC article. For millennials, sometimes called the job-hopping generation, switching jobs for ethical reasons might be more common than it is for Generation Xers or Baby Boomers.
Then again, the article says, these ideas about millennials might not hold true for most young workers.
Part of this may be tied to the economics of the present. Research supports the view that gaps in employment, whether deliberate or not, are neither good for the bank account nor the likelihood of future job satisfaction.
“For all the lip service we pay to ‘making a difference,’ evidence shows the primary driver for selecting a job is still the payslip. The most recent Deloitte survey on millennials underlines that 63% of millennials consider the financial reward a very important factor in weighing up a job offer – the highest ranking one,” writes BBC correspondent José Luis Peñarredonda.
As in generations past, the main reason for choosing a job in 2018 remains the wage. Real-life necessities to support a family can blunt youthful passion to change things in a low-paying way. Still, headway is being made, as some companies realize the value of aligning corporate priorities with employees’ desire to have their work better reflect their ethics.
Finding ways to overcome setbacks
The end of a relationship, or loss of a loved one – or a job – are inevitable life events – and there are steps people can take to be resilient and find happiness, writes Arthur B. Markman, PhD.
First, Dr. Markman says, it is important to focus on steps that can be taken to improve a situation.
“As you engage in those actions, you will find that you feel better about your work and will also become more productive,” writes Dr. Markman, professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas, Austin.
A second strategy, he writes, is “surrounding yourself with people if you don’t feel like it.” This helps, he says, because sharing challenges with others can help people focus on what they need to do do. Third, Dr. Markman advises, it’s best to focus on small victories rather than long-term projects.
And finally, he says, it helps to interpret the actions of others through a positive lens. Why? Because this approach is more likely to create “positive reactions with others,” he writes.
Find Dr. Markman’s article in Fast Company.
The things witnessed and actions taken during military service can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder and other debilitating illnesses.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Sam Rhodes, a nearly 30-year U.S. Army veteran, says he was scarred by nightmares of his combat experiences in Iraq upon returning home to Georgia. He also had depression, he says. Yet, Mr. Rhodes missed the camaraderie of his squad and felt lost when he returned home. For a time, he says, ending his life seemed the only way out.
Then he began to care for his stepdaughter’s horse. “Cleaning stalls, putting up fences; it made me feel like I had a purpose in life. It’s amazing how it really got me to calm down a little bit,” he relates in an interview with CNN.
Seeking to share the relief he felt, Mr. Rhodes built his own horse ranch and created Warrior Outreach, a nonprofit that, among other things, provides free access to horses for veterans, service members, and their families through its twice yearly Horsemanship Program. For Mr. Rhodes and the other veterans who frequent the ranch, there has been no miracle turnaround. .
“Guys can come out here, especially if they are having a rough go at it, and just kind of forget about what’s going on in the real world,” veteran Michael Christensen says. “The fact that we can network and just say, ‘Anytime you need something, here’s my number, call me’ ... It builds a network of veterans that can help each other.”
Two perspectives on anorexia
Identical twins often share many of the same interests, but they also can experience differences in how they view themselves.
Take the case of Bridget Yard, an identical twin and journalist who, in a CBC radio report, describes her life with an eating disorder and a twin sister who proved to be her savior.
“I sometimes thought I wouldn’t survive my teenage years, or early adulthood, because of my illness. But once I let Brianna in on my secrets, we began to deal with them together. She continues to be my greatest support as I enter recovery and work hard to live a healthy, full life. But we both still struggle with something. Why did I develop an eating disorder, and not Brianna? We were raised in the same environment, by the same loving parents. Our DNA is identical. I want to know what tipped the balance. Why me?”
The clues were there early on. Bridget was insecure and shy as a teen, and she says she was struggling to accept issues that included her feelings of bisexuality. Brianna was confident and outgoing. Hunger became a way for Bridget to quiet the demons of insecurity and establish some control. “I pushed my sexuality further back into the closet than my eating disorder,” she says. “That closet was full up, and it was killing me to continue the charade.”
Howard Steiger, PhD, tells Bridget Yard that the twin with anorexia nervosa often is found to be more perfectionistic and prone to being concerned with making errors and with others judgments. “Now we don’t know, is that a sort of a life experience thing that causes that to become more expressed? Or is that a secondary thing because of starvation and the effects of malnutrition? Or is it maybe a prenatal effect, that meant that one of the twins was programmed to be a little more perfectionistic than the other?” says Dr. Steiger, director of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute’s Eating Disorders Program at McGill University in Montreal.
Genetic changes, even before birth, might have a role. Whatever the causes, personal acceptance and recognition of her strengths and frailties have helped Bridget find a new path.
“Brianna has a phrase that we use a lot: ‘Nothing to it but to get through it.’ I used to hate that. It’s so cold, and things aren’t always so simple,” Bridget says in the interview. “But now, I embrace it. I know I will never have to do this alone. There’s nothing to it but to get through it – honestly, and together.”
Is that phone call real or robo?
In the few minutes it takes to read this column, some 400,000 Americans will have picked up the phone to hear a robotic voice harping a product or cause. If robocalling were a disease, it would be an epidemic.
Some robocalls are positive, reminding us of appointments and coming events. But about 40% are scams.
“Every time my phone rings it interrupts the work I’m doing,” says Hannah Donahue, a media strategist in Los Angeles. “Even if I don’t answer the phone, it’s disruptive.” She receives about six robocalls a day, starting as early as 7 a.m. and continuing into the evening.
And it might not be as easy as simply not answering a call when your business life depends on your phone. Missing a call can mean lost work.
Robocalling has been around for decades. But the frequency of use has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2018, the estimated number of monthly robocalls in the United States has risen from about 2.5 billion to 4.5 billion, as reported by NBC News.
The increased efforts by robo-scammers might reflect changing consumer behaviors. “The [telecommunications carriers] started to identify the bad guys,” says Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a company that provides voicemail and call-blocking services to iPhone and Android users. “Call-blocking apps started to scale up and get publicity. What we figure is that bad guys started having to call more to get through.”
Technology is another driver. Setting up a robocall enterprise is easy and cheap.
The best advice for now is not to answer calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. “We still get a ton of spam, but Google and everyone has gotten so good at filtering email that you don’t notice,” Mr. Quilici says. For now, robocalling remains a frustration of a plugged-in life.
Work, ethics, and the millennials
A few months ago, several Google employees reportedly quit over the company’s involvement in a military project. Their decision might have come with the knowledge that their skills were transferable and that another job would not prove hard to find.
Still, the decision to resign might be a sign of how different generations approach work, according to a BBC article. For millennials, sometimes called the job-hopping generation, switching jobs for ethical reasons might be more common than it is for Generation Xers or Baby Boomers.
Then again, the article says, these ideas about millennials might not hold true for most young workers.
Part of this may be tied to the economics of the present. Research supports the view that gaps in employment, whether deliberate or not, are neither good for the bank account nor the likelihood of future job satisfaction.
“For all the lip service we pay to ‘making a difference,’ evidence shows the primary driver for selecting a job is still the payslip. The most recent Deloitte survey on millennials underlines that 63% of millennials consider the financial reward a very important factor in weighing up a job offer – the highest ranking one,” writes BBC correspondent José Luis Peñarredonda.
As in generations past, the main reason for choosing a job in 2018 remains the wage. Real-life necessities to support a family can blunt youthful passion to change things in a low-paying way. Still, headway is being made, as some companies realize the value of aligning corporate priorities with employees’ desire to have their work better reflect their ethics.
Finding ways to overcome setbacks
The end of a relationship, or loss of a loved one – or a job – are inevitable life events – and there are steps people can take to be resilient and find happiness, writes Arthur B. Markman, PhD.
First, Dr. Markman says, it is important to focus on steps that can be taken to improve a situation.
“As you engage in those actions, you will find that you feel better about your work and will also become more productive,” writes Dr. Markman, professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas, Austin.
A second strategy, he writes, is “surrounding yourself with people if you don’t feel like it.” This helps, he says, because sharing challenges with others can help people focus on what they need to do do. Third, Dr. Markman advises, it’s best to focus on small victories rather than long-term projects.
And finally, he says, it helps to interpret the actions of others through a positive lens. Why? Because this approach is more likely to create “positive reactions with others,” he writes.
Find Dr. Markman’s article in Fast Company.
The things witnessed and actions taken during military service can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder and other debilitating illnesses.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Sam Rhodes, a nearly 30-year U.S. Army veteran, says he was scarred by nightmares of his combat experiences in Iraq upon returning home to Georgia. He also had depression, he says. Yet, Mr. Rhodes missed the camaraderie of his squad and felt lost when he returned home. For a time, he says, ending his life seemed the only way out.
Then he began to care for his stepdaughter’s horse. “Cleaning stalls, putting up fences; it made me feel like I had a purpose in life. It’s amazing how it really got me to calm down a little bit,” he relates in an interview with CNN.
Seeking to share the relief he felt, Mr. Rhodes built his own horse ranch and created Warrior Outreach, a nonprofit that, among other things, provides free access to horses for veterans, service members, and their families through its twice yearly Horsemanship Program. For Mr. Rhodes and the other veterans who frequent the ranch, there has been no miracle turnaround. .
“Guys can come out here, especially if they are having a rough go at it, and just kind of forget about what’s going on in the real world,” veteran Michael Christensen says. “The fact that we can network and just say, ‘Anytime you need something, here’s my number, call me’ ... It builds a network of veterans that can help each other.”
Two perspectives on anorexia
Identical twins often share many of the same interests, but they also can experience differences in how they view themselves.
Take the case of Bridget Yard, an identical twin and journalist who, in a CBC radio report, describes her life with an eating disorder and a twin sister who proved to be her savior.
“I sometimes thought I wouldn’t survive my teenage years, or early adulthood, because of my illness. But once I let Brianna in on my secrets, we began to deal with them together. She continues to be my greatest support as I enter recovery and work hard to live a healthy, full life. But we both still struggle with something. Why did I develop an eating disorder, and not Brianna? We were raised in the same environment, by the same loving parents. Our DNA is identical. I want to know what tipped the balance. Why me?”
The clues were there early on. Bridget was insecure and shy as a teen, and she says she was struggling to accept issues that included her feelings of bisexuality. Brianna was confident and outgoing. Hunger became a way for Bridget to quiet the demons of insecurity and establish some control. “I pushed my sexuality further back into the closet than my eating disorder,” she says. “That closet was full up, and it was killing me to continue the charade.”
Howard Steiger, PhD, tells Bridget Yard that the twin with anorexia nervosa often is found to be more perfectionistic and prone to being concerned with making errors and with others judgments. “Now we don’t know, is that a sort of a life experience thing that causes that to become more expressed? Or is that a secondary thing because of starvation and the effects of malnutrition? Or is it maybe a prenatal effect, that meant that one of the twins was programmed to be a little more perfectionistic than the other?” says Dr. Steiger, director of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute’s Eating Disorders Program at McGill University in Montreal.
Genetic changes, even before birth, might have a role. Whatever the causes, personal acceptance and recognition of her strengths and frailties have helped Bridget find a new path.
“Brianna has a phrase that we use a lot: ‘Nothing to it but to get through it.’ I used to hate that. It’s so cold, and things aren’t always so simple,” Bridget says in the interview. “But now, I embrace it. I know I will never have to do this alone. There’s nothing to it but to get through it – honestly, and together.”
Is that phone call real or robo?
In the few minutes it takes to read this column, some 400,000 Americans will have picked up the phone to hear a robotic voice harping a product or cause. If robocalling were a disease, it would be an epidemic.
Some robocalls are positive, reminding us of appointments and coming events. But about 40% are scams.
“Every time my phone rings it interrupts the work I’m doing,” says Hannah Donahue, a media strategist in Los Angeles. “Even if I don’t answer the phone, it’s disruptive.” She receives about six robocalls a day, starting as early as 7 a.m. and continuing into the evening.
And it might not be as easy as simply not answering a call when your business life depends on your phone. Missing a call can mean lost work.
Robocalling has been around for decades. But the frequency of use has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2018, the estimated number of monthly robocalls in the United States has risen from about 2.5 billion to 4.5 billion, as reported by NBC News.
The increased efforts by robo-scammers might reflect changing consumer behaviors. “The [telecommunications carriers] started to identify the bad guys,” says Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a company that provides voicemail and call-blocking services to iPhone and Android users. “Call-blocking apps started to scale up and get publicity. What we figure is that bad guys started having to call more to get through.”
Technology is another driver. Setting up a robocall enterprise is easy and cheap.
The best advice for now is not to answer calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. “We still get a ton of spam, but Google and everyone has gotten so good at filtering email that you don’t notice,” Mr. Quilici says. For now, robocalling remains a frustration of a plugged-in life.
Work, ethics, and the millennials
A few months ago, several Google employees reportedly quit over the company’s involvement in a military project. Their decision might have come with the knowledge that their skills were transferable and that another job would not prove hard to find.
Still, the decision to resign might be a sign of how different generations approach work, according to a BBC article. For millennials, sometimes called the job-hopping generation, switching jobs for ethical reasons might be more common than it is for Generation Xers or Baby Boomers.
Then again, the article says, these ideas about millennials might not hold true for most young workers.
Part of this may be tied to the economics of the present. Research supports the view that gaps in employment, whether deliberate or not, are neither good for the bank account nor the likelihood of future job satisfaction.
“For all the lip service we pay to ‘making a difference,’ evidence shows the primary driver for selecting a job is still the payslip. The most recent Deloitte survey on millennials underlines that 63% of millennials consider the financial reward a very important factor in weighing up a job offer – the highest ranking one,” writes BBC correspondent José Luis Peñarredonda.
As in generations past, the main reason for choosing a job in 2018 remains the wage. Real-life necessities to support a family can blunt youthful passion to change things in a low-paying way. Still, headway is being made, as some companies realize the value of aligning corporate priorities with employees’ desire to have their work better reflect their ethics.
Finding ways to overcome setbacks
The end of a relationship, or loss of a loved one – or a job – are inevitable life events – and there are steps people can take to be resilient and find happiness, writes Arthur B. Markman, PhD.
First, Dr. Markman says, it is important to focus on steps that can be taken to improve a situation.
“As you engage in those actions, you will find that you feel better about your work and will also become more productive,” writes Dr. Markman, professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas, Austin.
A second strategy, he writes, is “surrounding yourself with people if you don’t feel like it.” This helps, he says, because sharing challenges with others can help people focus on what they need to do do. Third, Dr. Markman advises, it’s best to focus on small victories rather than long-term projects.
And finally, he says, it helps to interpret the actions of others through a positive lens. Why? Because this approach is more likely to create “positive reactions with others,” he writes.
Find Dr. Markman’s article in Fast Company.