"Caroline* came to see me with one of the more common problems that plague people in our modern era difficulties with romance and dating. She was a young woman in her early 30s who said she had always found it difficult to find a man she felt connected to. She'd had one long-term relationship in her early 20s but had otherwise been single despite trying online dating and many dating events."
"Many of her friends were partnered up, and her best friend had just become engaged, resulting in a cascade of anxiety for Caroline, a fear that she was defective in some way and would miss out on milestones in life. I can't stop thinking about the things that might be wrong with me. I'm even thinking of taking Ozempic and getting a boob job, she said, anxiously prodding at a stomach that appeared to be a perfectly normal size to me."
A woman in her early 30s experienced persistent difficulty finding romantic partners despite using online dating and attending many events. She reported one long-term relationship in her early 20s but otherwise prolonged singleness. Peer relationships and a friend's engagement produced intense anxiety and fears of being defective and missing life milestones. She considered weight-loss medication and cosmetic surgery while anxiously focusing on body size. She withdrew from previously enjoyed activities and alternated between obsessive swiping and apathy due to negative dating encounters and mismatch in vocational and emotional compatibility. Clinicians identified risk for depressive and body dysmorphic disorders and used direct, multi-stage therapeutic intervention.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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