Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
(Dr. Norquist is on vacation for the Christmas holiday weekend. We are re-running a letter published earlier in this column.) Dear Dr. Norquist: I have no idea what is going on with me. One minute I am happy and the next I’m depressed thinking about how bad my life is. I seem to have everything, …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I am writing to you, Dr. Norquist, because no one else has been able to fix what’s wrong with my life. My parents abandoned me through their addictions. My husband left me (luckily we didn’t have any children). My job is boring and doesn’t pay well. I don’t have any loyal friends …
Dear Dr. Norquist: My brother has struggled his whole life with addiction to alcohol. So did my father (and my father’s mother). It runs in our family. I have to be watchful myself about how much I enjoy alcohol. What I don’t quite understand is why it has such a hold over people who become …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I had a difficult childhood. As a child, my mother would never be satisfied with the way I did anything. She would always focus on any flaws she could find, and then tell me I couldn’t play with my friends until I did it perfectly (usually, this was a household chore). I’m …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I’m working too much these days, and it’s taking its toll on me. I leave for work at 7 a.m. and don’t usually return until 7 or 7:30 p.m. six days a week. I’m in the legal field, and my days are very demanding. Working so much, I have trouble unwinding at …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I’m trying so hard to be able to deal with my mother in a positive way. I was dealing with it by just staying away for the past few years. But now she is ill and needs help (and I’m her only child). M my dad is there but he can’t do …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I am ashamed to admit this but I feel I need help. I have a problem with controlling my anger. I have lost control of my temper several times over the past year or so, and lashed out at my wife. Once (last week), I was so angry that I pushed her …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I’ve noticed lately that the older I get the more cynical I’ve become. I remember that in my 20’s and even in my 30’s I was much more trusting of others, taking their word at face value, for example. I’ve lived longer now and have had more personal and inter-personal battle scars. …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I’m having problems about how to deal with difficult changes in my relationship with my girlfriend. We have been going out for four years now. We get along very well and have managed to stay close despite the fact that we have been in separate colleges. Recently, I’ve been feeling the need …
Dear Dr. Norquist: I read your columns regularly and I’m always looking for ways to better myself but I always come up lacking. I make mistakes. Sometimes I’m not prepared enough. Often I’m late. Lately I’ve been getting angry at my girlfriend when I know she doesn’t deserve it. I get so angry at myself …