When in need of a psychiatrist ask around to those who have had experience in dealing with them. Your friends may have been in need and you find the improvement and their outlook on life improved, ask them about their treatment. Or it may be something you will have to talk over with your primary care doctor. They have the best inside scoops on who is doing what and how well they are doing it.(Don’t expect them to fill you in on this, however.) This will be the best route to take because they will have more inside information on you and will generally know which psychiatrist will be in your best interest.
However, the final decision will be up to you and to your insurance company, if you expect them to pay for the treatments. This may have to do with the severity of your condition and the recommendations of your health care people. Ask friends to give you your opinions of such and such a psychiatrist; search online for the listing of doctors in your area and run a run a Google check on them. Search the blogs. The ones that are not treating their patients according to the way their patients think they should will be discussed on the Internet.
I suppose you could call the offices of several psychiatrist and ask for information and, if they are willing ask for a five or ten minute interview before signing on. But, on the other hand, if you are confident and healthy enough to shop office to office for a psychiatrist, there’s good chance you don’t need one.
The reason you are searching out psychiatrist for yourself, your child, your spouse, your mother, etc., may also help in your selection. If you need to be under their care because of an on-going illness such as bi-polar, deep seated depression, or others, a psychiatric clinic may be who could help you select. Also, they could probably find ways to lessen the cost. All this will be determined by your ability to pay and your age.
Also, and this seems the most careful and well planned way to find a good psychiatrist is to search online. If you are persistent and carefully search out the sites that stress good patient care you will find the right kind of psychiatrist. If you are unable to afford their prices, you may have to settle for social workers or guidance councils in hospitals, ministers, or other who know well the workings of the human psyche and are trained in conflict mangagement.
It may be you are an astute observor and can help yourself along with some of your problems if they are not too serious. Only you know this for sure. Possibly your doctor will be helpful and instead of giving you a bunch of anti-depressents or shrugging your concerns off as nothing to be concerned over, he will find a little time to help you talk through your mental dilemmas. One thing for sure, once you have decided that you need help you have managed to win the first battle. If you cannot even admit you have problems then you are in deeper trouble. At first you must recognize your thuoghts and your actions are not normal. Then set out to work on them.
