Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
Three points:
1) Psychologists don't prescribe antidepressants at all, so let's not lump psychologists and psychiatrists together on this issue.
2) The majority of antidepressants are prescribed by general medical doctors, not doctors of psychiatry.
3) You're less likely to get unnecessary antidepressants from psychiatrists because they have the psychology training dealing directly with depression in their education.
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On this, at least in OHIO and Arizona I have to disagree with you.
Being in the counseling field I see people all the time that have psychiatrists whose only function is to prescribe the latest anti-depressants to these people and then they go to psychologists for counseling. And very, very rarely do the 2 doctors even talk.
I am not a believer in psychotropic/psychiatric drugs. In a lot of cases the people are guinea pigs until the doctor can find the right mix and then the patient becomes immune or worse addicted.
I have always felt deep psycho therapy is the answer. If you drug the patient up and mask the problem they came to you for they are less likely to be open and truly work out the issues. They become reliant on the drug because it makes them "feel" better and they can continue to bury the problems. This is evident in not just psychiatry but physical therapy where pain killers are over prescribed, detox units like the one I worked at that mask the symptoms and pain of withdrawal and so on. Once the vast majority get their "fix" and feel better, they forget the seriousness of the problem the drugs were supposed to be a temporary help for.
And don't get me started on how Benzodiazapines (Klonopin, Xanax, Valium, etc.) are just devils and yet prescribed like candy. Other than alcohol that drug group is the only one so addictive it can KILL you if you try to go cold turkey getting off it. And because of their half lives you may not see symptoms for a week or 2. And that doesn't work well for many who say, "Hmmm I feel better. I must not need the drugs." and they stop taking them as many patients do at one time or another.
And in conclusion on this subject, the experience I have not just in my field but in my personal life, giving psychotropic drugs to addicts (and the vast majority of addicts suffer from more than addiction, usually depression in some form), allows them to "feel" better and abuse the RX or continue drinking or continue their other drugs believing that the RX is the answer they were looking for. This causes deaths like Heath Ledger, it appears Corey Haim, and so many people we will never hear about.
Again, in most cases it is a Benzo being mixed with an opiate or the suicide mix of Benzo and Methadone.
I do believe, that IF a psychiatrist actually counseled or worked in partnership with the Professional Counselor(LPC or LIPC)/psychologist and the focus was more on the psycho therapy and not masking the symptoms by medicating them away, we'd see more long term success stories.