"At the most basic level, the human emotions that drive all our actions are the emotion of Love, and the emotion of Fear.
Love expresses itself through compassion, kindness, generosity, and understanding.
Fear expresses itself through self-centeredness, greed, jealousy, and exclusion".
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Did you know racism exists more in Asia, not just the West?
Yes — and it’s an often overlooked truth that racism is not exclusive to the West.

Racism exists more in Asia — not just the West?

While Western colonialism and white supremacy are widely acknowledged, racism in Asia is real, complex, and often ignored in global conversations. Anti-Blackness, colorism, xenophobia, and ethnic discrimination are issues across the continent, rooted in history, media portrayals, and social hierarchies.

Anti-Black Racism-
In China, India, Japan, and other parts of Asia, Black people — including students, migrants, and tourists — often face discrimination, stereotyping, and exclusion

African residents have reported evictions, denied services, and abuse, especially during crises like COVID-19.

Colorism and “Fair Skin” Obsession-
Across Asia, lighter skin is still equated with beauty, status, and success.

This fuels a billion-dollar skin-whitening industry and creates discrimination against darker-skinned Asians and Africans.

Casteism & Ethnic Hierarchies-
In India, the caste system and deep-rooted bias still marginalize Dalits, tribal peoples, and darker-skinned communities.

In Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslims face ethnic cleansing.

In Japan and Korea, discrimination exists against ethnic minorities like the Burakumin, Zainichi Koreans, and foreign workers

Media Representation-
Asian films, ads, and TV shows often exclude or stereotype Black and darker-skinned people — reinforcing colonial-era beauty and racial standards

Quote for Thought-
“Racism isn’t Western — it’s global. And silence is part of the system.”
— Beyond the Mirror of Color

Mental health concerns affect many people, yet LGBTQ+ individuals often face additional pressures such as stigma, discrimination and social exclusion that heighten their risk for anxiety, depression, substance use and suicidal thoughts. Strengthening support through family acceptance, peer-led groups and inclusive community spaces builds connection and resilience, while training clinicians in affirming practices and expanding access to safe resources helps promote well-being across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Learn more at https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/mental-health-in-the-lgbtq-community-pptx/279908451


#MentalHealthMatter #QueerSupport #TransHealth #LGBTQ #MichaelPezzullo

#OIG #checking is verifying that people or #organizations are not included as being on the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) #Exclusion List. This list is a list of those who have been who are not able to participate in federally-funded #healthcare #programs because of infractions or fraud. #Regular #screening can help healthcare #providers remain compliant to avoid penalties and ensure the integrity of their programs by ensuring that they don't hire or contract with excluded parties.

Read Blog: https://blogs.venops.com/oig-screening-and-checks-faqs/

#Exclusion #screening in #healthcare is checking individuals and organizations against federal exclusion lists, such as the #OIG and SAM databases, to ensure they are not barred from participating in federally funded programs like #Medicare or #Medicaid. This helps prevent #fraud, maintain #compliance, and protect patient safety.

Read Blog: https://blogs.venops.com/safe-hiring-with-trusted-exclusion-screening/

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#Healthcare #providers who hire or work with these excluded individuals/entities are subjected to civil monetary #penalties and fines. Therefore, Healthcare providers perform #OIG #exclusion screening to avoid these #financial penalties. OIG #screening also saves the #organization from potential reputational risks.

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RESILIENCE-
Embracing Life's Hardest Moments as Learning Opportunities.
Six ways to see life's hardships as merely "school fees."

When I think of the hardest moments of my life, ironically many have turned out to be blessings in disguise. While this is not the most severe example, one, in particular, was being pretty much kicked out of my PhD program at the University of Georgia in 2016. This was after I quit all my jobs in California (despite good momentum), packed my car full of my belongings, and drove across the country over a week, thus forfeiting my intern license to practice therapy in California (an unlicensed therapist is now called "associate", but before 2019 it was "intern").

The program in Georgia turned out to not be the right fit for me despite my best efforts. I mainly went because they offered to cover my tuition and pay me to study there, but I didn't vet the program carefully enough. The whole year was riddled with exhaustion, anxiety, insecurity, fear, insomnia, and exclusion. I was in therapy myself for most of the year to cope, and the only thing that made it tolerable was a lot of support from my family and friends. I was utterly devastated when I went back home; it felt like my career was over. Fast forward to today, however, and I can see that getting driven out of the Georgia program was one of the best things that ever happened to me. As the saying goes, "Fate loves irony." I thank all my professors in perpetuity for making me see what I couldn't back then: I'd thrive in the right program. In 2017, when I transferred to a doctoral program in San Diego, I began to succeed and now my business and career are doing exceptionally well.

I am deeply grateful I wound up in San Diego and happy that I didn't stay in Georgia in hindsight. I wouldn't have left, though, it I wasn't driven out! Ironically, the research and writing training from the University of Georgia significantly helped me develop my academic, professional, and personal writing. I worked hard in Georgia and it paid off: The learning and growth I experienced were unparalleled. It also helped me apply for and win scholarships. Almost half of the courses I took at Georgia counted towards my doctorate in San Diego, helping me save money and graduate earlier.

As my personal example demonstrates, life is a total rollercoaster; what seems like good or bad news now can turn out to be the opposite in the future. Every now and then you are able to discover a new high, a ceiling-breaking moment, whereas in other moments you may feel like you're falling deeper and deeper into hell. While these experiences can be incredibly tough, they present us with valuable opportunities to trust life and cultivate personal growth and learning.

Here I briefly underscore six key ways we can turn life's hardest moments into powerful learning and growing opportunities. Most of our hard moments really can be "school fees." If you work at this mindset shift like your life depended on it (as it kind of does), you can set yourself up to never really lose at the game of life.

1. Embrace Resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity and possibly also grow stronger in the process. It is a fundamental quality that enables us to turn life's hardest moments into learning opportunities. When we face difficulties, instead of succumbing to despair, we can choose, as hard as it may seem in the moment, to embrace resilience. This means recognizing our own inner strength and determination to overcome challenges. You likely know you have done it in the past and can do it again. What's something that you've mastered that you didn't think you would be good at in the past?

Hardship often reveals our true resilience, forcing us to confront our fears and doubts. Each time we endure a difficult experience, we build resilience, making us better equipped to handle future challenges. By acknowledging and appreciating our resilience, we learn to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity.

2. Take the Opportunity for Reflection and Self-Examination
Turning life's hardest moments into learning opportunities requires self-reflection and examination. When we encounter difficulties, it's essential to take a step back and ask ourselves tough questions. What led to this situation? What can we learn from it? How can we grow from it? Reflecting on our experiences allows us to gain valuable insights and wisdom. As long as we derive learning, meaning, understanding, and insight from it, even the worst things that happen to us can become gifts and sources of strength and wisdom over time. The lesson is likely cheap if you don't let it happen again!

As we reflect, we may discover our own biases, blindspots, or areas needing improvement. This self-awareness is a powerful and necessary tool for personal growth. By acknowledging our mistakes and learning from them, we can make better decisions and become more compassionate individuals.

3. Cultivate Empathy
Life's challenges often bring us into contact with the suffering of others. Experiencing hardship firsthand can foster empathy and compassion for those going through similar difficulties. This newfound empathy can lead to a desire to help and support others in their times of need. I'm sure I would be a terrible therapist if I didn't ever go through hardships: I would have no idea how my clients feel or what they need to hear.

Turning our pain into an opportunity to connect with others on a deeper level can be incredibly rewarding. By offering our understanding and support, we not only help others but also create a sense of purpose and fulfillment in our own lives.

4. Develop Problem-Solving Skills
As ironic as this may sound, life would be incredibly boring and possibly meaningless if we had no problems to solve. Difficult moments often require us to think critically and find solutions to complex problems in ways we wouldn't otherwise. These challenges can be seen as opportunities to develop and refine our problem-solving skills. When we encounter obstacles, we are pushed to explore new perspectives, seek creative solutions, and make informed decisions. Without obstacles, we wouldn't ever discover what we're truly capable of and a lot of our potential would be squandered.

By actively engaging in problem-solving during tough times, we become more adept at handling future challenges with confidence and competence. These skills are transferable to various aspects of our lives, contributing to our personal and professional growth.

5. Reevaluate Priorities
Hardship has a way of reshaping our priorities and helping us distinguish between what truly matters and what is superficial. Life's toughest moments can prompt us to reevaluate our values, goals, and aspirations. We may realize that some of our previous ambitions were misaligned with our authentic selves. In my Georgia example above, while my career backslid temporarily, I am fortunate to have been able to strengthen my relationship with friends and family, ironically, in ways that wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't gone through that. By using these moments as an opportunity to recalibrate priorities, we can make more meaningful life choices. This can lead to a greater sense of fulfillment and a life that aligns with our core values and desires.

6. Appreciate the Ups and Downs
There is no dark without light, and there is no hot without cold. Without the difficult moments, we would not fully appreciate the moments of joy, success, and achievement. These challenging times provide context and depth to our experiences, making the highs not only possible but more meaningful. In this spirit, I am perpetually thankful that I went through that experience in Georgia to appreciate more of my blessings in the present.

Conclusion
As corny as it sounds, it couldn't be truer: life's hardest moments, even if it may seem impossible at the moment, are not devoid of purpose. They are profound opportunities for growth, learning, and self-discovery. Embracing resilience, self-reflection, empathy, problem-solving skills, and reassessing priorities can help us navigate and transform adversity into valuable life lessons. When we view life's challenges as opportunities to learn and evolve, we empower ourselves to become more resilient, compassionate, and wise individuals. In doing so, we find that even in the darkest of times, there is the potential for growth and the opportunity to turn pain into strength. Mastering that skill is nothing less than a superpower.

ADOLESCENCE-
Why Proposed Social Media Bans Won't Keep Your Kids Safe.
Social media bans ignore the need for digital literacy and self-regulation
Reviewed by Lybi Ma

KEY POINTS-
Proposed legal bans on social media for kids are based on moral panics, not research.
The preoccupation with social media use ignores the needed skills to safely navigate the digital world.
Not only will the laws be difficult to enforce but verification proposals raise serious privacy issues for sensitive information.
Lawmakers could help kids more by funding digital literacy programs.
Politicians can't get their pens out fast enough to draft laws to regulate social media use by kids. Advertised as "child protection" laws, the proposed bans show how little politicians understand about social media, kids, and interpreting research. The proposals, however, are getting lots of media coverage as politicians make frightening, exaggerated, and often unsubstantiated claims about the negative effects of social media on mental health.

There are legitimate concerns about kids' mental health, but recent reviews of multiple research studies find little direct evidence to support the laser beam focus on technology use (Ferguson et al., 2022) and or screen time (Orben & Przybylski, 2019) to the exclusion of other factors. If improving the mental health of kids is the goal, the proposed bans not only won't get the job done but can cause more harm than good by taking our eyes off what really matters: teaching our kids to be media literate, responsible digital citizens.

Politicians have always used moral panics to generate votes. However well-intentioned, these laws will do nothing to help a child more successfully navigate in a digital world. No amount of restrictions will help kids develop the skills and critical thinking to be safe and productive in the digital space, such as self-regulation, dealing with bullying, ethical behavior, identifying misinformation, recognizing manipulation, understanding social influence, and protecting their privacy. If they want to do some good, why not fund media literacy programs in the schools to teach them what they need to know to have healthy and safe relationships with technology?

Restricting minor kids' unsupervised use of social media makes intuitive sense if you're a parent, especially when they are under the age of 13. These are critical years for cognitive and emotional development. The bans miss the mark by overlooking some fundamental factors and open the door to a host of unintended consequences.

Simply put, the bans will:
Make access more attractive to kids
Give parents a false sense of security
Do nothing to help kids make better decisions
Phones Aren't Phones, They Are Portals to a Social World
Online devices are a portal to the kids' social world. Social media is social currency—it's how kids keep up with pop culture, trends, and their friends. It's how they know what's going on in their world. Pew Research found that the three main uses of mobile devices by teens were: passing the time (90 percent), connecting with others (84 percent), and learning new things (83 percent). Being successful on social media has also become a desired career path, glamourized by the celebrated financial and social success of young Influencers (Kidfluencers) on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, many of whom are under 13, whose popularity brings earns big money from sponsors. In a 2019 survey, 86 percent of young Americans wanted to be social media influencers (Morning Consult, 2019).

You Need a Lot of Personal Data to Verify Age and Consent
To enforce the proposed laws, age and identity have to be verified. This raises serious privacy issues around the collection and use of personal information. Utah's laws could require kids, their parents, and other users to upload birth certificates and government IDs, use facial recognition technology, or provide biometric data so that social media platforms can verify age and identity. Talk about a hacker's and marketer's dream database.

Utah's bills are infantilizing to kids and disrespectful to parents. In addition to limiting access to social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. by anyone under 18, they require a parent's express consent for minors to sign up for apps like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok (Evans, 2023, April 4). The bill also would give parents administrative access rights to their kids' direct messages and interactions. If the politicians had read the research, they would see how this would undermine the trust and open communication necessary for providing kids with appropriate guidance (Wisniewski et al., 2022).

User-Centered Approaches: What's Best for the Kids?
Kids' needs for personal space change as they age. Autonomy is an important part of the developmental process as kids transition from a child to an adult and learn how to navigate their world. Like it or not, these kids live in a digital world. Risk-taking is part of the maturational process. Monitoring teens online and imposing authoritarian restrictions and privacy-invasive monitoring negate the developmental needs of teens. Parents are an important source of guidance, but the ultimate goal is helping kids make smarter and safer decisions, not turning parents into police.

Kang et al. (2022) found that parental restriction and lack of privacy boundaries resulted in backlash behavior, with teens making decisions without considering the risks to themselves and without exercising critical thinking. Yardi and Bruckman (2011) also found that teens are more seek out workarounds and are likely to engage in riskier behaviors to avoid parental observation, rules, and technology constraints.

If safety and well-being are the primary concerns of parents, empirical evidence shows that a more open and trust-based approach works best. Considering the needs and desires of the kids, rewarding positive behaviors, raising risk awareness, and negotiating age-appropriate online boundaries are the most effective at preparing kids to use technology well and become good digital citizens (Wisniewski et al., 2022). Teaching media literacy and digital citizenship is, admittedly, a lot more work than hoping the government can regulate the problem away.

Parents Are Important Role Models
Don't underestimate the importance of parental guidance. A study of nearly 4,000 teens found that 65 percent of the kids had positive parental communication, and these kids were more likely to have a healthy relationship with technology, greater well-being, and a better positive body image. Parental involvement included communication, parental attention to their own technology and social media use, and rules focused on content and activity rather than screen time. The 37 percent of remaining kids deemed 'at-risk' had screentime-based rules or no rules at all and, more importantly, no parental involvement.

Whether or not these laws can be enforced, or if the number of exclusions by powerful lobbyists makes them meaningless, there is no evidence that the proposed bans will achieve the intended goals. Instead of focusing exclusively on social media platforms, we need to teach kids age-appropriate, essential skills to be safe online without risking privacy or undermining their autonomy. The answer lies in creating user-centered approaches, such as teaching media literacy, negotiating age-appropriate boundaries, and rewarding positive behaviors, to effectively prepare children to become good digital citizens.

MOTIVATION-
To Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life, Seek These Goals.
A new study compares goals for wealth vs. health to boost feelings of happiness.
Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

KEY POINTS-
According to self-determination theory (SDT), striving toward intrinsic goals rather than extrinsic ones will promote well-being.
A new, large-scale meta-analysis that subjects SDT to rigorous study supports the value of intrinsic striving for psychological health.
Turning your extrinsic into intrinsic striving will help ensure that the path you follow through life is not only motivating but also fulfilling.
You may not think about your life goals on a daily basis, if specifically at all. Yet, your behavior on that daily basis does reflect the overarching purpose you place on your life. Do you find yourself preoccupied with how you look to others, or do you believe it’s most important to focus on the internal states that contribute to your physical and mental health?

At the same time, would you describe your actions as oriented toward providing you with creature comforts that wealth can provide? Or do you devote most of your efforts toward expressing your unique abilities and interests? One final question: Do you see relationships as ways to get ahead, or do you value relationships for their love and understanding?

These central questions lie at the heart of self-determination theory (SDT), which proposes that striving for the so-called “extrinsic” rewards of wealth, fame, and recognition can stymie your ability to achieve true inner happiness. Such motivations interfere with well-being because they are based on the comparisons you make of yourself to others, comparisons that are destined to be never-ending. In the words of the authors of a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “even when achieved, extrinsic aspirations are perpetually out of reach because people require an increasing dose of ‘the remedy’ to keep receiving its ostensible benefit” (p. 874).

Instead, the path to well-being lies in seeking to fulfill the “intrinsic” rewards associated with personal growth, engagement in emotionally gratifying relationships, giving to others, and your own physical health. Pursuit of these goals helps you satisfy your needs for autonomy (volition), competence (ability), and relatedness (closeness to others).

Although SDT is a highly popular theory, the question remains as to whether its principles hold up to systematic empirical scrutiny. The purpose of the study by Bradshaw et al. was to conduct just such a hard-nosed review.

Taking the Measure of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Across the decades of research and theorizing on SDT, this question of extrinsic vs. intrinsic goals' relationship to well-being falls into the specific framework known as “goal contents theory” the idea that “the specific content of individuals’ life goals also contributes meaningfully to their well-being” (p. 873). Proving its validity requires not more research, the Australian research team proposes, but research that comprehensively examines the existing data.

Using meta-analysis to subject prior research to rigorous scrutiny, Bradshaw et al. set forth a series of hypotheses based on differing ways to compare the contributions of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to measures both of well-being and of “ill-being,” or sense of despair and futility. The options expressed in their hypotheses contrast the two types of motivation in their impact on both well- and ill-being.

A major advantage along with the sheer scope of this study was that it included not just typical one-shot correlational studies but also longitudinal research in which motivation at Time 1 could be evaluated in terms of its effects on well- or ill-being at Time 2 (or beyond). Now, instead of being limited by the “correlation does not equal causation” problem, the authors could draw causal inferences. Beyond this feature, the meta-analysis allowed for comparisons to be made by sex/gender, age, nationality, and social class, which could all be important influences on both well-being and motivation.

What’s Your Motivation?
The one standard across all of the 92 studies (involving more than 70,000 participants worldwide) was that they employed the same questionnaire measure assessing motivation for intrinsic and extrinsic goals. This questionnaire, called the Aspirations Index, includes items that fall into seven categories representing the two categories of goals. See how you would answer these sample items; each involves rating yourself from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very) according to importance, likelihood of achievement, and attainment:

To be a very wealthy person
To grow and learn new things
To have my name known by many people
To have good friends I can count on
To feel good about my level of physical fitness
To work for the betterment of society
To keep up with fashions in hair and clothing
The extrinsic goals as illustrated with these items include wealth (#1), fame (#3), and image (#7); intrinsic goals include self-growth (#2), relationships (#4), health (#5), and community (#6).

You may find it interesting to compare your weighing of the intrinsic vs. extrinsic items as well as comparing your present vs. future attainment of each goal. Importance alone, however, is a key indicator and, across the multiple items of the Aspirations Index, would then serve as the value you would use in evaluating its impact on your well-being.

With this in mind, you might get a better appreciation of why it is so futile to keep pursuing extrinsic goals to the exclusion or even discounting of intrinsic ones. Can you ever have enough fame? Will you ever have as great an image as you would like, and will this last over time? Conversely, seeking relationships and self-growth might propel you toward fulfilling those basic human needs of competence, relatedness, and autonomy.

Across the analyses, including demographic controls, the findings clearly supported the hypothesis that linked higher intrinsic motivation to greater well-being and higher extrinsic motivation to greater ill-being. However, there was one proviso in that any motivation was better than none at all: “Striving,” the authors concluded, “is better than amotivation.”

All in all, apart from this somewhat obvious fact, the authors landed heavily on the side of intrinsic motivation’s value in promoting psychological health: “When it comes to goals, happiness appears to be of the heart strings, and not of the purse strings” (p. 894). The findings support, then, what you might consider the “greedy” view of extrinsic motivation—namely, that it “crowds out” any other form of motivation once it takes over your life. It’s difficult to feel that you’re in control of your life when you’re constantly fretting about how others perceive you.

How to Boost Your Intrinsic Motivation
Now that you’ve contrasted your own sets of goals, were you surprised by your ratings? Was image more important than friendship? What about health? Thinking, too, about your levels of attainment, which goals that you see yourself as having achieved make you feel better about yourself?

Another interesting feature of the results was that age played a very minor, if even perceptible, role in influencing the relationship between motivation and well- or ill-being. Applying this to yourself, it seems safe to conclude that being happy throughout life seems to remain a constant function of the desire to realize your innermost needs. Furthermore, unlike extrinsic goals, intrinsic goals are self-propelling and becoming reinforcing in and of themselves. You don’t have to check them off a list and say “done”; nor do you have to feel deficient because you’re still striving for them.

To sum up, having goals is clearly an important component of the well-lived life. To ensure that the goals that maintain your well-being allow you to feel that your life indeed is worthwhile, turning extrinsic into intrinsic will provide you with the most fulfilling pathway, no matter what your age.