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‘Movember’ – ‘What is Prostate Cancer‘ and a ‘Moustache‘ have in common?

What is Movember?

‘Movember’ is the month formerly known as November, and from 1st – 30th November – men and women across the globe join together to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues.

In 2010, over 111,825 UK Mo Bros and Mo Sistas got on board, raising £11.7 million. As you can appreciate there are some weird and wonderful moustaches grown throughout the month –

Moustache season is about real men growing real moustaches. And talking about real issues. Face grown, hand brushed and crafted with pride.

Get involved NOW!!!
And sisters yes you too can get involved;

You can also share your mo photo’s Check out some here;

Source: Movember UK

Researchers in Canada have recently been investigating the link between Prostate cancer and the use of the contraceptive pill. This came about due to the correlation between higher statistics prostate cancer diagnosis and the increased use of the contraceptive pill over the last 40 years.

This team of researchers from used two existing sets of data to pinpoint rates of prostate cancer and associated deaths and the proportion of women using common methods of contraception for 2007.

The study highlighted that in countries around the world where the proportion of women using the contraceptive pill is higher, the rates of prostate cancer in men is higher

The research is speculative and designed to prompt further consideration of the issues. Therefore definitive conclusions cannot be drawn yet, the researchers say.

Source: The Belfast Telegraph

Thank you

Dawn Pugh

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Image by Laurabot_ via Flickr

’11:11:11′

Did you know…?

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 – Fighting actually ceased 7 months earlier with an armistice and Germany went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

It is very likely that Veterans Day will be remembered/observed/celebrated much more than usual on November 11th, 2011.

Most predictions and opinions concerning ’11/11/11′ are based on or rooted in its mathematical uniqueness as a number.

’11*11*11‘: There are three possible scenarios:

1. Something good happens— there is absolutely no scientific basis for this belief. There are no known logical premises for this belief. The belief that something good will happen is based solely on spiritualism, faith, and/or innate optimism. This belief is not necessarily a bad thing; we don’t know everything; the probability is not zero.

2. Nothing happens— this is the most likely scenario. Just because an unusual date number sequence occurs doesn’t mean that something extraordinary will happen. Usually it’s a non-event.

3. Something bad happens— there is absolutely no scientific basis for this belief. There are no known logical premises for this belief. The belief that something bad will happen is based solely on pessimism of reality. This belief is not necessarily false; after all, something somewhere will be happening for someone. The probability is not zero

However ‘Blackjack’ players love the number 11. It usually means time to double down, but not always.

Dice players love the number 11. On the come-out roll, it’s as good as the number seven. Do not ask the crap dealers how to bet 11 the hard way…

The number 11 is a popular lottery number. This results in the per-person payouts being a little below average when eleven is one of the winning numbers.

The number 11 is a popular keno number. One wonders if the casinos and slot machine manufacturers make use of that fact…

Thank you

Dawn Pugh

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Image via Wikipedia

A ‘Smile‘ is Free – Give away one of yours today.

Our ‘Body language’ speaks volumes when we ‘smile‘ -

I think we all like to look at ‘Smiling faces’ and ‘Smiling eyes’ and I think we can all agree that we feel better if we ‘smile‘.

“Even the stimulation of emotion in the mind tends to arouse a smile” Charles Darwin

When we see others smiling or laughing it obviously arouses something in us and most of us will mirror and reciprocate, it is a very contagious act.

Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne was French neurologist, who was first to research into several facial nervous and muscular disorders.

“That’s him with his assistant in the picture – The patient doesn’t look too happy though’”

Anyway Duchenne applied electrodes for recording the path that electricity took when contracting facial muscle fibres but he was revitalized by an odd fascination: “Faradism” He had a growing interest in the application of electricity to the skin for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. By applying electricity to the skin of patients he witnessed that this caused the skin to contract and make a smile like motion.

Today ‘Faradism’ is also known as Faradic Therapy, Aversion Therapy, Faradisation, TENS Therapy and Galvanisation.

Smiling can actually make us healthier by releasing ‘Cortisol’ which is a mood enhancing hormone it also helps to reduce blood pressure. We can also look better, feel better, we’re more approachable, likeable, and competent.

A SMILE -It cost nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it lasts forever. None are so rich they can get along without it and none so poor but are richer for its benefits. It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and nature’s best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anybody till it is given away! If someone is to tired to give you a smile, leave one of yours. For, nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none to give.

I hope this helps you to understand what a simple ‘smile’ can accomplish

Thank you

Dawn Pugh

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Is your ‘child behaviour’ ‘out of control‘?

Apparently a large proportion of young males are being admitted into mental health services ‘out of control’ due to computer games.

Their presenting  issues are of poor concentration, aggression, lack of communication and increased sexual activity.

A lot of these games are aimed at people 18 years old. Within these games are graphic portrayals of sex, violence and injuries, even death.

Have these children escaped into a world of fantasy in order to distract from their own lives?

This area of the brain is more evolved in humans than in any other creature. It also forms late in our development, not becoming fully active until our teenage years.

If you damage the prefrontal cortex, your senses and movements are not impaired but you change; you become more reckless, lose a sense of sequence and consequence, of narrative and of your place in these sequences.

In neurochemical terms, it is similar to gambling or taking drugs. It shows the same disregard for consequence and a confusion between reality and screen life as if you beat up an old lady on the street, recorded it with your mobile and put it on YouTube.

To be honest we do read about some indespicable events involving young people, is this how we intend to evolve?

So let me ask you who in your opinion is responsible?

Dawn Pugh

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• Serious claims belong in a serious scientific paper | Ben Goldacre (guardian.co.uk)
• Video games ‘can alter children’s brains’ (telegraph.co.uk)
• Biological Mechanisms of Aggression (aqapsyblog.wordpress.com)
• Digital Kids (bupa.com.au)

Thoughts for the day…

• “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
• “Lasting peace will come only from a profound understanding of violence.” ~ Leland R. Beaumont
• “He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
• “Resentment is like taking poison and hoping the other person dies.” ~ St. Augustine

“Please take the time to read this article and allow your self to digest the information, then, if you wish let me know what your thoughts are by submitting a comment in the box below or if you prefer simply click on the facebook share button at the top of the page and help spread the word…Thank you.”

My favourite is the last one.

Dawn Pugh MBACP – NCSAG

New Year Greetings for 2011

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my clients and readers both past and present a very very Happy New Year.

And weren’t the fireworks in London fantastic! – Well done to everyone that was involved in putting together such a spectacular event.

(In case you missed it or would like to see it again – there is a link at the bottom of the page to a video which is on youtube – fireworks video)

Also a special thank you to everyone who has submitted valuable comments and for those who continue to inspire, support and encourage me to fulfil my role as an ‘Expert therapist.

Take care and bye for now

Dawn Pugh Therapy expert.

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‘Wiki pedia‘ needs your help NOW!!!

* ‘Wiki pedia’ has helped millions of people to both give and receive information regarding a chosen subject, now it’s time for you to give your help to this worthy cause.

This is an appeal from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

Please read this appeal from the founder of * ‘Wiki’ and then if you wish to donate then please click on the link.

Donate NOW!!!

Your donation will go towards supporting the global projects as well as activities in the UK.

“I got a lot of funny looks ten years ago when I started talking to people about Wikipedia. Let’s just say some of the business types were skeptical of the notion that volunteers from all across the world could come together to create a remarkable pool of human knowledge – all for the simple purpose of sharing.

No ads. No profits. No agenda.

A decade after its founding, more than 380 million people use Wikipedia and its sister sites every month – almost a third of the Internet-connected world. It is the 5th most popular website in the world. The other four have been built and maintained with billions of dollars in investment, huge corporate staffs and relentless marketing. But, Wikipedia isn’t anything like a commercial website. It is a community creation, written by volunteers making one entry at a time. You are part of our community. And I’m writing today to ask you to protect and sustain Wikipedia.

Donate NOW!!!

Together, we can keep it free of charge and free of advertising. We can keep it open – you can use the information in Wikipedia any way you want. We can keep it growing – spreading knowledge everywhere, and inviting participation from everyone. Each year at this time, we reach out to ask you and others all across the Wikimedia community to help sustain our joint enterprise with a modest donation of £20, £35, £50 or more. If you value Wikipedia as a source of information – and a source of inspiration – I hope you’ll choose to act right now”.

All the best, Jimmy Wales Founder, Wikipedia

P.S. “Wikipedia is about the power of people like us to do extraordinary things. People like us write Wikipedia, one word at a time. People like us fund it, one donation at a time. It’s proof of our collective potential to change the world”.

Thank you James.

Donate NOW!!!

Dawn Pugh MBACP – NCSAG Therapy expert.

Please take the time to read this article and allow your self to digest the information and let me know what your thoughts are by submitting a comment in the box below or if you prefer simply click on the facebook share button and help spread the word…Thank you”

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*deliberate spelling errors*

Does depression and anxiety reside within both your body and your mind?

“I am a great believer in the mind – body connection and have for quite some time implemented this way of treating patients as a whole person and not just treating the symptoms that they present with. Emotions that are unexpressed and unresolved often manifest within the body, eventually causing dis-ease.

I am not expecting you to believe in this but to just consider this model for a while.

I would like to offer you some insight into how certain emotions could possibly affect certain organs within your body. Please take the time to read this article and allow your self to digest the information and let me know what your thoughts are by submitting a comment in the box below or if you prefer simply click on the facebook like button and help spread the word…”

In the Taoist tradition, positive and negative emotions are associated with the internal organs. One of the keys to good health is to become aware of the emotional energies that reside in the organs, and to transform the negative emotional energies into positive virtues.

Taoists believe that we are all born with the virtues of love, gentleness, kindness, respect, honesty, fairness, justice, and righteousness. Unfortunately, as we mature and encounter more stress in our daily lives, negative emotions such as fear, anger, cruelty, impatience, worry, sadness, and grief often predominate. The negative emotions have deleterious effects on the internal organs and glands, draining our life-force and undermining our health.

The 5 major organ systems and their associated emotions and properties.

The heart and small intestine are associated with the negative emotions of arrogance and hate and the positive virtues of kindness and love. Recent scientific research shows that feelings of love and appreciation strongly influence the heart’s rhythm and its relationship to the body’s physiological systems

The lungs, skin and large intestine are associated with the negative emotions of sadness and depression, and the positive virtues of courage and righteousness. Emotional depression is often recognized by a physical depression and collapse of the chest and lungs.

The kidney, ears and bladder are associated with the negative emotion of fear and the positive emotions of gentleness and kindness. Fear is closely related to the activity of the adrenal glands that lie on top of the kidneys. The adrenal glands secret adrenalin and noradrenalin when stimulated by the body’s fight-or-flight response.

The liver, eyes and gallbladder are associated with the negative emotion of anger and the positive emotions of generosity and forgiveness. Physiologically, the liver is important for storing and rapidly releasing glucose into the blood. The energy of anger requires the rapid availability of metabolic energy stores in the body.

The stomach, spleen and pancreas are associated with the negative emotions of worry and anxiety and the positive emotions of fairness and openness. Most people will be familiar with the “butterflies” and “knots” in the stomach related to worry, apparently related to a network of neurons and neurotransmitters in the sheaths of tissue lining the digestive system, known as the enteric nervous system (Gershon, 1998).

Source: Universal Tao Center, Thailand.

“Fascinating isn’t it?”

Dawn Pugh MBACP _ NCSAG

Expert therapist

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‘Revenge’ of the ‘Arson’ ‘Murderer’?

Little Francesca Bimpson lost her fight for life on the day before Christmas Eve 2008,  3 weeks after petrol was poured through the letterbox of her home and set alight as the family were all in bed.

Donate NOW!!

The 3 year-old “innocent angel” died after suffering 90% burns in an arson attack on the semi-detached home she shared with her mum, dad, brother and sisters in Everton, Liverpool UK.

Francesca Bimpson Foundation;

THE heartbroken father of murdered tot ‘Francesca Bimpson’ – ‘Kieron Bimpson’ told how the little girl hid beneath her blankets as fire raged through the family home. He also said of how badly little Francesca was burned and needed to have her ears and toes amputated in her fight for life.

At the time he said; “The person who did this knew there were children in the house. And they put Francesca through torture.”

An ex-boyfriend of Francesca’s aunt, who was at the scene was arrested but denied the charge and concocted a story that he was at the scene as a “hero” who had tried to make a rescue attempt.

Donate NOW!!!

A 3 week trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard how this murderer had, had a former relationship with Francesca’s aunt, the sister of Francesca’s mother, which ended weeks before the fire. He was bitter about the break-up and carried out the arson attack as an act of revenge.

This cold callous murderer was found guilty of arson attack and given a 28-year minimum life sentence for this horrific and cowardly crime of revenge.

Francesca Bimpson Foundation;

This worthy charity which was created  so as ‘little innocent angel Francesca’ did not die in vain and hopefully this charity will help others get help and support if involved in similar tragedies.

The aims of the Foundation will be:

• The respite and rehabilitation of families and victims of serious crime.
• The development of a one stop shop of support and the offer of counselling sessions by people you can relate to: ie. previous victims of serious crime in a designated building with Relaxing facilities.
• The offer of a playcentre on site for the use of toddlers and young children with designated playworkers, to give parents/guardians a break.
• The opportunity to enable networking of victims,to take place with refreshments and support tailored to individual needs.
• Facilities/resources to enable the development of a support group onsite.
• The purchase of a minibus for residential breaks away from stress and trauma for the people affected by serious crime.
• The formation a charity/charitable trust in Francesca’s name and memory.

My respect and admiration along with deep sadness of loss go out to this family and any others who have lost a loved one in this despicable and non-sensical way.

Donate NOW!!!

Dawn Pugh MBACP NCSAG
Expert therapist

REJECTION

Rejection can create a feeling of being unwanted which can then reduce our self esteem. The more intimate the relationship is, then the greater the damage is done, and the more challenging it can be to overcome the effects.

Although rejection may occur in entirely different types of human relationships, it generally conveys the same messages and internal questions of non-acceptance such as:

• Is there is something wrong with me?

• Am I disliked?

• Will I ever change?

• You do not belong.

• It’s all my fault / you did something wrong, or unacceptable.

The ability to challenge the harmful, long lasting effects of being rejected depends on your ability to understand the behaviour of the individual who rejects you and how you perpetuate that rejected feeling.

The way you choose to interpret the messages conveyed by rejection and the rejecter and how you choose to integrate those messages into your sense of self worth.

That is right! Your response to rejection, the power it exacts, or does not exact over you is a CHOICE.

I hope this article empowers you today by the knowledge that you can be completely unscathed by what is otherwise a very ego damaging experience simply by choosing not to internalize the negative message you have received.

So who is to blame?

Who proportions the blame?

Who accepts the blame?

Rejection assigns blame; it is by assigning blame that the party, who is rejecting the other party, is able to feel absolved and free of any responsibility to work on the relationship or situation. “You” (what you did, who you are, or what you did not do), is the focus of rejection and the means by which the blame it assigns is expressed.

To avoid internalizing your experience of rejection and fundamentally disempowering your self, you must proactively make a choice to face your fears, as well as express and share your experience no matter how shameful. In doing so, you reduce your feeling of aloneness and can begin to empower your self to recovery.

Is rejection ever justified?

This would be similar to asking if it is ever justified to blame, fault-find, or condemn. Rejection begins with and ends by identifying the faults in the other party. It never acknowledges the strengths, the untapped potential, or change-ability of the individual. It is not an expression of loyalty, and contributes nothing to a relationship except to absolve the person blaming from any responsibility to engage in problem solving or remain loyal.

To overcome feeling rejected, you must detach yourself from these memories of your experience and instead attach yourself to the reality of your unknown potential.

Understanding the mechanisms of rejection and knowing that it is never, and I repeat, never warranted or earned are the most fundamental keys to safeguarding your self esteem and sense of self worth.

This is a choice. You have to make a choice about how you are going to understand the messages of rejection you receive everyday, and how you are going to, or not going to, integrate these messages into your psyche.

Here is a little exercise:

Write down on a piece of paper, all the reasons for which you suspect, or maybe have even been told, that you were not worthy of love or acceptance.

Which of these reasons detract from the uniqueness of who you are, the mysteries of your intrinsic gifts and talents, and most important, the potential you have for change?

If your answer was “None,” then my response to you is to focus on your potential, not on the condemning messages of what you did or did not do. Be empowered today, knowing that you deserved that chance to evolve, to work on your potential, and you deserved the chance to do it a non-judgemental environment.

By: Claire Arene, MSW, LCSW – Thank you

5 tips on coming to terms with rejection;

1. Accept that whoever rejected you rejected you based on what they thought of you, something which you can’t control.

2. Let go of any resentments held against whoever rejected you, accept that they didn’t think you were good enough for them and move on. Your resentment towards them won’t affect them, only you, so don’t bother with it and move on.

3. Let go of them, along with your resentments against them. If they rejected you then you have a right to reject them.

4. Reward yourself for being rejected and letting go of people/person who rejected you and your resentments against them. Go for a day out with your friends, enjoy your own life.

5. Finally, remember life’s too short to worry about someone or some people who rejected you, meet new people who love you for who you are, there’s plenty more people in the world, get out there and live!! You deserve it

Dawn Pugh Therapy expert

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• Assertive, Not Aggressive (psychologytoday.com)