Dr. Linda Mintle’s blog

Political correctness rules the day

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:10:12 -0800

The madness continues as our President commented that the shooting was a result of someone cracking under pressure. With all respect Mr President, you are a lawyer and you were the head of the Harvard Law Review. Will you continue to ignore mounting evidence that suggests this shooting was prompted by religious difference and an ideology that supports taking lives for radical religious causes. When the partial birth abortion doctor was killed, you called it a haneus act and didn't hesitate to condemn such thinking. That was the right thing to do. On the day of serial shooter Mohammed's scheduled death, are we still saying his actions were not influenced by his radical religious ideology. When will we realize that tyranny doesn't always require a Berlin Wall but can come from within our borders because religious differences allow people to take the lives of others, we should speak up against such action. Why not condemn any radical religious arm that promotes death and call it what it is. This is not an inditement to the entire Muslim world but to the radicals who feel they can kill Americans because they believe it it not only right but will be rewarded. Evidence seems to be mounting that Hasan believed such ideology.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Please don't use PTSD as a reason for shooting 13 people

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:45:07 -0800

I was incensed today when I began following the news coverage on Major Hasan's gunning down of 13 fellow soldiers and wounding 30 people. News media are making me crazy with their talk about post traumatic stress as a cause for this shooting. Hasan has not been deployed. He's not a victim of trauma who has been behind enemy lines, fought in a combat zone or been to war. Please, leave the psychiatry to those of us who are professional and stop looking for excuses to avoid the obvious.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Media Hypocrisy

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:41:57 -0700

Ok I've had enough of the Rush Limbaugh can't own an NFL team because of inappropriate comments he made a few years ago for which he has apologized. Is it really about those comments? Come on. The public is not a bunch of idiots who can't see this hypocrisy. So Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez can be part owners of the Dolphins even though Marc married Jennifer four days after his divorce, Jennifer co-habitated with Ben Affleck before her third marriage to Anthony. The Williams sisters are also part owners, never mind that Serena Williams lost her match at the US Open after threatening the line referee while liberally using the F word to berate her. And then there is Fergie who is having no problem with her bid to join the star studded cast of owners. Oh yes, it doesn't seem to matter that she too uses the F word liberally and dresses like a porn star. Don't get me wrong both Fergie and Serena are incredible talents at what they do, but so is Rush Limbaugh. Whether you agree with his politics or not, he is just as "qualified" as these other owners. Apparently the media targets the people they like and gives them a pass. Those who politics don't align with theirs are bait for their shark attacks. The hypocrisy is sickening.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Press Pause Before You Eat

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:12:22 -0700

So much of the advice in PRESS PAUSE BEFORE YOU EAT is hitting home that I will be recording weekly podcasts to help you stay encouraged and apply the PRESS PAUSE principle to your eating habits. Yes, it is possible to develop a positive relationship with food--one in which food is not the enemy, is not something that controls you and doesn't create guilt. Check my website for when these podcasts will begin. Send them to a friend. Let's all work on enjoying food, maintaining a healthy weight and getting on with our lives.

Press Pause #2B

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Hollywood is an embarrassment

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:12:37 -0700

If I hear one more celebrity excusing the behavior of Roman Polansky, I'm going to personal hold group therapy sessions with Hollywood. Roman Polansky, at the age of 44--note he was not 20 or a confused teenager but a 44 years old man--drugged a 13 year old child with Quaaludes, gave her champagne and then raped her. This involves the illegal use of drugs and alcohol to a minor which no one is talking about and the rape of a young girl. The fact that Sharon Tate's sister (the sister of Roman's wife who was murdered by Manson's crazed group) is saying that the sex was consensual is unconscionable. She should be scorned off the TV set of any thinking television host. Shame on them for allowing this woman to make such harmful statements with no consequences. Once again, Hollywood shows how out of touch it is with the moral fabric of America. Had this been a 40 year old low income African American male who did this to a 13 year old, he would be in jail with no public sympathy. But Hollywood feels they rewrite the rules because they are so "special".

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Behind the scenes

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:02:47 -0700

Press Pause #2B

I had so much fun doing media in Nashville last week. I ended up doing group discussions in the green rooms of the various television stations on eating issues and why we have so much difficulty pressing pause before we eat. The interviews were great but the staff was even better! So here's to all of you who learned to press pause. Enjoyed the conversation. Book is available at all bookstores and on Amazon.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

No sense or sensibility

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:59:11 -0700

I'm not going to give out the website that provides the nonsense I am about to discuss but you should know how crazy our culture is getting to be when it comes to feeding momentary individual happiness.

When I read this story in a popular magazine, I thought it was a joke-- a website dedicated to helping married couples cheat. Yes, cheat! And here is the kicker. The end goal is to help save marriages by making cheating discrete. Sadly, this is not a joke.

Here is their tag line. "Life is short. Have an affair." What they provide is a way for a spouse to cheat discretely. They believe this strategy helps strengthen marriages. Their mental status according to Dr. Linda--psychotic, completely out of touch with reality.

Affairs do not help marriages or families. They are damaging and a breaking of the marital covenant. Marriage is not about your momentary happiness. It is about an unbreakable promise come good or bad, ease or difficulty. Never have I seen an affair help a marriage get better. And I've been doing marriage therapy for 30 years. Can a couple strengthen their relationship after an affair. Yes, but the scars remain and the damage is done. Affairs are never a solution to an ailing marriage. This "service" is nothing more than an excuse to make money off of people who need real help examining their intimacy issues and getting at the cause of their discontent. Instead, the service feeds the problem and adds insult to injury.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

March Madness

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:42:20 -0800

Here’s what people in therapy tell me when I ask about a moment of anger. “I didn’t think anything. I just felt angry.” And I say, “Yes you did think something. You just weren’t aware of it. And thinking influences feeling. Anger is an intense emotion that leads people to yell, curse and say things they often regret. Behind that red-hot feeling is a “thinking” you who contributes to your emotional state.

Usually your thoughts go like this, “I’ll never…He’ll always…How dare she…My life is over…How could he…I can’t believe… I ought to…No one treats me like…The nerve of… Can you believe… He’d better… I won’t take…Angry thoughts often come when we demand things from people, e.g., he’d better not treat me this way. Well guess what? He just did. Thinking you didn’t deserve what happened doesn’t help you feel better.

We all get upset when things don’t go our way or people treat us poorly but thinking negative thoughts just gets us more wound up. Instead of demanding people behave “the right way,” try changing your thoughts. Say, “I wish I could control people but I can’t. I’m not going to let this get to me. It’s not the end of the world. It’s frustrating but I can handle it.” Acknowledge your disappointment but don’t rev yourself up with negative thoughts of revenge, injustice, hopelessness and drama.

Anger

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Fighting the Winter Blues

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:49:06 -0800

It’s that time of year again. Daylight is shorter. The air is brisk and people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) know it’s time to get more light! Winter depression, know as the “winter blues” or SAD, gets activated by decreasing daylight. It usually begins mid October and ends around April.

SAD is a treatable depression that affects about 35 million Americans. The farther north you live, the greater your chance to be one of the 10 million people diagnosed, or one of 25 million that have some symptoms. People in the northern states get half as much sunshine as those in the South.

Symptoms can include tiredness, irritability, inability to concentrate, weight gain, craving carbohydrates, isolation, and difficulty getting out of bed in the morning. Women in their 30s are most susceptible but the disorder affects men and children too.

Treatment is relatively easy. Because light therapy regulates brain chemistry, you need to get more light. Light interacts with the eye through the optic nerve and increases brain chemicals that alleviate depression.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

NEW BOOK COMING SOON

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Linda Mintle) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:49:24 -0800

COMING MAY 26, 2009

Press Pause #2B .jpg

Read and post comments | Send to a friend