For the last two I saw, the initial appt was an hour and a half. It's a lot of questions about physical and emotional symptoms (sleeping, eating, moods,) personal history, family history of mental illness, current day stressors. If you've taken medication before, bring a list of what they were, the dosage, and how you responded. Most of my eval was about medications and where I would draw the line. I've had a lot of experience with them, so knew what I felt comfortable trying.

Since it really comes down to being there for medication, if there's something they want to prescribe, be sure to ask about known side effects (weight gain, tremors). Some will cause a lot of weight gain, so I'm pretty firm about finding weight-neutral meds and tell them my quality of life is as important as having a life, so if they leave me overweight and shakey..no thanks.

I never tell a pdoc about my past history. They will ask about abuse, etc. I just say I'm working on things in therapy and prefer to keep those discussions with my therapist. Some are better at asking than others, but these are not people known for their social skills.

Don't worry about it. Go in with the intention of asking questions and being part of deciding what you will do.