Couch Meets World

I know a woman who feels she must get everything right. Margaret agonizes over work projects, convinced she will never please her boss. She spends a fortune buying the best of everything, yet still questions her choices. She throws parties and has a miserable time trying to assure that everyone is having fun. Read More

Congratulations, you did it. You survived the traffic, the tension, the family drama that each November makes so many people give thanks—that Thanksgiving is over! Read More

According to a new survey, the use of antidepressants rose 400% in the United States in little more than a decade. (If only I could say the same for my stock portfolio.) The National Center for Health Statistics reports that antidepressants are now the most commonly-prescribed medications among 18-to-44 year olds. Nearly a quarter of women age 40 to 59 take them. Read More

The thing I remember most -- besides the images of people jumping to their deaths -- is the smell. Read More

Thinking about seeing a therapist but confused about all the different titles? Psychiatrist, psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychopharmacologist, psychotherapist -- that's a lot of psychos! Many people are perplexed by the preponderance of "p-words" in the mental health profession. So, as Richard Nixon used to say, let me make things perfectly clear. Read More

At 11:55 last night -- only days before New York's Gay Pride Parade commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the birth of the gay rights movement -- the state became the largest in the nation to approve same-sex marriage.

Gay men and lesbians throughout the country rejoiced at a further recognition that they are equal to any other person regardless of whom they love. Read More

Automated system: Thank you for calling Black-and-Blue Cross/Blue Squeal. Your call is important to us, which is why you will repeatedly be put on hold and then disconnected. Let's get started. Please choose from the following options: Read More

Researchers call it "fat stigma." The disapproving glances from complete strangers. The prospective employer who suddenly loses interest when he meets you face to face, or the person who squeezes into the seat next to you at the movies with evident disgust. Read More

The prospective patient was aghast when he heard that I was a psychoanalyst. "Do you expect me to spend the next 30 years on the couch blaming my mother and poor potty training for all my problems?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "I've got real-life issues to deal with. I am not interested in any Freudian crap." (He may have used a different word than "crap.")

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Is it possible that some good has come out of the massacre in Tucson? The ugly political discourse has been turned down a notch (at least for now) and the recovery of Gabby Giffords has been inspiring to us all. Read More

Ah, New Year's. A time of fresh starts and grand resolutions. This is the year you lose weight, look for a new job, learn Swahili, and, in general, get your life in order.

And so you eat plentifully during the holidays, assured that your diet doesn't begin until January 1. Read More

Americans like our self-awareness like we like our food -- fast, and in bite-sized McNuggets. We pop pills and turn to self help books and TV "experts" to prop up or moods and pep up our orgasms. Yet we feel more impotent than ever.

How did we become a culture that reveres Dr. Phil yet reviles Dr. Freud? Read More