Yahoo! article: Yes! John Travolta and Regine Velasquez have sexdaily! (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

Yes! John Travolta and Regine Velasquez have sexdaily!

by Randy Dellosa 

John Travolta hasn’t made a blockbuster movie in ages and so, his star has dimmed quite a bit. But in the few minutes of being a presenter at this year’s Oscars, he once again became an overnight sensation albeit for an embarrassing mistake: He introduced the singer Idina Menzel by a strange name that vaguely sounded like “Adele Dazeem.” 

Travolta’s hilarious flub (or epic fail, as netizens put it) spawned two news words for the dictionary- “travoltify” and “travoltification,” both of which refer to the mangling or butchering of one’s name. The incident also inspired techno-geeks to create a widget called an “Adele Dazeem Generator’ which produces a “travoltified” version of one’s name. Playing around with the Adele Dazeem Generator, it was amusing to discover that John Travolta’s travoltified name is “Jan Thozomas.” That’s how he might have read his own name if he read it from the teleprompter on Oscars Night. 

On a serious note however, the incident placed in the spotlight the condition called ‘dyslexia”- the probable culprit in the travoltification of Idina Menzel’s name.

Famous personalities known to have dyslexia include Tom Cruise, Magic Johnson, Keanu Reeves, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, George Washington, Walt Disney, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Steven Spielberg.

In the local scene, our very own songbird, Regine Velasquez, is a self-diagnosed and self-confessed dyslexic. In an interview with Yahoo! blogger Gerry Plaza, she admitted to being both a slow reader and bad speller who interchanged her b’s and d’s. She admitted to having ugly handwriting and in school, she was allegedly bullied for being perceived as a stupid child. Regine also narrated that it was her strong memorization skills that helped her compensate for the challenges of dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder which affects many children. It is characterized by difficulties in reading, writing, and spelling. Experts explain that dyslexics have difficulty in accurately interpreting the printed word and in matching the words with their appropriate sounds. People tend to think that dyslexics are lazy or stupid but in reality, they are generally creative individuals who possess normal or even high IQ. Dyslexia is a life-long condition and it runs in families. In fact, if one parent has it, there is a 50% chance of passing the condition onto the child. Some dyslexics actually enjoy reading, although they may need to read more slowly.

If you’re wondering whether you’re dyslexic or not, here are ten questions for you to assess yourself:

• Do you dislike reading, especially if the reading material is lengthy?
• Do you read slowly?
• Are there times that you don’t read linearly from left to right?
• Do you omit words or parts of words when reading?
• Do you reverse the sequence of letters?

• Do you have difficulty in remembering the sequence of letters, numbers, words, and shapes?
• Are you poor in spelling?
• Are you poor in math?
• Do you make mistakes in reading aloud, and therefore dislike reading aloud?
• Do you have handwriting which others find ugly or illegible?

If you answered “yes” to 7 or more of the above questions, you probably have dyslexia and need to get help from a specialist. Specialists can teach you strategies on how to improve your reading and writing ability, techniques on how to reduce your stress and anxiety levels, and tips on how to conceal the symptoms of your dyslexia.

As for John Travolta, he really did a courageous thing in attempting to read what was written on the teleprompter. Of course, as a presenter, he had no excuse for not knowing beforehand who he was going to introduce.  Hopefully, he learned from his mistake, laughed off the flub, and moved on in life. 

It’s a good thing though that the phrase “I have dyslexia” wasn’t written on the teleprompter. Can you just imagine how the audience would have reacted if John mistakenly read it as “I have sexdaily.”?

Yahoo! Article: Portrait of Pinoy Politicians as Kleptomaniacs (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

Portrait of Pinoy Politicians as Kleptomaniacs

by Randy Dellosa

The Senate investigation of the pork barrel scam has all the makings of a hit “teleserye” or reality TV show. It has elements of drama, suspense, comedy and even an alleged May-December romance. The twists and turns in the storyline result from all the mind games, blame games, delaying tactics, and diversionary schemes that throw the investigation off track. The plot of course revolves around the theme of plunder, which can also be referred to as “political kleptomania.” 

Kleptomania comes from the combination of two Greek words for “thief” and “madness.” Kleptomania is characterized by the inability of a person to resist the temptation or urge to steal. It is important though to differentiate psychiatric kleptomania from political kleptomania. Psychiatric kleptomaniacs steal objects of little value for no other purpose than the heck of it. On the other hand, political kleptomaniacs refer to those government officials and politicians who illegally acquire vast amounts of wealth for personal gain. Political kleptomaniacs are also called “kleptocrats.”

What are the psychological factors that transform some politicians into kleptomaniacs?

• Measure of success. For some politicians, the fatness of their bank accounts determines how high they’ve made it up the socio-eco-political ladder. These people acquire excessive wealth because for them, wealth equals success, power, and prestige. 
• Poverty mentality. Some politicians who come from humble backgrounds have risen up the ranks yet continue to harbor a self-perception of being poor. They become compulsive hoarders of material wealth as if they were in a constant and insatiable state of deprivation. 
• Sharing the loot. Some politicians believe that it is acceptable to steal as long as some of the loot is used for charitable or religious projects. For them, sharing a little portion of the loot has the effect of lessening their guilt. 
• Copycat thievery. Many politicians pick up the shady habits of their corrupt predecessors and colleagues. In this sense, corruption is like an inheritable illness or contagious disease.

• Self-reward for stress. Some politicians feel unfairly compensated for all the effort they pour into their work. Since they believe that the government is not paying them enough, they exaggeratedly augment their own salary by hook or by crook.  
• Banking on Pinoy compassion. Corrupt politicians may not be too fearful of being caught for their crimes because Pinoys have shown a track record of easily forgiving past political leaders who have committed plunder. 
• Supporting their networks of patronage. Some politicians engage in massive thievery in order to pay off, reward, or give incentive to the people and institutions that back them up. 
• Preparation for comfortable retirement. Some politicians amass wealth because they want to sustain an affluent lifestyle after their retirement.
• Potential of
•  power to corrupt. A person in high office is always vulnerable to temptation. The historian John Acton put it well in stating that “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

• Narcissistic personality. Some politicians are narcissists who have an inflated view of themselves. Considering themselves to be superior and special beings, they feel that they are above the law and feel entitled to the use public funds as if it was theirs. 
• Criminal-mindedness. People with criminal tendencies are sociopaths who often con people for personal profit. Sociopaths have a calloused conscience and do not display any remorse for their offenses. 

Kleptomania is commonly treated through aversive conditioning. Aversive conditioning is nothing more than the quick application of stern but non-abusive disciplinary action immediately after the stealing is committed. In the olden days, electric shocks and other forms of physical torture were inflicted as inhumane punishments for kleptomania.

Politicians have their high office as a venue either to showcase their virtues or to cultivate their vices. For politicians who choose the latter, they need to be justly penalized and be taught these 3 basic lessons in life:  

1. that corruption is not a privilege of politicians,
2. that in the long run, crime does not pay, and 
3. that no one should ever consider himself or herself to be above the law.