Current Psychology News

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http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/12/23/brains-reward-system-begins-normalizing-a-few-months-into-opioid-remission/79013.html

Brain’s Reward System Begins Normalizing a Few Months Into Opioid Remission

Florida has had its fair share of pill mills an opiate abuse. Here is an interesting new article that all people struggling with opiates should read! If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse and you would like to meet with a psychologist please call Dr. Davenport's office serving Sarasota and Venice Florida 941-321-1971.

A few months into recovery, patients who have successfully stopped taking prescription opioids show signs that their brains’ natural reward systems are starting to normalize, according to a new study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

The researchers assessed changes in the brain’s reward system in patients who were in residential treatment for their addiction to opioid pain medications.

One group had recently gone through medically assisted opioid withdrawal within the previous one to two weeks. The second group had been drug-free for two to three months. A group of normal controls were also involved for comparison.

After drug withdrawal, many people with opioid addiction experience persistent changes in the reward and memory circuits. For example, they may experience heightened “rewards” or “pleasure” in response to drugs and related stimuli, but greatly reduced responses to naturally pleasurable stimuli (such as good food, or friendship).

Posted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

Venice Office

1525 Tamiami Trail S.

Ste. 603 A

Venice, FL 34285

Sarasota Office

950 South Tamiami Trail

Ste 202

Sarasota, FL 34236

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/12/23/those-prone-to-guilt-may-be-hardest-workers/79027.html

Those Prone to Guilt May Be Hardest Workers

interesting new study shows that those who are most prone to feel guilt out of disappointing coworkers tend to be among the most ethically guided and driven employees. In contrast, as is the case with many psychological dynamics, the same people who may be good employees are more reluctant to enter into partnerships. It's possible this creates a powerful feedback loop where due to fewer partnerships outside of work does it work or concentrated resulting in intensification of the hard work to avoid the guilt. When things go wrong at work it leaves these people even more susceptible to feeling guilty and potentially having proof that closeness to others result in increased vulnerability.

Posted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

Venice Office

1525 Tamiami Trail S.

Ste. 603 A

Venice, FL 34285

Sarasota Office

950 South Tamiami Trail

Ste 202

Sarasota, FL 34236

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/most-u-s-doctors-now-support-assisted-suicide-survey-n269691

Most U.S. Doctors Now Support Aid in Dying: Survey

Empowerment in individual's end-of-life decision-making has always had a hard time finding a place next to Western medicine. The nexus of healthcare, life, death, having control over our own health and being completely out of control of aspects of life seemed to resonate in the topic of assisted suicide. Are we able to end our own lives with the support of medical doctors who can be an extension of popular culture? Do we even have the right to choose whether to end our lives are not?these are very powerful questions that have been wondered about for a long time and we as human beings may continue to wonder about well into the future. Here is a recent article on the topic of assisted suicide. Dr. Charles R Davenport, is a licensed psychologist, who works with people dealing with struggles and questions in life. If you have questions about the services offered or would like to see about scheduling an initial appointment please feel free to call 941-321-1971 or visit www.drcharlesdavenport.com

Posted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

Venice Office

1525 Tamiami Trail S.

Ste. 603 A

Venice, FL 34285

Sarasota Office

950 South Tamiami Trail

Ste 202

Sarasota, FL 34236

Thursday, December 18, 2014

3 ways to emotionally survive visits with family during holidays

To some, the holidays are the "most wonderful time of the year." This is not always the case in my family, even though it is a wonderful time of year, things sometimes are "just a bit" stressful.

Here are a few tips that can be helpful:

Have some rules of engagement and expectations for the visit. Having a plan to disengage and seek support from someone before things get too out of hand can be helpful. Having nonverbal cues or a plan ahead of time can be helpful.

Heep an eye out for old scripting or family roles. Getting together with family can feel like picking up in the middle of a very old, very tired story in which everyone knows their parts but no one really likes playing them anymore. Decide to switch up the script. The easiest way to do this is to change your perspective: see and interact with the players as individuals instead of characters. In other words, rather than "Mom," "Dad," "black sheep" and "good kid," think of them as Sally, Bob, Jane and Dave. So often, the problems in families stem from our not being acknowledged and respected for the individuals that we have become. If we want to be seen as a person instead of some label we outgrew ages ago, then we need to lead by example and start extending that same courtesy to our family.

Be mindful of what we are thankful for. To the increased arousal and overall intensity surrounding the holidays it can be hard for the real positive things to stay as front and center as the parts that are brought to our attention as a result of old patterns or hurts. If we are aware of this head of time we can work to offset this tendency by consciously focusing on what we are appreciative for while letting the more negative experiences run parallel. Squashing them usually doesn't help either.

sometimes it can be helpful to reflect and process what went well and what did not after the holiday season. If you're left overwhelmed by how well things went or a little stressed out by things not working out so well and you think Dr. Davenport might be able to help please call his Sarasota or Venice office for therapy, counseling, or couples work.

Posted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

Venice Office

1525 Tamiami Trail S.

Ste. 603 A

Venice, FL 34285

Sarasota Office

950 South Tamiami Trail

Ste 202

Sarasota, FL 34236

People who feel younger at heart live longer

Who wouldn't want a longer life and feeling younger? New research provides more support for the powerful impact our mind has on our physical health in physiological functioning.

Sometimes the connection between our mind and body is not crystal clear and so when we are under stress we avoid looking in these areas because when under stress we want clear black-and-white answers. This can be adaptive. for example if we needed to grab something defend office threaten our life we would be best served to grab the tool we can see clearly rather than one that's in the shadows and may not be what we think it is.

A willingness to explore the shades of gray in our lives can give us a chance to see where we may have more control or more ability to find change.

Go ahead lie about your age. It may be the very thing that helps you live a longer life. A new study shows that people who truly believe they are younger than their actual years have a lower death rate. New research published in JAMA internal medicine online looked at data from 6489 people with an average age of 65.8 years who reported they felt a little less than 10 years younger. What's interesting is that most people in the study didn't feel like their actual age. Most said that they felt about three years younger...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/health/healthy-aging/index.html

Dr. Davenport works with people of all age to help them thrive and live life to their fullest potential. please contact his Sarasota or Venice Florida office if you think you may be able to help you.

Reposted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/12/09/work-jerks-beware-even-good-ideas-can-be-hobbled-by-attitude/78403.html

Venice Office
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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Work Jerks Beware – Even Good Ideas Can Be Hobbled by Attitude

Being pushy at work can help to advance your cause — or not, according to a new study in the Journal of Business and Psychology.

While investigators found that being disagreeable sometimes helps to sell your idea to others, difficult or irritating people should be aware of the social context in which they are presenting their thoughts. The aggressive strategy will not always be successful, warn Samuel Hunter, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University and Lily Cushenbery, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University.

People are often labelled as jerks if they are disagreeable by nature, overly confident, dominant, argumentative, egotistic, headstrong, or sometimes even hostile. It’s often touted in the popular press that being so direct and forceful was what made innovators such as Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison successful.

Reposted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/12/10/parenting-style-may-worsen-toddler-aggression/78449.html

Venice Office
1525 Tamiami Trail S.
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Venice, FL 34285
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Ste 202
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Parenting Style May Worsen Toddler Aggression

A new study dispels the theory that toddler aggression is associated with frustration caused by language problems. University of Montreal researchers now believe parental behavior may play a factor in the link between verbal frustrations and aggression. Physical aggression in toddlers includes frequent hitting, kicking, and a tendency to bite or push others.

Reposted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/12/10/distracted-to-learn/78452.html

Venice Office
1525 Tamiami Trail S.
Ste. 603 A
Venice, FL 34285

Sarasota Office
950 South Tamiami Trail
Ste 202
Sarasota, FL 34236

Distracted to Learn?

Surprising new research may rewrite learning theory as Brown University scientists contend that distractions do not necessarily impede the learning process of a motor task.

Investigators discovered that if attention was as divided during recall of a motor task as it was during learning the task, people performed as if there were no distractions at either stage.

Thus, the real issue is that inconsistent distraction can impair our recollection of the task...

Reposted By:

Dr. Charles R. Davenport

Licensed Psychologist

Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.

Phone: 941-321-1971