Someone I know well began waking up around 3 a.m. and had difficulty getting back to sleep. He has a history of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which many people begin to experience in late August as the days get shorter, and he suspected this was the first sign. The sleep disturbance didn’t bother him that much […]

Dear Dan, My young daughter is having a difficult year. She has been doing various sports and playing music for several years with much success. But this year, her first in high school, things are not going well. She has been getting low scores in her athletics compared to her friends. She also did not […]

Dear Dan, I am a faithful reader of all things Gottlieb, so I am hoping you can advise me. How can I go about helping my daughter find a therapist for my grandchildren, ages 8 and 5? Their parents recently divorced, and the older child is having real problems with sleeping overnight at his dad’s […]

Dear Dan, I watched the movie “The Soloist,” about Steve Lopez’s relationship with Nathaniel Ayers, the inspirational homeless musician in L.A. I’m wondering if you can share your insights on the authenticity of the movie, especially regarding the relationship between Ayers and Lopez and the mental illness symptoms of the homeless people depicted in the […]

Dear Dan, I’ve been facing a very painful realization about the impact my work is having on me. I counsel cancer patients both in person and online. I’ve been doing this for years and always felt so good from reassuring people about their diagnosis and care options since I had to go it alone when […]

Dear Dan, I don’t excuse what Michael Vick did, but he served 18 months at a maximum-security prison in Leavenworth, Kan., with bank robbers, drug dealers, and other serious federal criminals. By committing his crime, he lost $130 million in pay and ran the risk of never being employed in his field. I spent 13 […]

Dear Dan, I have been married for 20 years, and the majority of them have been unhappy. My husband has been controlling and unloving. And we have two adolescent children. Recently, a very good friend confessed his feelings for me. I, too, had the same feelings for him. Over several months, we tried desperately to […]

When we think about the impact of trauma, we usually think about how it causes post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. But an emerging field called “post-traumatic growth” takes a different approach. It is about changing the way we see ourselves and finding new meaning in life. A friend with a severely autistic son once said: […]

Dear Dan, I know many people who, like me, have been adopted. And many of us have a driving need to meet their birth parents. I don’t. But I do suffer from a lifelong sense of not belonging and wonder if you could suggest some possible ways to cope with this. My adoptive parents did […]

Dear Dan, My son has been anxious and easily distracted since he was 5 years old. He has had difficulty paying attention to his schoolwork. He also was quite shy and didn’t make friends easily, but we thought this would improve with time. We never thought he had any kind of learning disability because he […]