Desert Messenger

6 www.DesertMessenger.com March 16, 2016 DESERT MESSENGER Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper Proud to be a Quartzsite Licensed Business 928-916-4235 O� T��� - E���� T���! Founded by Walt Akin October 1, 2004 P�������� �� P���� R��� P��������� C�. P.O. Box 3185 Quartzsite, AZ 85359 P�������� ����� � ����� 1st & 3rd Wednesday Sept. thru May with Special Summer Editions June, July & August EDITOR/PUBLISHER Shanana "Rain" BearCat CONTRIBUTING JOURNALIST Joanne Winer GUEST COLUMNIST Jedidiah Free GUEST COLUMNIST Gypsy Jane Finley CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Starr BearCat NAME PLATE LETTERING Paul Winer www.DesertMessenger.com www.MyQuartzsite.com E-mail: Editor@DesertMessenger.com Copyright 2013 Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Desert Messenger. LIKE US on Facebook.com/ DesertMessengerNews FOLLOW US on Twitter @QuartzsiteRain By Shanana "Rain" BearCat Last week, I received a call from an irate woman who took her anger out on me, a total stranger. She was extremely anxious about the up- coming Latino music festival, but her language and form of expres- sion was unnerving. I have become accustomed to receiving all kinds of calls, from where to find African beads to questions about an article in the paper a year ago. But this call was different. The call signaled anxiety, anger and fear is spilling into our society, right here in Quartzsite. Every day television inundates us with a cer- tain politician's racial slurs, nasty rhetoric and violence. We begin to think, Well, if it's okay with Trump, it must be okay for me, right? We begin to accept the unacceptable as normal. None of us raised our children to treat others with disrespect. We don't "The antidote to fear is gratitude. The antidote to anger is gratitude. You can't feel fear or anger while feel- ing gratitude at the same time." ~ Tony Robbins accept bullying in schools, but now people jump to defend a politician who incites violence? How's that make sense? Jeffrey Lohr, psychology profes- sor at the University of Arkansas coauthored the 2007 study: "The Pseudopsychology of Venting in the Treatment of Anger: Implications and Alternatives for Mental Health Practice," published in Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. "Venting may make you feel differ- ent in the moment, but the change in emotional state doesn't necessar- ily feel better; it may just feel less bad," says Jeffrey Lohr, psychology professor at the University of Ar- kansas. Lohr coauthored the 2007 study: "The Pseudopsychology of Venting in the Treatment of Anger: Implications and Alternatives for Mental Health Practice," published in Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. Reviewing the re- sults of anger expression research— including the earliest experiments in 1959—he and his co-researchers found that venting lacks scientific support, and "directly challenges the integrity of mental health prac- tice and places the public at risk." Many other psychologists agree. In a 2013 study "Anger on the In- ternet," published in Cyberpsychol- ogy, Behavior, and Social Network- LETTERS TO EDITOR POLICY Desert Messenger encourages letters from its readers. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, and may be edited for grammar, content and length. OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE DESERT MESSENGER. We invite you to not only see a problem, but search for the solution to share with the community, keeping the benefit of all in mind. Letters considered libelous, in poor taste, on a personal issue, mean spirited or dominated by Scripture quotes will not be published. Third party letters will not be accepted. To avoid confusion over people with common or similar names, writers must provide a full name and indicate the name they are known by. Writers must provide a full street address and phone number. Rvers can provide the location of park/BLM land, etc. Street addresses will not be pub- lished. Phone numbers are for verification only and will not be printed. Mail letters to: Desert Messenger, P.O. Box 3185, Quartzsite, AZ 85359 or E-mail to Editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 DEADLINE : WED. MARCH 30 TH for the april 6 th edition Desert Messenger News Email: editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 www.DesertMessenger.com Need Someone to Talk to? Problems with Drugs? Alcohol? Depression? Mental Health? Suicidal Thoughts? Serving Quartzsite 24 hour Crisis Line 1-866-495-3735 ing, researchers found that users of rant sites are more anger-prone in general and more often participate in negative behaviors such as ver- bal and physical fights, as well as reckless driving. Instead of simply letting off steam, users are fueling their fire. From an evolutionary perspective, anger is a normal emotion that func- tioned as a response to threats. The problem with venting is that it's a negative reinforcement process, says Lohr; anger and hostility are specific emotions and expression of them begets more anger and hostility. "What people fail to realize is that the anger would have dissipated had they not vented," Lohr says. "More- over, it would have dissipated more quickly had they not vented and tried to control their anger instead." Rather than behaving in an aggres- sive fashion, Lohr suggests reacting in an assertive fashion, such as tak- ing a Time Out, Addressing your concern in a respectful manner, using "I" versus "You" statements; Keep a journal or write letters that you don't share. Then assess your feelings to determine the cause and possible solutions. Gratitude overcomes anger and fear. A 2006 study published in Be- havior Research and Therapy found that Vietnam War Veterans with higher levels of gratitude experi- enced lower rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. If practicing gratitude can have an impact on such severe health con- cerns as PTSD, isn't it worth incor- porating this practice into your life?

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