Hey,

I just wanted to reponde to your second post in this thread...

I want you to know that soooo many people do not know the difference between psychiatrist, psychologists therapists, CPN's, mental health social workers etc and why should you if you have never had to deal with them before? Please don't beat yourself up about not knowing the in's and outs of everything because it is nothing to do with you or how intellegent you are or your status. The only reason most of us know is that we have been dealing with these people for a while and have come to learn the differences and thats why we can answer your question.

You are not a mental case, a down and out, a child or someone who has lost their status just because you need a bit of help...we all do once in a while..please understand that.

Perhaps she misunderstood your question about psychiatriy and psychotherapy and said they were the same because they both examine or work with how we are mentally and emotionally, however there is a difference in a psychiatrist and a psychtherapist.

A psychrist is a trained doctor who specialised in mental health. They are allowed to perscribe medications as they are a doctor. Most often they only see patients for short periods of time and try to decide what might be wrong and either diagnose, perscribe meds or both. I understand why you are saying that it seems odd that they can perscribe something when they hardly know you or your problem and this is very true and sometimes they do get it wrong. what often helps is having a therapist or mental health worker - psychologist, cpn, mental health social worker etc who works alongside him, who sees you regularly and can report back to him anything that is important. In some circumstances psychiatrists may spend more time with clients but its certainly not as common as those who dont.

A Psychotherapist (could also call themselves a psychologist) is not a trained doctor. They may have studied counselling studies, psychology and things like this in order to be able to know the various schools of thought on how to best treat people who are in distress they usually offer therapy were you see them on a regular basis and talk through your issues. The work you do in your sessions with them will varey depending on the type of therapy they use for example person centred therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and so on.

A CPN (not sure if this is what they are refered to in the usa) is a community psychiatric nurse - they are people who train as nurses and then work in mental health. They have the ability to dispense (not perscribe meds) and often also will sit and talk with you and listen, a bit like a therapist only they dont have the training to really conduct therapy as such, they are just a listening ear. Some people may see them in their local mental health department or the CPN may call out to the persons home.

A Mental health social worker often does similar work to a CPN, they are people who trained to be social workers who then went on to work in mental health, They cannot dispense meds but will talk and listen (like the CPN) and often just monitor how you are keeping. They usually report back anything important to your psychiatrist.

hope this helps a bit.

I dont think you should give up on the psychiatrist. They may actually be able to refer you for therapy if you would find it benefical and also it is good to have one just incase you need them. You dont have to try the meds, you can ask for more information or even say you would rather try a different form of treatment first such as therapy or releaxation or something before trying meds and if that doesnt work then you will consider it. They cannot force you to take anything you dont want to and you dont have to accept everything they say just because they are the professional - what you want matters just as much.

Also to answer your question the reason someone sees a psychiatrist is because they are refered to one by your doctor, you cannot self refer to a psychiatrist the way you can to see a therapist.

all the best xxxx