Start with what's happening · 21 pages

Start with what's happening

No diagnosis required - start from the feeling, get the tool, the number, and the route.

DECISION TOOL

"I don't see the point anymore": a sorting tool for lost purpose and meaning

The same sentence comes from a meaning crisis, depression, burnout, grief or existential OCD. A sorting table, what treats each, what a therapist should say.

DECISION MAP

ADHD in children: what the evidence says

The MTA study, the parent-training evidence, the growth question and the relative-age effect — the six findings that change how a parent reads everything else.

DECISION TOOL

ADHD in women diagnosed late: why it was missed, and what to bring to the evaluation

Girls are diagnosed at under half the rate of boys, a gap that nearly closes by adulthood. Why inattentive ADHD gets missed in women, what to bring, what comes first.

DECISION TOOL

ADHD, anxiety, depression or sleep? A sorting tool for adults

The four conditions share the same daytime symptoms. Use this table and question set to sort them before an evaluation, and learn which to treat first.

ADHD

Adult ADHD: diagnosis, treatment and the testing question

A practical California route through adult ADHD evaluation, medication, CBT and formal testing—without mistaking a checklist for a diagnosis.

AFTER THE FIRE

After the fire

A practical California plan for the weeks and months after a wildfire: free support, trauma and grief signs, ongoing care, and what to say when you call.

ANXIETY

Anxiety that won't switch off

When worry stops being useful and starts running the show: what actually helps, who to see, what it costs in California, and one thing to try tonight.

DECISION MAP

Bipolar disorder: what it is and what treats it

Most of the illness is depression, most of the delay is diagnostic, most of the excess deaths are physical. What the long studies show, and what to do.

DECISION MAP

Borderline personality disorder: what actually treats it

The diagnosis, the treatments with evidence, and the follow-up data almost nobody is told about. For the person with it and the people around them.

BURNOUT

Burned out at work

Burnout is occupational, not a character flaw. What helps beyond rest, when it's become depression, and the California leave laws that buy you time.

INSOMNIA

Can't sleep: what actually works, and why it isn't a pill

CBT-I beats sleeping pills long-term and is the first-line insomnia treatment. How it works, how to find it in California, and every cost route.

ADDICTION

Drinking or using more than you meant to

From a weekly therapist to detox: what each level of addiction care is, who it fits, the Medi-Cal benefit almost nobody uses, and the free 24/7 referral line.

EATING DISORDERS

Eating disorders: the levels-of-care map nobody hands you

From weekly therapy to residential — how eating disorder care levels work, who belongs where, the insurance rules, and where the free help is.

CHRONIC PAIN

Living with chronic pain

Pain psychology isn't "it's all in your head." The therapies with real evidence — ACT, CBT for pain, pain reprocessing — and how to find them in California.

DEPRESSION

Nothing feels worth doing

When flat has become the weather: what depression treatment actually looks like, what it costs in California, and the smallest first step that counts.

DECISION TOOL

Numb, not fine: a sorting tool for men who feel nothing

"I don't feel much" has six common causes in men, from learned restriction to depression, PTSD, antidepressant blunting and alcohol. Sort them, then reconnect.

OCD

OCD: what helps, what it costs, and the therapist-matching trap to avoid

OCD has a gold-standard treatment most therapists aren't trained in. How to find real ERP in California, what it costs, and what makes OCD worse.

PANIC

Panic attacks: what helps, what it costs, and why the ER keeps saying you're fine

Panic disorder is among the most fixable conditions in mental health — often in 8–14 sessions. What panic is, what actually treats it, California costs.

DECISION TOOL

Perfectionism: when high standards become the problem, and what actually treats it

A four-question test for clinical perfectionism, the evidence on CBT built for it, the depression-anxiety-OCD overlap, and how to choose a California therapist.

TRAUMA

Something happened, and it's still happening to you

Flashbacks, hypervigilance, the body that won't stand down — trauma has specific, effective treatments. Which ones, who does them, what they cost.

ANGER

When anger is running the show

Snapping at people you love, rage in traffic, the sorry-again cycle. What anger usually sits on top of, what treatment works, and the court-class question.