Prof. Çağatay Karşıdağ, MD

Prof. Çağatay Karşıdağ, MD is a psychiatrist in the Psychiatry & Psychology unit at Acibadem Altunizade Hospital in İstanbul. He graduated from İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine in 1994 and completed his specialty training in mental health and diseases at Ord. Prof. Dr. Mazhar Osman Mental Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital in 1999. His subspecialty areas are the treatment of sexual dysfunction and smoke-free living, and his broader clinical work covers mood, anxiety, trauma-related and sleep disorders.

In 2000 he worked at Aksaray Devlet Hospital and at New York North Shore LIJ Medical Center, followed by a position at the General Directorate of Security Istanbul Bağlarbaşı Police Hospital (2000–2002) and the Yedikule Chest Diseases Training and Research Hospital Smoking Cessation Outpatient Clinic (2002–2003). From 2002 to 2017 he was based at Bakırköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Training and Research Hospital, where he founded the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) Working Unit, headed the CLP Outpatient Clinic and worked in Perinatal Psychiatry, addressing mental disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period (2009–2017). He was a Founding Member and Scientific Secretary of BARİLEM (Bakırköy Research and Advanced Education Center) from 2003 to 2013, Assistant Editor of Düşünen Adam Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences from 2005 to 2011, and Coordinator of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Working Unit of the Turkish Psychiatric Association from 2011 to 2013. He joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2018. He is a member of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Working Unit of the Turkish Psychiatric Association (2007) and of the Tissue and Organ Transplantation Commission of the Turkish Medical Association (2012). His published work includes studies on depression and emotional distress in patients with type 2 diabetes, validation of a Turkish version of the CES-D depression scale, the reliability of the Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence in a Turkish sample, psychiatric comorbidities in inpatient clinics, and the effects of maternal depression and anxiety disorders on birth weight and gestational age.

Clinical focus

Dr. Karşıdağ evaluates and treats sexual dysfunction, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, social phobia and specific phobias, atypical psychosis and sleep disorders. He also supports patients who wish to stop smoking and provides psychological support for people affected by cancer.

Drawing on his background in consultation-liaison psychiatry, he works with patients whose psychiatric symptoms occur alongside medical conditions, and his perinatal psychiatry experience covers mental health concerns during pregnancy and after birth.

How Dr. Karşıdağ works with international patients

Dr. Karşıdağ consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for other languages. The international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, arranges appointments and organises the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing records and previous treatments, a clinical assessment and a discussion of the options. Video consultation is available for international patients who wish to discuss their situation before travelling or to follow up after a visit.