I really feel psychologists need courses in meds when getting their degrees so they can prescribe. Psychologists see the patient at least 24 hours a year versus 3 hours /year for pdocs. I think early intervention is the key to keep someone out of the hospital. My whole county has 2 inpatient places for both substance and psych patients with only 18 beds each. I feel bad about going there 2x because I'm not convinced I needed it.