Blog Posts - Good Mood Bad Mood

Happy New Year! New research on Binge Drinking.

12/30/2014

In a little more than 24 hours we will be celebrating the arrival of 2015. Some of us are likely to celebrate too much with alcohol so today’s research comes at a good time.[i] Research conducted at the University of Maryland by Dr. Majid Afshar and published in the journal Alcohol indicates that binge drinking is bad for us in an unexpected way.[ii] Most of us are familiar with the common bad outcomes of drunkenness such as hangovers and arrest for drunk driving.

Those involved in healthcare often see the worst outcomes. Trauma injuries from falls, car wrecks and other accidents result in hospital stays and at times death. Alcohol poisoning due to drinking too much in a short time (binge drinking) is common enough that my home state passed a law to help. The law encourages the friends of anyone who has drunk so much that they could die to call for help without fear of being arrested for underage drinking.

The unexpected outcome in the research was that an episode of binge drinking suppresses the immune system. After drinking 4 to 5 ounces of vodka the subjects in the study reached the legal definition of intoxication and impairment with a blood alcohol level of 0.8. After the drinking started blood tests were drawn to measure the level of immune system activity at twenty minutes, two hours and four hours.

The results showed that after an initial increase in immune activity at twenty minutes, the immune systems response fell below normal. This is important when you consider that people injured while drinking often find themselves needing an intact immune system to fight infection. I suppose it’s just another good reason to stay sober.

While the Bible does not forbid drinking alcohol, it does tell us not to get drunk! “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18 NAS) Plainly Paul tells us that binge drinking has no place in the life of the Christian. And, medical science tells us just another reason why.

[i]Loyola University Health System. "Binge drinking disrupts immune system in young adults, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 December 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141229092606.htm>.

[ii] Majid Afshar, Stephanie Richards, Dean Mann, Alan Cross, Gordon B. Smith, Giora Netzer, Elizabeth Kovacs, Jeffrey Hasday. Acute Immunomodulatory Effects of Binge Alcohol Ingestion. Alcohol, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2014.10.002

Marijuana& Real Research: The Results Aren’t Good!

12/21/2014

Every once in a while I feel obligated as a physician to sound the warning about the dangers of marijuana when used as medicine and for recreational purposes. Please understand that I am all for real research about whatever possible real medical uses there could be for the active ingredients in pot. What I oppose is the testimonial folk medicine that is being used in this country to push through the legalization of “medical” marijuana and eventually recreational pot as well.

This week some real research was reported about one of the “qualifying conditions” for using medical marijuana that many states have approved and the results are not good. It has been assumed that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD could be helped by the “calming” effect of smoking marijuana. The research showed that instead of helping the symptoms of PTSD, the drug may make them worse and increase violent behavior.[i]

The study included 2276 patients in a Veterans Administration program for treating PTSD. Patients who never used responded with a noticeably lower symptom rate than those who continued the use or started it while in the program. Patients who stopped after they left the program benefitted from quitting marijuana with a lower symptom rate as well.

The most concerning aspect of the research was that those who started smoking pot after they left the program had the most problems with violent behavior. While all of the study groups saw improvement in violence scores, those who started using marijuana after they completed the treatment program improved the least. "This was a surprise because generally, marijuana is not thought to be associated with violence. There's been a little bit of literature investigating this, but this was interesting," said Dr Samuel T. Wilkinson from the Yale University School of Medicine.

It would appear that Marijuana does not help PTSD. Beyond that marijuana is an addictive drug that can result in patients having psychotic episodes. In addition, the most common way that it is used is by smoking. The idea that smoking pot can be safe is just as ridiculous as the idea that smoking tobacco is safe and harmless.

While there may be some limited use for the active ingredients in marijuana, PTSD does not appear to be one of them. Until real research defines what use marijuana may have, the risks outweigh the benefits for most all patients.

[i] Medical Marijuana May Worsen PTSD Symptoms, Increase Violence
Deborah Brauser December 15, 2014 Medscape.com. I will post the link to the article on Twitter and Facebook.
All quotes and information in this blog come from this article.

Depression: A Problem or a Useful Tool?

12/12/2014

It is always fun when someone gets a grant to do research that confirms something we might have known from reading our Bibles. And, so it is from an interview in Science Daily and an article in PLoS ONE. The question is whether or not there is some useful aspect to depression.

A study published this past month by researchers at McMaster University examined the idea that depression isn’t just a disease.[i] Instead, they believed it could be a useful tool for those in the middle of real life struggles. One of the researchers, Paul Andrews, said the following about this question. “Depression has long been seen as nothing but a problem. We are asking whether it may actually be a natural adaptation that the brain uses to tackle certain problems. We are seeing more evidence that depression can be a necessary and beneficial adaptation to dealing with major, complex issues that defy easy understanding.”[ii]

The researchers developed a test to measure an important aspect of the thinking of those with depression; analytic rumination. The authors did not want to diminish the importance of serious depression. However, they believed that understanding how people think while they are depressed could give an insight into how to help. Analytic rumination is a kind of thinking in which the individual focuses strongly on the problem they face. It is difficult to distract them and as a result they may neglect important things such as eating, friendships, work, and sleep. The researchers believed that this concentration of thinking may be a natural and somewhat involuntary response.

The idea that depression may be a normal response to the stresses and strains of life is nothing new. A growing number of those in professions that care for those labeled with depression believe that most of those labeled with depression today are struggling with normal sadness due to loss.[iii] They also believe that this normal sadness is a useful tool in dealing with problems. It often draws help from friends. Normal sadness gives us the opportunity to reassess our goals and change when struggling on might simply lead to failure.

This isn’t a new idea. The apostle Paul spoke about the issue of sorrow 2000 years ago. “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2Corinthians 7:10) Sadness is not an accident or a disease. It is a God given emotion that God intends to use to drive us to Himself.

Now, someone might notice that I have substituted the word sorrow for depression and they would be right. I have done that because that is what psychiatry and medicine in the United States have done for years. And while they did that, they labeled sadness, even normal grieving as a disease. Paul would say they were wrong. Sadness over loss, normal sadness is an emotional gift that God gives us to draw us in His direction.[iv]

So the researchers and Paul agree. They see depression with its sadness as a normal adaptive tool that helps us deal with problems. Paul said that when we sorrow according to the will of God, it can lead to change and salvation. The researchers are getting closer.

[i] Skye P. Barbic, Zachary Durisko, Paul W. Andrews. Measuring the Bright Side of Being Blue: A New Tool for Assessing Analytical Rumination in Depression. PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (11): e112077 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112077

[ii] McMaster University. "A new test measures analytical thinking linked to depression, fueling the idea that depression may be a form of adaptation." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 November 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141119125105.htm>.

[iii] The Loss of Sadness, Horwitz and Wakefield. P43.

[iv] Good Mood Bad Mood, Charles Hodges P55.

Brain Response to Threats: New Research & Old Truth!

11/8/2014

It is always great when someone in research science spends time and money to prove something that we knew all along. In a study done at the University of Exeter researchers have found that the brain response to a perceived threat is stopped when we are reminded that we are loved and cared for! Who knew? [i]

Forty-two healthy healthy patients were studied using MRI brain scans to look at an area in the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala changes on the MRI scans when an individual is shown pictures of threatening situations. The changes that occur with the threat did not occur when the patient was shown pictures of other people receiving emotional support and affection before being shown the threatening pictures.[ii]

Similar responses have been seen in research that looked at brain scan changes in individuals who have pain. The brain response was reduced in patients who were shown reminders of being loved and cared for. This response in pain and for those who fell threatened is particularly seen in anxious individuals.

We could have told them this 2000 years ago! Yes, Paul said it in multiple places and ways and so did John the Apostle. John said, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” (1Jo 4:18-19 NAU) There is the answer 2000 years before an MRI brain scan could show us a picture. The one who know that he is loved by the sovereign God of the universe does not need to fear!

Paul would tell us further that nothing could separate us from God’s love! “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39 NAU)

There we have it. Nothing can separate believers from the love of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign God! Believers who come to understand this have nothing to fear from life. And, we have the brain scans to prove it! Teaching those who struggle with fear and worry about the grace of God and His sovereign power in their lives is the most effective way I know of to help anyone stop worrying.

This concept and research show us a great opportunity in Biblical counseling. We can help those who struggle with PTSD and anxiety disorders. We can help by teaching them what the scriptures say about the God who loves them and who wants to cast out their fears. As Paul would say, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31 NAU)

1. [i] L. Norman, N. Lawrence, A. Iles, A. Benattayallah, A. Karl. Attachment-security priming attenuates amygdala activation to social and linguistic threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2014; DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu127

[ii] University of Exeter. "Brain's response to threat silenced when we are reminded of being loved and cared for." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 November 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141107111025.htm>.

Marijuana& The New York Times: Smoking Away Our Brains.

10/31/2014

I have written often about the perils of the recreational use of marijuana and I cannot resist writing again. The cause for my writing is that the New York Times that has stumbled into the reality that smoking pot does little if any good for those who smoke it. And it has the potential for great harm.[i]

In an October 29th article by Abigail Moore titled, “This Is Your Brain on Drugs,” the problems with pot are outlined. The first and most disturbing is that smoking marijuana changes the brain. The nucleus accumbens thickens and among those in the study, the more they smoked the more it thickened. The changes seen are thought to be the source of problems with learning and mental health.

At the center of the problem is an increased concentration of the active drug THC in available marijuana. Since 1995 the concentration of THC in pot has gone from 3.75 percent to 13 percent in 2013. The higher concentration of THC is likely to be responsible for an increased incidence of psychosis and paranoia. Emergency room admissions for marijuana related problems have doubled since 2004.

The adverse affects are particularly a problem in young adults. The changes that occur to the nucleus accumbens have direct bearing on motivation and decision making. There are similar changes in the amygdala that affect the way we process emotions, memories and our response to fear. “THC can disrupt focus, working memory and motivation.”

Long term effects are a real concern. In one study teens that started smoking at the age of 18 and were then tested at the age of 38 lost 8 points on their I.Q. testing. In another study the changes in the brain in those who had smoked for 3 years were still present 2 years after they stopped. And, their working memories we impaired. As Dr Hans Breiter said, “Working memory is the key for learning…If I were to design a substance that is bad for college students, it would be marijuana.”

There we have it. The New York Times is not a Bible thumping Biblical Counseling Journal. It is as liberal in its view of behavior and morality as any publication today. The article presents factual information that says that smoking marijuana harms people and their brains to say nothing about the risks of lung disease and cancer.

In spite of that I know that when I publish this blog there will be people who will come out of the woods to defend their favorite pastime. I know that someone will tell me that their great aunt Ethel was cured from some sort disease and because of it everyone should be allowed to smoke ‘em if they have ‘em!

While real, controlled scientific research is to be encouraged into whatever real benefit might exist from marijuana (the CBD portion), the current folk medicine approach is no better than the snake oil salesmen of the last century. Marijuana is a dangerous drug. The New York Times says so.

Christians of all people should have greater respect for their bodies. As Paul said, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1Co 6:19-20) Now there is a really good reason to not smoke pot!

[i] All the factual information in the blog came from the New York Times article on the web under Education Life,

This is Your Brain on Drugs, Abigail Sullivan Moore, October 29, 2014.

Depression & Exercise: I Run! Therefore I Am Not Depressed!

10/16/2014

I have been away from the blog for a while because of travel and it is time to get back to new research. And, today I stumbled across a report of research that looks at the beneficial effects of exercise on the risk of depression. Most of you know that on twitter.com my handle is runningdoc and that is because I run. I have been running since the age of 19 and longer than most people have been alive. I run 35 miles a week and by now some reader is asking “why?”

Well, now I have a really good answer, or at least a better one than I want to eat coconut cream pie at will! It is reported that exercising three times a week reduces the risk of depression in adults by 16%. And, the benefit increases 6% for each added day one exercises! That means that my risk of depression has been cut by 34% just because I run 6 days a week![i]

Fortunately, exercise in the study was not defined as running which means the benefit is available to just about anyone who can walk. When I was a young physician, I read an article by Dr. George Crane, a physician and psychologist who wrote an advice column that was syndicated around the country and published in my paper. Crane described what an old physician had told him worked best for helping his patients who were depressed.

The elder physician said he sent them all out to walk 2 miles a day along with reading a chapter of the gospel of Luke daily. He also had them help someone who was worse off than they were for two hours each week. They were to help someone who could not pay them back and to whom they were not related. The old doctor found that all of these things helped the people he cared for.

I cannot say that everyone who is depressed will be cured by the older doctor’s prescription. But, I can say that daily vigorous exercise can reduce the risk of depression in the general population by 34%. The research is in and it says so!

And, yes, I think the rest of the old doctor’s prescription helps a lot. And, for the last 30 years I have been telling strugglers a lot of the same advice.

[i] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/15/us-health-depression-fitness-idUSKCN0I42IS20141015 I saw this article first on foxnews.com but the original posting was on Reuters at the above web address.

"Hope Is a Very Good Thing, Maybe the Best of things": What is the active Ingredient in Antidepressant medication.

9/28/2014

I do like movies! I like them most for the quotes that are just waiting to pop up when I read an article in medicine. Today’s quote came from the Shawshank Redemption. Andy was talking to Red sitting in the prison exercise yard trying to get across why Andy was not going crazy while doing life for a crime he did not commit. Andy had hope that grew from the fact that he was digging a tunnel out of prison!

The quote applies to a new research study that tells us something that many have been thinking for a long time. The active ingredient in today’s crop of antidepressant medications appears to be hope. The study was done at the UCLA Medical School and examined whether or not patient attitude toward the treatment made a difference in the outcome. [i]

The study divided individuals into three groups one of which would receive a placebo pill (looks exactly like the real thing but does not contain the active drug) and a second which would receive the medication. The third group did not receive medication but did get supportive care. Then they questioned the participants as to whether or not they believed the medicine was going to work.

Those who reported that they believed the medication would be effective improved. They improved whether they received the placebo or the real drug. And, the difference between the groups was not large. Both treatment groups did better than those who only received supportive care. I suppose the equation would look like faith plus hope equals effectiveness.

In the words of the researchers, "Supportive interaction with the subject helped them get better, and antidepressant therapy helped them get better, but I think our key finding was that patients' belief in the effectiveness of medication was a unique factor that contributed to them getting well. So belief in the power or effectiveness of the medication may be a contributor to placebo responses in the treatment of depression."[ii]

There are lots of directions to take these results. The lack of a large benefit in taking the active drug makes one wonder if the potential for side effects would be worth the risk. But I think there is more to be had in looking at how faith can help those who are depressed. As the writer of Hebrews said, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1)

If nothing more than faith in the effectiveness of a placebo can result in people who are depressed improving, what might happen if they had something or someone real in which to believe?

[i] Patient Expectations Largely Dictate Antidepressant Response, Medscape News @ Medscape.com Pam Harrison September 15, 2014.

[ii] Ibid.

Chemical Imbalances & Depression: A Theory Falls victim to New Research

9/1/2014

Chemical Imbalances & Depression: A Theory Falls victim to New Research

There is interesting news in the field of medical research for depression. [i]I am always grateful when medical researchers take another look at a significant problem in life when the current answers don’t seem to work well. This is so true of depression. People do struggle with real sadness today and the answers that medicine offers are just not working as well as hoped.

Research in the past decade has told us that the most popular medicines we have for depression do not work very well for up to 80% of the people who take them.[ii] There is a growing sense that the diagnosis of depression is made too often. It is also a concern that normal sadness over loss is being confused with the disease depression.[iii]

Today, most all of us know or have heard about chemical imbalances and how they are supposed to cause depression. Most of us have heard about serotonin and how a low level of it in our brains can cause us to be depressed. We have seen the commercials on television for medications that are supposed to correct the deficit. But, new research would indicate that the chemical serotonin may have little or nothing to do with depression at all.

Researchers at the Wayne State University School of Medicine noticed that 60 to 70 percent of patients who take the serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants will still feel depressed. And so they devised a research project that would look again at the role serotonin and chemical imbalances play in depression. What they found indicated that serotonin may not be a major factor in depression.[iv]

Keep mind that the study was done on mice. They were found to have a gene that resulted in them making very little serotonin in their brains. And no you do not need to remind me that we are men and not mice. J But, these mice with little brain serotonin did not display a depression-like behavior pattern under normal circumstances. When they were subjected to the same kinds of situations that caused behavior that looked like depression in animals, these mice responded just like normal mice that had normal levels of serotonin. Most of the genetically serotonin deficient mice did not respond to the SSRI antidepressants in the same way normal mice did with changes in their “depression-like” behavior.

The conclusions from the study were that it is likely that serotonin may not be a large factor in depression. In essence the chemical imbalance/ serotonin deficiency theory of depression is most likely wrong. While this is not great news for those who are invested heavily in the production and sale of the current crop of antidepressants, it is good news for patients.

The reason it is great news is the last line in the article. “These results could dramatically alter how the search for new antidepressants moves forward in the future, the researchers conclude.” In other words, science is moving on to look for a better way to explain why some struggle with sadness. The outcome could be a better understanding of the cause at the brain cell level of the disordered sadness part of depression today.

This could result in laboratory testing and brain scanning that would allow us to make a better diagnosis. And, that could lead to more effective treatment. This study opens the door for researchers to resume looking for a real explanation for the disordered sadness of depression.

When we understand the change in the human brain or body that causes depression two things could happen. The diagnosis of depression will become far more accurate reducing the numbers of people over-diagnosed. And, a better treatment could be found for those who suffer with severe, disordered sadness.

For the 90% of patients today with normal sadness over loss, accurate testing could help them avoid from being treated with medicine intended for the treatment of disease. Having a test that says the patient does not have depression would help doctors encourage patients to seek care that fit their problem such as counseling. And that is where Biblical counseling can offer great hope.

[i] American Chemical Society. "Serotonin deficiency? Study throws into question long-held belief about depression." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 August 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140827111946.htm>.

[ii]Charles Hodges M.D., Good Mood Bad Mood. Shepherd Press, Wapwallopen, PA. p48-49.

[iii]Ibid, p68-69.

[iv] Mariana Angoa-Pérez, Michael J. Kane, Denise I. Briggs, Nieves Herrera-Mundo, Catherine E. Sykes, Dina M. Francescutti, Donald M. Kuhn. Mice Genetically Depleted of Brain Serotonin Do Not Display a Depression-like Behavioral Phenotype. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2014; 140812102725008 DOI: 10.1021/cn500096g

Counseling, Men, and Machines: When you struggle who will you call…or what?

8/23/2014

In the August 16 edition of the Economist, there is an interesting article “The computer will see you now.”[i] The writer indicates that there are significant advantages to having people with emotional struggles talk to a computer instead of another human. Patients talked with a computer generated human image named Ellie which the author thought sometimes might be better than the real thing!

The computer seemed to pay better attention than a living breathing and distractible human. The computer video camera was able to measure sadness. Patients talked with an avatar named Ellie and were willing to speak about important problems as long as one condition was met. Ellie seemed so real that they needed to be assured that she was not a computer image being manipulated by a live person.

If the participants believed they were only talking with a computer then they were willing to talk about subjects that were very important to them. If they did not believe that they were only talking with a computer then they limited how much information they gave. There are lots of lessons in the article about communication, but the real message is about trust.

At the heart of counseling relationships is trust. If the counselee does not trust the counselor then vital information will be withheld. I have often told students that when counseling seems to bog down after several weeks that it might be time to circle back and ask the struggler if there is anything else they might want to tell them about the problems. It should not be surprising that people do not trust a counselor much in the first few weeks. It is not surprising when they hold back important facts that would explain their struggle.

So, there are several lessons in this article for counselors and counselees. For those who struggle it is essential to find a counselor that you trust. (A subject for another blog) And, when you do, it is important not to withhold pertinent facts. Counselors are not psychic and you should not make them guess as to why you come for help.

On the other hand, counselors need to be relentless in the pursuit of truth. Proverbs 18:13 tells us that “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is a folly and a shame to him.” We must take the time to listen and to continue to ask questions until we are satisfied that we have a thorough understanding of the problems the counselee brings.

The last lesson reminds of line in a Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” in which he exhorts his son not to lose the “common touch.” I have practiced medicine for nearly 40 years and I am computer electronic medical record literate. I believe that computers have been a positive benefit in health care. But, they will never be able to provide the most important ingredient in medicine and counseling, the human touch.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of it and its importance. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:15-16 KJV) No mere machine can give that kind of touch.

[i] “The Computer will see you now, A virtual shrink may sometimes be better than the real thing,” The Economist, August 16, 2014

Teaching Old Dogs: New Research Says You Can Learn New Tricks!

8/15/2014

Teaching Old Dogs: New Research Says You Can Learn New Tricks!

As a physician and a biblical counselor, I can tell you that I have heard just about every excuse known to mankind when it comes to changing old bad habits. I have listened to an amazing litany of reasons for continuing to smoke such as “it will keep me from gaining the weight my coconut cream pie might put on.” Or, “you just have to understand that I have a really bad temper and accept me the way I am!” I have never been much convinced by these arguments.

Paul told his friends at Corinth that they could change! “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2Co 5:17) Change is to be expected in the life of a Christian. When Paul wrote to his friends at Ephesus he laid out the plan.

“In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Eph 4:22-24) Paul gave us a process for change that involved laying aside old bad habits, finding in scripture what the new ones were supposed to be, and then putting on the new behavior.

The whole process is powered by the grace of God that works in the lives of those have believed in Christ as Lord and Savior. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10)

It is always good when secular research confirms something we have known to be true from scripture. Recent research reviewed in Science Daily has outlined the process of changing habits[i] and it looks just about like Ephesians 4:22-24. Wendy Wood presented a paper at the American Psychological Association meeting that detailed the process that occurs in the brain when we make habits. It starts with the behavior under the control of fully engaged intentional mind which would occur in the frontal cortex and motor areas of our brains. As we repeat the behavior the control of the event moves to the sensory and motor portions of the brain.

In an interesting experiment that looked at eating popcorn in a theater, the researchers found that after you develop the habit of eating popcorn during the flick, it doesn’t matter if it is stale or fresh. Most people will gobble it down out of habit triggered by the sensory cues associated with the theater and the smell of popcorn. People eat the stale popcorn because once it becomes a habit the whole process operates outside of our conscious thought. We don’t think about it. We just eat.

Important to changing these habits were the cues that we learn that set us down the habit trail. For the popcorn eater it is the smell and the theater. If the habit of eating stale popcorn is to change, the authors said first you have to change the cues, then you need to make new ones, then you must repeat the new behavior at great length. The study said also that it take from 15 to 254 days to change a well ingrained habit as they have observed it. I suppose if you want to quit eating stale popcorn you need to hand your wife your billfold before you enter the theater and ask her to buy nachos instead.

So there we have the process of change as the world sees and it is very much like what we might say from a Biblical counseling perspective. But, it is also very different and that difference is grace! So Paul says to the Philippians, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Phi 2:12-13)

The Christian has an enormous advantage in the game of change. First God has granted us the privilege of choosing good behavior over bad. As Paul told us in his letter to his friends at Rome, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Rom 6:16) We get to choose!

And, the choice is powered by God! God is working in us to do His good pleasure. So, yes we need to change our cues when we have unbiblical habits and put off the old man. And, then we need to pick the new behavior that is biblical from scripture and then put it on. And, by God’s grace we need to keep practicing it and doing the things we know we should.

So there, think about it before you eat that popcorn next time!

[i] Society for Personality and Social Psychology. "How we form habits, change existing ones." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 August 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140808111931.htm>.