Q. I am an office administrator in a very small office (just me, my boss, and my assistant; only my boss is full time). My assistant, a 71-year-old female, has been here a year. She has been having memory/retention problems and confusion. At first I figured it was just adjusting to a new job, but it seems worse lately. She understands things when you explain them, but does not retain the information. She or I write down instructions but she forgets to look at them. She seems to be backsliding and unable to do tasks that she could do a few months ago. You can give her only one thing to do at a time, even with written lists, or she gets them completely ...  
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Q: My husband and I just retired a couple of years ago and even though I'm only in my late-50's I have started worrying about getting older, my health, and his death; he's 7 years older than I am and both of us are morbidly obese. We moved to this neighborhood when we retired and I don't really have any friends here, since I don't work anymore my work friends are gone and I've never had any children of my own. While I have excellent relationships with his sons, they're not close/parental ones as they were grown when we married and their mother is still alive and in the area too. I don't know whether to work on health, lifestyle (how to ...  
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Q. My husband was diagnosed with bipolar and refuses to take medication due to he can not hold his license for his position at work. He has been with the company for 25 years - are they under any obligation to place him in a different position or will he be able to access his retirement pension with out penality - he is 50 years old. He says he is misdiagnoised - he is in complete denial because his job has provided us with a very comfortable life - we have a adult aspergers child and a teen bipolar and I have ADD - so our medication alone is $800 a month. He is also afraid to accept treatment because if ...  
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Q: My boyfriend works for a trucking company and his job has really changed him, he's always stressed out, forgets things, and worries constantly. He used to be a happy go lucky type of guy. I'm worried about him and think he should go see someone, and he wants to, but doesn't know what type of therapist to go to. Can you help? A: In a situation like this I’m not sure it’s as important what type of help your boyfriend gets as much as that he recognizes the problem and gets help for it in some way. It could be that he needs to make the tough decision that he’s just not meant to be in this kind of job. Driving a truck, especially ...  
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Q. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on how folks who are not able to work for pay, can keep a good sense of self esteem and health. Our culture tends to push the idea that employed = good and unemployed = bad. In the face of this, folks like me on SSI, disabled, surviving and thriving, sometimes have a tough time carving out our own way. I am disabled with Fibromyalgia and PTSD, not employed, on SSI. I'm in good therapy when needed and I have good coping skills. I am also entering Midlife. I know I am valuable, good enough, even if I am not able to -do- much at times. I lose sight of this fact sometimes. A. Life is about growing ...  
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Q. I am a 35 year old married woman, and have been responsible to a T ever since my mom died when I was 15 and I took over management of the house and the care of my younger brother. As an adult, I quickly developed an excellent career and started my own business at 26. I have also had very good success with real estate investments. I take great strides to remain organized and productive. By all accounts, I have led a responsible and successful adult life and have been happy with my multiple achievements in various aspects of life and career. One thing I have NOT been good at is achieving balance. My first marriage collapsed because my ex-husband was unhappy with the ...  
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