Dr Simon’s series continues with the fourth of ‘ten commandments’ of character development: be honest.

It appears the truth about human nature lies somewhere in the middle of the various extremes espoused by psychologists, behavioral scientists, philosophers and religious thinkers.

The most pressing socio-cultural issue of our time is not poverty, injustice, or brain biochemical imbalances. It’s character.

Creativity is linked in many complex ways both to general human wellness and to our sense of well-being. The more people do creative things simply because they love to do them, the greater their sense of satisfaction and joy.

Good clinicians not only have to stay abreast of the research, they have to bring some common sense and seasoned skepticism to their analysis of the research findings in order to incorporate only sound, reliable, and proven methods into the practice of their art.

Much of my practice over the years has involved treating individuals with significant disturbances of character. What they need most is to learn self-regulatory skills and self-discipline, but quick-fix medications rob them of the opportunity to make meaningful investments in personal development.

With the psychiatric side effects of rimonabant (sold as Acomplia in Europe and as Zimulti elsewhere) turning out to be even worse than originally thought, and the effectiveness of this new weight loss drug turning out to be pretty minimal, Sanofi-Aventis has yanked it from the market following a decision by European regulators to suspend marketing approval.