Dr. Nikki Goldstein

LAST week, commuters in the UK were outraged when a couple were filmed having sex on a train platform. I checked out the footage online (it was a slow news day, okay?) and I felt almost nostalgic. “Young love,” I thought wistfully, as I made pancakes for the kids. “They must really be into each other.” It’s been a long time since I’ve had sex on a train platform. A very long time, since I’ve never actually had sex on a train platform. Still, I vividly recall the thrill of risky sex, sneaking a shag in when there’s a good chance of being caught. Most of us will, if only from our younger days. Who didn’t smuggle their boyfriend into their room and have a quickie before their parents got home? It feels subversive and exciting, with a shivery sense of triumph when you succeed. Or, er, so I hear. Having sex…

Break ups. They’re never fun. The tears, the anger, the messy nights out and the emotional eating are all telltale signs of a heart in torment. So, if men and women are capable of feeling emotional pain when a break up occurs, why is it so hard to understand why he’s ‘being distant’ or she ‘still wants to be friends?’ Well, the reason for this is linked to the social role relationships play and how they feed into our perceptions of self-worth, as well as the fundamental ways men and women deal with the same emotions differently. “Studies have shown that both men and women derive self-esteem from being in a relationship, so both genders suffer a sense of loss and identity conflict when a romantic relationship ends,” psychologist Melanie Schilling told HuffPost Australia. “Interestingly, the research has found that men and women experience different types of loss after a break-up. Generally speaking, men…