This is a great show idea. I even wrote Dr Phil for help but no reply. My husband and I have been married for 6 yrs and we have the same fight over and over again. He makes pretty good money and he is good with it and makes smart choises. The problem is he won't let me have any. It is HIS money. Basically if I want money I need to work.. I have had a few jobs, got laid off from 2, tried home day care but he didnt like me doing that. So I went back out to work. Well now I had to file for disability so I dont have any income right now. Its a constant fight. He blew up at me last Monday and he hasnt spoken to me since. Its been a week! If anything I should be the one that is mad.
He said some very mean things to me.
So here we are. Again. Please help us.

Dear Dr. Ablow,
You could do a valuable service to a lot of people by doing a segment on problem and compulsive gambling. With the initiation of Card Clubs and Indian Casinos in nearly every state in the U.S., gambling is becoming a problem for over 5% of the population who cannot gamble responsibility. The most troubling aspect of the disease of compulsive gambling is that now our teenage and young adult population are at-risk, especially with the advent of on-line (and illegal) gambling. Currently there are not nearly enough resources for treatment and this is desperately needed. The senior population is also at very high risk, and casinos are making it all too easy and enticing for them to go and "escape" from it all. It would be a service to everyone to bring out the facts about problem gambling in our society, and hopefully offer some insight into this ever-growing problem. Sincerely, Virginia

Dr. Keith,

Watching your show today has brought me to tears. My husband and I have nill to no sex life. We have been married for 11 years and have 3 boys, ages 9, 7 and 5. After every baby has come along, my sex drive has gone down and now it is barely existant. I don't like the way I look anymore. When we got married, I was very thin and loved the way I looked, but after the boys, my self esteem has gone down hill. We also fight constantly about money. We both work full-time and still do not have any money. I recently lost my job at the local hospital making good money, but they are cutting positions and unfortunately my position was one of the ones cut. I am now working for a measely $8.00/hr. He works days and I work nights because that is the way it has to be so we do not have daycare. The last time my husband and I went out together was over a year ago, to his company x-mas party. We fight about money, I want to go out with him and he says that we can't afford it and then we seem to take it out on the boys. I have asked him that we do not discuss money in front of the boys, because our 9 year old worries about everything and will say to the other two that we will not be having christmas this year because mom and dad can't afford it and this breaks my heart. We don't know where we are going to get the money to buy the boys x-mas gifts once again this year, so this is a big stress between us again. Some days I just want to get into my car and drive away and never come back, but I look at the pictures of my 3 little men and I could never do that to them. I do suffer from depression and have been good for a few years, but lately I can feel myself slipping into this again and I don't want to. But it is really hard when you all I do is worry about money. How are we going to pay the bills, how are we going to get the kids x-mas gifts and and can I drink milk tonight for supper or not. Please Dr. Keith, can you please give us some advice. I am at my wits end and do not know what to do.

Thank You,

Lisa

Sounds like us. I told my husband we need to go to the show. He said, he wouldn't feel comfortable on national T.V. We have been married 2 years and together 8 in December on the 19th. He is always on me about. You are a loser, you are worthless, you don't work and I do. I have been dealing with this since we have been together. I have tried, want to and cannot find work. Maybe because of my depression and I talk to much. Any Advice?

Thank You.

Tina
Oregon

My husband and I have been married for almost 4 years. Sometimes it feels like we should be celebrating a larger anniversary due to the stress in our lives. He is an officer in the US Air Force. He recently was selected for a one year deployment to the Middle East. Although to the outside this seems like a damaging thing, we have been separated before due to his career and thought that we could handle it. We have been fighting over the phone and emails ever since. We mostly fight over money. I am to blame for a large % of it because I spend easily and do have a tendency towards "retail therapy". We have been through soo much and this is breaking us up. From the beginning of our relationship, we have been fighting either each other or the world. First, it was a custody battle between my ex husband and myself in which I lost custody of my son because of my potential relocation with my new husband. Then, it was my diagnosis of possible colon cancer. Shortly, after this my husband relocated to Arizona and I had to choose between my husband and staying behind with my young son. I eventually choose to move to Arizona because of my medical problems and the lack of emotional support. My husband stayed by my side through these entire ordeals and remained supportive. I started on my degree once I recovered and have almost completed my accounting degree. We relocated closer to my son as soon as we could and then Hurricane Katrina happened. Although our house was not damaged, I was again separated from my husband (he had to return to the base near the MS area and I had to stay with family 12 hours away) and son for nearly 2 months. Now, he is gone for a year and I feel that this is going to destroy my marriage. I know that the finances worry him constantly, but money is not as important as being a family unit.

i am 29 yrs old, in a relationship,going on 13 yrs.we're not married but we've lived together for the past 9 years.we just bought our home this year:paid for,no mortgage.we owe no one for anything.it is my responsibility to handle all bills.he gives me the money;i'm supposed to go pay the bills.i don't.everything is behind.late fees added to everything.i don't even bother paying some bills until i come home and something is diconnected--if i come home and we have no cable,i'll go back out and pay it.the problem is i don't like to pay bills.i spend all the money on me.i have more clothes and shoes than i even have space for now.i have to use one of our spare rooms to keep my clothes in and it's crazy.he doesn't know but if he knew he would explode.i know that i have a problem and i really want to stop.i've tried several times.i just can't.

Great show! Hope to see more on parenting and teens good luck on making your next episodes a success!!

We are currently dealing with a 26-year-old daughter in-law that is diagnosised bipolar and doe not want to take her meds. In the last 6 months she has threatened to kill my son, threatened suicide, had many bouts of anger rage, and left in the middle of the night by herself crying about who knows what and driving to no where. Her last rage she threatened to kill my son. She has hit, kicked and bit my son during these rages as well as thrown household items at him. Last September she stood in front of my son and threatened to take her own life with a knife to her wrist. My son talked her out of this and the next day she had to be admitted to an E. R. My son is now in the middle of what appears to be a divorce and custody battle over their 19-month-old son. She denies to the court that any of this has taken place and this is a plot to take away her son and ruin her life. All she needs to do is to take her meds and she can live a closer to normal life. Her mom has the same issues and is leading the effort in divorce. We are looking for suggestions / help and are all deeply concerned about the safety of their 19-month-old son. The court seems to be dragging this on because she is the mother and I guess she has more rights than the father. Please write back. If this goes south I feel we will need to let the world know what has taken place here. She has threatened suicide and threatened to kill my son. What makes me think she won't hurt or kill this defenseless little baby boy?

Sincerely,

Fred