Despite what you may have heard, psychiatrists aren't all old white dudes in bowties, but they're also (hopefully) not boundary-less people who blur the lines between personal and professional with their clients (thanks every TV show ever!). I've been a psychiatrist for nearly 10 years and I hear these misconceptions all the time, so I figured I should clear some of them up for you.
So, whether you currently see a psychiatrist or you're curious about what it's like, here are a few things I think you should know:
1. We don't just hand out mental health medications to everyone we see.
A lot of people who don't have experience with psychiatrists (or who have had bad experiences with one), think our job consists of seeing you for five minutes, asking you a few questions, giving you drugs, and saying bye. And I've always hated that perception because that's not what I do or what I was trained to do.
Providing medication is part of what we do and is something that differentiates us from other mental health providers (see: psychiatrists vs. psychologists), but it's not all we do. Most psychiatrists don't offer traditional psychotherapy (or hour-long sessions of talk therapy) because of insurance reimbursement limitations, and because there are fewer psychiatrists than there are therapists. So, yes, the people I see are people who need mental health medications, but if someone doesn't need medications, I'm not going to prescribe them. I might suggest they see a therapist instead, unless they're OK with checking in on a less frequent basis.
2. Even if we aren't your therapist, we do want to hear what else is going on in your life.
A lot of psychiatry sessions also involve some therapy. Because you can't just medicate life experiences away. For instance, if you come in and say, "I don't know if this med is working, and also my boyfriend just broke up with me," my job is not to just increase the dose. My job is to talk to you about how this breakup is affecting you and help you consider if and when to adjust your medication to your current situation. I'll also teach skills, hand you cognitive behavioral therapy worksheets, and help you challenge thoughts, feelings, and behaviors when it makes sense. Side effects matter, sure, but so does your lived experience. Understanding a patient's story is central to finding a treatment plan that works.
Keep reading for 4 more surprising things your psychiatrist wants you to know.
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