SelfhelpMagazine Editor-in-Chief
Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D.

My 15 year-old daughter and I arrived home from her school. I made a quick cup of coffee and by the time I walked into her room she was talking on her cell phone, had a book open on her lap, the television was on, and she had eight windows open on her computer. One window displayed her MySpace page; another was doing a Google search for a school project, while the other six were instant message screens. I watched for a few minutes while she bounced seamlessly from one conversation to the next, all the while singing along with a song playing on her iPod and glancing every once in a while at a show she Tivo’d the night before. I honestly don’t know how she lives at this seemingly frenetic pace. more>>

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Things to learn in this article:

• Learn how to use the energy "rush" of anger in a positive way
• If something makes you angry, it’s because you care- that’s good!
• Habitual displays of anger shut down communication from others
• Anger management is a set of readily available skills, building on simple strategies like "time-out"
• Learn tactful, understanding responses that prevent confrontation from escalating

This is an odd topic, one that isn’t often spoken of in polite company. But I’m trying to help with important and difficult subjects, and this one is a doozy. For starters, everyone gets angry, but as a society we pretend that only wicked people get angry, and in their out-of-control emotionality, they do terrible things. There isn’t even a polite way to express anger. So here we have a little guilty secret that troubles nearly everyone, a universal emotion that no one seems to know how to handle properly. more>>

In recent years, researchers have been busy proving scientifically what we’ve all known – that friends are good for us. A Maryland study quoted in the August 2007 issue of the popular magazine Better Homes and Gardens found that people with ten or more friends suffered half the disabilities or health problems experienced by those with only two friends. Clearly, the more the merrier!

Another study referred to in the same article addressed frequency of interactions with friends. Women who saw their friends at least five times monthly had longer life expectancies over this follow up study period of nine years than those women who saw their friends less often. Other studies in recent years have added to the certainty that vibrant, healthy friendships are associated with personal health- physical, mental, and emotional. more>>