Psychiatrist and Author
Dr. Olson, My husband is struggling with his sexuality, and sometimes he speaks about wanting to “end it all.” I can’t tell if this is a cry for help, a manipulation, or a real imminent danger. It is hard to know which kind of risk I am dealing with. How can I decide which it … Read more
Dr. Olson, I am a thirty-two-year-old man. I was born and raised in India but now live in Canada. To please my parents, I married a woman in a religious ceremony in India after she became pregnant. Now we have an infant son. We are in a de facto or common law relationship. When I … Read more
Dr. Olson, Would you please write a book about chubby chasers from a psychiatrist’s perspective, including what our sexuality is like and its likely origins? Psychiatrists don’t consider us to be normal. We are miscategorized as having a fat fetish. My first awareness of my fascination with fat people was when my brother showed me … Read more
Dr. Olson, I’m listening to Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight on Audible, and so many things you say are relevant to my situation. I’m planning to come out to my wife next week, and I am absolutely petrified. I feel so sick and anxious, but I have to do something. I have written … Read more
Dr. Olson, I’ve been divorced now for three years. When will the pain end? Eddie Dear Eddie, Thirty-five years after my divorce, my ex-wife and I plan to babysit our grandkids while their parents are vacationing. Some of our friends (and our kids’ friends) find this a little weird. First of all, I take no … Read more
Dr. Olson, I knew I was gay from age thirteen. I thought it would pass as I got older, but it didn’t. No one knew of my sexuality as my father was very against it. A men’s locker room was not a good place to share it either. Pressure got to me, and I married … Read more
Dr. Olson, When I was in my twenties, I fell deeply in love with a man who was nearly sixty years old, and we are still together ten years later. It’s the greatest relationship I have ever had. His life-loving attitude makes me feel he is so young at heart that I sometimes think he … Read more
I am all of these, and there is no changing that. Guest Post by Fr. “Jack Sands” I sent an email to my friend Dr. Olson with these four words describing myself: gay, priest, exhibitionist, and shy. I wrote, “These four words do not go together!” I was struggling with my sexuality and was looking … Read more
Dr. Olson, I’ve known I was gay since I was about 10. I grew up in Southern Baptist Mississippi. I’ve struggled with MDD [major depression] and GAD [generalized anxiety disorder] all my adult life. And it’s been bad lately. I recently learned about c-PTSD [complex posttraumatic stress disorder] which results from ongoing childhood trauma. Many … Read more
Dr. Olson, I am a fifty-year-old Roman Catholic priest in a small parish in Nebraska. I entered the seminary during my third year in high school. I knew even then that I was attracted to men. Becoming a priest and committing to celibacy was my way of dealing with my fears of going to hell. … Read more