July 6th, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General)
Q: From Australia: I really need some advice to help me help my younger sister,who is 19. About eight months ago she was diagnosed with anxiety and put on medication for it. She also began seeing a psychologist. However, her anxiety is worsening and a severe depression seems to be setting in. We (my family) have had to bring her home from university in another state to try and help her. Although she is now home and close to those that love her her depression ...
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July 6th, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General, Relationships)
Q from India: I am happily married since the lat 20 years. 2 years back I fell in love with a 22 year old girl. Over time I got to know that she seems to have always been in 2 relationships at the same time. And she manages both very well - at the same time, its really amazing. Such planning and execution. When she is confronted about the issue, she denies it and expresses her true love only for me and maybe she ...
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July 6th, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General, Parenting & Children, Illegal drugs/alcohol abuse)
Q from American teen: i'm 15 ad live with mt father who drinks and every time he gets drunk i am always the target of his anger i was wondering can you tell me a way to get out of being his target ?
A: This is such a hard situation. You are too young to live on your own. You can't make your father quit drinking. And he's hurting you, if not physically, certainly emotionally. You aren't totally helpless, though. ...
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July 6th, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General, Relationships)
Q from India: i am a 19 yr old girl.I am (was?) in a relationship with a guy for almost a year now.Since our relationship has some serious problems of over- manupulativeness and trust, i decided to break up with him. It was my decision. when i told him after a fight that i really wanted to go away, he reacted like he had been hurt. the guy hardly trusts me and cannot take me talking to my friends now when i want to leave ...
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July 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General)
Q: hi i have 2 kids 41/2 and 3 and i just recently started watching my friends 2 daughters who are 2 and 3 and i feel like im gonna go crazy,i just cant deal with the combination of the 4 kids togehtor,my son and her oldest are constantly after each other i feel bad im doing my friend a favor she has cancer and currently unable to walk well long story behind that,am i a bad person for not wanting to watch them anymore ...
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July 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General, Depression)
Q from New Zealand: Two years ago I became very anxious and suicidally depressed. I attempted suicide 3 times, the last time while hospitalised. I am 'lucky' to be alive after a fairly lethal attempt. Prior to that I had no psychiatric history.
I now realise that I was in an emotionally abusive relationship. My husband was very depressed, emotionally disturbed (I believe from some childhood experiences), and also suffered from a mild traumatic brain injury that occurred just after we were married 13 years ago.
A ...
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June 30th, 2008 by Kristina Randle, LCSW (Schizophrenia)
Q. From Southeast Asia: Hi! I would like to share my personal experience about this incurable disease and ask your opinion whether it is SCHIZOPHRENIA, or something caused by wicked negative forces known to man as evil.
I came from a family of professionals (e.g. educators, lawyers, and engineers), one of my relatives is an award-winning inventor. There is no history of mental illness in my family and I was wondering how did I get this disease. (But I still believe that I'm not ...
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June 30th, 2008 by Kristina Randle, LCSW (Depression, Therapy)
Q. Recently I was given a BDI that showed I was severely depressed. I was put back on medication: 20mg lexapro, 60 mg buspirone, .5mg clonazapam, and 100mg seroquel (to help me sleep). It's been a few weeks now of this and I've gone from no sleep (total insomnia) to just numbness. I don't feel anything. I feel as though I am outside my body looking in. I don't feel grounded. The main thing though is I'm still having thoughts of suicide. I've dreamed of ...
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June 30th, 2008 by Kristina Randle, LCSW (Anxiety, Therapy)
Q. Roughly a year ago I had an incident at a restaurant where I became physically ill after eating. I had had this problem years ago but always figured it was the food. Now I'm not so sure. I have come to a point that I get so anxious and it affects my stomach, with diarrhea and nausea. I get so anxious before going to a restaraunt that I often just don't go or get food to go. I have talked myself through a ...
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June 30th, 2008 by Kristina Randle, LCSW (Illegal drugs/alcohol abuse)
Q. For a few months now I've been considering quitting drinking. The view I'm looking at it from is that quitting can make me a healthier and happier person in the long run. Are there certain techniques or some sort of outline people use when they make this big a lifestyle change?
A. I am glad that you want to quit drinking. I am also pleased to read that you recognize that it may be difficult to stop drinking on your own and that you ...
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June 30th, 2008 by Kristina Randle, LCSW (Relationships)
Q. I have lived with my boyfriend for just about three years now. I love him very much, maybe a little too much. ok, here's the problem: He knows that he has mental health issues, but refuses help and/or treatment. I dont know what to do. His mood swings are ridiculous and they hurt me. Often i sleep in another room. When it is really bad for him, he becomes very obsessive. Mostly about what i am doing/not doing, while he’s at work. or ...
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June 29th, 2008 by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker (General)
Q: From a Florida teen: (This is a much-edited post.)
Hey there, A couple years ago (sometime around the summer tenth or eleventh grade) I began see an advantage to an atheist life. I've never pegged myself to be a guy with mental problems-but rest assured I went quite crazy at times. The biggest turning point was when the pressure of having to do what was right according to Christiantiy's standards surrounded me, consuming everything I enjoyed sexually, or else wise. I felt this ...
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