Mental illness could make you successful, University of Bolton researcher claims

Mental illness could make you successful, University of Bolton researcher claims

6:00am Saturday 27th July 2013 in News By Saiqa Chaudhari, Education reporter

MENTAL illness could aid success, according to research by a?University of Bolton professor.

Professor Jerome Carson, the university?s Professor of Psychology, has been exploring what he calls "the paradox between mental health issues and excellence".

He has investigated the possible mental health issues of some of history?s most intriguing figures ? and believes it could have helped them become the leaders they were.

Together with former history teacher, Elizabeth Wakely, Prof Carson has examined Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill and Charles Darwin and any mental health issues they may have suffered.

Prof Carson said that each of these luminaries was brilliant in their own speciality ? be it in politics, science or medicine ? yet each was affected by issues like depression and anxiety.

He argues America?s most famous president, Abraham Lincoln, suffered from intense bouts of depression.

Outside of politics he had a challenging life, outliving three of his four children and historical evidence also shows his wife had mental health problems, probably schizophrenia.

Prof Carson said: ?His suffering was seen as an asset. ?It allowed him to be seen as a human being. This is something that definitely wouldn?t happen now. In today?s political landscape it would be seen as a weakness.?

Florence Nightingale?s place in history was secured with her heroic and groundbreaking work in the Crimean War.

But evidence suggests the UK?s most famous nurse also suffered with several mental health problems.

?Florence Nightingale was the most complex character of the people we investigated. People will be well aware of the Lady and the Lamp persona and her role in the Crimean War. However, there is a lot more to her story, ? said Prof Carson People who suffer from bipolar conditions experience fluctuating states of mood, enjoying feelings of extreme mania and euphoria, followed by a deep depression.

?She spent 30 years of her life housebound and six of those in her bed, ? said Prof Carson.

The UK?s Second World War Prime Minister Winston Churchill?s depression, which he called his ?black dog?, was said to affect his personality in that he was infamously stubborn.

Prof Carson said that during the Second World War these character traits were an asset.

Charles Darwin, author of the pioneering book on evolution, The Origin of Species, suffered from a chronic anxiety disorder.

Prof Carson said: ?His condition was so severe that he missed the launch of his magnum opus, The Origin of Species and was unable to take part in the Oxford debate.?

Professor Carson and Elizabeth Wakely, along with Sophie Davies and Sarah Morgan are co-editors of the book Mental Health Recovery Heroes Past and Present.

Source: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/10575885.Mental_illness_could_make_you_successful__University_of_Bolton_researcher_claims/?ref=rss

National Ice Cream Day pippa middleton helen thomas Rosy Esparza Bbc News queen elizabeth Catching Fire trailer

Dying 'Simpsons' co-creator donating fortune

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

15 hours ago

Pretty much everyone who's ever watched "The Simpsons" knows that they sprung mostly formed out of Matt Groening's head over 20 years ago ? but what they may be less familiar with is the name Sam Simon, who co-created the series. Simon left in 1993 (though he still gets an executive producer credit) to pursue other TV options and philanthropic endeavors, but as he told The Hollywood Reporter (photo from the article Tweeted by Simon below), he's about to step up giving away as much money as he can. Why? He's been diagnosed with terminal colon cancer.

The 58-year-old nine-time Emmy winner, who currently consults on "Anger Management," announced his diagnosis on Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast back in May, saying he had been told he had between three and six months to live. He also added that he would donate nearly all of his "Simpsons" royalties to charity. (He is unmarried and has no children.)

As he told THR, he had no idea money from "The Simpsons" would still be coming in 25 years later. "(It) got bigger and bigger," he said.

Simon was solidly behind many charities even before his diagnosis; he founded the Sam Simon Foundation to assist needy humans and stray dogs; he has a PETA center in Norfolk, Va. named after him; global marine conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society named one of its four vessels after him ? and that's just a start.

But now, he says, "We are going to expand all this stuff (in the Sam Simon Foundation). (It) is going to be very well endowed, and there's a lot of stuff I want them to do."

As for his health, it's a day-by-day situation. He said he's still undergoing chemotherapy treatment, though he gets "every possible side effect ? fatigue, nausea ... so today and tomorrow are like, my two good days for the month. So I'm feeling pretty good today, and, you know, we shall see."

Read the full interview here.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/terminally-ill-simpsons-co-creator-sam-simon-giving-fortune-charity-6C10761155

southern university biggest loser TJ Lane lindsey vonn lindsey vonn nit first day of spring

Stocks slide, Dow sheds 100 points as investors take pause

stocks

JeeYeon Park CNBC

9 hours ago

Stocks went on a roller-coaster ride on Friday, ending with the Dow squeezing out a fifth consecutive week of gains, as investors digested the latest batch of mixed earnings ahead of a busy economic calendar next week.

(Read more: JPMorgan raises ceiling on Wall Street's year-end forecasts)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day just 3 points ahead, after plunging nearly 150 points during the session. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq eked out small gains also. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished below 13.

Among key S&P sectors, materials lagged, while health care rebounded.

"The market's had a good run near the highs and with earnings season about halfway through, we characterize the results so far as being lackluster to just OK," said Cam Albright, director of asset allocation at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors. "As the year progresses, we're expecting the economy to start coming out of some of the doldrums from the fiscal impediments from earlier in the year?so we're expecting a better second half and that should help support the market and provide us with the basis to have prices move forward."

(Read more: S&P 500 ready for another pullback?)

On the economic front, consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in six years, with the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index climbing to 85.1 in July from 84.1 in June. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected a reading of 84.

"This high level of confidence points toward a continued expansion of consumer spending in the year ahead," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

But investors initially shrugged off the positive report, with the Dow plunging nearly 150 points soon after the report. Investors also hesitated to jump in ahead of next week's Federal Reserve's meeting and the widely-followed non-farm payrolls report.

"With the Fed meeting and non-farm payrolls due next week, there will be plenty of news to move the market in the week ahead," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor. "U.S. data has been more mixed in recent weeks, suggesting that next Friday's employment report may not be as good as recent months, in part because the housing market does look to have softened in light of higher interest rates."

Meanwhile, President Obama will not announce a decision about who will lead the Federal Reserve until the fall, according to a White House official. Current Chairman Ben Bernanke's term expires next January.

(Read more: Changes to Fed 'forward guidance' could lead to this)

Among earnings, Amazon.com declined after the Internet retail giant reported an unexpected loss and issued a cautious current-quarter forecast as it continues to invest in new areas like cloud computing services.

Starbucks rose after the coffeehouse chain topped earnings expectations and also forecast current-quarter profit above Street consensus. The company also boosted its full-year guidance as its new menu offerings helped drive customer traffic.

More than 50 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported results so far this quarter, with 68 percent of firms topping earnings expectations and 56 percent beating revenue estimates, according to data from Thomson Reuters. If all remaining companies report earnings in line with estimates, earnings will be up 4.1 percent from last year's second quarter.

Activision Blizzard surged after the videogame publisher said it will buy back nearly $8.2 billion worth of Vivendi's holding in the company.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled to its lowest level in nearly three weeks, as the yen strengthened against the dollar, following an inflation report.

"They looked good with the headline number, but when you dig down and take energy out, they were deflationary again," said Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services. "That spooked the Japanese market and the yen spiked against the dollar."

More business news:

Follow NBCNews.com business onTwitter and Facebook

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2f339352/sc/2/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cstocks0Eslide0Edow0Esheds0E10A0A0Epoints0Einvestors0Etake0Epause0E6C10A760A868/story01.htm

the beach Fear Airport Terminal easter bunny easter april fools pranks atlanta braves

Would you pay again for iOS 7 versions of your favorite apps?

iOS 7 is coming, and with it an all-new design language. Apps will have to update to reflect that change, or risk looking old and outdated, and lose their place to newer, hotter updates and upstarts. But great design and development isn't free -- it's expensive. So how will companies afford to restart in post iOS 7 world. Apple has shown their answer - charge again for the app. Will customers accept this, however? Hall of famer Gedeon Maheux of the Iconfactory wrestles with the upcoming reality on his Gedblog:

At the Iconfactory, we typically offer new paid version of our apps (xScope, Twitterrific) about every 18 months with many free upgrades in between. Though there are always users who will complain about having to pay for all-new versions, the vast majority know that in order for an app to survive and flourish, they occasionally have to do their part and support its development. Hopefully the upcoming wave of apps updated for iOS 7, both free and paid, will help people fall in love with their apps all over again.

Part of this is expectational legacy: old timers are used to upgrade pricing for software. People who's first computer was an iPhone or iPad have no such expectation. However, no one is teaching the value of software these days either. If you go and see Star Trek in the theater, you don't expect to get in to see Star Trek: Into Darkness for free. Yet many people have exactly that expectation, and developers and designers like Ged face that every day in their customer base. They get told, over and over again, that something they spent days, weeks, months and years on, missed sleep and weekends for, isn't worth as much as a fancy cup of coffee. Isn't worth as much as an ebook. Is barely worth as much as an MP3 file. (Which, by the way, you have to pay again for every time there's a remix...).

Willing great software into existence, crafting great functionality and user experience, is difficult enough. Continuing to do so when everyone from the platform you love to the customers you serve tell you it has little or no value to them? I can't even imagine.

I bought Twitterrific. I've bought every version since. I'll be every version hence. I use it every day. It makes my life a little more delightful. I value it. I want more of it. It already looks great on iOS 7, and I can't imagine what they'll do with it next. But I'm ready, willing, and super happy to pay for it and find out. And the same holds true for all the other apps I use, come iOS 7.

Now go read the smart stuff Ged says.

Source: Gedblog

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/cnBNYMST2Ys/story01.htm

Robyn Lawley Gore Vidal mlb trade rumors Misty May And Kerri Walsh Jake Dalton London 2012 field hockey Missy Franklin

Verizon still exploring possibility of entering Canada's wireless market

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Verizon added more wireless devices than expected to its network in the latest quarter, continuing a strong run for the country's largest cellphone carrier.

Verizon Wireless added 941,000 devices to its contract-based plans in the April to June period and boosted service revenues by 8.3 per cent from a year ago. Its closest rival, AT&T, is seeing revenue increases of around 4 per cent.

Almost all of the gains on the wireless side were due to customers upgrading to higher-priced plans or adding more devices to their plans, as opposed to an influx of new customers. Now that nearly every adult American has a cellphone, easy growth in the wireless industry has ended. Carriers are looking to tablets and other devices to keep revenue rising.

Net income at Verizon Communications Inc. was $5.2 billion, or 78 cents per share, up 21 per cent from a year ago, the company said Thursday. Excluding a pension-related gain, earnings were 73 cents per share. That beat the average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet by a penny.

Revenue was $29.79 billion, up more than 4 per cent from a year ago and in line with analyst expectations.

Verizon shares fell 64 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $50.10 in premarket trading. The shares hit a 12-year high of $54.31 on the last day of April.

New York-based phone company Verizon Communications owns 55 per cent of Verizon Wireless, which means that only that percentage of its profits flow to its bottom line. The rest goes to joint venture partner Vodafone Group PLC, a British cellphone company with wide-ranging international interests.

Verizon Communications has a long-standing interest in buying Vodafone out of Verizon Wireless, and analysts expect a deal could be reached later this year.

Source: http://www.capebretonpost.com/Canada---World/Business/2013-07-18/article-3319948/Verizon-still-exploring-possibility-of-entering-Canadas-wireless-market/1

beasley trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville stephen jackson

San Jose Taps Microsoft To Boost Customer Service

Local governments are increasingly turning to the cloud -- and Microsoft is actively vying for the business. In its latest win, the City of San Jose is betting big on Redmond's software as it commits to delivering better customer service.

The city chose Microsoft Office 365, Windows Azure and StorSimple -- reportedly over Google Apps -- to boost the productivity of its more than 5,000 employees. The city also expects the software bundle to help it reduce operational costs to more than 984,000 residents in the capital of Silicon Valley.

"Ensuring the productivity of employees is critical when state and local governments are constantly being asked to do more with less," said Michael Donlan, vice president of state and local government at Microsoft. Donlan touted the collaboration , productivity, security and privacy benefits of the company's solutions.

Secured Cloud Productivity

Vijay Sammeta, San Jose's chief information officer, is convinced the combination of Microsoft Office 365, Windows Azure and StorSimple supports both the city's long-term technology strategy and the immediate needs of its employees and residents.

"We turned to Office 365 for secured cloud productivity, which in turn will help us lower our total cost of ownership and support a more mobile and connected workforce of the future," Sammeta said. "The combination of Windows Azure and StorSimple will enable us to streamline storage infrastructure support, which enables our people to make the shift from basic backend operations to citizen engagement and service delivery."

With the Microsoft products and services, Sammeta said San Jose employees will have "constant and consistent" access to documents, email and information through the cloud. And that, he said, will let employees do their jobs in a secured environment regardless of their locations while simultaneously offering the ability to collaborate in real-time with other employees.

End-to-End Cloud Solution

"Instead of purchasing different products for various business needs that may or may not integrate with one another, Office 365 provides us with a complete solution that works both for today's needs and offers flexibility for addressing tomorrow's," Sammeta said. "By making this investment in technology, our staff will have up-to-date, enterprise -class cloud productivity tools, allowing us to catch up several product generations at once."

Sammeta said it comes down to the question of how to focus and leverage the talent of the city: Does it work on activities that don't help provide value directly to residents, or can it concentrate on where it can achieve real impact? As he sees it, the cloud gives the city an opportunity to transform its IT business model so it doesn't have to deal with servers and storage.

"If you're going to have a cloud strategy, you need to take a holistic look at your workloads," Sammeta said. "We know we are only starting to scratch the surface of the benefits to come, which likely will be more than just cost savings for IT. I'm looking forward to opening the door to greater collaboration and removing technology obstacles to our ability to innovate."

Source: http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=88781

cell phone jammer g8 summit netanyahu aipac vanessa minnillo super tuesday epidemiology

Super Mega Worm Released to Google Play, Mother Earth is Striking Back

After being out on iOS since 2010, Super Mega Worm has finally made its way to Android. While we haven?t been left out of all the fun ? we did get some Christmas Worm action ? it still sucks it took this long to bring the original to Android.?

In the game, you play a giant worm whose goal is to destroy mankind before we can destroy Earth. With all of our oil drilling and intense deforestation practices, it?s sort of a surprise something like this has yet to happen. Being equipped with what appears to be some type of EMP blast and a plasma cannon for a mouth, you jump on top of planes and pretty much destroy everything you can.

The game costs a single dollar in Google Play. Go grab it and see what we as Android users have been missing out on all this time.

Play Link ($0.99)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DroidLife/~3/v6cLUWceBVo/

nfl uniforms andrew bailey the village dallas fort worth tornado dallas tornadoes dallas weather nike nfl uniforms