Dr. Janice E. Cohen M.D.

Psychiatrist | Psychiatry

Inner Sunset San Francisco CA, 94122 Show map

About
Contacts & Locations

About

Janice E. Cohen, MD, is a holistic psychiatrist and psychotherapist with a private practice in San Francisco, California. She specializes in comprehensive, individualized, integrated care for adults and adolescents with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, trauma, and problems of transition and loss. Dr. Cohen holds 20 years of diversified experience in her specialty. She received her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in 1991, as well as her Bachelor Degree at the City University of New York. Dr. Cohen completed an internship in internal medicine at Mount Zion Medical Center of the University of California, San Francisco, and also at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston. She served a general psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry.

Education and Training

MD at the University of California

San Francisco School of Medicine

BA at the City University of New York Baccalaureate Program

City College of New York

Univ of Ca, San Francisco, Sch of Med, San Francisco Ca 1991

University of California 1991

Provider Details

FemaleEnglish 33 years of experience

Dr. Janice E. Cohen M.D.

Dr. Janice E. Cohen M.D.'s Expert Contributions

My Answers

Is negative thinking a disease?
No, at most one might call it a symptom, one which varies in type, intensity, frequency and duration for each individual and which all people experience in some manner throughout their lives. I like "The Ten Forms of Twisted Thinking" List on pages 8-11 in The Feeling Good Handbook, Revised, by David D. Burns, M.D. copyright 1990, 1999. Severe, persistent, and/or disabling negative thinking is associated with many different "illnesses." It is also associated with both developmental and acute trauma (e.g., personal loss of person(s), home, environmental, community, health or life affecting self and/or others. I have an article on my website to help understand the different types of psychotherapy and what approach might help you best in identifying a possible trigger for this change in your thinking and how to best address it. READ MORE
Is depression hereditary?
First of all, your specific genetic predisposition for developing unipolar depression can/could only be evaluated and grossly estimated based on the details (bipolar vs. unipolar depression) and degree of genetic contribution (parent or sibling vs. grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) by the various family members you describe as "everyone." And, whether or not you ever develop any degree of clinical depression will be determined by the interaction of past, current and future environments/experiences (see last entry) and whatever genetic predisposition you may have. For the most compelling, sophisticated and robust research on the nature vs. nurture question regarding psychiatric and substance use disorders, I would refer you to the work of Kenneth S. Kendler. I am going to contact him and ask him if I may post on my website a PowerPoint he sent me on one of his award lectures. While it is very technical/academic in parts, it also presents very clear and simple findings/conclusions about what we have learned from his and others' research on this question. They include: 1) that most psychiatric disorders are heritable, 2) that the inter-relationship of genetic and environment risk factors is likely to be subtle, 3) the likely importance of genotype-environment interaction or “genetic control of sensitivity to the environment, 4) the likely importance of genotype-environment correlation (genetic control of exposure to the environment), 5) how little we know about the possible impact of historical and population differences on our estimates of the importance of genetic and environmental risk factors, 6) how little we know of the development of risk - “The Dance through time of genetic and environmental risk factors”. Taken from a table from the above mentioned lecture, which estimates percentage of genetic contribution to various psychiatric disorders compared to other physical conditions and traits, there is 20-40% heritability of Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Bulimia as well as blood pressure and personality, leaving 60-80 % to environment and experience. So rather than worry at this point, I suggest you focus on living whatever the healthiest and most rewarding life would be for you. READ MORE

Areas of expertise and specialization

PsychiatryAdult and Adolescent Psychiatry, Care Management and Case Supervision, Consultation, Clinical Director, Quality Management

Faculty Titles & Positions

Local Public Speaking -

Awards

Summa Cum Laude awarded January, 1985
1974-77 Awarded production grants for
1984 City College of New York Alumni Fund Scholarship Recipient
1986 American Jewish Women's Foundation Scholarship Recipient
1993-94 National Institute of Mental Health Research Service Award Recipient (UC Berkeley)
1994 National Institute of Mental Health Research Service Award Recipient (NASMHPD)
1995 Research grant award from the Mini-Grant Program of the Evaluation Center at HSRI
1996 American Public Health Association Mental Health Section Award

Internships

Internship in Internal Medicine Completed June, 1992 at Mount Zion Medical Center of University of California, San Francisco, Internship at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston

Areas of research

June 1993 -94 University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health Research Training Program In Financing and Service Delivery in Mental HealthNIMH Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Favorite professional publications

Psychiatric Times Journal

Areas of research

June 1993 -94 University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health Research Training Program In Financing and Service Delivery in Mental HealthNIMH Postdoctoral Research Fellow