Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 2.

Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. … If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

––From J. Heller's Catch-22

I followed the research on hydroxychloroquine and Covid from early on, awake to the age related dangers when an innocent and very unfortunate 71-year-old in our community died in early March just days after returning from a trip to Israel.

Going up to the mountain––the mountain of information that we now have available to us on the Internet––it was easy to see that there was both inductive and deductive evidence for using the drug at a low-dose, and with zinc, from day one or two of the illness. The protocol has three mechanisms, the best probably is that it works like birth control for the virus.

I called my physician's office and asked, "Are y'all prescribing hydroxychloroquine and zinc?" The nurse said, “Oh no, we don’t see you if you have symptoms. We send you directly to the hospital.“ Archimedes checked with his physician and discovered the same thing.

We next called the hospital and they said, "Yes, we'll see you, if you have symptoms. But, we only test you first." They would test us and then send us home to wait 5 to 7 days for the results. "If you start to have trouble breathing while you're waiting," the nurse said, "come back and we'll admit you to the hospital,"

So, if you get better at home, lucky for you. If you get worse, not so lucky and you go into the hospital. By the time you're really ill, and in line for a ventilator, it's too late for the hydroxychloroquine and zinc to do much good.

A perfect catch 22. Even Yossarian would be impressed.

Archimedes and I saw this as a problem to be solved. We found like- minded radicals and now have our hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and plenty of Quercetin, sitting in the medicine cabinet just in case distancing doesn't work.

If you are willing to dig into the research and apply some critical thinking, which means skipping the incompetent and fraudulent researchers, you will come to an important opinion––If given early enough in the course of COVID-19, this safe zinc ionophore can reduce the mortality rate from 5% in high-risk groups to about 1%.

The conclusion suggests an appalling question which some courageous people are screaming about at the tops of their lungs. Out of the 160,000+ people who are dead from Covid, if every one of them had been put on hydroxychloroquine and zinc during the first days of symptoms, would 120,000 of them be alive today?

Another mind-boggling issue is the system resistance. We see scare tactics, emotional responses, falsified research, and most disturbing of all, censorship. One example is YouTube, where I like to shop for facts and opinions. YouTube is censoring discussions about hydroxychloroquine. Who is behind this and why?

It's enough of a kick in the teeth to see that a useful treatment has probably been withheld from at least a subset of those who could benefit from it, resulting in unnecessary deaths.

But even more alarming is that there are people or groups who are working to shut down open discussion, debate, and freedom of information, for exactly what purpose we can only guess.

Time to reread Catch 22 and 1984.

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Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 5.

Sommers is New Juvenile Justice Deputy Secretary

On August 7, Gov. Edwards announced the appointment of William Sommers as the new deputy secretary of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice. Sommers will replace Edward “Dusty” Bickham who is currently serving as the interim secretary and will return to the Louisiana Dept. of Corrections.

“I want to commend both Bill and Dusty for their willingness to serve our state,” said Gov. Edwards. “I’m grateful to Dusty for stepping in to help without hesitation, and I look forward to working with Bill who has more than 30 years working in the juvenile justice system. His leadership, experience and skills will be vital as our state continues to address the needs of our juveniles and the additional challenges presented by COVID-19.”

Sommers began his career in law enforcement in 1984 with the Lake Charles Police Department and has served in the Calcasieu Parish Office of Juvenile Justice Services for 33 years and the last six as the director of OJJS.

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Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 6.

Executive Order to Eliminate Kickbacks and Middlemen Aims to Lower Prices for Patients

In late July Pres. Trump issued an executive order lowering the prices for drugs by eliminating middlemen who currently benefit from rebates and kickbacks.

According to the announcement, "One of the reasons pharmaceutical drug prices in the United States are so high is because of the complex mix of payers and negotiators that often separates the consumer from the manufacturer in the drug-purchasing process. The result is that the prices patients see at the point-of-sale do not reflect the prices that the patient’s insurance companies, and middlemen hired by the insurance companies, actually pay for drugs."

In the executive order, the president said that these middlemen to receive "… rebates are the

functional equivalent of kickbacks, and erode savings that could otherwise go to the Medicare patients taking those drugs."

And, he wrote, "Fixing this problem could save Medicare patients billions of dollars. The Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services has found that patients in the catastrophic phase of the Medicare Part D program saw their out-of-pocket costs for high-price drugs increase by 47 percent from 2010 to 2015…"

With this new announcement, it is now the policy that discounts offered on prescription drugs should be passed on to patients, he said.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 6.

Graves Helps Pennington in US Appropriations

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves announced in August that he had secured $3 million for LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center to help improve the performance and resilience of our military service members while reducing injury and recovery time. Under Graves’ amendment, Pennington Biomedical would build upon their position as the top nutrition science provider to the U.S. military to design nutrition programs that further improve the capabilities of our warfighters, according to the announcement.

“Pennington Biomedical Research Center is grateful to the Congress–and especially Rep. Graves—for confirming the broad benefits of Pennington Biomedical’s military nutrition program through this recently announced funding. Thirty-two years ago, the U.S. Department of Defense began a collaboration with experts at Pennington Biomedical to optimize nutrition for America’s warfighters to make them healthier and more resilient. Our collaboration has resulted in not only better health for America’s military, but also for veterans and military families,” said Dr. John Kirwan, Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

Also included in Appropriations was $440,207 for Expansion of Clinical Trials Access to Rural and Underserved Children of Louisiana at LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center, $667,911 for Aging and the mitochondrial response to exercise training, measured by noninvasive 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy also at at LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 6.

A request for an extenstion filed by Dr. Rodney Hesson's attorney was granted by the Judge, Judge Carl Barbier, US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, on August 13. The request stated, "The prison where HESSON is incarcerated is still restricting visitation due to COVID 19. This is an onerous impediment to communication between HESSON and undersigned counsel in connection with preparing the reply. […]" The new date is October 2, 2020.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 7.

In the August Louisiana Register, the Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners published Internet Counseling and Teletherapy Guidelines, writing, "The LPCBE finds an imminent danger to the public’s health, safety, and welfare; thereby, requiring the immediate adoption of this Rule to respond to the Covid-19 health emergency."

The new regulations cover several sections including establishing that teletherapy is a specialty area and involves the boards approval, professional training of nine hours is required, and licensees with the privilege to practice teletherapy must earn three hours of continuing education in the area yearly. Rules are also outlined for documentation at each session that is held remotely and also definitions for requirements for those providing supervision through remote methods. Excerpts:

"… Internet Counseling—mental health services delivered over the internet are rendered where the patient/client is situated.

"D. Licensees shall provide services consistent with the jurisdictional licensing laws and rules in both the jurisdiction in which licensee is physically located and where the client is physically located. Licensees providing teletherapy services to clients outside of Louisiana must comply with the regulations in the state in which the client is located

at the time of service. The licensee shall contact the licensing board in the state where the client is located and document all relevant regulations regarding teletherapy. A nonresident of Louisiana who wishes to provide teletherapy health services in Louisiana must be licensed by the board.

"E. Teletherapy is a specialty area and requires board approval. Licensees who may provide teletherapy must meet the following requirements. 1. The licensee must be licensed in Louisiana. 2. The licensee must be licensed in the state where the client is located if licensing is required. 3. The licensee must have been practicing for at least one year. 4. The licensee must complete either option below.

a. Graduate-Level Academic Training. At least one graduate- level academic course in telemental health counseling. The course must have included at least 45 clock hours (equivalent to a three-credit hour semester course).

b. Professional Training with a minimum of nine synchronous clock hours in teletherapy. The presenter shall meet continuing education standards established by the board. Teletherapy education/training shall include but is not limited to: i. appropriateness of teletherapy; ii. teletherapy theory and practice; iii. theory integration; iv. modes of delivery; v. risk management; vi.

managing emergencies; vii. legal/ethical issues.

5. Licensees privileged in teletherapy must accrue three clock hours of continuing education during each renewal period.

"F. At the onset of teletherapy, the licensee shall obtain verbal and/or written informed consent from the client and shall document such consent in the client’s record. "1. Electronic signature(s) and date may be used in the documentation of informed consent. 2. Provisions of informed consent for teletherapy services shall include: a. mode and parameter of technology-assisted media(s), and technical failure; b. scheduling and structure of teletherapy; c. risks of teletherapy; d. privacy and limits of confidentiality; e. contact between sessions; f. emergency plan; g. consultation and coordination of care with other professionals; h. referrals and termination of services; i. information and record keeping; j. billing and third-party payors; k. ethical and legal rights, responsibilities, and limitations within and across state lines and/or international boundaries.

"H. At the onset of each session the licensee shall verify and document the following: 1. The identity and location of the licensee and the client. If the

client is a minor, the licensee must also verify the identity of the parent or guardian consenting to the minor’s treatment. In cases were conservatorship, guardianship, or parental rights of the minor client have been modified by the court, the licensee shall obtain and review a copy of the custody agreement or court order before the onset of treatment. 2. The location and contact information of the emergency room and first responders nearest to the client’s location.

"I. The licensee shall determine if the client may be properly diagnosed and/or treated via teletherapy; and shall affirm that technology-assisted media are appropriate for clients with sensory deficits. The licensee shall affirm the client’s knowledge and use of selected technology-assisted media(s) (i.e., software and devices). Clients who cannot be diagnosed or treated properly via teletherapy services shall be dismissed and treated in- person, and/or properly terminated with appropriate referrals. The licensee shall use technology assisted media(s) that is in compliance with HIPPA and HiTECH standards. The licensee shall not use social media platforms or functions (tweets, blogs, networking sites, etc.) in the delivery of teletherapy, and shall not reference clients generally or specifically on such formats.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 8.

LSU Social Work Awarded $2.5 Million to Expand Mental Health Services in Schools

LSU News reported in August that the School of Social Work has been awarded a 5-year, $2.5 million grant from the Louisiana Department of Education aimed to expand and strengthen the state’s school-based mental health workforce.

The project will …"provide enhanced mental health services to students in high-need K-12 schools, help build the school-based mental health workforce to provide students with multi-tiered systems of support, and improve school culture and climate to better prepare students for employment, responsible citizenship, and fulfilling lives," said the LSU News report.

Focus will include schools in 12 Local Education Authorities in southeast and central Louisiana, and expand evidence-based interventions by providing professional development and technical assistance for schools. Practicing school social workers will be recruited to serve as field supervisors and receive free continuing education training and a stipend.

According to the announcement, "In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projected significant shortages for behavioral health practitioners, estimating a lack of 16,940 mental health and substance abuse social workers, 8,220 clinical counseling and school psychologists, and 13,740 school

counselors. While some of these projections include practitioners who work with both adults and children, they indicate substantial gaps in behavioral health services for children and adolescents, especially in schools."

"During the 2015-2016 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics collected civil rights data that suggest a shortage of mental health professionals who provide services to at-risk students in U.S. public schools. While the national student-to-psychologist ratio was below the recommended ratio, student-to-counselor, student-to- social worker, and student-to-nurse ratios fell far behind best practices established by professional organizations.

"Most notably, the national student- to-social worker ratio was 2,160:1, as compared to the 250:1 recommended by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). According to LDOE data for the 2018-2019 school year, there were 561 social workers employed by local education agencies across the state of Louisiana, amounting to about half (52.2%) of the mental health workforce in schools. With 716,293 students enrolled in Louisiana public schools, this indicates a 1,277:1 student-to-social worker ratio, which is over five times the ratio recommended by NASW."

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 9.

Dr. Sison to Present on Covid & Managing Change

Dr. Gustave Sison, consulting psychologist and owner of Sisson consulting, will present "Changes during Uncertain Times," at the Annual Fall Social Work Institute to be held virtually September 11. The theme for the Institute is "Controlling the Chaos."

Dr. Sison leads a training and consulting firm that specializes in the delivery of highly customized products for all organizational levels in communication, change management, interpersonal/ leadership skills development, executive consulting/coaching, conflict management, and outcomes measurement largely in the health care, utility, oil and gas industries, and government.

His September 11 presentation will include a review the unprecedented practice and personal challenges observed during the last 6 months. Participants will understand negative personal and professional impacts that have resulted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Sison will also cover the emotional reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic within the context of a disaster psychology model.

He will review change management strategies and creative responses aimed at successful personal and professional transformation in response to extreme change.

Gus Sison is a native of New Orleans. He received degrees in biological science and psychology and holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Sison has over 25 years of experience as a practicing clinical psychologist, author, professional speaker/trainer, and health care executive, with unique experiences in organizational systems management, consultation, and change facilitation during organizational transition.

Social Work Foundations is the division of Continuing Education Productions that produces and manages the Annual Gulf Coast Social Work Conference.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 11.

Tulane's Dr. Julie Alvarez Earns Hero Award

Tulane Science and Engineering announced that Senior Professor of Practice Julie Alvarez of the Department of Psychology is the Summer 2020 recipient of the Dean's Hero Award, reported Tulane News.

Dr. Alvarez is a clinical neuropsychologist with expertise in psychological assessment. She coordinates the Tulane Psychology’s 4+1 Accelerated Master’s Programs in Behavioral Health and Psychological Science.

The new award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated exemplary service, especially during this challenging time, noted the Tulane reporter, Faith Dawson.

"Alvarez showed outstanding communication skills with her psychology colleagues and set a positive tone with her contributions to SSE’s Flexible and Adaptive Learning Committee."

“For me, this award is extremely meaningful. And it really did take me by surprise,” said Alvarez. She noted the challenges that faculty members face when they switch from a traditional classroom setting to online teaching, adding that challenges can vary with individual departments.

“I have completely redesigned my course to enhance student learning

outcomes using best practices of online education; I’m structuring everything differently than what I've done for the last 14 years,” she said.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 12.

Earlier this year, Louisiana Tech’s Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Department provided Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training for more than 160 teachers within the University’s College of Education and for other educators in the local community, reported Tom Soto from LaTech News.

Dr. Ida Chauvin, Associate Professor for the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, applied for and received a grant to cover the training materials, manuals, and resources necessary for each participant’s training. Lagniappe Ladies, a women’s philanthropic network that provides funding for numerous University-wide projects and programs, helped to fund the program.

Trainers help teachers build the important skills needed to assess children, and also to give essentials support if the youngsters demonstrated signs of developing a mental health disorder or substance abuse issue. Educators also learned how to connect the children with the appropriate care. MHFA serves as a national, evidence-based program to teach the skills for identifying, understanding, and responding to the signs of mental and emotional disorders and substance abuse problems.

Through the training, School teachers and administrators can can develop a common language regarding mental wellness. They can expand the network of emotional support available to the children. beyond existing counseling staff. By way of the MHFA training, participants learn warning signs and risk factors. They can become familiar with the various health challenges common among youth, including ADD/ADHA, anxiety, depression, disruptive behavior disorders, eating disorders, psychosis, or substance use orders.

According to Soto, "In Lincoln Parish, 18.4 percent of sixth graders, 25.5 percent of eighth graders, and 26.5 percent of 10th graders scored high enough on the 2014 Louisiana Caring Communities Youth Survey (CCYS) to be considered in need of mental health treatment; each of those percentages is higher than the state average at these grade levels. According to CCYS results, 10.0 percent of sixth graders, 21.8 percent of eighth graders, and 31.1 percent of 10th graders reported that they had considered attempting suicide in the past year."

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 12.

A Tulane University researcher will study the effectiveness of an intervention to address trauma in mothers and their children as part of a four-year grant that will bring the family-focused project to New Orleans area Head Start centers.

Under the $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, assistant professor of psychology Sarah Gray and her team of graduate students and trainees will implement a program called Mom Power, an existing evidence-based intervention that aims to mitigate the negative impacts of trauma on physical and mental health across generations.

Gray, director of the Tulane Child and Family Lab and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Tulane School of Medicine, said the project builds on the research she has been doing since arriving at Tulane in 2014.

“This is an exciting area of work that I think holds real promise for helping us understand some of the intergenerational impacts of trauma and also hopefully how to mitigate them.”

“In our work, we've seen that mothers' experiences of early adversity have implications not only for their own physical and mental health, but also for their young children's."

“Existing research, including our own, shows that that the effects of trauma can extend across generations, and also that moms’ mental health and behavior affect their kids, and vice versa,” she said. “And yet, most studies of mental health interventions only look at the effects in isolation, on one target patient – either the adult or the child – instead of taking a two-generation approach. Our study is focused on relationships.”

Gray and her team will collaborate with Dr. Stacy Drury, associate professor of psychiatry at Tulane School of Medicine, and Dr. Charles Zeanah, executive director of the medical school’s Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, along with researchers at the University of Michigan and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzlia in Israel. The study will take place at two of largest Head Start center in New Orleans – Educare and Kingsley House.

The project is a randomized controlled trial, which means that researchers will be able to determine whether Mom Power really does have a positive impact on intergenerational trauma. To do this, they will focus on the impact of the intervention on mothers’ behavior and physiology, on children’s behavior and physiology, and on the relationship between the two.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 1, 3.

During April and May, Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS) conducted a survey of psychologists and related other practitioners to explore the impact of Covid-19 on psychological services.

MHS researchers found that there has been a 58% overall loss in service capacity.

The top three provider types that have lost the greatest percentage of their work or practice are neuropsychologists, with a decrease of 72%, school psychologists, with a decrease of 65%, and clinical psychologists with a drop of 50%.

In looking at settings, those neuropsychologists in private practice reported the highest loss of all other groups, an 82% loss in service to the public.

Practitioners working in the Veterans Administration reported a service capacity loss of 68%.

In patient hospital settings reported the lowest losses, at 48%.

The researchers asked how these services could be improved and 46% of the respondents said they planned on administering performance-based test over remote mechanisms.

A total of 43% said they intended to use teletherapy services. This compared to only 1% of the practitioners, prior to Covid- 19, confirming that they planned to be using telepsychology in some capacity, said researchers.

Of the psychologists and practitioners surveyed, 24% reported that they currently provide crisis counseling which compared to 8% before Covid-19.

The researchers found that the top three worries and challenges to delivering clinical services remotely included a lack of validated tools for telepsychology. At least 78% of neuropsychologists and 80% of school psychologists rated this as a very or extremely challenging problem.

A second problem noted by respondents regarding adapting to the Covid-19 environment was that remote service

delivery was not appropriate for specific populations.

Finally, the third greatest concern was that logistical issues regarding telepsychology practice was considered to be a challenge.

The researchers studied the responses of over 2000 individuals composed of 42% school psychologists, 36% clinical psychologists, 14% neuropsychologists, and 8% others. The respondents serve children, youths, adults, and families.

Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS) serves clients in educational, clinical, corporate, public safety, government, military, pharmaceutical, and research settings. The firm is a leading publisher of scientifically validated assessments.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / September 2020

Originally published: September 2020. Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 1, 8.

Pennington psychologist, Dr. Corby Martin, has launched his new smartphone app and the device promises to make it easier for users to count calories correctly, according to news from Pennington Biomedical. By using food photos taken with their smartphones, individuals can get an accurate view of their macro nutrients and better calculate their intake.

Drs. Martin and John Apolzan are Co-principal Investigators of a four-year, $1.8 million, National Institutes of Health study that will test their app against the current “gold-standard” calorie-consumption measures, noted the press release.

“One of the keys to successful weight management or weight loss is making sure you are eating the correct amount of food. More often than not, people underestimate how much they have really eaten," said Dr. Martin, Professor and Director, Ingestive Behavior Lab.

Dr. Martin's lab conducts interventions to improve food intake, exercise, and body weight. Martin’s research interests include the application of technology to change people’s behavior and improve health through mobile health interventions. The Ingestive Behavior Lab is composed of psychologists, behaviorists, and nutritionist professionals, including Registered Dietitian Nutritionists. The lab specializes in the measurement of energy intake and energy balance and the utilization of this information to help people change their diet and exercise habits to improve their health and manage body weight.

Martin is an expert at quantifying energy intake in controlled and free-living conditions, and has developed and validated the "Remote Food Photography Method" and SmartIntake® smartphone app.

Martin and colleagues have created and validated mathematical models to accurately predict body mass as well as weight change in response to dieting and or overfeeding. Martin also studies the "compensatory effects of perturbing energy balance, including the effect of exercise on subsequent food intake and changes in activity and metabolism."

Health psychology is an expanding area in psychology. Dr. Martin previously explained to the Times, “Health psychology continues to become more involved in the medical arena. Health psychologists play important roles in bariatric surgery centers, cancer centers, and other settings where chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension, are treated.”

The new app, PortionSize™, analyzes pictures of users’ meals and lets them know how many calories they have eaten. The app helps offset what the National Institutes of Health refer to as “portion distortion,” giving consumers a more accurate gauge of calorie consumption, reported Pennington News.

“Portions – the amount of food in a meal or snack – have increased greatly over the past two-plus decades,” said John Apolzan, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director, Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Laboratory. “What people now consider a normal portion is generally too much for an individual."

For example, 20 years ago, the average cheeseburger contained 333 calories. A blueberry muffin weighed 1.5 ounces and contained 210 calories.

Today the average cheeseburger is 590 calories while the typical blueberry muffin weighs in at 5 ounces and 500 calories.

The app is not yet available commercially, but it is available for licensing. Contact Leslie Smith at Pennington: leslie.smith@pbrc.edu

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / August 2020

Originally published: August 2020. Volume 11, No. 8. Source pages: 2.

Some years ago, Archimedes and I splurged on a backyard lap pool, and Covid-19 being what it is, the pool has turned out to be a great investment, helping us cope with the self–isolation required to avoid the Russian roulette for those over 60.

Less fortunate, however, are the various and sundry creatures that accidently wind up floundering and struggling to escape the watery death trap.

My Irish–Catholic father lived by and instilled the moral code that, "If you kill it, you have to eat it," for co-existing with other living creatures. So, with some mixture of altruism, concern for all life, and to avoid the idea of having to eat whatever dies in the pool, I spend 15 minutes a day rescuing various wildlife before I swim my hour of laps.

The most frequent victims are spiders. I’ve become an expert at liberating larger and larger plain, brown, garden-variety tree spiders that apparently fall or are blown from the trees surrounding the pool. At first they can spread their legs and actually walk across the surface of the water for a while. However, soon they have to resort to rolling themselves into a ball to continue to float. After that it’s pretty much curtains.

The first few times I rescued a balled-up spider it shocked the hell out of me because they unfold to about four times their size. With practice I've been able desensitize myself so that now I can airlift a spider the size of a silver dollar over to the side of the pool, the thing riding comfortably and peaceably on the back of my hand. I've even chauffeured a mother spider out of the pool, her back covered with tiny babies, which makes her look rather vicious if you are seeing this for the first time. Getting those tiny babies out is a time–consuming nightmare so it's efficient to free the mother before she sinks.

The grasshoppers are the most fun to save because they go jumping off your hand like they’ve been shot out of a cannon. The frogs are sweet and passive. The beetles are the bread & butter victims, the epitome of resilience and calm. Neither the bees nor the ants inspire much sympathy in me––the bees will sting you as you’re rescuing them––but it's better than finding them in your swimming suit during the workout.

Once a baby possum found its way into the leaf skimmer. Archimedes went straight to work to protect his woman. Striding confidently into the middle of the situation, he yelled "Stand back!" as he commenced to capture the thing with the leaf net, presumably imagining a danger for me similar to the Killer Rabbit. I was already "back," standing all the way on the other side of the pool. The baby possum would have had to swim across, somehow climb out––obviously the whole problem in the first place––and then decide to go after me, bent on revenge. I didn't point out the logic problem, being that I'm generally a fan of male protective instincts.

I've also encountered a suicidal lizard. Most lizards are goners by the time I find them but I once rescued a green-gray, striped lizard. It did an instant about-face and dove headfirst back into the pool. Once committed to a rescue, I seldom give up, so I fished the thing out again and walked it to a grassy area past the pool walkway. The lizard promptly scurried back and launched it self directly into the water again, sinking in a vertical, Christ- like position. I was left with no alternative at this point but to retrieve it a third time. So I walked the little lunatic across the yard, tossed it in the bushes, and pledged no more codependency in our relationship.

One other type of creature has a connection to the pool. Some days, as I'm swimming along, I turn to take a breath and catch a sideways glimpse of the sky. There, circling above me, are the vultures. They're checking to see if I am a floundering, struggling, dying animal. An eerie feeling––I'm thankful that they would have to kill me before they eat me.

Covid-19 and the backyard waters remind me of Ecclesiastes 9:11: "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / August 2020

Originally published: August 2020. Volume 11, No. 8. Source pages: 2.

Dr. Sam corrected our spelling of Mr. Alton Sterling's first name in the story on page 4. Dr. Burstein corrected a sentence in his review. Thanks for the assists and we regret any confusion caused.

Send your corrections to: psychologytimes@drjulienelson.com

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.