Read. It’s Your Civic Duty
By
Dr. Rachell N. Anderson
    Many people think literacy a simple question of being able to read, but there is more to the issue. A person who is able to read but rarely does is not much better off than one who has never learned to read. Whether you can’t or can, but don’t read, you are, functionally illiterate.
    Many people love to read because it’s entertaining, fun and can take them to places they’re never been. Reading teaches us about the world and helps us develop empathy. In addition, according to Scholastic “each time you turn a page, your brain lights up -- reading is a workout for the mind, body and soul.” According to Dr. Robert S. Wilson of the Rush University Medical Center “reading has strong, positive effects on the brain. It increases concentration and memory, improves language abilities and grows brain cells in children.” Also, when children read, they are able to plan out an action in their heads and solve new problems in real life. Children are encouraged to read to find out more about the world in which they live and use that information to improve their lives.
    According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “Reading is the single most important skill necessary for a happy, productive and successful life.”
    It’s not just children who benefit. Reading slows the process of cognitive decline in adults. Reading has a positive effect on the body as well. Reading can relieve stress better than listening to music or taking a walk.
    Reading skills are essential to function in our society.   The world requires that adults are able to read and understand basic texts; function in the workplace; pay bills; understand legal and financial documents, and navigate technology. Advanced reading comprehension skills are required to figure out the technological advances being made everyday in our society. Try figuring out how to program an I-phone, for instance.
    Widespread illiteracy not only leads to lower education and employment rates, it is also linked to increased crime and incarceration with a high social and economic cost. In the National Adult Literacy Survey, participants completed a series of literacy tasks and received proficiency scores in prose, document, and quantitative literacy. Higher scores were associated with being employed, working more weeks during the year, and having higher wages. Lower levels of literacy correlated with high levels of poverty, unemployment and incarceration.    The National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) found that between 21% and 24% of U.S. adults performed at the lowest level on all three scales. Illiteracy has profound effects on society.
    Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found when there is a large number of adults whose literacy skills are too low to perform normal, day-to-day tasks, communities suffer. On average, adults at the lowest levels of literacy earn about $230-$245 per week, work only 18-19 weeks each year, are more than three times as likely to receive food stamps as compared to of those who read at the highest levels. They are almost ten times more likely to be living below the poverty line (41%-44% as compared to 4%-8%). Alexander further found and that many children living in poverty lack the skills that will allow them to become lifelong readers. A person with low reading ability may not be able to read signs, understand medical information or prescription directions, or apply for jobs that require basic skills tests.
    Readers think critically about what they’ve read and make connections to their own lives and as a result, they are likely to have a better life.
What’s a Person To Do?
1. Get a good book and read. Our local libraries have plenty of them. Read to yourself, your children, grandchildren and anyone you can get to be part of this experience. It’s a bonding experience that also cements the love for reading and its life long value.
2. Read to your children and have them read out loud to you. They’ll get better with time and your listening ears.
3. Become a tutor at a nearby school. Teaching helps you to learn.
3. Take, or teach an Adult Education Classes. They’re fun.
4. Share books with others. Sharing experiences is contagious.

Dr. Rachell Anderson is a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Professor Emeritus, author and a native of Tunica. She taught at the University of Illinois and ran a Private Clinical Practice in Springfield, Illinois for many years. She now lives and writes in Tunica, Mississippi. Check out her website at WWW.drrachellanderson.com for more articles and books.

What If All The World Were Laughing?
By
Dr. Rachell N. Anderson
    There is a movement sweeping the country that is designed to bring world peace. Diplomacy, democracy, and religion have not succeeded but comedians believe they can by focusing on something that’s universal, laughter. Groups like Laugh Factory and the Laughter Yoga (among other) movements have organized clubs, festivals and contests hoping to bring the world together through smiles and laughter as a positive manifestation for world peace and to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship. We could use some of that down here.
    An article in the Associated Press 10/20/2014 reported that Jamie Masada who owns the venerable Hollywood nightclub, The Laugh Factory, has already seen this approach to peacemaking work effectively. But will it work here? It's one thing to get a liquored-up audience laughing with one liners but another to bring people from across the divide who dislike each other together — and hope they will laugh at each other. And yet, that's what Masada is trying to do with what he calls the first Funniest Person in the World competition. “During the latest Palestinian-Israeli tensions, Masada, an Iranian-born Jew, got the idea of defusing the ethnic tension amongst his customers at the night club for at least one night by hosting a comedy exhibition featuring locally popular Jewish comedians sharing the stage with their Muslim counterparts.” According to Masada “It was held in the spirit of a gathering where both sides would learn something about the other. However, initially, what ensued was intense stare downs from two sides of the club. After the comics started performing, sharing jokes and humor from their own experiences, the end of the night saw both sides of the house commingling, hugging and laughing out loud.
     Created by Humorologist Izzy Gesell, World Laughter Day 2015 takes place on May 03. The goal of this day according to Gesell, is to get people to laugh, because "laughter is the best medicine"
    With the success mentioned above, Masada decided to host a kind of Comedy Olympics to find the funniest person in the world. He searched comedy festivals worldwide for candidates and had people online vote for them to pare down the list to 10 semi-finalists. Those semi-finalists are scheduled to perform at the Laugh Factory and to an international virtual audience on Oct. 20. On that day, perfomers will be pared down to a group of five finalists will go to the Las Vegas arm of Laugh Factory to compete for the winning spot on Oct. 24.
    Those who remember the “I Love Lucy” show, may want to know that the Lucy and Desi Arnez museum in Jamestown, New York is a destination for tourists around the world who come to celebrate the life and legacy of this comedy duo. One venue in the museum is called the Legacy of Laughter seminars, or LOLs. It includes panel discussions with audience interaction that explore and celebrate the value of laughter. People who create or perform comedy, who use it in their work, or who have been healed by comedy are sought. One participant at the center claims she was cured of cancer by watching "I Love Lucy" reruns.
    Even the much maligned April Fool’s day can be good for your health because it encourages jokes, hoaxes, pranks, an belly laughs, and brings all the benefits of laughter including stress relief and reduction of strain on the heart.
    People scoff when someone says they want "world peace," as if it's impossible. The irony is that it's very possible, even if there are a few people you may want to kill first. HaHa. But seriously, people like to be around optimistic people who make them laugh or make them happy; it’s contagious!  That’s why they say, "Laugh and The World Laughs With You."
    So, the comedians are doing their parts and we could use a few laughs around here. If it's possible to laugh your way out of a serious illness, why don't we try it for other things that have gone wrong in the world.
What Can You Do To Brighten Your Surroundings?
1.  Laughter can arise from such activities as being tickled, or from humorous stories or thoughts. Share one with a friend or stranger.
2. Tell a joke or two. Jokes have the power to grab our attention and focus our mind. Laughter from jokes can snap us out of melancholy, put things back into perspective, and provide the momentum to make the best of life.
3. Occasionally, find your inner child. Childlike playfulness is a human need and can help us be merrier. Be playful with others.  Develop a comical sense to see absurdity in daily life and before long the smiles will come.
4. Lighten up and simplify your problems. sometimes, the simple and the unexpected can bring genuine smiles and relief to the most serious of concerns.
5. Have you had your laugh today? If not, hop to it. If so, pass it on.
© Rachell N. Anderson, Psy. D. April 7, 2015

Dr. Rachell Anderson is a native of Tunica, a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Professor Emeritus and author. She taught at the University of Illinois and ran a Private Clinical Practice in Springfield, Illinois for many years. She now lives and writes in Tunica, Mississippi. Check out her website at WWW.drrachellanderson.com for more articles and books.

Laughter is Still Good Medicine
By
Dr. Rachell Anderson
    Even after 20 years, I laugh when remember a Psychologists’ conference I attended. On the program was Enda Junkins, MSW, LCSW, known as the Laughing Psychotherapist. For the first minute of her speech, she merely laughed “ha ha ha”. Before long, the whole audience, as uncomfortable and confused as we were (and not necessarily the merriest people as a group), we began to laugh, too. She then shared her unique, practical, and memorable ideas for creating laughter as a tool for healing emotional distress.
    In 1964, Norman Cousins was given a few months to live after being diagnosed with a rare disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. He was told he had a 1 in 500 chance of survival. Cousins researched his disease, left the hospital and checked himself into a hotel. He found a doctor who would work with him as a team member and as a result of his research, Cousins began to get injections of massive doses of vitamin C. He also took a pile of funny movies including the Marx Brothers and “Candid Camera” shows. He spent his time watching these films and laughing until his stomach hurt. He wrote about his experience in “Anatomy of an Illness”, lived 26 more years and died at the age of 75.
    Norman Cousin’s writing sparked research designed to gather evidence about whether laughter is good medicine that can be used as a tool for healing. He also ignited the movement which encourages people to take a greater role in their own health care. While not many doctors I know would treat such a serious illness in this manner, the research began.
    Over the years, researchers have conducted studies to explore the impact laughter has on health. To date, they have found that laughter helps to reduce pain, decreases stress-related hormones and boosts the immune system in participants. It decreases isolation, allows us to bond with other people and eases our loneliness. Laughing reduces anger,  aggression and conflict, relieves anxiety, physical and emotional pain and makes us feel happier. And laughter is contagious.
    Have you ever walked into a scene where people were laughing and without knowing what the laughing is about, you began to laugh too or at least smile? We laugh at the sound of laughter. That’s why the Tickle Me Elmo toys have been so successful. Try as we may, even though we knew it’s not real, we couldn’t avoid laughing at that infectious laugh.
    We were born with the gift of laughter. It’s part of the universal human vocabulary and doesn’t have to be learned like English, Spanish or French. We are born with the capacity to laugh. And kids ages 5 and 6, beat all of us with their exuberant laughter.
    According to Robert Provine, Ph.D., professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “We are a serious nation with serious people who have serious health problems, many of which are related to stress. Laughter relieves stress. Laughter is a natural medicine. Above all else, it's fun. It gives us back our playfulness, a characteristic of all mankind. It can help us feel more alive and empowered.”
What’s a Person To Do?
1. Seek out people and entertainment which make you have a belly laugh.
2. Hang out with folks who sing silly songs, tell jokes (as long as they aren’t putting others down) and find the irony in every day life.
3. Develop your own repertoire of jokes, poems, limericks, or songs so you can bring life to the party or family gathering.
4. Laugh at your mistakes, your embarrassing moments and your failures. The lightened mood makes it easier to make things right.  
5. Rather than sucking the fun out of others’ joy, laugh with them.
6. See if this joke makes you laugh:
    A man lumbered into the soda fountain and ordered a banana split. In obvious pain, he gingerly lowered himself on the stool as the waitress cut the banana in half, added 3 half scoops of ice cream (one chocolate, one vanilla, one strawberry). She poured on hot fudge syrup, and spooned on pineapples, added some whipped cream and a few fresh strawberries. Nearly finished, as she put the cherry in the middle of her creation, she looked up at him and asked “cracked nuts?” “No”, he said. “Arthritis.” Read more at Htttp://www.sunnyskyz.com/funny-jokes
7. If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours. For a while at least, it will make this a happier place.

© Rachell N. Anderson, Psy. D.,  March 7, 2015

Dr. Rachell Anderson is a native of Tunica, a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Professor Emeritus and author. She taught at the University of Illinois and ran a Private Clinical Practice in Springfield, Illinois for many years. She now lives and writes in Tunica, Mississippi. Check out her website at WWW.drrachellanderson.com for more articles and books.

Blue January
By
Dr. Rachell N. Anderson
    Psychologist have observed that at this time of year, many people began to feel lost, stuck, overwhelmed and depressed. Why can January feel so blue? No more festivities and celebrations for the season, the weather, money problems, few exciting plans, low levels of motivation, and the feeling that we need to do something different in the coming year are some of the known  culprits. For many, the future seems bleak. They lose interest in things that once brought them joy and happiness and experience signs of emotional distress such as difficulty sleeping, disturbed appetite, excessive drinking, being anxious or angry. For these people, happiness and joy are in short supply and they lose sight of how to get them back. In fact, the suicide rate is highest at the beginning of the year indicating the extent to which some people give up on themselves.
    Joy and happiness are not the same but they are related. Happiness is the over all evaluation one makes about one’s life. It’s the long-term over-all feeling expressed by a person towards life. Joy is connected to a time and place whereas happiness is an average of many times. A happy person will, on average, have a lot more joyful days. But even a happy person experience some horrible days. A unhappy person can have joyful days but negate them for want of more.
    When understanding the human condition, we need to remember that the mind is like a window stuck open or stuck shut. We are limited by reality and by our perception of things. Life gives all of us challenges that can seem insurmountable. It also gives us opportunities if we open our minds. It’s how we react to things that seals our fate.
    Yes, January can be bleak but there’s an up side to the whole process. Here’s some of them. The holidays are over until next year. Good. The winter solstice happened weeks ago, the days are already getting longer and there is more daylight every morning. It’s not July or August when you’ll be sweating like a hog and trying to find one cool place. Actually it doesn’t take much bundling up to enjoy a cool winter walk. There are many bright red holly berries, blackbirds and cardinals to look at and a blue sky and the pine trees are still green. Gone are things that make us sneeze. Snakes and other wild things have gone to their special places but the sun kisses our faces nearly every day and is a welcome touch. And what about soup. There is nothing quite like a bowl of good hot soup. It’s one of my most favorite things to eat but most of us in Mississippi put it aside in the summer months and use it as a winter dish. Have a bowl.
    If you want a better, more positive life, you must take more positive, proactive actions.
What’s A Person To Do?
1. Pay your bills or at least make a plan for doing so. A realistic plan can help you to feel more energetic and accomplished. Write it down and do your best to follow the plan in the months to come.  
2. Get physical. Most people know that exercise is good for our lives. It’s good for the body and the mind. With just a little effort, you can move from a mild depression to a feeling of well being. Most doctors would rather see us do that than use a prescription. All medicines have side effects. Just 10 minutes of an aerobic exercise can have a positive effect. Try parking your car farther from the building or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Each will help to improve your mood and energy.
3. Pay attention to your thoughts
    It’s easy to be unhappy. We Mississippians are good at finding flaws. And there are a lot of things that could be  improved. However we all have faults. They make our personalities more interesting. Focusing on the negatives tend to have negative consequences. The most common patterns of negative thinking are: a. All-or-Nothing Thinking (If it’s not perfect or all good, it’s bad), b. Discounting the Positives (To a compliment you reply “Oh, this old thing”), c. Awfulizing or catastrophizing. (When something bad happens, it’s not just bad, it’s awful). d. If something is going to happen, it'll probably won’t out well anyway.
4. Look for the sunny side
    Spring will be here soon. There’ll be warmer temperatures, green grass, beautiful flowers, wasps, snakes and mosquitos.
Enjoy winter foods and cooler weather of January? You can’t get this in July or August.
 
Dr. Rachell Anderson is a native of Tunica, a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Professor Emeritus and author. She lives and writes in Tunica, Mississippi. Check out her website at WWW.drrachellanderson.com for more articles and books.