Psychiatry vs. Psychology - difference between the two?

[jonathan11]

My primary care doctor retired recently, and his replacement thinks it would be a good idea to seek out some help....

Stress, PTSS, etc, life, all sorts of things....

 

Just have to get my story out....lots of betrayal (family, although always wishing and praying for them), loss (of loved ones, everyone has I'm sure), trust issues, etc.

 

Just wondering when looking; of the two, which should I chose and what are the major differences. Also, FWIW, I have a PPO 2000 and wondering how that works, 1st, does it go in your record as in, ok, you can't change a plan to a lower deductible as you have problems etc. and also, do you have to pay full price until deductible has been met or is it like a doctor visit 30%. I am in California...

 

thanks

[Bio-Hazard]

Psychology is where you work out the psychological behavior of a person without using pills.

 

Psychiatry is where you work on the psychobiological (mind and body) behavior of a body by counseling.. and pills. Psychobiology meaning they have a chemical imbalance in their head, and were born with it.. or they had some accident and it happened to change their brain's structure.

 

Of course some psychologysts have a post-med(?) degree and can give out pills.

 

I'd say go to a psychologist and get evaluated by them if you have a chemical imbalance, then if you have one go to a psychiatrist.

[iglak]

don't go straight to a psychiatrist. they have a chance to misdiagnose you, and thus mistreat you. i have a few friends who have wrongly been put on prozac, todays miracle drug, which happened to damage their minds and make them crazier.

 

a psychologist could misdiagnose you also, but there are no drugs involved to create permanent damage. only when you know for a fact that you need drugs should you use them. psychiatric drugs cause brain damage. it's just a question of whether or not your brain would benefit from the particular damage.

[Conceptual]

The way the brain works is that memory has emotional valance. The creation of memory is assisted by an organ within the center of the brain that is connected to the limbic system. For example, thinking of food can make one hungry or being hungry can induce images of food. Recalling memory from the past can induce emotional valance , which can reinforce the memory, thereby creating a thought-emotion loop. In other words, thoughts can change the limbic chem environment of the neutrons so that certain neurons fire preferentially.

 

Pschiatry uses drugs to alter the emotional aspect of the loop, thereby breaking the association. While psychology starts at the memory end of the loop hoping to the break the emotional assocation by changing the valance of the memory. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Drugs will change the emotional valence and this can break the loop but may create a different valence if the thought processing is still reinforced. For example, something that causes depression, and rightfully so, may now seem OK because it is valanced in a happy place. This could distort a proper cause and effect relationship.

 

Pschology by reinforcing and extending the memory side of the loop can bring up memory association that has already decoupled and restore the emotional valence at the conscious level. This can open the can of worms that requires years to overcome.

 

The compromise may be a blend of the two. The drugs may have a good short term effect of breaking the loop. Periodically one should give up the drugs and try to look at the same memory but be more objective. This implies adding memories with opposite valence. For example, one may be hurt by someone causing pain. But the pain only occurs because of all the good times that were lost. Looking at both together creates two cancelling emotional valences love and hate at the same time.This blend of chems is less black and white, or a little grayer or softer and can alter the emotional association of the bigger picture.

[Glider]

Psychiatrists are physicians. They may diagnose and prescribe. Psychologists (in this case therapists) cannot diagnose or prescribe.

 

If you have a condition requiring the use of drug therapy to control the symptoms (e.g. Schitzophrenia), you should see a psychiatrist.

 

If you have problems with stress, PTSD, phobias or any other emotional/behavioural issues, you should see a psychotherapist.

 

Personally, for what you describe, I would opt for cognitive behavioural therapy.

 

I can't help with the rest of your question. I don't know what a PPO is.

[who_knows]

I agree with iglac.Psychiatrists talk a lot of c#ap(strange people too) and their use of dangerous drugs on people can do more harm than good.

Therapy and self help is the best way to solve a "mental disorder"