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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jennifer1 on April 20, 2001, at 20:36:53
I need some help. I am getting ready to start going into therapy for depression. My general physician had started me on Effexor XR, which I tried for two weeks but I didn't like the side effects. I was waking up in the middle of the night and having a hard time going back to sleep. He started me on Wellbutrin last Saturday and I have been sleeping through the night. I'm feeling a lot better, except for the headaches but I'm used to them (pop a few Motrin and I'm fine).
But I wanted to know if anyone found that seeing a Psychiatrist was better than seeing a Psychologist. I'm very limited when it comes to my insurance and would really like to find one within my plan. Otherwise I'll have to go out of network, which had an extremely high cost.
I look forward to any feedback.
Posted by willow on April 20, 2001, at 21:47:28
In reply to Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist - Help!!!, posted by Jennifer1 on April 20, 2001, at 20:36:53
"I'm very limited when it comes to my insurance and would really like to find one within my plan. Otherwise I'll have to go out of network, which had an extremely high cost."
Go with what you can afford and don't be afraid to discuss cost at your first appointment. I found a psychologist who was willing to charge less when I explained how much my plan covered.
BEST WISHES
Willow
Posted by ShelliR on April 20, 2001, at 23:26:50
In reply to Re: Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist - Help!!!, posted by willow on April 20, 2001, at 21:47:28
Jennifer. There are, of course, both psychiatrists and psychologists who are good at doing therapy. If I had to choose blindly, however, I'd pick a psychologist. My experience is that in general they have better training in psychotherapy: psychiatrists accumulated most of their early experience in hospital settings, while most psychologists do their training (externships) in out patient settings. I have found personally that psychologists are often more open to various techniques in therapy, than psychiatrists (perhaps they are more conservative as a whole).
But of course, this is only my experience--basically try either one and see who you feel comfortable with. I would ask any therapist you decide to try how they work with depression, e.g., more analytically, more cognitively, etc. and decide which would suit you the best.
Shelli
Posted by vlvtelvis on April 21, 2001, at 1:52:13
In reply to Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist - Help!!!, posted by Jennifer1 on April 20, 2001, at 20:36:53
Most insurence plans won't pay for a psychiatrist to do therapy in a lot of cases. They are MD's who often do little but medication management.
A psycholigist on the other hand is going to have a MA or phd in psychology, which is a psudo-science that specializes in drawing universals from particulars and then treating them as scientific fact.
Lincesensed clinical social workers are just warm fuzzy people you pay to talk to you.
(sorry, I've seen near 20 professionals in the past 8 years, and most have been useless. I'm just cynical about it.)
Different treatment apraches work for different people, so by all means try and see what will work for you.
If you think your general practicioner is doing a decent job with medications, you probobly don't need to see a psychiatrist.
All three are going to have some saints and some quacks. Finding a person you feel comfortable with is more important than the letters behind the name.
> I need some help. I am getting ready to start going into therapy for depression. My general physician had started me on Effexor XR, which I tried for two weeks but I didn't like the side effects. I was waking up in the middle of the night and having a hard time going back to sleep. He started me on Wellbutrin last Saturday and I have been sleeping through the night. I'm feeling a lot better, except for the headaches but I'm used to them (pop a few Motrin and I'm fine).
>
> But I wanted to know if anyone found that seeing a Psychiatrist was better than seeing a Psychologist. I'm very limited when it comes to my insurance and would really like to find one within my plan. Otherwise I'll have to go out of network, which had an extremely high cost.
>
> I look forward to any feedback.
Posted by JohnL on April 21, 2001, at 5:16:09
In reply to Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist - Help!!!, posted by Jennifer1 on April 20, 2001, at 20:36:53
Is there some issue that is bothering you? Like maybe career, lover problems, whatever? If so, then seeing a counselor, psychotherapist, or psychologist could be very helpful. A good one can help point out trouble spots and teach you how to deal with them.
On the other hand, if there aren't any real issues to deal with, you might find counseling to be of little help. One of the best things they can teach you however is how to cope. There are lots of neat tricks and strategies to help cope with your illness. I found that the greatest benefit of a counselor was the role of cheerleader. I always had a renewed sense of hope when I left the office. Each visit was like filling up the gas tank for another journey into the world. New tricks to try. Etc. I found it very helpful to have a coach in my corner cheering for me and giving me support, faith and hope to go on.
You can sort of get both a psychologist and psychiatrist in one, by looking for a psychiatrist with a reputation of good bedside manners. You can get the benefits of both a psychologist and a psychiatrist by dealing with a psychiatrist who is also good with other things besides just medicine. Some of them are excellent coaches, cheerleaders, hope providers, whatever. And of course, some of them totally suck with lousy bedside manners and overinflated egos.
No matter what route you take, I think it is very important to deal with someone who you feel you have a good chemistry with. And always remember, who is paying who? Ultimately you are the boss in control and you should insist on being treated the way you want to be treated. As long as you are paying, you are the ultimate boss. You wouldn't hesitate to return an expensive product you purchased if it was broken or if you didn't like it. Same goes with mental health care.
John
Posted by Leighwit on April 21, 2001, at 13:27:44
In reply to Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist - Help!!!, posted by Jennifer1 on April 20, 2001, at 20:36:53
>
> But I wanted to know if anyone found that seeing a Psychiatrist was better than seeing a Psychologist. I'm very limited when it comes to my insurance and would really like to find one within my plan. Otherwise I'll have to go out of network, which had an extremely high cost.
>
>
Jennifer,Your question about psychiatrists vs. psychologists is an apples to oranges comparison. Among other differences, psychiatrists can prescribe meds and psychologists cannot. Psychologists counsel; most psychiatrists do not, i.e., they primarily clinically diagnose conditions and manage med therapies. I saw a psychologist on a very disciplined schedule for the first year after being diagnosed and starting ADs. I found it very helpful (and typically it's a lot of work if it's going to be effective -- it's not like going to a Pdoc and discussing the diagnosis/symptoms and how the treatment is working for 15 minutes once every six weeks or so.) Psychologists can't do what psychiatrists can, however, and most good psychologists will not start seeing a patient until their depression is under control. If you're really depressed, you cannot do the work of the therapy. The conventional plan-of-action would be to start with a psychiatrist from your PPO or HMO plan, and then consider seeing a psychologist for counseling. I always start with physicians in my insurance plan (I've had many different plans over the past ten years and the provider networks all seem to be growing -- I think the big guys have aquired all but a few of the smaller insurers -- which has big drawbacks but at least we get to choose from bigger lists of doctors, eh?) and if I cannot purchase the quality of care I want, then I'm willing to go out-of-network even though it's costly, and sacrifices other expenses in my life. Being able to think clearly and feel productive is more important than nearly anything else to me -- so it's not open to compromise in terms of quality.
Hope you find an affordable team that you can trust - good luck, Jennifer.LBW
Posted by Jennifer1 on April 22, 2001, at 19:20:28
In reply to Re: Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist - Help!!!, posted by Leighwit on April 21, 2001, at 13:27:44
Thank you everyone for all of your feedback, it was very helpful.
This is the end of the thread.
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