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 moreSociopaths tend to be nervous and easily agitated. They are volatile and prone to emotional outbursts, including fits of rage. They are likely to be uneducated and live on the fringes of society, unable to hold down a steady job or stay in one place for very long. It is difficult but not impossible for sociopaths to form attachments with others. Many sociopaths are able to form an attachment to a particular individual or group, although they have no regard for society in general or its rules.
Read moreOne inherent problem with goal setting is related to how the brain works. Recent neuroscience research shows the brain works in a protective way, resistant to change. Therefore, any goals that require substantial behavioural change, or thinking-pattern change, will automatically be resisted. The brain is wired to seek rewards and avoid pain or discomfort, including fear. When the fear of failure creeps into the mind of the goal setter, it becomes a “demotivator,” with a desire to return to known, comfortable behaviour and thought patterns.
Read moreWhen first looking out for a partner, the requirements we come up with are coloured by a beautiful non-specific sentimental vagueness: we’ll say we really want to find someone who is ‘kind’ or ‘fun to be with’, ‘attractive’ or ‘up for an adventure…’
It isn’t that such desires are wrong, they are just not remotely precise enough in their understanding of what we, in particular, are going to require in order to stand a chance of being happy – or, more accurately, not consistently miserable.
Read moreThey say that mixed marriages between geeks and non-geeks are 60 percent more likely to fail. Surprised? Well, you should be, because I completely made that up. But it is true that such a tech-unbalanced marriage can be more difficult than most, but that doesn’t mean your love of tech needs to doom the marriage.
When I met my wife, she knew that I was an engineering student, so to some degree, she had a fair warning that I was a tech geek three years before we got married.
Read moreIn the book Putting Meat on the American Table, researcher Roger Horowitz scours the literature for data on how much meat Americans actually ate. A survey of 8,000 urban Americans in 1909 showed that the poorest among them ate 136 pounds a year, and the wealthiest more than 200 pounds.
A food budget published in the New York Tribune in 1851 allots two pounds of meat per day for a family of five.
Read morePast research has suggested that infidelity is one of the leading causes of divorce. But what drives a person to become unfaithful?
Thanks to a new study published in Contemporary Family Therapy, we now have an inside look into why married women cheat.
Researchers Michelle Jeanfreau, Anthony Jurich, and Michael Mong conducted case studies on four women aged 24 to 51 who cheated on their spouses and whose marriages subsequently ended in divorce.
Read moreSometimes I find myself waiting for the e-mail saying:
“Sorry, we’ve made a huge mistake, you are fired.”
Every success is a fluke. Each mistake is a disaster I play over and over again. I’ve convinced myself that one day it will all come crashing down.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Read moreThere are a limited amount of places where one can do drugs. Of those places, drug users select a certain few places where they prefer to do drugs and then do drugs most often at a select number of places that are convenient. Essentially, a regular drug user will often have a regular place to take their drugs. After they’ve done drugs regularly in the same place, the connection is made. A bathroom, a bedroom, a certain club, will always be associated with drug use. People trying to quit drugs often talk about how they have to avoid their old haunts because they feel a rush of anticipation.
Read moreWhile we tend to think of boredom as something that inevitably leads to trouble — drinking, gambling, antisocial behaviour — this research suggests different possibilities.
More than anything, the feeling of boredom is a strong signal that we are stuck in some kind of rut and we need to seek out new goals.
In the study above, this search led participants to new ideas.
