Read moreIt is far too common for sexual satisfaction in long-term relationships to take a nosedive. The good news is, we know what to do about it. The bad news is many people are too lazy and complacent to do it. (As a couples therapist, I see this often.)
There have been a few replicated studies on a phenomenon called “sexual communal strength” and its impact on sexual satisfaction over time.
Read moreThrough this experience, we’ve come across scores of toxic behaviours that push people away from each other. And we’ve witnessed the devastation these behaviours cause – to relationships, to personal and professional growth, and to the general well-being of both the individual behaving negatively, and to everyone in their life.
Let’s be honest – we’ve all acted in toxic, damaging ways at one time or another.
Read moreThe primary treatment for diabetes is a drug. This analogy works if we accept that the primary treatment for mental illness is drugs. The pharmaceutical industry would be pleased with this approach.
But, in fact, the primary treatment for problems of emotional well-being is time. What is needed is time and space for listening, where individuals can have the opportunity to have their feelings recognized and understood.
Read moreI don’t mean to sound unduly harsh, but I’ve never heard of a hedge-fund manager whose job entails attending to basic human needs (unless you consider having more money as basic human need) or enriching our culture (except through the myriad novels, exposés, and movies made about greedy hedge-fund managers and investment bankers).
They don’t even build the economy.
Read moreResearch suggests that conservatives are, on average, more susceptible to fear than those who identify themselves as liberals. Looking at MRIs of a large sample of young adults last year, researchers at University College London discovered that “greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala”. The amygdala is an ancient brain structure that’s activated during states of fear and anxiety.
Read moreScientists were surprised to find that the same equation could be used to predict how happy participants would be while they played the smartphone game, even though the people could win only points and not money.
They found that overall wealth accumulated during the experiment was not a good predictor of happiness.
Instead, moment-to-moment happiness depended on the recent history of rewards and expectations.
Read moreAll the genuinely smart, talented, funny people I know seem to be miserable these days. You feel it on Twitter more than Facebook, because Facebook is where you go to do your performance art where you pretend to be a hip, urbane person with the most awesomest friends and the best relationships and the very best lunches ever. Facebook is surface; Twitter is subtext, and judging by what I’ve seen, the subtext is aching sadness.
I’m not immune to this. I don’t remember ever feeling this miserable and depressed in my life, this sense of futility that makes you wish you’d simply go numb and not care anymore.
