Help do i even need a psychiatrist? (i’m 22)

[emptywings]

sorry if i sound dumb af. i'm just scared of what they might do to me. i'm gonna go to a psychiatrist lowkey behind everyone's back cause my therapist basically forced me to cause of my suicidal thoughts.
from ur experience, does a psychiatrist work like a psychologist? do they just give u meds? do they have to tell my family/friends?

note: i don't even know what flair to put on this post. it's not about suicide or recovery. tbh i don't even wanna recover :/

 

[vibri]

In my experience, they just manage your meds

 

[SergantWallbridge]

The first visit with my psychiatrist lasted ~half an hour during which they conducted a fairly shallow inquiry into my mental health, and then prescribed me meds adressing one of my issues and refused to prescribe meds adressing the other.

The following visits lasted ~5 minutes, and served the sole purpose of extending the prescription on the meds they previously regarded as appropriate for my condition.

 

[Comaa]

sorry if i sound dumb af. i'm just scared of what they might do to me. i'm gonna go to a psychiatrist lowkey behind everyone's back cause my therapist basically forced me to cause of my suicidal thoughts.
from ur experience, does a psychiatrist work like a psychologist? do they just give u meds? do they have to tell my family/friends?

From my experience, a psychiatrist basically acts and works on the same psychological/safety baseline as an ordinary therapist, but they also prescribe appropriate medication, adjust and manage doses, and do brief consultations with you whenever deemed as needed. They do call parents/guardians/evaluate if mandatory psychiatric hold is needed if they suspect you might be an active, immediate threat to yourself or others, because at the end of the day they're partially responders of law to an extend, and no one wants to get sued for possible negligence. While they talk with you about your struggles and experiences, they tend to do this to figure out what kind of medication they should prescribe to you instead of analyzing your whole profile to work it through with you. Of course, all psychiatrists are people, and people are different. So I wouldn't advice you to base your whole frame of expectations on my reply alone, but regardless I still hope that this might ease your worries and help you just a little bit, or atleast make you aware to what possisbly prepare for. I really wish that whatever you choose, if it's recovery or anything else you deem as important and complete to you, will reach you as soon as possible!

 

[Ludath]

I'm in America and have been seeing psychiatrists for around 24 years now. I tell them a little about what I'm struggling with lately, and they tell me about a med we can try to help. If i say anxiety they might give me benzos for immediate relief and try a med for prevention of anxiety on top. I can say yes please or no thanks depending on side effects or anything else. If the meds dont work, or the side effects aren't worth it, you tell them, and they adjust. Either by changing the dosage or changing the meds to another one. Its like throwing darts at a board and seeing what sticks. For me, literally nothing has stuck, and I've ran out of meds to try. Most antidepressants you take for 6 weeks before you change them because they can take awhile to start effecting you.

I've never had to tell anyone about it like family or anything. Depending on if they work together, which you normally need to set up, sometimes your psychiatrist and therapist work together a little bit, sharing info to eachother to better help you. That's always an option too.

I hope this helps a little. One psychiatrist i had, i could just ask for certain meds and ask if we could try it. They weren't the most professional, but they were a good listener. My current one is very professional, wont do that, but will still listen. Shes just more akin to making recommendations with good information as to why and what to expect.

 

[emptywings]

Según mi experiencia, un psiquiatra actúa y trabaja básicamente con los mismos criterios psicológicos y de seguridad que un terapeuta común, pero también prescribe la medicación adecuada, ajusta y controla las dosis y realiza consultas breves contigo cuando lo considere necesario. Llama a los padres o tutores y evalúa si es necesario un internamiento psiquiátrico obligatorio si sospecha que podrías representar una amenaza activa e inmediata para ti mismo o para los demás, ya que, en última instancia, responden parcialmente a la ley y nadie quiere ser demandado por posible negligencia. Si bien hablan contigo sobre tus dificultades y experiencias, suelen hacerlo para determinar qué tipo de medicamento deben prescribirte, en lugar de analizar tu perfil completo para trabajar contigo en ello. Por supuesto, todos los psiquiatras son personas, y cada persona es diferente. Así que no te aconsejaría basar todas tus expectativas únicamente en mi respuesta, pero aún así espero que esto pueda aliviar tus preocupaciones y ayudarte un poco, o al menos hacerte consciente de lo que posiblemente debas esperar. ¡Deseo sinceramente que, sea lo que sea que elijas, ya sea la recuperación o cualquier otra cosa que considere importante y completa para ti, te llegue lo antes posible!

tysm <3 <3

 

[desiderium]

Psychiatrists are still health professionals, so they should (have to) follow HIPAA. This means that confidentiality extends to you the same way it would with a therapist. This means that they cannot blab to parents or law enforcement unless you disclose an active plan/intent to harm yourself and others, and they can't give out personal health information without your consent to most people (including other health professionals). This is the super basis gist of it, and this is also assuming you're in the USA and operate under the same laws I'm talking about.

Sometimes a psychiatrist will work with a therapist, depending on your setup or program (IOP for example), but that's about as far as it goes. They're still a doctor. Most appointments are about med management and nothing else in my experience; a psychiatrist isn't a therapist, so they really just deal with meds, your dosages, side effects, etc.

TLDR: unless you give them permission or tell them to disclose your medications and treatments to family and friends, they can't and won't (assuming you're in the USA). What happens in those appointments stays between you and the psych, and maybe other members of your medical care team depending on the situation. Unless you're involuntary or some other similar circumstance, they can't technically force you to take any medications either, so.

 

[emptywings]

Psychiatrists are still health professionals, so they should (have to) follow HIPAA. This means that confidentiality extends to you the same way it would with a therapist. This means that they cannot blab to parents or law enforcement unless you disclose an active plan/intent to harm yourself and others, and they can't give out personal health information without your consent to most people (including other health professionals). This is the super basis gist of it, and this is also assuming you're in the USA and operate under the same laws I'm talking about.

Sometimes a psychiatrist will work with a therapist, depending on your setup or program (IOP for example), but that's about as far as it goes. They're still a doctor. Most appointments are about med management and nothing else in my experience; a psychiatrist isn't a therapist, so they really just deal with meds, your dosages, side effects, etc.

TLDR: unless you give them permission or tell them to disclose your medications and treatments to family and friends, they can't and won't (assuming you're in the USA). What happens in those appointments stays between you and the psych, and maybe other members of your medical care team depending on the situation. Unless you're involuntary or some other similar circumstance, they can't technically force you to take any medications either, so.

ohhhh tysm <3 <3