William Bresnick, MD

I think I owe it to people to give a review just to help someone else avoid what I went through. His use of medications is liberal to put it kindly. Put me on a benzo. I questioned him about the safety of the meds and it was brushed over. My anxiety/​panic got way worse on the meds and when I suspected this he said it couldn’t be. I also raised concerns about addiction. He told me I didn’t have an «addictive» personality and I could just stop in two weeks. Oh boy… was he wrong!!! I finally used the Internet to find out what was happening and when I brought the info to him he literally threw it in the garbage in front of me. Turns out your not supposed to be on a benzo longer than 2 – 3 weeks. I stopped seeing him and it has taken me almost four years to get off and recover from the meds. The drugs it turns out were making me 100x sicker than what I went for in the first place. I am now almost recovered, take absolutely nothing, and have no anxiety other than normal stuff. This has been the worst four years of my life I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my worst enemy.
The suffering was immense and what made it worse was his denial that the drug could be the cause. I was told it was my original anxiety and it was in my head. Look benzo withdrawal symptom on Google or Wikipedia and you’ll get an idea of what can happen. I was a pretty normal guy until this whirlwind stole four years from me.
I was hesitant to write this review because I think he’s just ignorant and really not a bad person. The ignorance on his part though outweighs any other consideration I may have and I hope this can save one person from the hell I went through.

Dr. Bresnick is an abomination. I cannot express how much this man should never be allowed to practice again. Because of him and his careless practice, I ended up in the hospital. He is perverted, perpetually late, an egomaniac, and has an inability to listen to his patients. He in unprofessional on almost every level and will chase you down, write letters, and call you incessantly if you dare to leave his practice. DO NOT SEE THIS DR. He is the Dr. from HELL.

Okay so I read some… well just about all of these reviews (how can you not? its like watching a car crash lol) and I just had to chime in.
Firstly, there’s a lot of truths here. Dr. B is always late and a pretty odd duck who probably could use some help of his own but then again I’m the one on the couch not the judges chair nor am I qualified to make that determination.
While unorthodox and strange, my visits are in essence what I make them and Dr. B has always been great about giving me my perscriptions (which I took preciously and work great for me) without trying to recommend other things or changes. I had some thoughts about added a depression med and he provided me with some great info and I ended up not going that route.
All good from my perspective — guess it just depends on what gets your blood pumping.

I’d give negative stars if I could.
CONSISTENTLY 30+ minutes late for appointments. Has no regard for you or your time. Even more annoying when you take time off work to go see him, and you rush to be there on time, only to wait for a half hour or more.
This is the least professional doctor I’ve ever encountered in my LIFE. After you’ve waited forever in his waiting room, he talks about himself for the majority of the appointment. I worked for a large tech company and he’d regularly ask me about what we were working on and tell me stories about his son. Uhh, why am I here again?
To quote another reviewer:
«Warning: if you see this Dr. I would not state your title or where you work. He easily discussed with me (and it seems other patients from these Unilocal reviews), the work title and issues of other patients as examples (But only really would bother with those at a high level in a large or high profile company) and where they work, so breaching confidentiality. I could easily find these people on Linked-​in, if I so desired. He seems to have some sort of obsession with celebs, famous people or mucky-​mucks in corporations.»
This is EXACTLY CORRECT in my experience. He would regularly tell me sensitive and confidential information about his other patients and name the companies where they work — identifying information! For example, he’d tell me that a VP of [big company] sees him for alcohol abuse — and he’d name the company! He loves name-​dropping when his patients work for big tech: Apple, Pixar, Google, etc. He’d say things like «a big exec at [such and such company] is a closeted homosexual.» I’m pretty sure this is ground for losing his medical license. I worked at a big tech company and he’d ask me weird questions about the execs. Oh, he once told me a story about seeing a celebrity’s penis in a locker room, and how it wasn’t as big as he expected for a black guy. (!!!)
HE TRIED TO SET ME UP WITH ANOTHER PATIENT OF HIS. This is basically all you need to know! How inappropriate is that! He pulled out the guy’s file and even though he didn’t tell me his name, he was going through his file in plain view and I saw the name. He told me what this guy was seeing him for, and other identifying information, without that guy’s consent. What the actual!!!
Constantly asks inappropriate questions and broaches inappropriate topics that have nothing to do with the reason I was seeing him. In fact, in all of the appointments I ever had with him, I’d say that less than 5% of our time was spent discussing the thing for which I was seeing him and that he was prescribing medication to treat. Most of the time was spent with him talking about himself or his family. Or he’d ask me extremely inappropriate questions about my sex life, even though that was completely unrelated to why I was seeing him (for insomnia issues and ADD). Also has a super super traditional/​conservative opinion about gender, sexuality, relationships, and drug use. Would regularly lecture me about gender roles. After seeing him for awhile I just started lying and telling him there was nothing going on in my dating life, because I didn’t want to answer his creepy sex questions. Don’t tell him if you ever smoke pot, he’ll tell you that you’re an addict with substance abuse problems.
This guy needs help.

I’ve never written a Unilocal review, but my experience with this «doctor» has compelled me to do so. I only saw him one time and realized that the other reviews I read on Unilocal were exactly on point. I cancelled my next appointment and after failing to give the 48-​hour notice he requires, he charged my insurance company $ 600 for actual services rendered even though they were not. Not $ 25 or even $ 50, but $ 600. I understand I missed an appointment and will pay for that, but is it even legal to bill for services not rendered?
Based on my one and only visit, I felt uncomfortable around him. He made me wait for 1 hour on a Friday night where everyone else on the floor had already gone home. He took another patient in at my scheduled time. And he has no other staff, just him, which made me even more uncomfortable sitting with him alone in his office with no one else on the floor.
He mostly talked about himself and celebrities and I already made my decision that he was not the right fit for my needs. He even prescribed me a medication that gave me *horrible* side effects even though I told him my previous medication was working very well.
Then the calls started. He calls me from unlisted blocked numbers and leaves long-​winded rude and condescending voicemails. After the first, I thought it would be wise not to have any further contact with him and deal directly through the insurance company. He was unprofessional and I felt like dealing with his personality type would only make the situation worse. But he keeps calling me at various times still from blocked numbers. He even called me on a Sunday night at 9pm. That’s completely uncalled for and the fact that he doesn’t realize what he’s doing is out of line is even further claim that he’s completely out of touch with reality.
Now, I’m in a whole insurance ordeal trying to figure out what I should do. If you don’t want to deal with this mess, find someone else. Trust me.

I finally felt compelled to write something in reflecting on my last visit and how dangerous his influence would be if I had serious psychological issues. There is no doubt that he would cause more harm than good.
Cons:
— Talks incessantly about random topics. He’ll start out asking questions about my life (none of which, are related to the treatment or behavioral improvements), then he’ll latch on to something I say and run with a 20 minute non sequitur, or until I can rein finally him in. Don’t mention places where you’ve recently traveled or vacationed, that is unless you want to spend the rest of the session listening to where he stayed last time he was there, what meal he liked best, oh and where I really need to go on vacation is X, here’s why…
— The sequence of his «therapyzing»: he asked dumb questions, which always includes my sex life (while i get that it’s an important component to well-​being, it is completely unrelated to my issues) which each time follows with stating the obvious «that’s very important», asks a lot of shallow questions like what i did for holidays, how’s my husband’s job, then never probes deeper if I mention any development of substance but rather goes off on some random tangent. Occasionally, he’ll respond with some inane advice, such as «get more sleep», relax more or get more exercise or sex — those are the answers to everything. I get better therapy from a cosmo mag. Then he writes another prescription; then we get into the same back and forth about when he can see me again, trying to get me to come in sooner this time, since «it’s been almost 2 months since the last time!» which he knows is typical. I always try to push it out as far as possible explaining again that I don’t need it, then he gets pushier, so I give up. Then he goes on another tangent about the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or famous people that he knows, and the next thing you know I’m walking out more stressed out than when I walked in for having wasted 2 hours just to get my prescription.
— He is late almost every time, like really late. I am also late every time by about 7 minutes. If I happen to show up and he’s there, then he gives me grief about being late as he proceeds to wrap up other things while i sit there for another 10 minutes.
— In 2 years, he has never offered any insight or wisdom, especially related to my particular defficiency.(except one time he let me borrow a book, which was great).
— Totally inappropriate comments and unsolicited opinions about your life!
— I definitely feel like I’m the therapist and he’s the ADHD kid who can’t engage in a normal conversation. I want to ask him what value he’s expecting me to get out of our conversations, and i think he’ll react like a child when someone says they don’t want to be friends anymore.
Pros:
— I get the prescription I need, and thankfully he doesn’t mess with what works for me.
— location is convenient. dont fall for that though — there are plenty others in the fin district.
— he seems to mean well and genuinely care. he’s just ineffectual and clearly needs therapy more than I do.

Pervert.
My current MD is hoping that someone reports him based on all of the negative information he’s heard from others including myself. He is very inappropriate with his opinions.
Notice something … do you find the positive reviews posted here coincidentally consistent … as if written by the same author? I’d be willing to believe this was his doing.
Please avoid this individual. We all have enough to deal with without having to add to it with the ministrations of this «doctor»

I saw this doctor. He charged me ½ a visit rate to just get my records together. He also threatened that he could tell authorities about my records?
He has serious, serious ADD issues. I found him interesting to talk to but I wasn’t there to be his friend.

This is the worst doctor I have ever been to. I have been told by other psychiatrists that this guy needs to have his license removed!
*He is consistently late (More then 20 mins EVERY time — but got mad when I left after waiting for 30 mins)
* I caught him charging my insurance company for sessions as well as trying to bill me for them
* He has told me that he was going to bill my insurance company extra times so he could get more money out of me.
* He put me on disability and told me that I could NOT leave his care or I would have to pass up my disability status. I later found out that this is a LIE!
*He asked me if I would put up a good review for him on Unilocal…
Yet, here is my honest review of the doctor.
He has set me back a lot and was not helpful in any way.
I wish I could give him NO stars, as he does not deserve any!

This guy fixed me up with a great medication — Lexapro — but that’s about the only good thing I can say about him. He talked incessantly, often about inappropriate things like celebrity gossip, and kept me waiting on numerous occasions. Unprofessional. And I agree with the earlier comment that he over-​medicates.

Warning: if you see this Dr. I would not state your title or where you work. He easily discussed with me (and it seems other patients from these Unilocal reviews), the work title and issues of other patients as examples (But only really would bother with those at a high level in a large or high profile company) and where they work, so breaching confidentiality. I could easily find these people on Linked-​in, if I so desired. He seems to have some sort of obsession with celebs, famous people or mucky-​mucks in corporations. I was none of those, and he liked to state that doesn’t relate as well with people who are passive and shy as he always indicated that I was… Well no one in my life would describe me that way… I was only that way with him because I didnt want to give him info to know about me because of his strange behavior. Example: I never liked to discuss my relationships because he would ask about sex constantly and delve too much into that part of my private life, which I know in retrospect was not related to my issues at all. I found myself lying to him about the fact that was dating or in a relationship to avoid the subject… If i wasnt so ill back then I should have realized there was something wrong with that.
I had no abilty at that time to objectively figure out why I was lying to him. I can now after getting off all that medication and seeing a good therapist.
He was often was running late, but to be fair would waive the co-​pay. Luckily I was usually just coming from work and didnt have any plans but sometimes would be ½ hour to 45 minutes late. Liked to make small talk about decorating and such which wasted a lot of time, but I usually could steer him off the subject.
He would often state that he liked to only work with «stressed out» professionals (I took this as he helped them with meds) or better yet socialites and celebrities, seemed to be starstruck in his celeb. obsession constantly bringing up different ones. Example is that he would at pretty much every session always ask about my «Boss», meaning Gavin Newsom, the Mayor of SF at the time. I was a City employee but I didnt work with Gavin Newsom at all and didnt know him… there are/​were over 25,000 City employees and I told him this. But Gavin Newsom was in the news for some titillating behavior at the time (affair w/​his best friends wife… and dating a teenage girl) so we would use my mental health time to discuss his obsession with this guy.
Got the impression over time that I simply bored him… but I didnt tell him much because I never trusted him for reasons stated all over these reviews. I am just guessing that is why he just cut me off. He is lucky I was not hospitalizd for what he did. I had some refills of medication when this happened and I just slowly weaned myself off of it so I wouldnt shock my system. He didnt tell me how to do this, I had to look it up myself on the internet. He really set me back and I am angry at all the money and time that was wasted with him.
I will try to be fair and state some pros if this is what your are looking for and will state that he is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about medicine, medication and the body and brain and how this all works together. If you want to hear super detailed, long, and one-​sided speeches about his knowledge of brain chemistry and the human body, he is your guy. If you are looking to get easy prescriptions, he might be your guy. He seems pretty loose witht that prescription pad. If you are interested in getting a doctor to back you on any claims, he doesnt have any resevervation and is very, very helpful in backing you up with letters to support if you have any related to your mental health, so this could be helpful to people if they need a doctor’s letter.
On the balance, however, I would say that he is not using his obvious intelligence, in the right area of medicine. This guy is highly educated and credentialed with every board certification and degree I think he could have as it is all on display on his office wall, but I find it really strange how he is choosing to utilize all that.
I chose to remove one star even though I do think he *can* be helpful if he so chooses, becuase I can’t get over his endangering my life when I was at my most vulnerable by refusing to reup meds or see me anymore. I left him several pleading messages about this and then some angry ones and only received the cold shoulder which I found to be really heartless and dangerous to me. He has a great responsibility as a mental health care giver and someone prescribing medication in the quantity that he did for me, and ulitmately I feel like he did not care.

Commenting on the «Inappropriate» — he foisted a book on me at an appointment, Anthony Keidi’s (Red Hot Chili Peppers) autobiography. Why? To show me what incredible breasts Keidis’s girlfriend had in one of the photos.
He is Dr. Feelgood — very free and easy with the prescription pad, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Other than that — an absolute nut case.

Dr. Bresnick is definitely different. He talks very fast and sometimes the info overloads one’s understanding process. He is often late for appointments, but is usually generous in waiving copays in such cases. He also has a lot of flexibility in scheduling appointments that you won’t find with other doctors. Most importantly, he is extremely knowledgeable and supportive in the bureaucracy and paperwork involved taking any time off work that you need. I also think his office is really nice and tasteful — I’ve seen some really low budget offices, I guess! ;-)

I’ve been seeing Dr. Bresnick over two years now.
He has recommended and helped me connect with adjunctive treatments and therapies, and is really concerned with my progress.
He is occasionally tardy, but has comped me my co-​payment on those occasions.
On the other hand, I accidentally missed one appointment and he forgave me my fee, which was kind of him, as normally you would have to pay out of your own pocket.
Something that I am very grateful for is that he has fought tenaciously for me when when I have had insurance company problems, and has been a strong advocate for me when I did not have the energy to do so by myself.
He is also receptive to alternative treatments I have sought out, and offers advice on lifestyle, as well as prescribing appropriate medication.
Overall I am very pleased with the help I have received from him.

I agree with others who have rated Dr. Bresnick; If I could give a negative rating, I would. I would in a heart beat. I have been to various psychologists and psychiatrists through the years and he is by far and away the worst one I have ever seen. He has yet to gain my trust and likely never will because he doesn’t give a damn.
–He is consistently 20+ minutes late.
–He constantly asks if I have had sex that day, and if so how many times.
–He talks 90% of the time either about himself or about some random topic that is completely unrelated to my issues.
–He is argumentative, condescending and ascribes to the classic gender roles as though he were quoting directly from Freud.
–The medication that I am on requires blood tests, of which he has never sent me to have done.
–The only changes to my medication have been at my prompting and even when changed the prescription directions did not.
–He talks over me, and when finally, maybe starting to talk about something that’s of concern to me… he switches the subject to a book on his shelf that’s about drugs or alcohol addiction. I have neither, never have.
The psychiatrist should direct you, not you directing the psychiatrist. His common advice to all issues is «reduce the stress in your life». Yes, I’ve read the same in a fortune cookie, it still doesn’t resolve the issue nor does it even attempt to help.
Why did I pick this psychiatrist? Why did I go to him for over a year? It was between him and one other psychiatrist offered by my insurance carrier. The other psychiatrist worked for a facility which was under scrutiny for a patient killing a staff member. I’m now wishing I had seen the other psychiatrist.
As a side note, he has mentioned (perhaps unintentionally) enough details about other patients that if willing, I could easily locate them. You should not give out both the (high level) title and business name of a patient.

So I’ve been going to see Dr. B for something like 3 years now, and I must say, I think he’s helped me out a lot over that time with various events/​situations in my life. He’s a nice guy; and his office (well, ‘offices’- he switched locations about a year ago to around the corner from where he used to be) has a relaxed atmosphere that makes you feel pretty comfortable to talk about whatever’s going on in your life. Also, for me, it’s nice to have an objective, non-​biased viewpoint on random things that come up every once in a while.
Dr. B (who’s straight) is also really comfortable/​knowledgeable in discussing gay relationships/​sex/​etc., which is nice if something random should come up that you wanna talk /​vent /​ask about. Apparently he sees a good number of gay guys (which I guess is to be expected working in downtown SF)…
Anyway, just wanted to say that I’ve had a good experience with him. Some of the other people’s postings kinda don’t sound like what actually would have happened (at least via what I’ve experienced with him over the last few years…).
:)

Ok, let’s see… Dr Bresnick is a great guy in my humble but experienced opinion. Why? Because he is smart as a whip and takes action. I agree that his cancellations and tardiness can be frustrating but I have always given him the benefit of the doubt in this regard because he has ALWAYS made it up to me, unlike most other practitioners. We often came up with action plans, follow-​through and solutions.
I do think he is a doc with excellent experience and approach. He knows his stuff AND he gets to know his patients.

I agree with the person who mentioned wanting to give negative stars.
Can you say unprofessional? I dare call him a «doctor.»
Stay far away from him. He needs professional help of his own.

If I could put negative stars on here, I would. This guy is the absolute worst shyster out there. My appointment was for 8:00 in the evening, kinda late but I thought I needed the help. He kept me waiting for 45 minutes while he «said goodbye to his friend». Then, he kept me there until after 10:00, telling me he wanted to keep me there as long as possible because «the insurance companies pay him very well.» During my session he did 90% of the talking. He put me on a medication that I had a bad reaction to and when I called him the next day and left him a message, he never called me back until after I’d missed my appointment a week later. He then slapped me with a $ 175 bill for the missed appointment, which I thought I’d cancelled. He would call my phone and my friend’s phone (my «emergency contact») well past the appropriate hours and leave long messages. This guy is nothing more than con-​artist who is not the least bit concerned with his patients. I would suggest everyone to stear clear of this one.

Honestly, this guy needs a psychiatrist of his own. Do yourself a favor. avoid avoid avoid.