drhermy:

One of the things that I find most interesting - and honestly, a little sad - is reading through the psychiatry tag on Tumblr. So many posts are from people who are disgruntled (to say the least) with their psychiatric care. More often than not, the source of the frustration seems to be an unmet expectation — but the part that makes me sad is how misinformed some of the expectations are in the first place. 

Psychiatrists are not psychologists, and a psychiatric appointment is very different from a normal therapy session. A psychiatrist is a physician, and similar to a visit to your PCP, a psychiatric “check-up” may only last 15 minutes or so. Psychiatrists are trained to pull together information from many different sources, including the patient’s therapist, PCP, and the interview, to make the best recommendation for care.

Misinformation about psychiatric meds seems alarmingly common, as well. Psychiatric meds often take a long time to take effect, and shouldn’t be quit too quickly. They are not meant to be like a rescue inhaler (with some exceptions). And meds are only one aspect of good mental healthcare. It’s been proved time and time again that meds only do so much, if coping and cognitive patterns don’t change correspondingly. 

Still, reading these commentaries absolutely worries me, since a lack of patient satisfaction absolutely correlates with the success of treatment - not least because dissatisfied patients are less likely to adhere to the treatment suggested by their psychiatrists. It makes me wonder what can be done to help close the gap between patient expectations and the reality of mental healthcare.

I may have just found my niche: mental health literacy. Public health initiatives have long focused on the idea of “health literacy” and its effect on patient care. It’s time we translate that idea into mental health, as well.

This is so true!  People must be aware of the difference between therapy and psychiatry and this includes people in the health field.  A therapist or psychologist is the only person that can diagnose you, a psychiatrist can confirm this but is not supposed to give you a diagnosis.

Psychiatrist also don’t provide talk therapy, they are there to give you medication and check up with you to make sure the medicine is working, thats it.