A question I hear almost daily in my office is what factors or behaviors can prevent one from finding a loving relationship. The answer boils down to a combination of reasons, the first of which is simply not searching persistently … Continue reading
I received an email from a reader regarding a recent column where I wrote that a fear of success could be a fear of being “found out” as a fraud – whether you earned the success or not. The writer … Continue reading
I’ve always liked the saying, “If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.” Sadly, the natural response to that is often, “Well, it must be nice to have… [whatever you earned that they resent your having earned].” A successful … Continue reading
A regular reader of this column sent me an email asking for my perspective on an interesting psychological oddity, namely, people who don’t like to be treated well. Most of us want to be treated with kindness and respect, but … Continue reading
I recently had a close encounter (of the obnoxious kind) in a local grocery store. Regular readers know that these little adventures of mine often end up as columns, so here goes. A woman who showed no evidence of disability … Continue reading
Two approaches to life characterize the majority of human interactions. One is the adversarial mentality, and the other is the realistic mentality. The adversarial mentality rests upon illogical but (to some people) emotionally appealing ideas about how human beings get … Continue reading
A website visitor asks, “I’m hoping you can help out with my 27-year-old son. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) back in high school, and nothing has been the same since. He’s just an older version of … Continue reading
One of the more interesting things I encounter from time to time is people who tell me that certain sounds make them feel uncomfortable and angry. A bit of research introduced me to the term “misophonia”: a debilitating situation where … Continue reading
A few months ago I wrote that a fear of success could be a fear of being “found out” as a fraud – whether you earned the success or not. A kind reader responded by telling me that when she’s … Continue reading
A Cornell University study asks, “Why do teens do stupid things?” My response: “Well, not so fast.” Not all teens do stupid things. There’s nothing about being young that makes stupidity inevitable. It’s true that teens don’t have the knowledge … Continue reading
A website visitor emails that her relative, a young woman of 19, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She asks if it is a valid diagnostic label or just another excuse to justify bad behavior. Psychiatrists define bipolar disorder as … Continue reading
A friend told me that she wants to stop “mining for issues.” I liked her metaphor! She told me that she found herself actually looking for things to be anxious and worried about. Looking back at my clinical experience, I … Continue reading