I think it depends a lot on where you are. As an Australian, I often find that psychiatrists don’t engage in talk therapies - they’re essentially drug dispensers. I’ve heard (mainly through US media) that in the US though, people will go to a psychiatrist for talk therapy as well as medication. Not sure how it is in the rest of the world.

The most important distinction to remember is that a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in neurochemistry, whereas a psychologist is an allied health professional who cannot prescribe medication. This means that psychologists only employ non-pharmaceutical therapies (like CBT, DBT, Schema Therapy, EMDR etc.).

Disorders are also often separated into being psychological disorders (mood disorders like anxiety, depression etc.) and psychiatric disorders (ADHD, schizophrenia etc.). The key distinction is that generally psychiatric disorders cannot be adequately treated without pharmaceutical intervention, and also that psychological disorders tend to be episodic whereas psychiatric disorder are usually lifelong.

I guess what you’ll get out of it greatly depends on the reasons you’ve been referred to a psychiatrist. If you don’t mind me asking, do you currently have any diagnoses, or are you seeking a diagnosis for your symptoms?

Good luck you either way mate, getting on top of your mental health is seriously important.

Source: studied a Bachelor of Psychology

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