dating advice

In today’s show, the drs discuss

1. I am worried about my daughter. She graduated with a perfect gpa while also modeling. After her degree, she moved to pursue modelling but she soon developed an eating disorder and quit.  Subsequently, she attended medical school but dropped out due to an illness caused by stress. She moved back home but she doesn’t want to work or go back to school. In fact, she barely leaves the house. Whenever I try to talk to her about it, she starts crying and we never get anywhere. I hate to see her waste her life like this. Please help, I don’t know what to do to help.

2. Any thoughts on autism or Asperger’s, particularly in women? I am a 35 year-old woman who has struggled in life in very specific ways. I’m trying to figure out if my issues are related to being on the spectrum or if they are simply a result of the combination of my big 5.

3. I find friendships draining, and the cost of friendships are not worth the payback. My concern is that there is pressure to make and maintain social connections, for example Dr. Dean Ornish believes social connections are one key to reversing disease. My concern is this pressure could cause unnecessary anxiety for some people, who become anxious trying to keep connections, when they could be just as happy without them.

4. I’m trying to follow your 10 paid dates strategy, but men just don’t pay anymore! Isn’t this a slightly archaic expectation or do I need to lower my standards? I’m 40 and would very much like to find the right man and have a kid while I still can. I’m athletic, a solid 9 physically, of high intelligence, relatively successful and highly agreeable. I’ve been on dating apps for over a year and been on countless dates. The only man who paid for our date knew about the 10 paid dates strategy and was honest enough to tell me he’s only interested in casual mating.

In today’s show, the Dr’s discuss:

1. Are attachment styles just the last trend in psychodynamic nonsense? Or is there some legitimacy to it?

2. I wanted to get your perspectives on the trait of confidence. Do you view confidence as a combination of Big5 traits? Is there such a thing as internal confidence or is it all driven by market feedback with respect to mates, friends, and trading partners? I’m particularly interested in understanding if there are ways to help children feel more confident. 

3. Please can you help me with ‘Imposter Syndrome’? I was recently offered, seemingly out of the blue, a stellar opportunity to work at the highest tier of my industry that I am yet to complete training in. I am HC, HA, HN, above av intelligence. After weeks of stress & emotional turmoil, not to mention hard work, I pulled off a great presentation and have been flooded with esteem & positive feedback & people wanting to work with me. Not soley because of the presentation, but my name must be getting ‘out there’ in my field. I am in a permanent state of bewilderment & anxiety. I cannot seem to internalise, accept as true and enjoy my ‘success.’ I feel like a fraud and that my new clients are overestimating me and will be disappointed. Please help, these feelings are crippling and are inhibiting me moving forward. NB This is my third career and I have not experienced anything like this before.

In today’s episode, Dr. Lisle goes over: 

1. What would be the stone age benefit for women to seek only compassion and not direct help or solutions?

2. I grew up in a household with parents who successfully left their home countries and “made it” as engineers in the US. I grew up with the expectation that I would follow their trajectory – I completed a bachelors, a masters, and was always “en-route” to medical school. Post-graduate school though, things started to look a little differently for me. I lost academic steam and I fell into mystical, artsy land. Recently, I feel like I woke up from a pity-party slumber. I am getting back on the path to medical school. The problem? I am torn. I find myself battling 3 different lives: a life of sacrifice to others through usage of my scientific aptitude, a life of being a jester and using my charm to brighten people’s lives, and a life of solitude in pursuit of philosophical truths. So what do I do? Why have I been torn in this position for the past 3 years since graduate school? Am I stuck in black-or-white thinking and can do all three, or have I subconsciously ran a cost-benefit analysis and have determined certain routes aren’t worth it? 

3. My sister is in need of bone marrow. As her only sibling, I would be ideal for this and have a 25% chance of matching. But this comes with serious risks for the donor. Unlike my sister, I take good care of myself, eating a whole foods diet. I am not on any medication and avoid taking even aspirins. Also unlike my sister, I am vehemently opposed to taking the vaccine. However, my doctor says that I will likely be forced to take it if I want to be her donor. I could postpone a decision and simply find out if I’m a match, but if I am, I will feel compelled to continue going down this road, a road I’m not sure I want to go down. How do I make this decision?