Right: Credit: Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong There is an anxiety component, and I know I m depressed, Batka explains, adding that she cries almost daily. She had previously battled anxiety and depression, but having COVID-19 and the stress of living through a pandemic caused these mental health issues to flare. She also has numerous physical symptoms that come and go, including shortness of breath, chest pain, brain fog, and numbness and tingling throughout her body.
Yet thus far, she hasn t been able to find a doctor to help her. Batka says she s more than willing to see a neurologist, cardiologist, and therapist, but that getting appointments with all these providers is going to take months. When she recently asked her internist to get her started on antidepressants (which, unlike Xanax, are not addictive), she was turned down.
Sexual turn-ons and libido vary widely from person to person. But if you re finding yourself horny all the time, you might be concerned if this is normal and okay, or if it s a sign of a bigger issue. Here s what sex experts had to say about what s normal, what s not, and why you might want sex constantly. What s normal when it comes to sex drive
Experts agree that it s difficult to establish what s normal when it comes to arousal and frequency of sexual activity. Using words like normal doesn t actually help, because desire and drive for sex fluctuates throughout life, and you should never feel like your experience is less valid that anybody else s.
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The girl in the photograph looks a lot like me. She is flanked by three younger girls, one of whom is having a spectacular preschooler meltdown. The girl is laughing. She has crooked teeth and a red sweater and a bad Lady Di haircut. The girl in the photograph looks like me because she is me. But I don t entirely recognize her. I haven t seen her in a very long time.
My aunt texted the picture to me a few days ago. She was going through some old photographs, and found this one with her daughters when we were kids. I gasped a little when I saw the image my old living room, my old living room couch, my old haircut. Unlike my digital age daughters, who have amassed thousands of images of themselves from birth to present moment, I don t have too many photographs from my past. My childhood exists almost entirely in my imperfect memory.
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When Amy Jensen found herself single again at age 48, she realized that the last time she had gone on a first date was in the previous century. “I had to learn to flirt again,” says the marketing director and mom of two from Brooklyn, whose name has been changed to keep her teenage son from being mortified. “It was like exercising a muscle I hadn’t used in years. But you know what? I’m having a lot of fun!”
Whether you’re newly single after a long relationship or still looking for your first great love, dating after you’ve passed your 40
Last year, in early March, Kristjana Anderson (who requested we use a pseudonym) had a lot to look forward to. The 46-year-old Annapolis, Maryland–based runner had recently finished treatment for melanoma, and an elite local running team had offered her a place on its roster. The team would pay all her 2020 race entry fees. “It was my suburban mom dream come true,” she says.
Of course, we all know what happened next: A global pandemic. A financial meltdown. And lots of canceled races.
That’s what happened on a macro level, at least. On a micro level, Anderson poured herself a glass of wine in her living room. Then she poured another. The 5:30 A.M. group run was canceled. Hell, everything was canceled. Why not finish the bottle?