Contributors

Passive-aggressive neighbor

by Dr. Bradbury Question: I live next door to a woman who I think is passive-aggressive. She knows I don’t like shoveling snow so comes out and says, “A lot of snow, huh.” I responded, […]

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A Very Dark Personality

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband sits and broods or pouts in the dark—the darker the better. He has no trouble sleeping. He either wants to sleep all the time or just sit in […]

Contributors

Women need more sleep than men

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Do women need more sleep than men? Answer: Though ideas have changed through the years as to exactly how much sleep is required to function efficiently, most sleep researchers agree […]

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Becoming a Morning Person

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury What are the benefits of being a morning person, an early riser, one that rolls out of bed by 7:00 A.M.? Are there any benefits at all? According to Charissa Chamorro, […]

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God is a God of Order

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Crime breeds in chaos. This is one of the tenets of the Broken Windows Theory. If you have a disorderly household, you have a greater likelihood of producing children with delinquent […]

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Things to Tell Your Husband

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I’ve been married several years, and there have been some pretty serious ups and downs in our relationship. Growing up, I always heard my mother say that you never build […]

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Where Does Psychology Come From?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Where does the study of psychology come from? Answer: The earliest origins of psychology are in the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers, particularly Aristotle. They wrote about the nature […]

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LUV Talk

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband and I love each other, but it seems that he never wants to deal with the issues that cause the problems in our marriage. Instead, he is likely […]

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Token Economy

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have four children, ages 4, 5, 7, and 8. When they were babies, they were so sweet and cuddly, but now that they are older, I am pulling my […]

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Parenting Issues

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What are some of the most common parenting issues you have seen in your practice? Answer: Probably the most common parenting issue that I see is one parent sabotaging the […]

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Sexual Addiction, Perception or Fact

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I recently married, and I know my husband is cheating and it’s with multiple women not just one. He holds me when we sleep, sometimes we hold each other while […]

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Guardianship

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My mother is quite elderly, and I am concerned that she may be in need of a guardian. I recently found that there are a number of bills that have […]

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Teaching  Children to be Respectful

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Can you give me tips on how to teach children to be respectful? Frequently, children take their cues from their parents. If they are around respectful parents they learn respect; […]

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Marriage vs. Cohabitating

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I’m preparing to graduate from high school. I’ve had some dates, but I have never been sexually active. I made a choice not to become sexually involved with any of […]

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How to Talk to Your Spouse

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: There are some pretty serious issues that I need to talk to my spouse about, but I have not been able to get up the courage to do so. Do […]

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When to Get Marriage Counseling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How does one know when a marriage has reached the point that it could benefit from counseling? In all honesty, most marriages could benefit from counseling, and it’s not necessary […]

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The Struggle to Fall Asleep

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I love to sleep, once I fall asleep, but I struggle to fall asleep, so sometimes I dread getting into bed, knowing I am going to have a hard time […]

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Disagreements Over Discipline

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My wife often scolds me for not disciplining the children when they misbehave, but when I do try to discipline them, she attacks me for being too harsh. I find […]

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Quitting Tobacco

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: We are in a financial bind. We can’t pay our rent, yet my husband smokes a pack of cigarettes each day. I know we are on the verge of being […]

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How to End an Argument

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Please give me some tips on how to stop arguing with my wife. It seems that she is ready to fight at the drop of the hat, and so am […]

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Feeling Rejected

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have bipolar disorder and am currently in a serious depressed state. I try to avoid arguments with my spouse because I know my thinking is skewed. She accuses me […]

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Talking to Yourself

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Are people who talk to themselves crazy? I do it all the time, and my husband thinks it’s weird. Answer: Previously, I had heard that more intelligent people talk to […]

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Reconciling and Rebuilding

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Is it possible to reconcile after an affair and truly rebuild the relationship? I do not want to reveal whether I am a husband or a wife. But I am […]

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Equity v. Equality

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have been hearing a lot about equity lately. Is it the same as equality? If not, how is it different? Answer: In years past, the terms were often used […]

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Chronic Enabling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How do you defend an elder who is being manipulated by their drug-addict child and this has been going on for years? The drug addict asks for money from the […]

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Holiday Dilemma

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have come to hate holidays because without fail my wife is miserable. I have not been able to figure it out, but I think she looks forward to the […]

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Wives’ Tales or Attribution?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I’m Yup’ik Eskimo from the Lower Yukon region. Growing up, I’ve heard a lot of wives’ tales about itching hands (to receive money soon), twitching eye lids (about to see […]

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Reasons to be Thankful

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: It’s Thanksgiving time. Is there any research on the benefits of being thankful? Answer: It seems intuitive that thankful people would navigate life better than someone who is unthankful and […]

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Judgmental Attitude

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I don’t have a question to respond to, but I have had many people ask about the dry-drunk syndrome. So, over the last three weeks and today, I have written […]

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Is this Elder Abuse?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Is it elder abuse to take away the harmful substances that they are addicted to such as chewing tobacco, cigarettes, or alcohol? Answer: I wouldn’t recommend going into an elder’s […]

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Mental Health Effects of COVID

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What are some of the mental health effects of COVID? Answer: To find an answer to your question, I searched the American Psychological Association (APA) data bases, WebMD, and Mayo […]

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Secondary Gain

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What is secondary gain? Secondary Gain is defined as a benefit that occurs secondary to a confirmed or stated, but unconfirmed, illness. It describes the benefits derived from living the […]

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What does narcissistic personality disorder look like? Answer: Personality disorders often overlap with one another, and therapists recognize what is often referred to as a budding personality disorder when behaviors […]

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Adverse Childhood Experiences

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Recently, I was reading a book and the author wrote about something he called Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). What are ACEs? Is this really a mental health diagnosis? And do […]

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The Prevalence of Schizophrenia

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How prevalent is Schizophrenia? Answer: According to the DSM-5, the lifetime prevalence appears to be between 0.3% and 0.7%. That means in a population of 1000 individuals, you could expect […]

Contributors

How to Become a Psychologist

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I am interested in becoming a psychologist and being able to some day have my own practice like you have. How many years does it take to become a psychologist, […]

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Social Media Common Sense

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: This really isn’t a question; it’s more of a request. I made a terrible mistake. One day when I was angry, I posted some rather embarrassing things about my husband […]

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Multitasking

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband and I have been having some rather heated discussions lately. I find nothing wrong with multitasking, and he refuses to be interrupted to take a telephone call. I’m […]

Contributors

Assertive Discipline

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury I am tired of screaming at my children. It seems they don’t even hear me any more. What can I do? There is a lot that you can do to train […]

Contributors

Don’t Help So Much

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Last week I responded to a question on enabling. In that response, I stated that I would follow with an article I had previously written on helping adult children become independent. […]

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Enabling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have been taking a class on addictions, and I am learning about how one spouse “enables” the other spouse to continue using alcohol or drugs. As I have been […]

Contributors

Mental Illness or Mental Defect

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What is the difference between a mental illness and a mental defect? Answer: A mental illness is also referred to as a mental disorder or a psychiatric illness. Generally, mental […]

Contributors

Parkinson’s Disease

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Can you discuss what the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are, what natural remedies can be taken to ward it off or at least postpone the inevitable, and what type of […]

Contributors

Christian Counseling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I am a Christian and I am afraid of the secular theories of counseling and psychology. How can I find a psychologist or counselor who practices Christian psychology? First, I […]

Contributors

Psyching Out People

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Are psychologists really able to tell a person all about themselves just be being around them for a few minutes. In other words, are psychologists able to psych people out? […]

Contributors

Be a Friend

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: At the moment, I am very sad, possibly depressed. I have lived in Bethel a number of years, and it seems that whenever I get a good friend, she moves […]

Contributors

Online Dating

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: When looking for a spouse, do you think online sites such as “eharmony.com” really work? They’re based on the premise that you’ll find someone that is compatible and matches your […]

Contributors

Bribing Children to Behave

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: “What is bribing and why does it work or not work in parenting or in life or even in general? Answer: The definition of bribing is “to persuade someone to […]

Contributors

Living in Constant Doom

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I was prescribed Xanax and Paxil from 2004 to 2013. When I lost my job I could no longer afford the medicines. I have since spiraled down into a repeated […]

Contributors

Help Me with My Anger

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I’m having a problem of short temper and can’t control my anger, although I express my anger verbally, and not physically. I am on medication for depression. Sir, your valuable […]

Contributors

Why Good Women Seek Bad Men

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Why do good women seek out relationships with men who treat them badly? I am one of them. I am a woman who has turned down opportunities to marry good […]

Contributors

What are Nonepileptic Seizures?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What are pseudoseizures? The preferred term is “nonepileptic seizures”, or “psychogenic nonepileptic seizures” (PNES), rather than pseudoseizures, though that term is still used in some professional literature. PNES are episodes […]

Contributors

A Soft Startup

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My wife and I seem to have a very difficult time communicating. I love her dearly, but I wish we could discuss some of the problems that arise in our […]

Contributors

Negotiation in Marriage

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I am a professional woman who works hard and likes to win. When given a task, I stay with it until finished. When given a challenge, I take it. When […]

Contributors

Don’t Worry; Be Happy

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband tells me I am a worrier. He says that if I don’t have something to worry about that is real, I will dream something up. I disagree with […]

Contributors

Fear Dance

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband and I have arguments that escalate in intensity as they progress. It seems that each of us are reacting one another’s comments. There is so much emotion involved […]

Contributors

Marriage Counseling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My wife has been trying to get me to go to marriage counseling, and frankly, I am not comfortable because I don’t know what to expect. Also, I don’t want […]

Contributors

Am I a Sex Addict?

by Dr. Bradbury Question: I don’t want to get into giving too much information, but how do I know if I am a sex addict? Answer: If your sexual behaviors create legal, relationship, career, emotional […]

Contributors

Rekindling Romance

by Dr. Bradbury Question: My wife treats me as though she really doesn’t like me. I don’t know what I have done wrong. When we first married, she treated me well, and I really felt […]

Contributors

Practical Ways to Lose Weight

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I am severely overweight, and have been most of my life. The weight is beginning to impact my joints, limiting my ability to get around. In addition, to the physical […]

Contributors

Seasonal Affective Disorder

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I am new to the far north, and I have a history of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I am concerned as to how I am going to deal with the shorter […]

Contributors

When Someone is Grieving

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Sometime in the past, I was approached and asked to respond to the following question: “What should you say, and what should you not say to someone who is grieving?” […]

Contributors

Getting the Correct Diagnosis

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I have a situation. I am a Single mom and my daughter who is now 26 years old suffered childhood trauma that she is still struggling to overcome. She presents […]

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What to Do?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: How do I convince my daughter to change her house keeping habits? Lovely daughter, embracing, effusive, engaging, personable, communicative in all aspects with the exception of an orderly, organized, clean […]

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Butterfly Effect

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What is the “butterfly effect” and how might it work in saving marriage? Answer: The concept of the “Butterfly Effect” has its origin in Chaos Theory. Chaos Theory describes certain […]

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Risk Factors for an Affair

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: In your opinion, what are some risk factors that might lead to an extramarital affair? I think it’s possible that there are different risk factors for different generations. In 2006, […]

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Religion and Mental Health

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Does too much religion cause people to go insane? For many years, theorists and practitioners in the field of psychology and psychiatry viewed religion as a negative factor in mental […]

Contributors

Intimacy After Years of Marriage

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband and I have been married for more than twenty years. We have three children, and from my perspective we have a good marriage. I have been faithful to […]

Contributors

Proper Diagnosis

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I read your article and still came away quite confused. I’ve been treated for bipolar disorder for about 5 years now but was recently told that I may have Dissociative […]

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False Positive v. False Negative

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Dr. Bradbury, can you explain the difference between a test that is prone to false positives vs. one that comes up with false negatives, and what is the advantage? Answer: […]

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Enabling

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What is enabling? Is it a bad thing? What are some things enablers can do to stop enabling? What is enabling? In psychology, enabling has both positive and negative meanings. […]

Contributors

The State of Arrested Adolescence

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: My husband had a long history of alcohol abuse but had been sober for a number of years when I married him. The honeymoon wore off very quickly and I […]

Contributors

Who Diagnoses Nyctophilia?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Someone responded to my last article on Nyctophilia with the following question: Question: I think I have those symptoms, because I like sitting in the dark and I find a dark […]

Contributors

Trouble Falling Asleep

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: I’m having trouble falling asleep at night. Music and meditation are not working anymore. I’m having a lot of problems relaxing at night. Hot showers don’t work anymore. What do […]

Contributors

Do I Have Nyctophilia?

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury The question below came through the Delta Discovery website. The person writing the question does not know English well as noted below, so I made some grammatical changes for readability, while […]

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The Healing Power of Laughter

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: What does the field of psychology say about the importance of laughter in recovering from illnesses, or even from such things as depression? I ran a search of the APA […]

Contributors

How to Stop Pouting

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: In your article, “Is pouting a symptom of depression?” you mentioned how to deal with someone who pouts and sulks, but I would like your help, if possible, in understanding […]

Contributors

Parenting Styles

by Dr. Lorin Bradbury Question: Are there styles of parenting that are more effective than others? The best-known research to date was based on studies of preschool children and their parents by Diana Baumrind at […]