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Question 1:
Dorolei: How can you differentiate between a mild,
temporary depression ("a bad week") and clinical depression? I often
get depressed for days at a time but always seem to break out of it by
myself. Should I see someone? Or just practice more "positive
thinking" or other such self-help techniques?
ANSWER
Question 2:
Maelstrum: What is the most
popular form of therapy in the US? How long should I wait before deciding
a particular psychiatrist is right for me?
And when do I know that I am ready to end therapy? ANSWER
QUESTION 3:
NotoriousBeef: Can bipolar behavior display itself
in very quick high and lows? Like 20 minute intervals? An example: I
have a friend who has a history of depression and is on Prozac. He
recently visited me and he was elated, interested, and forthcoming
for about 20 minutes at a time. Then he would become withdrawn and
gloomy and sigh a lot in between those times. What's his problem?
ANSWER
QUESTION 4:
Slacker: Dear Dr. Expert,
I'm a depressive, slacker, and underachiever. Due to my failings, all my
dream career
bubbles have burst. Prozac has really turned me
around, but reversing 41 years of bad thinking
is painfully slow. How do I get motivated in
this fallback career that I'm mired in (e.g.,
your recommendation of a motivational book(s) I
could check out at the public library)?
Sighed (and signed),
Unfocused by the Bay
ANSWER
QUESTION 5:
Fustat: In planes, malls,
and sometimes even automobiles, I feel like I can't breathe, get dizzy,
and have trouble swallowing. It is very difficult to live like this. Is
there help? I
have found that exercising has helped a lot, but I still don't feel like
I used to.
ANSWER
QUESTION 6:
Meli:
I am 31 years old and divorced. I've met a great man who is smart,
funny, and sexy. We've been seeing each other for a year and are
contemplating moving in together. He is a psychotherapist and suffers
from depression; he's taking antidepressants that have dealt him a
severe hypertensive reaction on a few occasions but he doesn't feel
that he can give them up. I have experienced clinical depression from
time to time myself and am afraid that our negative qualities will feed
off each other. We both tend to be critical and rather sensitive.
Plus, given his profession, I feel like I am in over my head when
talking about my feelings, relationship issues, and so forth. I am
far less communicative than he is. Should we stay together? Help!
ANSWER
QUESTION 7:
andrea: The child of a friend of ours recently drowned. He was only 8
years old. At a time like this, we are almost speechless. What can we say
or do to ease the
pain?
ANSWER
Mark I. Levy, M.D., a graduate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a board certified psychiatrist, is also a graduate of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute. He has been a full-time psychiatrist
and psychoanalyst practicing in Marin County, California for more than 20
years, and devotes a portion of his practice to psychiatric expert
forensic consultation. Doctor Levy is Assistant Clinical Professor at the
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco. He
is also on the faculty at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.
Still have questions? Talk about it in the mental health conference hosted by Dr. Levy.
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