Dr. Alan N West PHD

The federal government’s health statisticians figure that about one in every 10 Americans take an antidepressant. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reports that the rate of antidepressant use in the US among teens and adults has increased by 400% from the years 1988 to 1994 to 2005...

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder in which you feel extremely fearful of places and situations that are uncomfortable and dangerous according to you. These are the places that make you feel trapped and assume that the escape might be difficult in the case of a panic attack, such as an elevator, a...

What is psychotherapy?When a therapist assists his patient in understanding who they are, the process is called psychotherapy. The therapist will take you through a journey that will reorganize your personality. Your insights can then be integrated with your day to day behaviour. Psychotherapy will...

Binge eating is when you feel a strong need to eat large amounts of food at all times without having control over it. Everybody overeats once in a while when having favorite meals or when really hungry. However, when the overeating becomes frequent and gets out of control, it crosses the line from...

Insomnia is also known as sleeplessness. It is a sleep disorder where people have trouble sleeping. Insomnia is caused by several factors. People with insomnia have abnormal sleeping patterns as well as daytime sleepiness, irritability, and a depressed mood. They may also have an increased...

Depression is usually signified by extended moods of sadness and a generally low mood even when events occur that should normally lift someone’s spirits. Patients generally ignore all positive stimuli, preferring to remain in a cocoon irrespective of external circumstances. At one stage, the loss...