Q: From a 14 year old: Recently I lied to my mom and told her that I was staying after school just to "walk around". However, I was staying after with one of my friends to smoke. I ended up getting a smoking ticket from a police officer, and now neither of my parents trust me enough to let me stay after, or stay at home by myself. What can I do to earn back their trust? A: Trust is a precious and fragile thing. Once broken, it can take time to heal. But, in this case, I can tell that you feel terrible. I can tell that this isn't your usual way of behaving; that you were experimenting with a little rebellion and ...  
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Q: my daughter lives with me with her two children 8 months and 5 years old. she decided to go get medical for the kids. the welfare office thought she was on drugs and took the kids away. they told her get a drug test. my heart is so broken that the kids are in foster care. we go to court next week. they said that she needed to take medication before the children come home. she has never hurt these kids at all. A: This must have been quite a shock. I'm so sorry. You need a lawyer, not an advice column. The state doesn't generally do this kind of thing without reason. But it's also true that well-meaning people can ...  
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Q: i am not married to the father of my daughter. it as been 2 years now that we had sex. my daughter & i don't stay with him. we visit with him every now & then, but the abscence never made his heart grow fonder of me when we are together. i drop him a hint, but he changes the topic or sometimes makes that facial expression that makes me embarrassed that i shouldn't have brought up the topic. i would like to know as i have placed in the quick summary of issue... should i still wait? what i mean here is, not being married to him, makes me more free to look for someone else who would be more worthy of ...  
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Q. When I met my boyfriend, it was an instant attraction on the phone. He was a friend of a friend and came highly recommended. When I met him finally it was an instant attraction in person. We both felt like it was just right. The glitch, to the perfect story comes a few months after we started dating. He misses dinner and a weekend we were supposed to have together and doesn't return my phone calls. Finally, about 5 days later I recieve an email from him: My name, I'm terribly sorry about being "in the wind" these last couple of days but I've been sort of problem solving. I've been staying at my parents house for the last few days because they ...  
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Q. My father is an alcoholic and has been since I was 12 years old (I'm 22 now). He lives with my mother and I. He is extremely verbally abusive to my mother; he has had 2 DUI's, he's had several seizures related to alcohol, he has been in and out of treatment centers (that never help), he's lost his job and his driving priveleges, and he has even served jail time. Nonetheless, he continues to drink. I just graduated from college and moved back home. I purchased a condo and will be moving out in 7 months. I'm excited, but I'm afraid to leave my mother at home with him considering his verbally abusive ways. He doesn't have a job and sits at ...  
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Q. A friend of mine has schizophrenia and stopped taking her medications. She has recently been started back on them, but wonders if they are going to work as well now. Is treatment that is reinitiated less efficacious? A. I do not think that the medications would be any less effective but it may take a while for her to feel the full impact of the medications again. She should be seeing a doctor just to be sure everything is going smoothly. I am glad that your friend is back on the medications and you should encourage her to stay on them. For schizophrenia, a stable and consistent medication regime is really the only and best mechanism for preventing illness relapse. ...  
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Q. I am proceeding with a divorce from my husband of 14 years. The last 2 years of our marriage was more like a friendship in that there was very little intimacy and very little social time spent together. In fact, we even slept in different rooms. I recently began dating my business partner, whom I have known for 14 years and have worked with on daily basis for over 4 years. He is also proceeding with a divorce from his wife, whom he has been married to for 21 years. He is the one seeking the divorce, stating that he has not had an intimate relationship with her in a year. We have been dating each other exclusively for over 2 months. Our relationship ...  
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Q. Hello, my name is carol. I'm 31 years old and I just had a baby boy 3 months ago. My aunt and uncle raised me since I was 8 months old and they fought quite a bit. My dad verbally abused my mom and threatened her quite frequently. I used to scream and cry a lot when they were fighting and have very vivid memories of the anxiety and fear. Like most children I was super attatched to my mom. I had so much worry and anxiety, that often I did not want to go home from school. I did well in school however and tried very hard to go to college so that I could make my life better. I went to college ...  
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Q. I recently moved into my own place last summer. I have lived alone now for 5 months, and I've gone a long way in terms of adjustment....i used to go through intense days of crying spells, usually not more than 2 days at a time, and would become mildly depressed. But I thought this was due to money problems, boredom (i work from home, lack of social interaction) and busted car. Well now these issues are not in the picture, and I find myself becoming increasingly withdrawn. I put of calls for people who were once good friends for weeks. I avoid most social situations, and if I *do* make myself go and make the effort, I don't enjoy myself much, even chastize ...  
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Q. Dear ... I live in one small European country and my english is not as good as I would like to be, so please try to understand what I wanted to say, even if it is written in bad english. I found myself in a dificult situation with my marriage, and my sexual needs. I am married for 4 years, we have adorable 18 month old son. When we first met, my husband and I had passionate relationship, things were fine emotionaly and in every other way. When, after 6 month of relationship we started to live together, my husband started to neglect me sexualy, emotionaly and in any other way. We had sex exclusivly on my iniciative. It frustrated me, but passion ...  
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Q. I am a very upbeat, positive person. I had a little boy in the end of January. Lately, I have begun yelling at other managers at work, constantly feel like no one cares about anything and have not been very nice to my husband. I'm sure there are many factors contributing to my feelings, but I have been very sad. I hide it, but I cannot continue to lash out at my co-workers and be quiet towards my husband. The only time I smile and laugh is when I'm with the baby. I work overnights, 12 hour shifts and work about 46-52 hours a week. My mother watches my son so I can sleep in the morning. I just would like to know if ...  
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Q. I was told in 4-13-2005 I had GAD and was bi-polar I manic. I Just went to have a second mental exam on 11-16-2006 from a different psychiatrist and when all was over I asked him if I was crazy. He stated not crazy..... dangerous! I'm more scared now then I have ever been. Please help to understand why He would only elaborate dangerous. A. I cannot answer this question from this short e-mail. You would have to give me much more information about your situation to know why your doctor would stress the word dangerous. Have you ever tried to hurt yourself or someone else? Do you have a history of this? Did your interview with him reveal ...  
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