Going to the psychiatrist for the first time: what you will find and what you should do

Here you will find tips and ideas for what to expect during your first talk with a psychiatrist.

There is a certain fear in hearing the word "psychiatrist". Popular culture has led us to believe that the psychiatrist is a somewhat scary professional, a man or woman who prescribes pills that make us dizzy.

Because of this myth, going to the psychiatrist for the first time is seen with a lot of fear, despite being very necessary in many cases. What can we expect in this first session? What is he or she going to do to us?

With the intention of reducing a little the fear associated with visiting the psychiatrist for the first time. visiting the psychiatrist for the first timeNext we are going to discover what to expect to us in this first appointment.

• Article related: "Mental health: definition and characteristics according to the psychology".

How is it to go to the consultation of the psychiatrist for the first time?

It is completely normal to have doubts and feel uncertain about how the first visit to the psychiatrist is going to be.

However, if you have already accepted that it is possible that you have a psychological disorder or that you require some type of psychiatric intervention, it is essential that you go to an appointment with the specialist. But first of all, it is necessary to know what a psychiatrist does.

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who are in charge of diagnosing and treating people who are going through various problems related to mental health.. All of these problems can include anxiety, depression, psychotic disorders, personality disorders and more, disorders of varying severity, both present in the patient's family history and not present in the family.

Being physicians, psychiatrists approach mental disorders from a more physiological perspective. Psychiatry's view of mental health is based on the idea that mental disorders are due to imbalances in neurotransmitter levels and other phenomena in the brain, which it seeks to correct by prescribing drugs or using medical interventions. Psychiatrists attempt to balance the brain biochemistry of patients with a mental disorder.

This does not mean that they focus solely on biology. Psychiatrists also take into account psychological variables that may have influenced the onset of a mental disorder. that may have influenced the onset and maintenance of the mental disorder and, therefore, also take into consideration tools to improve these aspects.

Reasons why it would be advisable to visit a psychiatrist

On many occasions, people are not aware that they are suffering from mental health problems.. This is because we have either considered them unimportant or, and this is the least desirable part, we have been suffering from them for so long that we have normalized them, considering them normal. However, they are not normal, they are not healthy and we must do something to overcome them.

Some of the problems that can motivate us to go to a psychiatrist for the first time are:

• Big changes in our life that seem overwhelming.
• Changes in eating habits: dieting, excessive food intake....
• Sleep problems: excessive or lack of sleep, trouble sleeping, excessive tiredness despite having slept.
• Memory lapses.
• Concentration problems.
• Emotional instability.
• Personality changes.
• Neurological problems.
• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Problems making decisions.
• Fast or very slow thinking.
• Strange ideas, delusional thoughts.
• Hopelessness.
• Obsessions, hallucinations, compulsions and paranoia.
• Development of excessive fear and experience of panic attacks.
• Sexual problems: lack of sexual stimulation, paraphilias or constant need for sex.
• Some cases of addiction.

We may have been aware of these problems for a long time, but in most cases it happens that they are the people around us, such as family and friends, who become aware of our dysfunctional behavior and become concerned about it.. Our loved ones suffer because they have to deal with situations that we may not realize or do consciously, but that harm them.

What are the differences between psychiatrists and psychologists?

Although nowadays there is not so much confusion between psychiatrists and psychologists, it is worthwhile to review their main differences. There is no doubt that both professionals look after the mental health of their patients, trying to improve their lives by reducing their symptoms and, as far as possible, to cure the disorder.

Psychologists and psychiatrists intervene on their patients in very different ways.. Psychiatrists usually prescribe drugs with the intention of changing the brain biochemistry by adjusting the neurotransmitters that are believed to be responsible for the manifestation of disorders such as depression or anxiety. Instead, psychologists opt for strategies focused on regulating emotions, changing behaviors and readjusting the belief system.

The training of psychiatrists and psychologists is also very different. As we have mentioned, psychiatrists are physicians, therefore have completed a medical degree and subsequently specialized in psychiatry.. In Spain, on the other hand, clinical psychologists studied a degree in psychology and then may have studied for a master's degree in clinical psychology or have taken a competitive examination to become a resident internal psychologist (PIR).

The first visit

There are several situations that can lead us to visit a psychiatrist. Whatever the reason for which we have had to go to one of these specialists, what must be clear is that it is the first visit to a psychiatrist, what must be clear is that it is a great step, courageous and admirable.It is a brave and admirable step, since deciding to improve mental health implies taking a very overwhelming decision, a big step that, although it generates some uncertainty, in the long run it will grant us security, well-being and personal growth. It is always admirable to want to improve, no matter how it is.

Some of the most common situations is that the patient, after a season in which he has had problems at work, studies and personal relationships, is flooded with questions, doubts about what is going on in his head and why it does not "work" as well as before. Everything in this life has an explanation, and it may be that our dysfunctional behavior is due to a problem at the brain level, a problem that needs to be treated.

Another of the situations for which we end up going to a psychiatrist is because another professional refers us to him. It can happen that first we have gone to the psychologist with the intention of improving our mental health.. After making the evaluation, the psychologist considers that some of our problems cannot be solved with his training or his tools and that, for that reason, the best thing is that we also go to a psychiatrist as complementary treatment.

The first appointment with a psychiatrist consists of an initial evaluation. In it this doctor will want to know us, to understand what have been the reasons why we have gone to his office and what difficulties we present. These professionals learn to understand and diagnose very complex disorders but we do not necessarily have to be suffering from one of them, something that they understand can happen. In other words, psychiatrists understand that not all psychological problems are disorders, although they may resort to pharmacology to reduce problems that deteriorate the patient's quality of life.

Normally, appointments with the psychiatrist have a duration ranging from 40 to 60 minutes, but this time can be very variable in the first session.. This is because, depending on the case, the urgency required to make the evaluation and the difficulty involved, the psychiatrist will use more or less time-consuming evaluation and diagnostic tools.

What will the psychiatrist ask you?

In the first session the psychiatrist will try to gather as much information as possible about us. He/she will ask us about what problems we are worried about, and to what extent they are affecting our lives.. He/she will also ask us what the problem has been that has made us end up coming to his/her consultation or if there is another reason that has forced us to be in front of him/her, as it can be that we have been referred or our relatives have pressured us.

The professional will ask us about a variety of symptoms, and how we have tried to deal with them. If we have decided to take any medication on our own to reduce the symptoms, it is very important to mention what medications we are taking, how many times a day, the dosage and how long it takes from one intake to the next.

It is very important that the psychiatrist knows about any problem or medical condition that we have had in the past or for which it is or medical condition we have had in the past or are going through at the moment. It is also important that we mention if we have visited other mental health professionals previously, both other psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, as well as mentioning if we have used alternative medicine, since some alternative therapies can interfere with the effectiveness of psychiatric treatments.

The psychiatrist will want to know all the medical history of your family, since it has been seen that there are certain mental disorders and brain diseases that have a high hereditary component and it is common to find several members of the same family presenting the same disorder. Among these mental health problems we find ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depression or Alzheimer's disease.

How does the psychiatrist make the diagnosis?

Once the psychiatrist has finished collecting all the necessary information in the first session, he/she will proceed to analyze the results and will try to establish a diagnosis. try to establish a diagnosis, as well as see what therapeutic approach to take.. Depending on the data we have given him/her, the results of the interview, our behavior and the mental state we are in, the psychiatrist may recommend that we consult a particular specialist or that we undergo laboratory tests to rule out some medical problems.

The professional may schedule other appointments, in anticipation that he or she will be able to solve our mental health problem. He or she may suggest psychotherapy, in addition to the prescription of some medication to alleviate the symptoms, such as anxiolytics for anxiety, antidepressants for depressive symptoms or, in case we have a psychotic disorder, antipsychotics.

It is very important to attend the rest of the appointments.It is very important to attend the rest of the appointments, since the therapeutic power resides in them, not in the first one. The first session with the psychiatrist serves to make the diagnosis, which is not always the definitive one because in the rest of sessions it can identify symptoms that make him rethink which is the real problem that has harmed our mental stability.

It is fundamental that in all the sessions that we have with the professional we ask him the questions that we consider necessary, besides informing him of new problems that have been able to arise or those that already were given before the first session but of which now we are conscious. All the information that we give to the psychiatrist in the rest of the sessions will serve him/her to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment that he/she is applying to us, or if it is necessary to change the therapeutic approach.

Recommendations for the first visit to the psychiatrist

Like all first visits, the first appointment with a psychiatrist can be quite overwhelming. To put your mind at ease and feel safe, here are some tips on what to do when going to a psychiatrist for the first time. some recommendations on what to do when going to the psychiatrist for the first time.

• Write down a list of the symptoms you have had.
• Write down the names of the medications you take, as well as the dosages.
• Bring any medical records you think might be helpful to the psychiatrist.
• Don't be afraid to ask about the diagnosis and treatments offered.
• In the first session, the examination and knowledge of the problem is done; therapy is not applied. You must be patient.