My father died of a heart attack when I was 3 years old. I went to sleep with a father, and by the time I woke, I no longer had one. My mother, in her grief, subsequently removed all traces of him. Read More

Eating disorders are more common in men than you might realize. Learn more about the symptoms, risk factors, and treatment options from Dr. Roberto Olivardia, a nationally-recognized expert in the field. Read More

What are we saying when we say that someone is human? Read More

How Facebook and online social media might change romance and our love lives, part two. Read More

At the twilight of the Victorian Age, hypnotists entertained audiences with their mysterious arts, seemingly severing the connection between will and mind in hapless volunteers. Read More

Which addiction treatment option is best? To me that's a bit like asking whether the sky is better at the ocean or the mountains. Read More

Each week I think, “There must be something to write about suicide prevention that doesn’t have anything to do with Facebook.” But, I’m shown time and time again that the social network is so ubiquitous that it’s virtually impossible to minimize its influence. Read More

How can a woman fall for a bad boy when she should probably know better? It has been well-documented that ovulating women are inclined to be attracted to Mr. Right Now rather than Mr. Right. However, new research reveals that the hormonal changes associated with fertility induce women to believe that players might actually stick around. Read More

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and red wine = happiness Read More

In the current issue of PLOS Genetics there is an fascinating paper on the role of the Gnas gene in regulation of REM and NREM sleep. Read More

Too often we think of mental health problems as diseases of the brain that need a pill. Read More

You can’t really know what it is like to be in psychoanalysis—unless you actually are in psychoanalysis—until now. Through his fascinating new book, Psychotherapy: Lives Intersecting, retired psychoanalyst Louis Breger and his former patients tell it like it really is. Read More

Twentysomethings hate fifty shades of grey—and, by that, I mean uncertainty. I know this because I spend most of my days talking with people in their 20s about things that aren’t black and white. Read More

The first therapists were most likely gurus by some other name. They were healers of mind and body sanctioned by and reflecting their tribe, its values, and its belief systems. Read More

When a child has a language delay, people tend to accept this fact at face value: Joseph is 6 but speaks like a 3-year-old. While understandably upsetting to many parents, no one expects Joseph to speak differently before he is able. Read More

Our performance is often linked to financial incentives. This is certainly true in the business world where employers regularly make payment contingent on workers’ performance or productivity. Read More

Lower check, lower weight? Read More

How a new government policy to cut costs at the expense of patient education is likely to result in poor health outcomes and increased costs. Read More

Many aspects of prom work against the development of healthy sexuality in young people, but this doesn't have to be the case. Read More

It seems obvious to us today that it's the spongy, convoluted outer layers of the brain — the cerebral cortex — that is largely responsible for our uniquely human abilities. But it wasn't always so. Read More

Until recently, many doctors dismissed women’s genital pain (dyspareunia or vulvodynia) as “neurotic,” which left them doubly wounded—in pain and put down. Some men don’t believe women’s complaints of sexual pain. Read More

Do you find your spouse controlling, but not intimate? Is she too easily angered after sex or avoids it altogether? Does he hold back while devoting all his warmth to the kids? Are you living like room mates, without the sweet softness of devoted lovers? Read More

Back when I developed a panic disorder, the striking symptom I had was not called a panic attack; it was called an anxiety attack. I was in a classroom when it struck. Read More

Over time, we developed the following scale, which can be used to diagnose the condition. Patients who are severely troubled by this condition are likely to answer yes to all but a few of these questions. In further blogs, I will elaborate on treatment. Read More

Owning up to the “good-bye” that is built in to our finite human existing makes possible the saying of an authentic “Hello!” Read More

My wife put our daughter to bed, brushed her teeth, and freshened up before bed. Slipping under the covers, we exchanged glances and knew it was time to do what comes naturally for a couple on a warm night in Silicon Valley. Read More

Recently, I noticed that my kids are entering adulthood just as I'm leaving it. My friend Lisa asked me where I am going, and to tell her the truth — I'm not exactly sure. But what I do believe, is something Deepak Chopra also believes: Change and transformation is your birth right. Read More

Every year around this time, department store dressing rooms echo with the disgruntled sighs of women trying on swimwear. Armed with at least a half dozen spandex garments of various shapes, sizes and colors, nothing can morph a mature woman into an awkward adolescent like a full length, three-sided mirror. Read More

Uber-pragmatic, super psych-savvy and totally readable economist Robert H. Frank takes a brilliant whack at what's wrong, what's right and how to save ourselves from ourselves. Read More

Below the belt tactics? Wonder of wonders that our partner or family member doesn’t seem to appreciate our feedback. Read More