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Psychiatrist

Tue, 11/07/2006 - 10:06
This is making me a little nervous. I'm just not sure what to think. My family doctor (the one I don't particularly care for and am working on ridding myself of) decided back in September that it would be in my best interest to send me to a psych. His reasoning was to help balance out the AEDs with anti-depressants. I don't know what to think about all this. I know I've mentioned it before. However, my appointment is November 15 at 1pm. That's next week, so I am a little bit nervous about what to think. What would you think? Have you been to a psych? What do I expect? My appointment is scheduled for a full hour. What sorts of things should I ask?

Comments

I've been to a psychiatrist

Submitted by SunflowerPower on Tue, 2007-11-27 - 22:43
I've been to a psychiatrist twice. The first time I was in High School and I as being moody and crabby 16 year old. Of course my parents were like "OMG You have major depression!" Well I didn't think I had major depression and they psychiatrist agreed, which was really nice because I got my parents off my back. At the office there they also had counselors. It was nice because the counselor worked very closely with the psychiatrist. You can and should get some therapy from the psychiatrist, but the real person you talk to is the counselor. Now my mom works in mental health care so I know a lot about this stuff. Counselors do NOT necessarily PhDs is psychology. Most of the PhDs give out various tests, do research, and run rats though mazes, although some do psychotherapy. These days most counselors have their license in social work, which I personally think is lame, because social workers don't have intensive training in psychotherapy, although they may think they do. The social worker is more concerned with society's problems. The person who you want to see is a LPC. That stands for Licensed Professional Counselor. They're the ones with the most focus on psychotherapy. The second time I went to a psychiatrist was because I was distraught over my health problems and I wanted someone to tell me that I wasn't going crazy. It wasn't the best experience. First of all, I didn't even see a psychiatrist, I saw the PA, who was nice enough. The thing I didn't like was that they didn't do therapy in that office at all! All they did there was dispense medications. All the PA kept on saying was, "All we do here is meds." Then she kept on trying to switch my meds, and I kept on telling her that I liked what I was on. I think this verges on unethical. How do they know what meds to give you if they don't know what your problems are? How do they know you're not trying to drown your problems with meds and avoiding the issues? How do they know you're not hiding a major psychiatric issue? They don't. You do not want to be in a situation like that, and I never went back to that office. I wonder if they were getting kick-backs from the drug companies. This was a highly recommended office too. I think it as in one of the "best doctor" magazines, but it wasn't for me. I suppose you could see a psychiatrist and a counselor in a separate office but it is much much better to have them both on the same team and have them both see you because they consult with each other. The counselor will know you better and the psychiatrist is better qualified to make a diagnosis and has a prescription pad.

Re: Online Psychiatrist

Submitted by sier on Wed, 2013-09-04 - 07:03
If you have problem then you can start talking with Online Psychiatrist here and you can tell your problem via chat. If you are and do not want to go to psychiatrist then i think you have social phobia and nothing else.

Re: Psychiatrist

Submitted by fzMousie on Thu, 2006-11-09 - 09:31
*bump* No really, I would very much like advice or input, PLEASE. I am very nervous and wary about this and my appointment is Wednesday. Have you ever been referred to a psychologist, and what happened? What do they say/do?

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