Q: If I feed my brain with a certain positive thought every time it wanders in a negative direction, does it eventually believe the thought? For example, suppose my mom tries to stop me from playing video games by telling me that it wastes time. My mind doubts her, and and I have thoughts that she’s just being overly protective. But if I keep repeating to myself that she’s right, would my mind eventually believe it and have no more doubts? – Michele …
Men are a strange bunch. We’ll fight each other to the death over a patch of land. We’ll go to the mat over an imagined insult. Sometimes we brawl just for fun. But we do not enjoy conflict with women. Any relationship therapist can tell you that men tend to retreat from arguments, leaving women frustrated and isolated, and leaving relationship problems unresolved. It may be the single most common complaint from women about the men in their lives. …
Q: OK Doc, I saw that you write about men and women so maybe you can help. I’m a 19-year-old guy. I’m in college, working part-time, doing what I’m supposed to do. Last week, this girl said she didn’t want to date me and we should just be friends. She said I’m “too nice.” I get that a lot. Every girl I know seems to go after douchebags and macho idiots. They ignore nice guys like me. Why do women act like that? – Matt …
Our elected officials have no meaningful incentive to prevent another murder committed by someone with severe mental illness. It’s not that they want these crimes to continue, but politicians are compelled to do things that will keep them in office. Unfortunately, the behaviors that maintain their power are sometimes very different from the behaviors that would solve problems. …
I’m going to keep the preamble short and sweet. I am a man, after all, so let’s get to the point. …
Imagine a young man working at the seafood counter of a grocery store. Before he wraps a fresh fish that someone has just purchased, he pretends that it is dancing on the counter, singing “I like the night life, baby!” …
Let’s pretend that your child’s psyche is a container into which you can pour any mix of personality traits you wish. In my imaginary world, you can skip right past the terrible twos and the trying teens. You get to concoct your ideal offspring. Here are a few sample traits to get you started: …
In Part One of this two-parter, I offered a few common reasons that men stop talking in relationships. Then, being a man, I ran out of things to say. I’m back now with some thoughts on how to tackle this problem as a team. …
Five Reasons Men Go Silent, and What to Do About It (Part Two)Read More »
A lot of men do it. They do it after dinner; they do it in the car. They do it in bed, and they even do it when you’re discussing your mother. …
Five Reasons Men Go Silent, and What to Do About It (Part One)Read More »
I received the government-issued handbook Your Chance to Live in grade school during the cold war. It was meant to teach children how to survive environmental dangers, natural disasters, and nuclear wars.
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