“The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake.” 
~ First Lady Michelle Obama at the Let’s Move! launch on February 9, 2010

Frank Bruni was a fat kid.  He was also the New York Times food critic from 2004-2009 and the best-selling author of Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater.  In his deeply moving memoir, he explains the problems and perils of being fat and the emotional struggle food caused him as a child and an adult.  He said he wanted to write his memoir to show  “what food could do to trip people up.”

Apparently food can do a lot to trip you up.  Being obese can have a devastating impact on life. A child born in this century has a one in three chance of developing diabetes and an alarmingly high percentage will suffer obesity-related conditions such as cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and heart disease.  Those numbers go up dramatically in the Hispanic and African-American communities:  Right now 40 percent of these children are overweight or obese.

With these statistics, is it any wonder that Michelle Obama would introduce Let’s Move to combat childhood obesity?

Some of the strategies you’re using to reduce your anxiety might actually perpetuate and heighten it instead.

Kathryn Tristan, author of the forthcoming book Why Worry? Stop Coping and Start Living (available December 4, 2012), reveals three common tactics that can backfire.

Q: What are some anti-anxiety strategies that actually don’t work?

A: Often people use three common coping strategies that do more harm than good. In a nutshell, these are pills, booze, or avoidance.

Scientific studies suggest that 1 out of 2 people in the U.S. will suffer at some time in their life from anxiety, depression, or addiction. That means you, me, someone in our family, a friend, etc., is currently or will be dealing with one of more of these life-altering issues.

Why?

“I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair.”
~Lance Armstrong

The stun of learning that Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his seven titles for doping by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency was the first time in more than a decade I can remember crying after hearing a news broadcast.  The last time was on the morning of 9/11.

Without a doubt Lance Armstrong was my hero.  A genuine, certified hero. 

No one in the history of the sport of cycling has won seven titles at the Tour de France, beat cancer, and became a beacon of hope for patients.  His legacy was a source of inspiration for millions. 

But in spite of his fundraising and being a cancer survivor-turned-spokesperson, he is no longer my hero. 

…

Sex addiction has become the notorious new concern of the past decade. But it’s a serious issue that impacts many people’s lives. There are many misconceptions about sex addiction and what sex addicts’ lives are really all about.

I thought it was about time we brought this disorder out into the light, to remove the misconceptions about it, and help more people get treatment for sexual addiction.

That’s why I’m please to introduce our newest blog, The Impact of Sex Addiction with Dr. Linda Hatch. This blog will examine sex addiction and the impact it has on spouses, families, and others who deal with psychological and addiction problems in someone they care about. If you know someone with a sex addiction problem, this blog will likely help.

Every relationship needs help from time to time.

But couples who are grappling with addiction issues — with …

This month I had the pleasure of talking to Joe Pantoliano about his recently published book Asylum: Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, Recovery, and Being My Mother’s Son. Below, he discusses everything from stigma toward “brain dis-ease” to his personal struggles with and recovery from the “seven deadlies.”

Pantoliano is also the founder of No Kidding, Me Too! (www.nkm2.org), a nonprofit organization “whose purpose is to remove the stigma attached to ‘brain dis-ease’ through education and the breaking down of societal barriers.” He produced and directed the documentary No Kidding! Me 2!!, an intimate look at the experiences of Americans living with mental illness.

Pantoliano has more than 100 movie, TV, and stage credits, and won an Emmy Award for his work on “The Sopranos.” His first book, the memoir Who’s Sorry Now? The True Story of a Stand-up Guy, was a New York Times bestseller. He was born in Hoboken, N.J., and today lives in Connecticut.

It’s amazing how much has changed since the late 1980s and early 1990s when Zack Morris (a character on the TV show “Saved by the Bell”) was given a cell phone the size of a sub sandwich, and phone boxes and antennae were installed in cars so people could have a “car phone.”

It has almost fully become a new world since then. And what’s also most amusing is how much the world revolves around cell phones and their smartphone brethren — phones like the iPhone and Droid. These smartphones are now barely used as phones, but rather pocket-sized computers.

In my work as a therapist, a common theme is people’s desire to repeat the lives they were raised with. For people over roughly age 28, when they think back to their childhoods and pick out the parts they want to repeat as adults, the images that stick out don’t involve computers or cell phones. There was less to be distracted by and more focus on the present.

The ideals that I often see in sessions are very similar (each having its unique variations). The vast majority of people want a spouse or life partner, most (not all) want children, a house or large apartment, vacations with family, family dinners, secure career or job, and friends. But most want one more thing: Connection. Not via a cell phone or Internet, but emotional connection with families, friends, partners, spouses, and children.

This guest article from YourTango was written by Julie Orlov.

There’s been a lot of publicity around the issue of porn and its effect on men, women and relationships. With porn so accessible and free, it has taken on a new fervor in the lives of so many people. As with most things that affect certain synapses in the brain, porn can quickly turn from an occasional supplement that heightens one’s sex life to an addiction that wreaks havoc and prevents real intimacy.

Here are seven warning signs that you have become a victim to the allure of pornography…

In support of National Women’s Health Week (which was May 13-19 this year), I would like to mention a few ways that female sex and love addicts are different from males. Perhaps this will help women recognize which excessive behaviors can be signs of an actual addiction.

Women always have been overlooked or underrepresented in studies of alcohol, drug, gambling or sex addiction. It has been 73 years since the founding of AA and 60 or so years since the American Medical Association recognized alcoholism as a disease.

Yet it was not until the late 1980s that significant findings regarding very powerful gender differences in the development of alcoholism surfaced in research studies for other diseases, such as heart disease or AIDS.

I wake up at the same time every single day. It is 6 a.m. The birds sing outside my single-paned window, and my partner sleeps beside me. I close my eyes and work to will myself back to sleep: It would be nice to sleep until 8 a.m., maybe even 9 a.m. But I get frustrated and I get anxious and soon I have made my way to the kitchen where I make myself strong coffee and sit in front of my laptop.

But I’m forgetting something. It’s important, I’m sure of it.

I sip my coffee, turn on my laptop, and remember: My pills.

I cannot forget to take my pills. Disastrous things happen. Things I try to forget and things that keep me up at night. It’s never easy living with bipolar disorder but the medication keeps me stable, most of the time, and that is invaluable in and of itself.

Problems with drugs and alcohol affect millions of Americans’ lives each and every day. Many people live in relationships with others who have a drug or alcohol problem, and don’t know where to turn or what to do. Others have friends or co-workers they’d love to help out, but don’t how to help them.

Alcohol and drug problems don’t go away on their own. And they rarely get better just with the passage of time, unless the person has made a concerted effort and pledge to change.

Do you know someone who has an alcohol or drug problem?

If so, this week’s video from Psych Central’s Ask the Therapists Daniel J. Tomasulo, Ph.D. & Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D. may be able to help you.