Posted by Emme on August 19, 2004, at 22:17:10
In reply to exactly what do these psyciatrists get paid for?, posted by denise1904 on August 19, 2004, at 14:25:18
It's not just the tools available, but how one uses them.
I pay my psychiatrist to:
- Be a good diagnostician. She knows as well as the rest of us that diagnoses can change and that we don't all fit into categories. But she is thinking about the whole picture, sometimes teasing out patterns with the input of my therapist and trying to make sure she's not missing important information.
- Be up to date on current research and theories in addition to drugs.
- Be creative in trying to find a regimen that will address symptoms for the individual and have a tolerable side effect profile. This includes using a wide variety of ADs, ACs, parkinson's drugs, benzos, beta blockers, alzheimer's drugs, you name it. She's not super knowledgable about alternative therapies, but is open minded.
- Listen to my ideas. Answer all my questions.
- Not prescribe dangerous combinations. (well, that's a pretty basic necessity. But she really is a very skilled pharmacologist.)
- Think of other possible causes for the illness (for exmple, check B12, Lyme disease, ) and make sure they get ruled out. Order bloodwork periodically if I haven't seen my primary care physician in a while. Look the results the minute they come back and call me if there's a problem.
- Acknowledge and respect the interactions between biochemical and psychological/social factors and sometimes offer good therapeutic advice.
- Always return phone calls or at the very least have someone from the office leave a message so that questions get answered that day.
Is she perfect? No. Sometimes we don't try something long enough or make other errors. Have we tried things that didn't work well? You bet. Psychopharmacology as we know it right now is trial and error. So...ultimately the main product is a written prescription. But a lot of thought and consideration goes into it.
And yes, we need more funding for research!
poster:Emme
thread:379501
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040817/msgs/379692.html