How do psychiatrists help people?

Psychiatrists are doctors, as are psychologists. Parents that hire help, need help. Children that have extreme anxiety need assistance learning how to employ tactics in real life situations that will allow them to live a more typical life.

This seems like a social question to me as it could spur discussion. I would go into examples, but certainly won’t do that in the General Section

@SpatzieLover Hi, can i move the question to social?

@mazingerz88 Yes, either edit it, or ask Auggie to mod it (then you can edit it to social :)

@SpatzieLover Psychiatrists are MDs, but psychologists do not necessarily have a PhD.

@marinelife you are correct. However, I wouldn’t take my child to one that wasn’t a PhD. :)

Psychiatrists help people by giving them a venue in which they can express themselves without worry about a personal bias.

They also dispense medication.

It is expected that you are being honest with them. Unfortunately, if you see one and you are not honest with them (or yourself) they don’t do a lick of good.

Health insurance companies and the free market set their rates. They can charge more than the insurance company is willing to reimburse if people think that they are worth whatever they are charging.

Some of them do help unfortunately many are greedy and money hungry.
That is the case with my son’s Psychiatrist.
Unfortunately my son is autistic.
I wish I could find someone better in SI., New York.
My son has been on medication since about seventeen. This so called Doctor prescribes them.
He does not do Therapy. His actual focus is Drug Studies. He makes Millions and has no sense of morality.

@philosopher If you know this to be fact, then why do you continue to employ him? Why not seek a psychologist out instead of a psychiatrist?

@captainsmooth Yes I see that psychiatrists are disciplined not to express personal bias and the mind training they got from school makes them better than a patient’s friend or family who may be mature and wise and loving yet incapable of being unbiased?

As with anything else, if someone out there is willing to pay it, someone will charge it. It is hard to find a psychiatrist that is really good.

To answer the OP’s original question: Drugs. They may also do some talk therapy of some sort, but when talking is going to suffice, usually people go to a psycholigist or some sort of counselor, MSW, sort of person. Depending on the state, the laws vary in who can practice therapy, what degrees are necessary.

@marinelife Psychologists are PhD’s. Or, at least if you want to be a member of the American Psychological Association you must have a doctoral degree in the US. I don’t know anyone in the psychology field who would call an MSW a psychologist for instance.

@SpatzieLover
I need someone who can prescribe medication.
In fact I have been looking for someone but I want someone who is familiar with autism.
I can’t go into Manhattan every month.
Manhattan has more qualified Psychiatrist
I recently spoke with a kind Psychiatrist in Iowa who is having success with Namenda.
Namenda is still being studies for autism and no one here will prescribe it.
Sadly there appears to less qualified caring doctors and more money hungry ones.
If anyone can find me someone and prove me wrong I would be delighted and; grateful.

@philosopher My son & husband both have Asperger’s. We don’t do meds. I understand your predicament. It is extremely difficult finding qualified doctors in our country. The ones we have are like gold.

Would New Jersey be too far? There are a lot of quality docs & programs in NJ. I’m ignorant about proximity since I’ve never been to either state…sorry!

How is your primary doc? would he/she be willing to work with the Iowa Dr?

A psychiatrist can “delve into another human being’s mind” because they’ve spent years studying the mind. Also, most people who see psychiatrists do so because they need medication or ECT to help with mental illness; if a kid just wants to talk about their anxiety they will probably go to a psychologist or a counselor.

The demand is definitely there, psychiatrists can charge as much as any other medical specialist if they want, they did the same amount of training.

In my experience, they hinder as opposed to help people. It’s next to impossible to find a psychiatrist that doesn’t go down the medication route. While I respect the power of medication, I do not believe in it as a long term solution and I’ve never come across a psychiatrist who shared that point of view.
This is just my personal opinion. As always, I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule.

They mostly prescribe people pills in hopes it makes their life tolerable enough they don’t hang themselves. That is mostly all they do for me. The therapist do the real work.

they keep the patient busy… while nature and time cures the wound.

They’ve been trained to say “Mmmhmm, and how does that make you feel?” really effectively.

Correct diagnosis. Best therapy potentially including medication.

@stardust If the brain doesn’t produce enough neurotransmitter x, what’s wrong with taking a medicine that helps elevate the level of neurotransmitter x in your brain, indefinitely? How is this any different than a diabetic needing to take regular insulin shots for the rest of her life?

I think many of the drugs available today will look quite archaic to the psychiatrists 50 years from now, but they’re the best things we have available at this time. I see psychiatrists as very smart and well trained doctors who are doing their best with tools that are still awkward and in their infancy.

@gorillapaws I don’t think they place enough emphasis on talking therapy. I think all avenues should be explored before someone is told they’ll need to take medication indefinitely. In my experience, psychiatrists have bypassed those other avenues.

I, along with many others was on a cocktail of drugs & told I’d need to stay on them indefinitely. I was a walking zombie. It wasn’t until I met a doctor who was willing to explore other options with me that I could start to come off the medication (a year long + process).

If I’d listened to the numerous psychiatrists who told me I needed these drugs to function, I’d still be dosed up to the eyeballs. I’ve been off medication for a few years now and my quality of life has never been better. Aagain, as I stated above, this is my own opinion based on myself and what I’ve observed.