Posted by Ratfreek on April 19, 2001, at 16:48:20
In reply to Psychiatrist or GP for treatment of depression??, posted by Poppy on April 17, 2001, at 10:20:06
> Hey , does anyone reccomend seeing a psychiatrist over just your local doc? Have been treated by local doctor for over a year (with effexor) and was thinking about seeing a psychiatrist regarding my effexor? is it better?
Hi,
In my experience there are a few different things I've had to choose from. First, your GP can prescribe, but they're not trained in counseling or therapy. The main thing with anti-depressants, I believe, is that it's not enough to be on meds- you need therapy too! It's how you train yourself to deal with your problems so that someday you can get off the meds. So, I then had a choice of doctors (I have Blue Cross health insurance). Most expensive are the psychiatrists; they can prescribe and do therapy. Next are psychologists; they cannot prescribe and only do therapy. Both of these two have Ph. D's. Then you have family counselors, aka clinical social workers, at the cheapest end of the pay scale; most only have master's degrees. This is all very general, mind.I've found that I do fine with psychologists. It is really going to depend on the individual, whether or not you click with them and communicate, and of course how well they're trained and how much experience they have.
Good luck!
poster:Ratfreek
thread:60176
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60487.html