If you have any kind of mental health concerns or relationship problems then you should seek professional help. But now the question arises from whom should we take it? From a psychologist or psychiatrist? Because often people consider psychologists and psychiatrists to be the same. But it is not. In such a situation, it is important to know what is the difference between these two and which of the two is most suitable for your problem. So, in this post, we try to clear your confusion.
PSYCHOLOGIST VS. PSYCHIATRIST - What is the difference between psychologists and psychiatrist?
1) A psychiatrist is a Medical Doctor (MD) who graduates from medical school. To become a psychiatrist, you need to do MD in psychiatry after doing MBBS.
Psychologist, on the other hand, is a specialist with a doctorate degree in the field of psychology. They are not medical doctors. The psychologist may have a Ph.D. in psychology or an M.Phil in clinical psychology. Unlike psychiatrists, psychologists are also trained to take psychological tests (such as IQ tests, Learning Disability Tests or personality tests)
2) The second biggest difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist is that due to medical training, the psychiatrist can prescribe medicines to the patient whereas psychologists cannot. Also, psychiatrists can hospitalize the patient in critical condition, whereas a psychologist cannot.
3) Psychologists focus on psychotherapy and counseling and through this, treat the emotional and mental anguish of the patients. Also, they use a variety of psychological tests that are important in assessing the mental and behavioral status of a person and determining the most effective method of treatment.
While psychiatrists treat the patient mainly through medicines.
PSYCHOLOGIST OR PSYCHIATRIST — Who should I see??
Now the question comes, which of the two should you seek to solve your problems? And the answer is that you can get treatment from both. Both play an important role in mental health treatment. It is important to have both to provide the best treatment to the person. Where the role of a psychologist is important for the Identifying psychological, emotional or behavioral issues, diagnose, develop and implement treatment plans and therapeutic processes and help clients define goals and plan action to achieve personal, social, educational and vocational development and adjustment, it is very important to have a psychiatrist to control the symptoms of the problem quickly through medicines including checking your physical health and the effects of medication. Both are parallel to each other.
You can consult a psychiatrist for the treatment of disorders like severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder whereas you can seek counseling and therapy from a psychologist to address stress, anxiety, fear, academic problems, relationship problems, anger issues, addictions, behavioral problems, etc.
So friends hope you have got answers to your questions. If you still have any questions, queries, or doubts, you can ask via comments and subscribe to us to get the notification of all our upcoming articles.
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