By John M Oldham MD Empathy is a word we use a lot these days, and rightly so. I see it as a foundational feature of what it means to be human, in the best sense of the word. To me, its most straightforward definition is the ability to conceptually put yourself in someone else’s […]
By John M Oldham MD Recently a piece appeared in the Medical Examiner section of Slate newsletter entitled “Why Being Generous Can Destroy a Relationship” (https://slate.com/technology/2025/03/generosity-gifts-backfire-downside-relationships.html). The author, psychologist Sarah Gundle, described saying to a patient: “You gave too much—it made them hate you.” She referred to this behavior pattern as “the tyranny of the […]
By John M Oldham MD I was recently contacted by the organizers of a new online educational program called the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Brain Health. The program is jointly sponsored by the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the European Academy of Neurology. I provided a lecture entitled “Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) & other […]
By John M Oldham MD These are unusually stressful and bewildering times in our country and our world. Almost no-one is spared from blazing headlines predicting upheaval or at least uncertainty—inflation, job loss, invasion of privacy, threats to social support systems, immigration challenges, government shutdown, and the list goes on. How realistic are these concerns? […]
By John M Oldham How does ambition show up in an individual’s personality, and is it important? Well, it depends. There is a lot of reference these days to the “right” work/life balance. Does too much work make you a workaholic and does too little make you lazy? Again, it depends! Consider ambition in […]
Emotion Regulation Npsp25 Blog, December 2024 John M Oldham MD An important skill helping us navigate life is the capacity to regulate our emotions. What does that mean? What it does NOT mean is never to feel or show any emotions. Rather, it means the ability to comfortably experience a full range of emotions–happy, […]
By John M Oldham MD I was recently asked to record a brief video about the origins and background of this website. Some of this information is available on the website itself, but on this video I describe some early work in my career, when I was on the psychiatry faculty at Cornell in New […]
