Psychiatry is a medical field concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health conditions. A doctor who works in psychiatry is called a psychiatrist.
Unlike other mental health professionals such as psychologists and counsellors, psychiatrists must be medically qualified doctors who have chosen to specialise in psychiatry. This means that they can prescribe medication as well as recommend other forms of treatment.
Mental health conditions that may be diagnosed and treated by a psychiatrist include:
- anxiety phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD),
- personality disorders,
- schizophrenia and paranoia,
- depression and bipolar disorder (manic depression),
- eating disorders, such as anorexia, and
- sleep disorders, such as insomnia.
Getting an appointment
To see a psychiatrist, you need to be referred by your GP.
Your GP will refer you to a psychiatrist who specialises in the area of psychiatry that your problem falls into. For example, this may be:
- childhood and adolescent psychiatry,
- general adult psychiatry,
- the psychiatry of old age,
- learning disabilities, and
- psychotherapy (talking therapies).
If you wish to go privately, you can contact a psychiatric clinic directly to get an appointment, or ask your GP to refer you.
You can check the details of a psychiatrist, including their speciality area, by looking on the medical register (a directory of all the practising doctors in the UK). If a clinician has the letters MRCPsych (Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists) or FRCPsych (Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists) after their name, they are current members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
What happens
When you first see a psychiatrist, they will assess your mental and general condition. This could involve:
- asking you questions about your life and thoughts,
- taking information from other sources such as your GP, relatives and social workers, or
- sometimes blood tests or scans to rule out other health conditions.
After your psychiatrist has made an assessment of your condition, they may prescribe medication for you or recommend other treatments such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
The number of times you see a psychiatrist and length of each appointment will depend on your circumstances. A psychiatrist may continue to manage your treatment, or they may refer you to other mental health community services in your area.
Psychiatric practice has changed a lot in recent years. Hospitals for the mentally ill have largely been replaced with smaller units and clinics. These aim to help people to manage their illness so they can lead a normal life within the community.
