‘Drug Abuse’ Questions at Ask the Psychologist: Online Clinical Psychologist

Q: I am the oldest girl out of four children, two boys and two girls. We are all very close in age (31, 30, 29, 27). My father is a manipulative, abusive, and controlling but “functioning” alcoholic. He has always held a job, but he is incredibly lazy at home and very old fashioned about [...]

Q: My daughter is a freshman at our local college and currently living in a student apartment. Up until last year she had never been in serious trouble of any kind, but she met a boy who was not in the same intellectual circle as she, and things went downhill from there.
During her last year [...]

Q: My husband is addicted to painkillers. He says he takes them because his back hurts. But I know the real reason he keeps taking them is to get high. I know this because I have confronted him about his use, and he keeps promising me that he will quit.
I have found his pills [...]

Q: I’ve been suffering from intrusive, obsessive thoughts for about 5 months now. Some of the thoughts involve images of stabbing and thoughts such as turning into oncoming traffic when driving. I’m 100% sure that I do not want to act on these thoughts, yet they still occur almost 24/7. As you can imagine, these [...]

Q: My mother is 61 years old, and I consider her to be a hypochondriac. She is completely focused on mysterious health problems and sees numerous specialists for complaints that most of us believe don’t really exist. As a result, she takes a number of medications, including some very strong pain meds. My sister and [...]