Want to crack the formula for happiness at Christmas? Don’t argue with your aunt
How to survive the season of joy and goodwill to all – according to a neuropsychologist’s advice
Relationship Advice
Read more articles about relationship advice
‘My partner and I are in a sex lull. How do we get out of it?’
Ask Roe: ‘On holidays we have much more frequent sex, but never manage to take that renewal home with us’
Don’t lose it: How to survive the emotional timebomb of family at Christmas
For many, Christmas is a re-entry into the emotional climate of childhood, with all its insecurities, unspoken rules and long-held tensions
‘I love being home for Christmas – but my dad uses it as an excuse to drink excessively’
Tell Me About It: I’m bringing my partner home for the first time. He’s not Irish, and I’m worried he’ll judge my family
‘My kids idolise their dad. Should I tell them one reason for our separation is his affair?’
Ask the Expert: ‘I worry that they will blame me for the separation. They both idolise their Dad’
‘I’m trans and scared to date as Ireland becomes more transphobic’
Ask Roe: ‘How is it possible to date when you’re terrified that the person across from you is alt-right?’
I absolutely dread going to my husband’s parents’ home for Christmas
My mother-in-law is a control freak and she criticises everything I do, say or wear
‘I’ve been married 20 years and I don’t think I like my husband any more’
Ask Roe: My husband’s family are controlling and he never sticks up for me. I see him as weak and pathetic sometimes
‘My wife has been diagnosed with dementia and I’m upset we have not had the chance to realise our dreams’
Tell Me About It: My wife wanted me to retire five years ago, and we had plans for travelling. I stubbornly kept putting it off
‘How do I get my wife to wear lingerie for me during our lovemaking?’
how can I get her more comfortable so that she will share this experience with me during our lovemaking ?
I’m thinking of leaving my depressed partner but am horrified about what it will do to her daughter
It took a long time for me to earn this child’s trust but I feel like I am getting sucked into her mother’s black cloud
‘I’m single in my 40s, and I feel both pressure and disapproval from everyone’
Tell Me About It: ‘Extended family and friends subtly, and not-so-subtly, suggest that I’d be happier in a relationship’
‘I’m in my mid 20s and I’m still a virgin. How do I start dating again?’
Ask Roe: ‘Since breaking up with my only girlfriend I have not gone on a date or had any intimate contact with anyone’
‘I left work to rear the kids, but now I feel alone, isolated from my husband and undesirable’
Tell Me About It: ‘I really feel worthless and can’t see myself doing anything worthwhile’
‘I am often called in during rows between my daughter and my wife’
Ask the Expert: Take the time to get a deeper understanding of what is going on for family members
I don’t want to be someone who breaks up with a loving person for struggling with finances and anxiety
I don’t want to be someone who breaks up with a loving person because they struggle with finances and anxiety
‘I found a therapist, but I’m worried my parents will look up what they specialise in’
Tell Me About It: ‘I’m worried I’ll be put into a situation where I have to tell them something I don’t want to share with them yet’
‘I’ve realised I’m attracted to women – but my friends are reacting weirdly’
Ask Roe: ‘I don’t feel comfortable taking to them about dates I’ve been on, or girls I like’
‘I think my two friends – who are both married – are in love with each other’
Tell Me About It: ‘Should I tell each of them that the other person has feelings for them or let them figure it out?’
‘I have given up going to the gym because of my clingy boyfriend’
Tell Me About It: ‘His insecurity is growing all the time and the fact that we are together over a year has not helped’
‘My husband’s family operate like a cult, with my mother-in-law as leader’
Ask Roe: ‘How do I cope with this domineering and manipulative woman?’
Our long-time friend has become a judgmental gossip. Should we confront her?
Her comments are making us wonder if she is worth the bother
‘At our engagement party, my partner’s sister announced she had gotten engaged too’
Tell Me About It: ‘I now have questions about the rest of his family and their casualness about how she usurped our day’
Should I tell my friend of the rumours about his girlfriend?
Ask Roe: I worry people might be exaggerating or inventing things out of dislike for her
My friend is in a miserable relationship that she won’t leave
Tell Me About It: ‘He’s not kind to her and she has had to give up things she wanted, like marriage, because they are not what he wants’
‘A friend who ghosted me before has flaked again. Should I cut her out completely?’
Ask Roe: I both dread being asked and not being asked to her wedding
‘For millennials the biggest fantasy was threesomes. For Gen Z it’s monogamy’: Why young people are having less sex
Regardless of whether they are still at home, or in their own place, younger adults seem to be finding it harder to form long-term relationships
‘My lover has told me of another relationship. I’m worried the stress might kill him’
Tell Me About It: ‘We have discussed living together in his country, and I have put my house up for sale’
Family feuds: ‘I have to see my aunt in secret . . . Mam keeps asking me to choose sides’
Fallouts are not uncommon but they can damage the mental health of those caught in the middle. Here’s what psychologists recommend
We’re married with three kids and have had sex once in the past year
Ask Roe: I’ve tried talking about us finding some middle ground, but my wife avoids the conversation
If I were an agony aunt, my advice would always be ‘leave them’
My dream in life is to be an agony aunt, but my advice would always be ‘leave them’. No considered empathy from me
‘My lovely husband has changed . . . and I am one of the people he has pushed away’
Tell Me About It: ‘Our life together has been replaced by distance, with a deliberate decision on his part to engage in new activities’
10 ways to refresh your life this September
‘Eat the frog first thing in the morning’, start a new notebook, and see self-care as a necessity not an indulgence
I ghosted a friend nearly two decades ago – should I reach out and apologise?
Ask Roe: ‘I just couldn’t cope at the time being single and a bit hopeless’
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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