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seeing a psychiatrist soon, what to expect?

Discussion in 'General Support and Advice' started by Stridenttube, Sep 24, 2013.

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  1. Stridenttube

    Stridenttube Guest

    My doctor referred me to a psychiatrist to sort our my issues and to help me find the right meds better than he can. What will the psychiatrist ask me? Is it like a normal therapist where they talk about what is bothering you and then try and solve the problem?
     
    #1 Stridenttube, Sep 24, 2013
  2. Stridenttube

    Stridenttube Guest

    Anyone? :icon_sad:
     
    #2 Stridenttube, Sep 24, 2013
  3. Chip

    Chip
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    A psychiatrist is a medical doctor with training in psychopharmacology and understanding of disorders of the mind.

    A really good psychiatrist will spend an extended amount of time with you (an hour or more at the first visit) doing a thorough diagnosis and evaluation, and then (in most cases) prescribe medication for you. Much more commonly, the psychiatrist will spend about 10 minutes with you and prescribe something.

    Psychiatrists do have some similar training to psychologists as far as psychology of the mind but most of them are nowhere near as well qualified to do therapy and work with the psychological aspects of healing as psychologists or clinical social workers are, because their training is first as a medical doctor and secondarily as specialists with pathologies of the mind.

    My big complaint with the field is that since most psychiatrists' primary training/experience is in severe disorders of the mind, the general approach is to medicate, when many of the people presenting with mental health issues probably don't need medication, but would do better with a good therapist. Of course, this doesn't apply in all cases, and there are many situations where medication is both necessary and appropriate, but overmedication is a huge problem and a disservice to the patient.

    What sort of issues do you have going on?
     
    #3 Chip, Sep 24, 2013
  4. Stridenttube

    Stridenttube Guest

    Depression, anxiety and OCD issues. The meds that my doctor gave me made them worse so he asked if I wanted to see a specialist. I said yes.
     
    #4 Stridenttube, Sep 24, 2013
  5. Chip

    Chip
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    Yeah, general practitiioners often make things worse rather than better because, particularly with multiple diagnoses such as yours, it requires a lot of specific knowledge... and even then, it's a bit of a guessing game because the medications react differently in each person.

    So hopefully your psychiatrist will take a good amount of time to really understand you. Don't be surprised if it takes 3 or 4 adjustments of the medication to resolve the issue, as the interaction between different medications (and s/he may recommend more than one) often have to be adjusted for all of them to work properly together.

    I would suggest that you pursue therapy as well, because all of the things you're describing can often effectively be treated by a therapist... though it might take time to find one who really "gets" the issues you have and will be able to help you thorugh them. But I do think you'd find in the long term that therapy can help to reduce, or perhaps completely eliminate, the need for medications in your situation.
     
    #5 Chip, Sep 24, 2013
  6. bingostring

    bingostring
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    I think Chip is right. I'd also see the appointment(s) as an opportunity to find out about (i) medications, and (ii) the various types of therapies open to you.

    Its good to give the psychiatrist as much info as you can to allow a proper assessment.

    The session(s) should be confidential, but a report will possibly have to go back to your doctor and so if there is anything you really want kept private it is worth talking about what you are comfortable with being put on paper.

    Good luck...
     
    #6 bingostring, Sep 24, 2013
  7. Pocky

    Pocky
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    Psychiatrists can definitely be a mixed bag. I fortunately see a psych who actually spends little time discussing meds, unless I've had a problem with one and most of the time just talking about how things are going in general.

    However I've found him to be different to a lot of other psychiatrists I've seen in the past. Many will just ask a few standard questions and be a bit more clinical about things. Shop around until you find a psych that's interested in knowing more than the basics because there are some really small things that can mean one medication will work better than another.
     
    #7 Pocky, Sep 24, 2013
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