If you want to talk about what it is that bothers you or if you need help, it is not always easy to look for a psychologist or psychiatrist. You do not easily find the information which you need and, even though you want help, contacting a help provider is often difficult. Also, you are often unsure of who you need: a psychiatrist or a psychologist? What is the difference, anyway? To make your search for help easier, we will define psychologists and psychiatrists below and explain the difference between the two.
A psychiatrist?
A psychiatrist is someone who has first studied medicine to, later on, specialize in psychiatry. This means that a psychiatrist is a doctor, to which you can come for psychological problems. The most important difference compared to a psychologist is that a psychiatrist is allowed to prescribe medication, and has not had as much communication technique training as a psychologist. So a psychiatrist may prescribe medication and will more quickly use medication as treatment than a psychologist will.
A psychologist?
A psychologist is someone who has gotten a master's degree in psychology at university. Furthermore, many psychologists have specialized in certain types of treatment. This person is then a psychotherapist. A psychotherapist or psychologist may not prescribe medication and therefore often opts for treatment which consists of talking. Talking about what worries you, what you want to do, what the problem entails, etc.
Psychiatrist or psychologist? A treatment!
It thus is your personal preference which decides which care provider you want to choose. Still, there are certain syndromes that are more easily treated with medication or therapy. In that case, you need to go to the person who is specialized in that type of treatment. 15Minutes4Me.com developed an online self-help program, which is based on psychologist techniques to deal with stress, depression, and anxiety. This way you can work on yourself on a daily basis from home.
Psychiatrist or psychologist? Do the depression test!
Do you want to know to what extent you experience stress, depression, or anxiety? Then do the free depression test!
