I have been suffering with depression for five years now my G.P. is referring me!
Question: I have taken Prozac (which worked for a couple of months)and am currently taking Effexor (150mg per day) but I am still having really low days and now my G.P is referring me to a psychiatrist as she says I have had depression for so long I need more help than she can give me.Up until January I was taking 225mg per day of Effexor but it made me really tired so my doctor lowered the dose.What can I expect when I see the psychiatrist ?What will they ask me ? I'm not at all nervous at seeing one I'm just hoping that they can help me!
Answers: I have taken Prozac (which worked for a couple of months)and am currently taking Effexor (150mg per day) but I am still having really low days and now my G.P is referring me to a psychiatrist as she says I have had depression for so long I need more help than she can give me.Up until January I was taking 225mg per day of Effexor but it made me really tired so my doctor lowered the dose.What can I expect when I see the psychiatrist ?What will they ask me ? I'm not at all nervous at seeing one I'm just hoping that they can help me!
Hi Julie
I'm glad that you aren't nervous about seeing a psychiatrist, as there really isn't any need to be. Contrary to what some people think, they are human, just like the rest of us. The difference is that they specialise in mental health illnesses, which is why your GP has referred you.
Don't expect too much though, as they don't have a magic wand, unfortunately there just isn't one available. What they do have though, is access to a wide range of services that they can refer you to.
Your psychiatrist will want to talk to you about how you are feeling, when it started and if you can tell them any possible triggers for it. A good idea would be to write down any and all of the things that cause you distress or worry. The more information they have, the better they can assess the best course of treatment for you.
These links to the Mind website should prove useful to you
Understanding depression:
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Bookl...
A brief guide to who's who in mental health:
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Facts...
the information is easy to read and understand.
The first will give you some information about your illness and things that you can try that will help you to cope.
The second explains who people are in the mental health service and this may prove useful if your psychiatrist refers you to anyone else in the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT).
The other thing I would say is it may be worthwhile asking your GP if he knows how long the referral will take, as it can sometimes be quite a wait before you will get an appointment.
Remember when you do have your appointment that you can take someone with you for support if you think it will help you, and you are allowed to ask questions. Try and be as honest and open as you can be.
Hope this helps.
Take care and good luck.
Some people they help others don't,it depends on the person's personality.I never found them to do me any good,I find medication of more use but you may be different!
They will just ask some questions at first to get your background some details and you will just talk about things that may be troubling you or that is on your mind.
Hi
They will be able to take a full history and look at it from their own point of view, which will obviously be more specific than that of your GP (A GP specialises in everything but is a spcialist of nothing!!).
A psych will be able to tailor your medications to suit you, maybe they will change it or add something, maybe they will do nothing.
Whatever they do you can be assured that you are going to see the right person and will now hopefully be able to start to sort things out.
Good Luck....................x....
I think it is definitely time to see a psychiatrist.
I think it is past time. You have suffered for too long.
The psychiatrist will want to know what brought you to see him/her. You will be asked the same questions that everyone is asked when they first see a psychiatrist. You will be asked about your feelings, thoughts and symptoms.
Write down things you want to be sure to tell the doctor.
The more you can tell him/her the better he/she will be able to determine which medication(s) could be most helpful for you.
I am glad you are seeing a psychiatrist. Perhaps therapy could help if you are not already in therapy. Good Luck.
A psychiatrist will talk to you about your symptoms and anything that might be causing your symptoms. They will review your medication history and may refer you to a psychologist or behavioral therapist for "talk therapy". There is also a possibility that they could schedule some medical tests for you, blood work, CAT scans, etc. Depression has many causes and seeing a psychiatrist is the best route, as a G.P. is not really qualified to handle persistent or severe depression. Remember though, they're not all great. If this one doesn't work for you, ask your G.P. to recommend another.
Initially the psychiatrist will ask you to talk about yourself. Later they might try to direct you towards your problems.
They really can help. I've been there.
God bless.
The psych will listen to you but won't be able to tell what is going on with your brain chemically.
The meds you mentioned sometimes cause anxiety/depression too. Your goal should be diverting your thoughts away from what bugs you and on to anything else in the world.
Life gets depressing at times. Besides the right medication, which is hard to target sometimes, learning to control your thoughts will be your best tool.
Each time you have a depressing thought tell youself "stop it!" Then move on to something else.
Control your thinking. That is your main goal. Everyday you do this you will get better at it.
Remove stresses from your life.
Good luck.
This is a very good thing. When depression last for a long time, a psychiatrists can prescribe medication to help you a lot. It may not even be depression and again a psychiatrists is the best one to diagnose this. Nothing to be nervous about. He will ask you questions about feelings and stuff,easy things to answer and then he will decide what your real problem is. This is the very best thing for you.
One thing I don't notice you mentioning is what your therapist thinks of this. I am nervous that your only treatment plan has been through your general practitioner. Depression, while chemical in part, is also a manifestation of thoughts and affectation that needs to be constantly discussed and processed.
A psychiatrist, I regret to inform you, will probably do very little more than your GP has been doing for the past five years, but has a much larger arsenal. They will ask some basic questions, maybe do a few personality tests and then talk with you for a short while. After that, they will diagnose you, probably with Clinical Depression, or a personality disorder that includes mood depressive disorder, and then will write prescriptions with stronger medications.
Please find someone to talk to in addition to chemical attack on your depression. In some situations, a chemical only attack can make things worse.
Take care and Good Luck!
I think this is a good thing. Generally a psychiatrist will take a detailed history and may do some tests. You may be referred to a therapist for therapy in addition to changing medications.
Psychiatrists are much more experienced and have a greater knowledge of anti depressants than a G.P. who treats patients for a variety of illnesses. Psychiatrists are also up to date on the latest research and new drugs sometimes before they are even FDA approved. They are often skilled at combining medications so that one doesn't work against the other and that you have minimal side effects.
I think that its fantastic that you are not nervous and are willing to take this step. Psychiatrists have so much more options available to them to help treat you.
For example, mine is fantastic! I have worked with him for 17 years and he is always up to date on the new medications. He has always taken my feelings in to account and never forced any medications on me that I didn't want to take. He is always willing to change medications if I am not getting the relief or I am getting bad side effects.
I think this is a great step for you and will help you in many ways.
BTW Prozac worked for me for two years and then stopped so abruptly I ended up in the hospital. It is not unheard of for that to happen and I am hearing that more and more from my clients as well as my friends.
Take care!
I am horrified that your GP has been treating you for so long without referring you for specialist treatment. Psychiatrists vary in their approach and what treatment you will receive depends on how good your local mental health services are. Most psychiatrists won't do much more than prescribe medication and supervise your treatment. Hopefully yours will refer you to someone else in their team (a nurse, psychologist or therapist) who will do a programme of 'talking treatment' with you. You may also have the opportunity to join a support group at your local mental health centre or with a voluntary organisation like Mind. These things are more likely to help you in the long term than medication, which you've already been taking for five years. Good luck, and I do hope you find the treatment you need. It can be daunting at first but I worked in mental health for twenty years - talking really does help!
Agree with the fella who asked about your individual therapy.
I'm a psychologist and have benefitted from my own long term psychotherapy.
Going to a psychiatrist is a well needed recommendation. It's about time your GP referred you. I wouldn't go to a foot doctor for a sore tooth, I'd go to the specialist.
There are some psychiatrists who over medicate! Watch out, and listen to your body. You report all side effects and what you can and cannot tolerate to your your dr.
I love my psychiatrist, but I believe in a Wellness approach to health.
Physical- exercising? diet? sleep? etc
Emotional/social- any connections? isolating?k
intellectual/creative- writing, reading, classes etc
spiritual-pray, meditate?
Stuff like that. overall self-care. I know how hard it is to muster up motivation when you're feeling low, lethargic and down. I'm glad you are writing and hang tuff.
My backwards theory
"what goes down, must eventually come back up"