Posted by Christ_empowered on November 28, 2022, at 6:27:20
In reply to Re: Do psychiatrists offer value for money?, posted by SLS on November 12, 2022, at 14:29:09
I lean towards...no. Not to sound wishy washy, but it also varies on a case by case basis.
In my case...no controlled substances, treatment is fairly standard, and the major need to make periodic adjustments has more to do with my (apparently never ending, lol) recovery than it does new and/or difficult to treat problems or...blah blah blah.
where I live...and I think a number of USA states in addition to my own...various highly educated nurses and physician's assistants have pretty much free range to prescribe. some choose to specialize in psychiatric nursing. and so..
here semi-locally, there are businesses that have people see nurses with the extra training and credentials for psych treatment, not a psychiatrist. not cheap, but even self-pay is far less than a shrink, and my impression is that insurance companies really, truly love the set up for cost savings.
I really don't think psychiatry can continue to justify it's existence if treatment continues this way, at least in the USA. Its...crazy insane ridiculous. Shrinks point to the "severely mentally ill" to justify their ongoing existence...
and many of them stop dealing with such people once they get into a suburban group practice that takes good insurance or a small urban practice than doesn't even deal with insurance, at all.
Personally, I wanted a family doc to write my prescriptions. Ugh. If only...new rule: you have to go to a specialist. I find it especially irritating because family doctors tend to be better about noting TD, weight changes, doing labs, that kind of thing.
I've been seeing psych nurse practitioners and I find them to be...more down to earth, more drug-centered than disease/illness-centered, and that's...immensely helpful. Not because I want and/or need to deviate from standard treatment (my own mix is basically text book), but because...
these are serious drugs that have serious effects on the whole body, the whole person. I've actually found psych nurse practitioners to be more honest about psych drugs than any psychiatrist I've ever dealt with, at all, ever.
ok. :-)
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1121021
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20220917/msgs/1121136.html