Posted by thuso on November 18, 2005, at 13:04:28
In reply to Re: Wow It's Now On TV!, posted by med_empowered on November 17, 2005, at 23:51:31
> Weirdly enough, the newer breed of psychiatric meds actually seems to sometimes threaten *psychiatrists*--something like 70% of all psychotropic med RXs are written by non-psychiatrists; GPs, nurse practitioners, that kind of thing. Psychiatrists tend to see the affluent and the more complicated cases. Also, theres a move to allow psychologists to prescribe--they're doing this in New Mexico, with no apparent problems as of yet. Of course, shrinks fought against this and continue to fight against it. Its weird, isn't it--the idea that a 15minute session every 2-3 months could somehow offer them insight that other docs don't have? Plus, they don't usually do blood work or anything themselves so...really, many of todays shrinks are highly skilled drug pushers. This whole "we have all the answers" schtick is really just a power grab.
>I actually disagree with you on that. If that was true, then what is the point of going to any specialist? Any doctor can prescribe me the same meds any specialist can, but a lot of the times they don't because they understand that their knowledge is not at the same level as the specialist. Also, specialists should be more caught up in the literature than a general doctor. Now I think for simple cases a general doctor can administer the meds, but I think people should get their initial opinions and periodic checkups from specialists.
That's why I try and go to an Endocronologist for my thyroid issues. My regular doctor can very easily give me the meds I need, but they probably won't catch any subtle signs that my Endo will quickly catch. I've benefitted from this type of instance often. You will never see me getting any psychiatric drugs from my general doctor no matter how simple my problem. I trust the knowledge of a good specialist much more. <note that I said "good">
poster:thuso
thread:579280
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051112/msgs/580053.html