Posted by viridis on February 26, 2003, at 21:12:52
In reply to Re: Take psych meds from a DOCTOR only » viridis, posted by ace on February 26, 2003, at 19:28:51
You're very fortunate to have an open-minded GP. I'm sure there are others out there, and I realize that there are plenty of bad psychiatrists (I've seen some!). I'm just speaking in terms of probabilities, and my guess is that for a complex psychiatric problem, the chances of finding a psychiatrist competent to treat it are greater than the chances of finding a GP who's equipped to do so.
A GP is, by definition, a general practitioner, who has to see patients with all sorts of complaints. Unless a GP has a special interest in psychiatry, I can't see how they could possibly keep up with all the developments in this field, and cardiology, and urology, and oncology, and dermatology, and podiatry...and so on.
If I had a simple rash, I'd probably trust a GP to treat it; if I had melanoma I'd want to see a cancer specialist. If my blood pressure was just a bit high, a GP would probably be OK; if I had a serious heart condition, I'd want to see a cardiologist. There's no guarantee that any given specialist would be ideal, but that's where I'd focus my efforts, and move to others if necessary. I view psychiatry the same way -- it took me a while, but now I've found a very good, understanding psychiatrist who listens to what I say, has excellent intuition, and considers my ideas regarding treatment.
I might get lucky and find a GP who's willing to prescribe two benzos, a mood stabilizer, and an amphetamine (my current regimen, and very effective) long-term, but somehow I suspect the chances of a given GP doing so are low. Not impossible, but unless I got very lucky, I expect I'd still be in bad shape and going from GP to GP.
Like almost everything else, there are no absolutes here; every doctor is a gamble, and I think you just have to do your best to maximize the chances of finding appropriate treatment as quickly as possible. In my opinion, the chances are best with a psychiatrist.
poster:viridis
thread:201988
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030224/msgs/204158.html