Psychiatry vs Psychology Open Blog

You may insert your punchline here The easy answer is that a Psychiatrist has gone to medical school and is able to prescribe medications (though a very select minority of Psychologists have limited prescription privileges). The Psychologist typically also has a Doctoral level degree, however that has not always been the case and may not be the case in every jursdiction. There are a lot of differences in the way individuals practice, but your are more likely to see the Psychiatrist for a smaller amount of time (on an outpatient basis) and less often and receive medications, while theoretically you would go to a Psychologist for more regular counseling or psychotherapy as well as potentially a psychological evaluation with psychometric testing/ assessment instruments.  While you may consider trying to make a choice between the two, the smart answer may be a combination of services from two providers who are willing to collaborate and work together.

Are you looking to further your career and become a Psychiatrist or a Psychologist? well, thats where the fun discussion and punchlines should begin You may want to decide whether you’re interested in attending med school and how much loan money you’ll take out and your ability to repay student loans based on the future outlook for Psychologists and Psychiatrists. Feel free to comment on the factors that people might consider when comparing Psychiatry and Psychology (for whatver reason).

yes, yes, I’m aware of the moderate, rational opinion that it depends on the individual- however as a group, who would make a better boss or treatment team leader? What specifically about a Psychiatrist or Psychologist’s academic preparation, training and experience make them more fit to lead and or be referred to as Dr.? Also, who will be the first to use the term “medical model” on  this blog and why?

The DSM-V (the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from the American Psychiatric Association) is scheduled to be published in May of 2012 according to the APA’s website. Do you have a suggestion for the site- you can send it on to the various work groups? Make on at <A href=”http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/DSMIV/DSMV/MakeaSuggestion.aspx” target=”blank”>psych.org</a> and feel free to tell us your opinions here as well-  I wonder what differences of opinion exist between Psychiatrists and Psychologists and within the disciplines themselves- for example, are enough Psychologists included in the development of the manual and how does it compare to the <A href=”http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/” target=”blank”>ICD-10?</a>

OK, so its possible that I enjoy the role of Devil’s Advocate and perhaps I’ll start skimming google for fun sites like this. I won’t call people Quacks or suggest a Quackwatch here We can just call it a forum to air different viewpoints. I created a category called “specific people” for the blog, and the name of the category itself sounds harmless, right? It’s funny because I think you could find any viewpoint you want on a subject expressed by someone out there on the web. 

Dr. John Breeding, Ph.D. is interviewed by Psychtruth http://www.myspace.com/psychtruth (though on youtube the username appears to be psychetruth). As it turns out, I think the different extremes of the various professions are most likely to be whats interesting to talk about

Check out his interview here entitled Psychiatry vs Psychology- however please don’t feel he talks for all Psychologists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QWu83ai6qs

You can learn more about his views at http://www.wildestcolts.com/ and he is also apparently a member of the Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas http://www.endofshock.com/ referring to ECT (electroconvulsive shock therapy) electric shock treatment, etc. You can check out the Wildest Colts site for his don’t medicate kids, anti ADHD drug treatment stance, etc. Looks like his credentials include being a doctor of School Psychology, I don’t really know that much about him truthfully.

In the video Dr. Breeding accuses Psychiatry (and some Psychologist’s) of essentially viewing psych problems with a biological perspective and invites listeners to show him the evidence of the appropriateness of such as perspective. He accuses Psychiatrists of “pseudoscientific chemical gobblygook” and suggests that a Psychologist who says I’ll talk to you but you also need to go next door to get a prescription” isn’t an “authentic Psychologist.” Dr. Breeding mentions lifestyle, nutritional dynamics,  sleep, being a couch potation and “whats going on” in your life as more appropriate factors to focus on, apparently. “When you’re hurt, that causes distress and it causes upset…some people call it trauma.”  Lets let you do some “healing” around that.   

What do you think? Please remember that when the average person types in “Psychiatry vs Psychology” in to google this is one of the top search results providing answers to their questions about the difference between Psychologists and Psychiatrists, and perhaps is informing their decisions regarding what treatment they pursue and what treatment they will continue to be compliant with. I wonder if an individual with Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder may watch this video and decide to eat two bowls of Cheerios in the morning instead of taking their Abilify ;) It would also help their Cholesterol, right? I apparently am a fool of a Psychologist because I have had the viewpoint that a combination of psychotropic medication and psychotherapy was the way to go for a lot of problems

Anything interesting, serious or light-hearted you’d like to bring to our attention? Any particular categoried or topics you think would be beneficial to structure in to the blog site? Got a punch line for the lead in…

Whats the difference between a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist? (or vice versa)