What does a psychiatrist do, and what can you expect?
Most people want to feel better and live better. This starts with managing mental health, perhaps with a psychiatrist.
Even people who know they need help, either because they feel amiss or friends and family have noticed distress, may feel wary about psychiatry. It may be foreign to them; they don’t know what care will involve, and what to expect from practitioners.
Psychiatry seeks to allay these fears and deliver care by understanding the context underpinning someone’s mental health — physical condition, life experience and day-to-day stressors. But by studying these life layers, and working with other practitioners, psychiatrists can deliver care that helps patients be their best selves.
Psychiatry’s difference
Psychiatrists are medical doctors specializing in mental health. Their medical training lets them diagnose psychiatric conditions and prescribe medication when (and if) necessary.
Dr. Komal Pordal is an adult general psychiatrist at Psychiatry Connection, a telepsychiatry practice with services covered by many insurance plans. She said she was drawn to psychiatry during medical school because it lets her help patients feel better across different life stages — and because no two patients’ cases are the same.
“Depression or anxiety doesn’t look the same for everyone,” she said. “In psychiatry especially, you get to treat people in some of their lowest moments and actually see them get better.”
What a psychiatry appointment is like
Psychiatric care starts with a conversation. Psychiatrists will get to know their patients, discussing past symptoms and treatments and current life circumstances. The goal is building rapport and making the patient comfortable, Pordal said.
Pordal said she uses a biopsychosocial approach, recognizing that mental health is influenced by biological factors, psychological experiences, and social conditions.
“People handle stressors and interpret social situations differently,” she said. “That’s why it’s important that we don’t just pigeonhole patients into medicine or focus only on medicine.”
Treatment plans may include medication, therapy or both. Psychiatrists can lead or complement, often working alongside primary care providers, therapists, psychologists, counselors and social workers — and, when appropriate, with patients’ social supports (families and friends).
Must you take medication?
Not always. Psychiatrists are trained to prescribe medication, but they know it can’t solve everything.
If a patient’s treatment plan does include medication, psychiatrists can monitor patients as they take it, gauging efficacy and adjusting dosages if side effects arise. Medicine takes time to work, she said, and treatment will evolve based on how a patient responds.
“It’s not just medicine alone,” Pordal said. “Sometimes it’s medicine plus therapy that helps someone achieve remission of symptoms.”
How telepsychiatry can help
Primary care doctors often refer patients to psychiatrists, Pordal said, and telepsychiatry can make care easier for patients to get, especially if they live far from specialists or can’t travel.
“Primary care providers have been exceptionally helpful because they often have longstanding relationships with patients,” she said. “When mental health concerns start coming up, they’re usually the first to notice or even try treating it.”
Through telepsychiatry at Psychiatry Connection, Pordal can see patients wherever they are, given an internet connection and a webcam.
“It’s definitely neat to get to see patients in their own setting,” Pordal said.
Forging forward together
Psychiatry often takes time; understanding problems and working through them isn’t instant. But psychiatrists diligently work to understand what’s happening with patients and help mindfully forge forward.
“I think no matter where you start with mental health, there’s always room to grow,” Pordal said.
To book an appointment with Psychiatry Connection, click here.
