It’s Sunday night at 8 p.m., and your heart is:
a. Fluttering because someone special just fixed you a sumptuous and romantic supper.
b. Thumping with anticipation because “Desperate Housewives” is about to come on and you can’t wait to find out what’s happening on Wisteria Lane.
c. Pounding because you are totally freaked out by the thought of another stressful workweek. Keep reading »
Young love! Ah, so romantic. Like any other bride-to-be Kendra Wilkinson, Playboy model and “Girls Next Door” star, is walking on air. And when asked by People magazine how she’s keeping fit for her big day, the 23-year-old extolled the health benefits of good sex! “A lot of it,” her fiancé, Philadelphia Eagles player Hank Baskett, added.
Really, what else would you expect one of Hugh Hefner’s former “girlfriends” to say? But the girl’s got a point. A healthy sex life—from the deed itself to the messy cleanup afterwards—does a body good in all kinds of ways. Keep reading »
Although men and women have experienced more equal employment opportunities in recent decades, men still connect their masculinity to their role as breadwinner. And when men feel insecure about their jobs or fear becoming redundant at work, they’re more likely to be stressed or depressed than women, according to a study conducted in Britain by Cambridge University. More women than men have lost their jobs in Britain during the recession and a recent poll released earlier this year showed that women, more than men, were worried about losing their jobs, so you’d think women would be the depressed ones. Not so! Even when unemployed men found an insecure job, their psychological health didn’t improve. For unemployed women, on the other hand, finding an insecure job helped restore psychological health. Men may be better at saving face in a crisis, but women, it seems, are more equipped to deal with the crisis — after the tears and screaming, that is. [Reuters] Keep reading »
We’ve all seen the commercial that asks, “Where does depression hurt?” And anyone who’s been depressed knows that it hurts everywhere. But did you know that depression can damage the physical health of a woman more than a man? Keep reading »
The first year of marriage is the hardest, I’d been told many times by my friends. While I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for the uncertain road that lay ahead, I certainly felt like I’d gotten fair warning and couldn’t expect to be surprised by the challenges that would come once I entered marriage. Once the wedding is over, it’s the two of you, making a life together, and that’s not easy for anyone.
So, I felt ready to encounter squabbles and misunderstandings and the taking-for-granted that comes when you know someone really well and expect to be around them for a long time. When something came up, I could tell myself, “OK, this is normal.”
But there were some other parts of newlywed life that bummed me out, stuff that I never thought would have mattered to me … until it did. Keep reading »
Not long ago, I met a guy that reminded me of that sexy NPR storyteller Ira Glass. Instantly, I fell in nerd-love with this doppelganger. After dating for a while, though, we realized we had only one thing in common: sex. So we decided to be friends with benefits. According to a Michigan State University study, sixty-percent of college co-eds have been involved in an FWB relationship, and plenty of my thirty-something girlfriends were doing it to stay satisfied, so I figured I’d give the laid back, no-romantic-attachments approach to getting laid a whirl. A year later, faux-Ira and I still hang out and hump. After our most recent rendezvous last weekend, I began to wonder what I’m doing. What are the real benefits to friends with benefits? Sure, now I have an in-case-of-sexual-emergency-hit-Glass-lookalike. At the same time, I’ve started to realize my situation is causing me to question the meaning of friendship, challenging my chances at romances, and wobbling my emotional stability. Keep reading »
Though the stigma is lessening, men are still far more likely than women to let their depression go untreated. Blame it on Rambo, Brando, or the lure of the martini, but many guys still aren’t getting the help they need. As the traditionally stressful, dark days of winter set in, here are some signs that the guy you love might be suffering from more than a loss in fantasy football … Keep reading »
Last week I wrote a blog post about the 10 Ways To Survive The First Week Of Heartbreak. Just to be clear, these tips referenced the things that helped me personally during that rough week and certainly should not be taken as gospel for every single person reading The Frisky. I mean, that would be kind of unfair to those of you who are not within driving distance of an amusement park that throws a Gay Night party every year! Jokes aside, I also did not intend to imply that “popping pills” was something everyone should run out and do. In the interest of full-disclosure, I’ve been on anti-d’s (as we call ‘em) for the last year and a half (for a variety of reasons, in conjunction with talk therapy), so I didn’t just start taking them because my lame-o fiance dumped me. That said, I do know that being on them helped me get through that first week (and continue to help me get through the second and third).
The comments and emails we received that were concerned I was too flippantly recommending that the heartbroken should pop pills (truthfully, just a shout out to Jacqueline Susann!) made me think we should address the issue in depth. So, after the jump, two women in their 20′s who have taken psychiatric medication and can report on their positive and negative experiences. Keep reading »
