So, you're feeling stressed out. Everything needs your attention
all at once. You might even be feeling a bit depressed. You decide
to go talk to someone, but whom do you talk to? A friend tells you
to go to a psychiatrist. Your sister suggests that you see a
psychologist. A co-worker mentions that she went to a
psychoanalyst. So to add to your stress, you now have to figure out
the differences between each of these "P" words to know where to go
for help.
A psychiatrist is a physician who deals with mentally ill patients.
Psychiatrists are MDs, so they can prescribe medication. As a
result, they usually deal with clinical issues such as
schizophrenia and manic-depression whose treatments tend to require
medication.
Psychologists, unlike psychiatrists, are not MDs, and they tend to
deal more with emotional issues than with clinical issues. For
example, a person experiencing low self-esteem would visit a
psychologist rather than a psychiatrist because they do not have
anything physically wrong with them; they just need to talk things
out. A person with schizophrenia would visit a psychiatrist because
they would need medication to correct the chemical imbalance in
their brain.
Psychoanalysts follow Freud's theories that painful childhood
memories contained in the subconscious are the cause of mental
illness. Psychoanalysts are like psychologists in that they usually
deal with emotional issues and do not prescribe medication.
However, their approach is different from that of conventional
psychologists. Psychoanalysis is a method of searching through a
person's subconscious memories for the source of their current
difficulties, rather than focusing on conscious memories.
Psychoanalysts also tend to meet much more often with their
clients. Rather than meeting only once a week (as is common with
psychologists), they usually prefer to meet as often as three to
five times a week.
How to choose
Some people may use a combination of the above approaches at the
same time. For instance, a patient may go to a psychiatrist for
medication, but meet with a psychologist regularly to talk about
their issues. Often this combination is pushed by GP for financial
reasons.
As for looking for someone to talk to, one way is to ask your
family practitioner (GP)
for a referral. You can also look for
a social worker or therapist specializing in whatever issues you
wish to talk about.
When you are seeking help, seek the right one.
Be well raingal.