First of all, I’m writing from a Canadian health care perspective but it should be similar in western countries where the health system utilizes General Physicians and Specialists. I believe in th US, it’s got a similar referral system. I’ve been through the system so I will explain as much detail as possible and provide you with some tips so you can seek help and start recovering.
If you are in an emergency situation, PLEASE go to your nearest emergency hospital for prompt treatment. I know in major cities, there are emergency mental health hospitals that have psychiatrists onsite to deal with patients. Don’t be afraid of the mental health care system, it’s not what the internet perceives it to be.
General Physicans would be what we called family doctors, it’s usually the first point of contact in the health care system, they are like the handymen. Psychiatrists are known as specialists because they specialize in mental health issues so you can’t just walk into a specialist’s clinic and expect the doctor to see you. It just doesn’t work that way. I know in Asia, at least in China, you normally would see a specialist directly but that’s a whole different health care system over there.
The first step is getting an appointment with your family doctor or physician. This should be pretty fast, from a day to couple weeks. Now this is very important especially with mental health issues, I know people tend to tell doctors about symptoms in a way that sounds less crazy because they do not want to be labeled “crazy” and they want the doctors to tell them they are fine. This is wrong! You have to be genuine and tell them everything that you are experiencing. There is no shame and do not afraid, you are there to seek help. If you want a referral to a psychiatrist, you have to be truthful with your doctors, do not hide any problems. Some family doctors do overlook mental health issues so if they tell you “oh you’re fine, take some rest”, insist that they refer you to a psychiatrist if you feel like you need to. Usually they will also perform some basic tests like blood test to make sure no physical issues in your case.
The next step in the process is wait….. a long wait… it took me almost a year and I think that’s the average for psychiatrists. It’s very unfortunate that the wait time is so long but it is what it is. The more awareness we raised about mental health issues, the more doctors the system will put into this field.
After months of waiting, you’re finally and excited to see the specialist(psychiatrist). Same tip again, be genuine and tell him exactly what you are experiencing, don’t hide anything from him. Remember, he is a doctor, he is trying to help you. Mental diagnosis is just a label, what difference does it make if he diagnoses you with this or that? There is no difference, you are still suffering and you will still need treatment. Label is just a label, remember that. Don’t read all the horror stories on the internet about how psychiatrists just stuffs you with medication, I’ve never experienced that. Every one of them I met were nice and understandable. They never pushed medication on me in any way.
Remember that mental health issues require longer term treatment so it’s important to find a doctor especially when you’re prescribed medication, to follow you up through the whole treatment process. It’s not like a cold where you see a doctor once and the next time is god knows when.
I hope this helps all of you!
Brain Defect - Battle against mental illness. 