Dr Bonoldi is skilled in the management of a broad range of psychiatric problems, both minor and severe.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects people’s behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating and may act on impulse.
Although symptoms of ADHD tend to be noticed at an early age, frequently ADHD is not recognised when someone is a child, and they are diagnosed later as an adult.
People with ADHD may also have additional problems, such as sleep and anxiety disorders. In my practice I offer a specialised state-of-the-art diagnostic assessment for ADHD and associated treatment.
Stress
Stress causes physical and emotional changes in the body designed to help you take on threats or difficulties. It can be either transient or continuing. If you’re constantly stressed, your body stays in a state of high alert and you may develop stress-related symptoms, for example headaches, muscle tension, as well as irritability, low-self esteem and feeling overwhelmed.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to deal with stress, starting with finding the cause, taking control over things you can change and learning to accept what you can not.
We can discuss helpful copying strategies and other options to further help you to deal with stress effectively.
Depression
Persistent feelings of sadness, tiredness, hopelessness, losing interest in things you used to enjoy may indicate you are suffering from clinical depression. You are not being lazy, and you can’t just “snap out of it”. In severe cases, you might even think that life is not worth living.
Depression is a common disorder, with more than 300 million people affected worldwide. It can occur in isolated episode, recur in multiple episodes, or being part of a bipolar illness.
It is vital asking for help, as with the right treatment, for example psychological therapy or medications, you can recover and prevent future re-occurrence.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive symptoms usually presents as intrusive, unwanted thoughts, accompanied by pressure and anxiety.
People usually recognise them as one’s own, albeit senseless, thoughts, to which they try to resist. This can become a disorder when it takes up a significant amount of time and energy. It may be associated with mental of physical actions one feels compelled to do, which are called compulsive behaviours. Again a combination of medication and psychological intervention is usually the most effective treatment for this condition.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, which can be mild or severe. Symptoms of anxiety sometimes can manifest in the body, with muscle tensions, dizziness and palpitations among others.
Everyone feels anxious at certain times, but some people find it hard to control their worries, which might be constant and can often affect their daily lives. Anxiety disorders are very common: up to one third of the population are affected during their lifetime. Sometimes anxiety presents in the form of acute panic attacks, with physical symptoms and intense fear. A certain degree of depression can accompany anxiety and can be severely debilitating.
There are a number of different treatments available for anxiety disorders and an accurate discussion can help us finding the right interventions tailored on your needs.
Bipolar Affective Disorder
If your mood swings from feeling sad to feeling very high, irritable or overactive and energetic and each episode lasts for a sustained amount of time, you might suffer from bipolar affective disorder.
During the depressed phase you might feel sad, lacking energy and hope and losing interests in things. During periods of “high” mood (mania or hypomania) you might feel extremely energetic, don’t feel the need for sleep and have very fast thoughts; you might however also be very irritable and experience psychotic symptoms, such as hearing or seeing things that are not there or becoming convinced of things that are not true.
According to the degree of the symptoms, the condition can severely affect your life. Two % of people will suffer from bipolar disorder in their lifetime. There are many interventions available to treat acute episodes and to help preventing reoccurrence, but usually a combination of different treatments is the best way to control the mood swings.
Psychosis
When you suffer from a psychotic illness, you might have unusual experiences, such as seeing or hearing things that other people don’t, or holding beliefs that are not true. Some people believe they are being monitored or followed. You might also feel that you prefer spending time alone, withdrawn from family and friends, you might lack energy or motivation and you might struggle to live your usual life.
Usually these symptoms emerge gradually and insidiously, but can be dramatically precipitated by the use of recreational drugs, such as cannabis or cocaine.
About 1% of the general population will develop schizophrenia, but the percentage increases significantly if all causes of psychosis are considered.
Usually a combination of medication and psychosocial intervention is the best approach to treat psychosis.
While usually psychotic illness such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder are best managed with the package of care provided by a range of mental health professionals within the NHS Care Programme Approach, I have a special interest in the diagnosis and medical treatment of psychosis and would be happy to advise of different aspect of its management.
I have a special expertise in assessing young people who are developing non specific symptoms, which might be the early emergence of a mental illness. Understanding is important to formulate a tailored treatment plan: early intervention can improve quality of life.
I am also skilled in the assessment and treatment of complex cases, which do not seem to respond to first line treatment.