Weight-Loss Drugs and Pregnancy

The semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, respectively, are a risky bet for pregnant people.

Ozempic is also used “off-label” for weight loss. A large number of the individuals who would use it for weight loss, along with a large number of Wegovy users, are women of childbearing age. Sadly, what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says about that is,

[I]t is recommended that people discontinue use of Ozempic and Wegovy at least two months before getting pregnant due to potential risks of miscarriage and birth defects. For people using Ozempic to treat diabetes, the drug’s label says that patients may continue the drug “only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.”

Although semaglutide has not been tested on pregnant humans, the animal studies don’t look good. They mention miscarriage, underweight offspring, and an above-average number of birth defects. One unresolved question is, are these anomalies caused by the drug itself, or by the weight loss caused by caloric deficit caused by the drug? Unfortunately, to the developing fetus, that is a distinction without a difference.

The official stance

The FDA tends to believe the harm is from weight loss and poor nutrition, and allegedly there is not yet solid evidence that the drug is directly responsible. But the agency wants to be careful. It asked Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy, to devote further attention to this matter. How soon will we get some answers? “The first study is expected to be completed in 2027 while the second study will be completed in 2033.” But it looks like the door to non-prescription sales will be flung open long before those studies come to fruition, implying a whole lot of use without professional supervision.

Where could that lead? To numerous pregnancies in which the possibility of dangerously undernourished and underweight babies, and babies with possible birth defects, would definitely be a factor. Add to that the new wave of very restrictive policies around abortion, and it is possible to imagine a nightmare scenario in which an already overburdened healthcare system will have to deal with a multitude of damaged infants.

What about tirzepatide?

Currently marked only as Mounjaro, this drug also waves some red flags:

Available information on tirzepatide use in pregnant women is inadequate to evaluate for a drug-related risk of congenital disabilities and adverse maternal or fetal outcomes. [I]ncreased incidences of external, visceral, and skeletal malformations have been observed in animal reproduction studies.

Doctors are strongly urged to discuss these possible teratogenic effects with fertile women, recommend reliable contraception, and warn patients that tirzepatide weakens the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives that are taken by mouth.

And once the child is born, what about breastfeeding? So far, no studies have been done. The best available advice at present is to use the drug “cautiously” because it could cause damage to children. If mothers who love their weight-loss drug decide not to risk breastfeeding, that could cause damaged children, like for instance, obese ones. Because women are frantic to lose the pounds they gained while pregnant, all the progress made in recent years, by efforts to encourage breastfeeding, could be negated.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Weight-loss drugs are booming,” Advisory.com 04/19/23
Source: “Tirzepatide, NIH.gov, 12/27/22
Image by BlueGoa/CC BY-SA 2.0

What Else Can Tirzepatide Do?

In addition to the possibility of hypoglycemia, this drug has been known to cause hair loss, which sounds bad. But to be fair, a slender model can fake having hair by wearing a wig, while an obese model with the world’s greatest mane will probably not get the job.

Ozempic (generically semaglutide) is known to cause hair loss, and Mounjaro is made from the same basic ingredient plus another very similar one. And in fact, clinical trials showed that tirzepatide users lose more hair than semaglutide users. But while a certain amount of formal investigation has been done, a lot of concerned Americans are getting their information on this subject from social media platforms of questionable repute.

For Healthline, Beth Ann Mayer described the state of knowledge so far. According to experts she consulted, it is quite possible that the hair loss experienced by some patients is not caused by medications of this kind. However drastic weight loss, by whatever means it is achieved, can lead to hair loss.

As it turns out, cutting weight causes a lot of wear and tear on the body, which in some cases will react with telogen effluvium, or “a diffuse shedding of hair that occurs approximately three months after a major stressor.” Those are the words of dermatologist Dr. Susan Massick of Ohio State University.

Another dermatologist, Dr. Raman Madan of Northwell Health, gave the writer an explanation that curiously echoes Grandma’s tale of when her sister had diphtheria back in 1900 or thereabouts. The doctor shaved the little girl’s head because her luxuriant hair was stealing the energy that was needed to heal the rest of her body.

The modern-day Dr. Madan explained that the body takes essential resources away from the hair. (So, why shouldn’t that be a two-way street? Maybe the old-time doctor was not crazy.) When this happens, the hair goes into a “resting phase.” Mayer wrote,

Madan explained that there are three phases of hair loss:

Anagen hair loss occurs when the hair is growing. “This phase can last for years,” Dr. Madan says.
Catagen hair loss is a transition where the hair stops growing and separates from the follicle, a phase that lasts about two weeks. Telogen is the resting phase before it falls out, which Madan says can run for about two to three months.

In other words, sudden weight loss sends a lot of hairs into the resting phase, but new ones do not start growing to replace them. For now, the received opinion seems to be that, depending on how long it takes for a person’s weight to stabilize, the hair will eventually grow back and regain its previous glory.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Ozempic Causing Hair Loss? Why Some People Are Shedding More Than Pounds,” Healthline.com, 05/04/23
Image by Amy/CC BY 2.0

What Tirzepatide Can Do

As previously mentioned, unsupervised use of this drug can bring about hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), with consequences like “dizziness or lightheadedness, blurred vision, sweating, slurred speech, hunger, drowsiness, shakiness, weakness, headache, fast heart rate and feeling jittery.” For people with diabetes, using it in conjunction with alcohol can both increase the risk, and mask the warning signs, of hypoglycemia.

And that’s not all

The possible side effects of tirzepatide, currently marketed only as Mounjaro, range from embarrassing eructation (or in plain English, burping) to quite serious. One might experience nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, indigestion, diarrhea, and paradoxically, constipation. The likelihood of abdominal pain increases if the drug is used in conjunction with fizzy drinks. In the realm of small sacrifices, this is one that a person will hopefully not have too much trouble choosing to make.

In addition, it affects body parts other than the digestive system. The obvious one to look out for is a reaction at the injection site, in the form of swelling, redness, or itching. If the patient does not rotate injection sites according to a careful protocol, other local problems can develop.

Further possibilities include hair loss and headache, both of which a lot of people might be willing to endure in exchange for elusive slimness, but it just gets worse from there. These other things happen rarely, but there are reports of eye problems, renal failure, pancreatitis, hypoglycemia, and gastrointestinal bleeding. People with an inherited tendency toward thyroid tumors should probably stay away from tirzepatide.

Interestingly, one possible side effect is listed as “decreased appetite,” which is certainly to be hoped for because after all, isn’t that the whole point? On the bright side, it is said that many of the common side effects are mild, and some disappear after a few days. Or weeks.

Avoidance

A helpful website lists several moves a patient can make to avoid unnecessary side effects, and actually this list would benefit just about anyone:

— Drink 64 ounces of fluid a day.
— Sip liquids between meals, not with meals.
— Wait about 30 minutes after a meal to drink anything and avoid drinking 30 minutes before a meal.
— Eat smaller meals (try not to eat until you are full).
— Eat lean, protein-rich foods daily.
— Choose foods and drinks that are low in fats and sugar (low carbohydrates.)
— Avoid alcohol.
— Chew foods thoroughly to help with digestion.
— Take a short walk after eating.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Mounjaro,” Drugs.com, undated
Source: “Possible side effects,” Mounjaro.com, undated
Source: “CNMRI: Neurology, Sleep Medicine, MRI,” CNMRI.com, undated
Image by Eli Lilly

The Equivocal Promise of Tirzepatide

The American Academy of Pediatrics has passed down the okay for people as young as 12 to be prescribed weight-loss medicines. Meanwhile, authorization of the injectable diabetes drug Mounjaro to be prescribed for the separate purpose of weight loss looks like a pretty sure bet. In that eventuality, it will be legal to prescribe Mounjaro (the only medication that contains tirzepatide) to obese young teens.

If tirzepatide is authorized for weight loss under that trade name or another, there will be a big push to make it available without a prescription, which could easily happen. If grownups are allowed to buy it over the counter, chances are it will find its way into the hands of kids, just as surely as cigarettes and beer have been accustomed to do.

Whether the route is legal, semi-legal, or downright black market, and whatever name it goes by, the substance will still be tirzepatide. The previous post mentioned some of the mental and emotional problems that can arise, especially when it is obtained with a prescription, but for “off-label” use, namely, weight loss. It can cause side effects, including the whole slew of symptoms that show up if a person’s blood sugar gets too low.

The potential for allergic reaction always exists, in addition to the enormous realm of possible interactions with other prescription medicines the patient might be taking. Some rogue substances, like grapefruit juice, can really mess things up, and patients need to be aware.

Danger lurks

The standards of pharmacovigilance demand that information on a medication’s side effects (more formally known as adverse events) be collected during the testing phases and also after the release of the drug for use by the public. Predicting the statistical frequency of various side effects is a field of study in itself, and necessary to risk-benefit assessment, but we won’t go that far into it here.

Sometimes an adjusted dose or a change of medication can make life easier for a patient, but often the troublesome side effects just have to be endured for the sake of the greater good — the hope of retaining health.

This is where the door opens to a lot of problems. Many people take weight-loss drugs in pursuit of the general goal of improved health. If a pill or injection bugs them too much, they have the good sense to back off and try another modality. But obesity is such an emotionally and societally fraught condition, it causes many other people to have a heavy emotional investment in the outcome. For an adult, the fear may be that if they don’t lose weight, divorce will follow. For a younger person, popularity (or at least, not being scorned) at school might be the goal.

A person with a heavy emotional investment in a certain goal can make a lot of mistakes. It is one thing to endure unpleasant side effects while trying to recover from cancer. But to put up with awful sensations and incidents for the sake of shallow and fleeting approval from immature peers, that’s a whole different story.

All that was by way of introduction. The next post will get down to the nitty-gritty, in the matter of tirzepatide side effects.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Image by Neale Bryan/CC BY-SA 2.0

The Allure of Tirzepatide, Continued

In their generic form, pharmaceuticals go by science-oriented names that start with lower-case letters, like tirzepatide. Being a commercially marketed product, Mounjaro starts with a capital letter, and there is no other tirzepatide on the market, so at this point in time, they might as well be synonyms. Mounjaro was approved for the treatment of diabetes only a year ago, in May of 2022, but that wasn’t the big news.

Required and routine human testing had made it clear that tirzepatide might turn out to be the most spectacularly effective weight-loss drug ever, and it appears to be on the verge of approval for that purpose. Eli Lilly’s diabetes medication plant in North Carolina is going to end up costing close to two billion dollars, so obviously the corporation is optimistic about both the need and the demand for its products.

Other important names in this realm are the semaglutide weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which only imitate one natural hormone, whereas tirzepatide imitates that one, plus an additional hormone with which it works synergistically.

Say what?

Tirzepatide was described by a writer as psychoactive, a term that might not be recognized as problematic by someone for whom English is not their first language. In the U.S. (colloquially, at any rate), we tend to reserve that term for LSD, mescaline, and other substances of the hallucinatory and mind-bending variety. Nevertheless, tirzepatide does have effects other than somatic on some people. Also, some weight-loss pills allegedly contain plant-based stimulants to help with the hunger-reduction and energy-increase aspects of their action.

An intriguing line on a website from India says,

The bulk of Eli Lilly’s (Tirzepatide) Weight Loss Drugs include stimulants like Garcinia Cambogia in their formulations. They reduce hunger while also speeding up metabolism and boosting energy levels.

The author did not offer a source, and the article was admittedly “sponsored,” so could have been written by an enemy of Lilly. Also, it was not possible to chase down any more references to that assertion, so who knows? On the other hand, such things apparently do happen. It was possible to find a paper titled “Nine prohibited stimulants found in sports and weight loss supplements: deterenol, phenpromethamine (Vonedrine), oxilofrine, octodrine, beta-methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA), 1,3-dimethylamylamine (1,3-DMAA), 1,4-dimethylamylamine (1,4-DMAA), 1,3-dimethylbutylamine (1,3-DMBA) and higenamine”

Still, the damage could be done

Irresponsible use of just about anything could hurt people. Unsupervised use of tirzepatide, for instance, if it becomes available without a prescription, could dangerously lower a person’s blood sugar leading to irritability, confusion, anxiety and/or and mood instability. Writing for The New York Times, journalist Dani Blum notes,

But it’s not yet clear what the long-term effects of taking Mounjaro might be — a pressing issue, given that people need to keep taking the drug for continued results, said Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arkansas who has studied tirzepatide.

This vast unexplored area is particularly worrisome if eventually the medication is sold over the counter (without a prescription). For instance, little is known about how tirzepatide affects people who have neither diabetes nor obesity. We don’t know what it does in people who just want to shed 20 pounds of winter weight and get back their beach bodies. The risk of malnourishment and disordered eating calls for close medical supervision — something that is unlikely to happen in all cases.

Another thing: It is seriously recommended that weight-loss drugs not be combined with alcohol, but let’s face it: In the Venn diagram of people who would self-medicate with them in order to look good at the club on Saturday night, and of people who drink alcohol, there is a sizeable overlap.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “The Diabetes Drug That Could Overshadow Ozempic,” NYTimes.com, 04/11/23
Source: “Newly Approved Diabetes Drug Has Record-Breaking Weight Loss Effect,” NatureWorldNews.com, 06/07/23
Source: “Eli Lilly Weight Loss: Top 5 Over The Counter Alternatives To Eli Lilly (Tirzepatide) Weight Loss Drug,” OutlookIndia.com, 01/27/23
Source: “Nine prohibited stimulants,” Tandfonline.com, March 2021
Source: “Mounjaro,” Drugs.com, undated
Image by GovernmentZA/CC BY-ND 2.0

The Allure of Tirzepatide

As previously mentioned, the latest new anti-obesity wonder drug, tirzepatide, is raising hopes everywhere on behalf of morbidly obese individuals (except those with type 1 diabetes) who may benefit from it. Some say it looks like a real game-changer.

So far, it has received the okay from the Food and Drug Administration to treat type 2 diabetes, but not yet for weight loss, which remains an “off-label” use. The application for weight-loss approval has allegedly been “fast-tracked.” One aspect that remains to be determined is the matter of “maintenance dose versus treatment dose.” Reportedly, this substance provides a “significant and persistent decrease in body composition.” Journalist Miguel Brown says,

[I]t seems to stimulate weight control by imitating the actions of endogenous enzymes known as incretins. This endocrine system regulates biochemical aspects relating to digestive as well as lowering glucose levels upon eating.

Testing was performed on more than 2,500 individuals who were given various dosages. Those who received what is agreed to be the maximum safe and effective dose lost 22.5 % of their total body mass. Other dosage protocols led to the subjects losing on average 21.4% (medium dose) and 16% (low dose). Tirzepatide is touted as the first experimental treatment that in its Phase 3 of testing was able to yield more than a 20% reduction in weight.

Those patients were obese, but not suffering from diabetes. From an article published mere days ago, we learn that in a subsequent trial, whose subjects all had diabetes,

Patients who took Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug tirzepatide lost up to 34 pounds, or 16% of their body weight, the company said in clinical trial results.

This report added that the control group of patients, who received only placebo injections, nevertheless lost an average of seven pounds, which would be interesting fodder for an additional study. However, approaching the matter from a different statistical angle,

About 86% of patients in the trial who took tirzepatide lost at least 5% of their body weight, compared with about 30% in the placebo group.

At any rate, the numbers are almost as good as those attributed to gastric bypass surgery, and possibly better than the results obtained with the popular pharmaceutical rival, semaglutide. The head of the National Center for Weight and Wellness, Dr. Scott Kahan, was quoted as saying that tirzepatide and its brothers could “herald a radical shift in metabolic syndrome therapy.”

Overall, the trial results are said by the chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association, Dr. Robert Gabbay, to be “substantial and highly clinically meaningful.” Meanwhile, a new study (slated to wind up in 2025) has been registered, which will try out both tirzepatide and semaglutide on obese patients who are afflicted with various comorbidities.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Newly Approved Diabetes Drug has Record-Breaking Weight Loss Effect,” NatureWorldNews.com, 06/07/22
Source: “Eli Lilly says obesity drug tirzepatide resulted in weight loss of up to 34 pounds,” CNBC.com, 04/27/23
Image by Mark Licht/CC BY 2.0

Fries and the Causal Pathway

Dr. Pretlow says,

Fried foods, like fried potatoes, are crunchy and chewy and also involve a lot of hand-to-mouth motion and mouth manipulation. That’s high displacement activity value, thus people with anxiety would eat those foods to displace such.

Envision other items that are fried, and how much fun they are to consume. With an order of chicken wings, for instance, a person can look forward to quite the participatory eating experience. It can be very primal, almost as if you were crouching around a campfire, picking apart the contents of a roasted dinosaur egg.

In 2014, the U.S. situation was grim, with the Department of Agriculture’s public school regulations providing plenty of loopholes:

For example, a small container of fries counted as a vegetable. Yes, they’re made out of a potato but they’re a starch that’s been fried. The fruit requirement could also be fulfilled by providing a small cup of fruit juice, which meant kids were missing out on important fiber intake. At the time, more than 90 percent of the food brought into a school cafeteria was frozen, including pizza, which counted as two servings of whole grain.

A 2016 article recalled how in 2004, Texas agriculture commissioner Susan Combs banned soft drinks, sweet desserts, and fried food from the state’s schools and said something humorous:

Last week, Miller announced his decision to return deep fryers and soda machines to Texas schools. During the very same announcement, Miller also stated that he has created a five-point plan to combat childhood obesity.

Apparently, some people believe that in a restaurant, as long as children order from the “kiddies’ menu” they will be served healthful food. But quite recently, South Coast Herald reporter Tammy Jacks wrote,

Normally, you’ll find deep-fried foods, such as fried chicken or chips, processed meat including sausages as well as white, sugary carbs such as white bread or pizza loaded with fatty cheese… Limit the amount of times you order kiddies’ meals and be aware of what’s on the menu.

This news is dismaying:

A research team in Hangzhou, China, found that frequent consumption of fried foods, especially fried potatoes, was linked with a 12% higher risk of anxiety and 7% higher risk of depression than in people who didn’t eat fried foods.

The long-term study of nearly 150,000 people seems to indicate that depression and anxiety are significantly linked to the consumption of french fries. Furthermore, this unfortunate result appears to be more prevalent among younger people. Dr. David Katz, who has appeared in Childhood Obesity News posts before, and who was not involved in the study, pointed out that it could be a “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” type of question. People who are already anxious or depressed tend to self-medicate with comfort foods, which in a large number of cases means something fried.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Students Aren’t Eating Healthy School Lunches,” MedicalDaily.com, 11/17/14
Source: “School food reversal a deep-fried disgrace,” Statesman.com, 09/23/16
Source: “These food myths could be to blame for childhood obesity,” SouthCoastHerald.co.za, 11/10/21
Source: “New research suggests that french fries may be linked to depression,” CNN.com, 04/24/23
Image by Peter Rivera/CC BY 2.0

Rechanneling the Displacement

In “The Displacement Mechanism as a Basis for Eating Disorders,” Dr. Pretlow wrote:

Theoretically, the displacement mechanism functions by rechanneling overflow mental energy to another behavior, typically whatever behavior is most readily available at the time or is most commonly used in the animal’s repertoire…

That sentence includes an important clue as to why overeating is so disastrously prevalent. Granted, there is still plenty of starvation all over the globe. But in most societies that are even moderately successful, food is everywhere. Something capable of being eaten is readily available to almost everyone at almost any time. Nutritionally it may be worthless, but it is presented and labeled as food, and is publicly accepted as such.

Humans are a species of animal, and for a large portion of humankind at present, food consumption is a “most readily available” behavior. Eating is ideally positioned as the go-to displacement mechanism.

A world leader in consumption

That is certainly true in the United States. Back when automobiles first appeared on the landscape, who would have guessed that gasoline establishments would also sell hot dogs? No matter what sort of retail enterprise a person walks into, edible merchandise (one hesitates to call most of it “food”) is probably on offer. Yes, even at the hardware store, the checkout counters abound with candy and snacks.

Eating is definitely a “most commonly used” behavior. In ancient times and many remote places, it was accepted that a passing traveler would be offered food, or at the very least, water. In more recent eras, people attended the theater or the concert hall for the play or the symphony, and ate not a morsel.

Public snacking severely frowned on

As for noshing on the street, that was something only the most ill-bred people would do. Respectable, middle-class parents would not dream of letting children stain their good clothes and make a spectacle of themselves by chowing down in any public place other than a restaurant. Exceptions were made for outdoor cafes in Paris, but the French were known to be decadent anyway.

Okay, maybe that is old-fashioned nonsense, but the social norms around food consumption might have helped to keep the obesity rate a lot lower. Currently, food is a big part of not just religious or traditional holidays, but of all kinds of social occasions. Even in business offices, food may show up as part of the transaction, and an enormous amount of commercial finagling is conducted over opulent restaurant meals.

In the same paper, Dr. Pretlow wrote,

If the rechanneled behavior is destructive, it is possible for the individual to consciously rechannel the overflow mental energy to a non-destructive behavior. Examples are rechanneling to the breathing drive by slow, deep breaths, or rechanneling by wringing the hands.

The previous post mentioned how a parent can guide a child to some practice that will facilitate grounding, perhaps by suggesting, “Close your eyes and repeat to yourself, “I am safe, I am home, and I am going to be okay’” — which is kind of in the same league with deep breathing and fist clenching. Another simple, unobtrusive ploy we might try when stressed is acupressure, at the Hand Valley Point (see illustration).

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Hand pressure points: Everything you need to know,” MedicalNewsToday.com, 03/13/19
Image by Servier Medical Art/CC BY 2.0

News Flash: Kids Are Different

Yesterday part of the discussion was about how young people, especially when they reach their teen years, can be very resentful of any implication that they need help in any way. And even if they do acknowledge the need in some manner, usually the last people they look to are their parents. (After all, aren’t their parents the ones who messed them up in the first place?)

So, what are we supposed to do about possible interventions? In “The displacement mechanism: a new explanation and treatment for obesity,” Dr. Pretlow explored the idea that effective intervention could be based on the displacement mechanism and added,

It would seem to provide subjects with believable hope that they can curb their overeating without struggling or relying on willpower. In addition to dealing with the sources of the displacement, it also is possible to replace the displacement with another displacement that is less destructive.

Sometimes, a parent (or other mentor figure) may be able to help kind of sneakily, so the child will not realize that anyone presumes to be capable of helping in any way, and will maybe not take offense or resist the suggestion.

But to make things even more complicated, apparently, children have different personality types (who knew?) Okay, that was a facetious comment, but it is a factor of which the aspiring helpful adult needs to be aware. Fortunately, guidance is available from such professionals as Dr. Shefali Tsabary, who identifies six “extraordinary” types of children who may need careful and individualized guidance lest they crash and burn:

1. The Anxious Exploder… often fussy, irritable and get triggered by the slightest thing.

A parent is advised to maintain a grounded, firm, calm demeanor and suggest, “When you feel nervous, close your eyes and repeat to yourself, ‘I am safe, I am home, and I am going to be okay.’”

2. The Hyperactive Explorer… need to be honored and not shamed for their passionate spirit.

3. The Overpleaser… soft and pliable, easy to mold and shape… Parenting tip: Honor and teach them how to protect their boundaries. “You are a giver, and you may encounter many who will keep taking from you. Remember that it’s okay to say ‘no.’”

4. The Dreamer-Recluse… shy and introverted, and can struggle with social and conversational skills… Help them feel secure and highlight their strengths.

5. The Rebel Nonconformist… They won’t comply until they’re convinced it’s something they wish to do…. These kids need to feel respected for their determination.

Unfortunately, this type of young person is also exquisitely sensitive to attempts at manipulation. If a grownup tries to convince such a youth that “it’s something they wish to do,” that young person will see through it in a second, and become even more resentful. Dr. Tsabary suggests teaching such a child, “Don’t fight rules simply for the sake of fighting, or you will burn yourself out.” This is, for better or worse, the type of lesson that can be best taught, and perhaps only taught, through example.

6. The Happy-Go-Lucky… These kids are always laughing and in a good mood. The only downside is that they can be too relaxed and seem unmotivated.

Dr. Tsabary offers a shining piece of wisdom: “Happy-Go-Lucky kids are actually the gurus of living in the present.” In the long run, it is much easier for this type of young person to eventually develop a serious side, than for an Anxious Exploder to manifest a happy-go-lucky side. So cherish that light-heartedness, and please don’t squelch it!

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “There are 6 ‘extraordinary’ types of kids, says psychologist,” CNBC.com, 03/18/23
Image by Great Himalaya Trails/CC BY-ND 2.0

Displacement’s Two Faces

So, we were talking about how the displacement mechanism has two faces. If a person is stuck in what seems like a no-win situation, where no good answer is within sight, and the deck is stacked against them, sometimes they will just dive into the nearest pool of alcohol, or pick up the nearest crack pipe, or spend a day’s pay on half a dozen cheeseburgers and four large orders of curly fries, washed down by a strawberry milkshake and a chocolate milkshake.

Then, there is the benevolent side of displacement. Faced with a grim life event, that same person might follow a friend’s advice and go out for a run. It might feel pretty good, and they might go for another run the next day. This has no direct effect on the dire circumstances, but somehow the person feels like the awfulness has been pushed back just a bit, and the tiniest glimmer of light shines through the clouds.

Who knows, they might even decide to make running a habit! And while it won’t directly change whatever the heck is going on in other compartments of life, somehow the person feels more confident, and actually dredges up from deep inside the mental and emotional resources needed to cope.

Creating hope

It is just possible that a child who overeats can be induced to try some of life’s other satisfying activities, like the ones Dr. Pretlow’s team has suggested. In a certain way, it resembles the quaint homespun psychology of our great-grandparents, who repeated such maxims as, “The devil makes work for idle hands.” Children would be assigned chores to keep them busy, and if along the way the child discovered a talent for helping farm animals through the birthing process, or for making quilts or embroidering wedding dresses, so much the better.

Even in a limited environment with few material possessions, people discovered activities that gave their lives meaning and purpose. They found behaviors that could be engaged in productively and with satisfaction, while their less fortunate peers got lost in addictions like moonshine and gambling.

An expanded universe

Caged rats are frustrated and unhappy, and if given the chance they will press a lever to obtain as many hits of cocaine as they can. But also, if housed in a more generous cage with social relationships and other interesting ways to pass the time, they will expand their behavior repertoire and leave the dope alone, or at least cut down.

That’s what we want to see happening with kids — for them to find activities they can master and excel at and profit from and gain satisfaction from, to the point where they won’t be tempted to use substances to gain a momentary illusion that their challenges have magically been met. Our best hope is that they will achieve actual goals and satisfactions that will remove them from the all-encompassing grasp of their problems.

An article was published about a month ago about different kinds of children who might need some extra attention that could help them steer clear of difficulties like addiction. Of course, for a lot of kids, the very last thing they want to hear is that some grownup has diagnosed them as being in need of intervention. And worse, they are deeply insulted by the implication that an adult would possibly be capable of helping them in any way. The natural reaction is, “You want to know how you can help me? Get off my back.”

Come back for more about these distinct types, and how to approach their particular personalities.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “There are 6 ‘extraordinary’ types of kids, says psychologist,” CNBC.com, 03/18/23
Image by Jason Evans/CC BY-SA 2.0