Dr. Sam A Castro Jr, MD

Had sessions with dr.castro for 7 years. My condition didn't improve. Prescribed medications that had terrible side effects, weight gain and breast development. Never bothered to check my progress on pills. Asked him why he didn't notice any differences in my psychical appearance while in therapy, possibly from medicine, he told me it was my job to bring it up, not his. Terrible analytical skills. Waste of years seeing him. I believe I was intimidated by his deep sense of self he portrayed, but I never challenged him.

He is professional, thoughtful and always on schedule.

He prescribes very old medications that were standard issue over a decade ago. He is very under informed on standard diagnosing procedure. If you see this doctor or if you currently see him, please see a second psychiatrist for a second opinion . Everyone that I know who has seen Dr. Castro, benefited from dropping him as their doctor and finding a new psychiatrist. Dr. Castro simply has a lack of updated education which can only hurt his patients. If you feel that you have something more than a mild depression, then I would avoid this doctor at all cost. After doing some research on his credentials, I found out that he is also was recently considered unqualified to work in a hospital or mental health clinic. He is much older than most psychiatrist, which might explain why he is no longer in touch with advances in modern medicine. He also attempts to give his patients some quick therapy but according to his credentials he has no clinical training which becomes obvious when you meet… him. with the outdated medications and inaccurate diagnoses (confirmed through second opinions from other psychiatrist) this doctor has so much potential to cause harm to his patients, its unbelievable that he has not lost his psychiatry licence due to malpractice or severe negligence.

I've lived in fresno my whole life and have benefited in many ways through this physician.This Phsyciatrist is not only experiened,and Brilliant,but also has a rare kindness towards his patients.

I went to see Dr. Sam Castro as recommended by my regular family doctor to see a psychiatrist for a medicine evaluation. I have been dealing with several problems over the last year and a half. I had also tried seeing a therapist and was told to google stuff (if that worked I wouldn't need doctors). While my first visit to Dr. Castro went fairly well I thought he gave me some samples of a medicine to try to increase the effects of what I was already taking. That didn't really work all that well as I started getting the need to cut myself back. So I went to my second appointment and he was more focused on my husband who was going to be getting out of military soon than me. When I brought up what was going on with the medication he asked me what I think I should do....I said probably stop taking the new medicine. Then after that he went back to my husband some more and after about 5-10 mins of talking to me he was done. I waited longer than I saw him for my second visit. I don't… even know what to do now...I keep getting panic attacks with chest pains and seem to be getting no help from the doctor. He seemed so much more caring the 1st visit...this time he wasn't even in the appointment with me. He kept picking at his nails, looking out the window, and just wasn't there.

One of the best doctors around