Q:  Contact in South Africa?

Dear Dr Phelps

I am a 28 old male living in Cape Town South Africa. About 7 years ago my life change very much and I stated experiencing panic  attacks and mood swings. These seem to come and ago and they also can be quite bad and other times no even be around . I saw a counselor in England for 3 months and this helped but I have never been on medication. The rage inside sometimes gets very bad and then goes away as quick as it arrives. I have been carrying this disorder for so many years no knowing what it was that I have until I saw you web-site. My system is very sensitive to alcohol and other drugs e.g. coffee and smoking. I try to cut back these and to a degree and have not drunk for almost 1 year. Do you have a contact in South Africa who follows you studies.

Thank you in advance
Andy 

Dear Mr. J'
I'm glad to hear that my website seemed useful to you.  Sorry to say that I don't even know good contacts in most areas more than 100km away from my little town in Oregon, let alone in your part of the world.  You may have seen the "finding a therapist" section of my website; although the Harvard database probably does not extend to So. Africa, the general approach outlined there might be useful.  I hope so.  I definitely have seen good quality research on bipolar disorder reported in So. African journals, so theoretically there should be a resource you could find.  For example, check out this article in the S. African Medical Journal.  Note that the authors are in Johannesburg.  Perhaps they themselves are candidates, or their office could refer you.  Good luck with that. 

Dr. Phelps