Quote:
Originally Posted by noodle
Baraka, milove... you might be offered meds, but you'd never "be medicated." I respectfully disagree here. Some psychiatrists jump to medication because that tends to be their jobs. Psychologists can't prescribe meds in the U.S., I don't know about Canada offhand because I'm tired, but that's a "safer" option for those who want to be evaluated and have treatment suggestions without being shoved towards medication. Many diagnoses are not typically treated with meds, and some are treated with short term meds to provide a crises intervention type treatment. I hate that people avoid talking things out with a professional because they are concerned about meds.
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But no one can force you to take medications. Or make that their only recommendation... if they ever want to earn your trust or see you again.
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I didn't mean to imply that I would have medication forced upon me; what I meant to say is that a recommendation and prescription of a course of antidepressants would be the likely outcome. In Canada, psychologists cannot prescribe medication, psychiatrists do. I would be open to going to a psychologist, but unfortunately only psychiatry is covered by public health care in Ontario. So the route I see is my GP referring me to a psychiatrist, who in turn would prescribe me an antidepressant. I don't think this would be forced upon me, no, but I do see this as the most likely outcome. At least 4 people in my immediate family have had an antidepressant prescribed to them.
I think the big hangup for me is that I read about my symptoms on the Internet, and it tells me it's depression. Yeah, I know this could be wrong. Internet symptom searches are usually a bad idea. But what do I do? Go to my GP and say, "Oh, hey, nothing hurts and my health is otherwise pretty good, but, you know, I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from depression. Do you think I should get a referral? I can't afford a psychologist, so how about one of those doctors who can prescribe the meds? I hear that's covered by the province."
/rant