Dear Annie
Opening up is difficult. Although I am a bit caustic about my first psychiatrist I have to say I contributed to the non-communication mess. I would talk about this and that but when he wanted to get a bit more detail I would make a joke and change the subject. He used to get frustrated but then he also contributed to the mess. He would fall asleep while I was talking. A wonderful ego-booster.
I have been seeing a psychiatrist for two years now. She is female and very good. My GP made a great effort to find someone who had a good reputation and who would probably work well with me. I was wary to start with but she was patient and I can talk about a lot more now than in the past.
There is this tension between seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist. You can see a psychologist via a GP Mental Health plan and have up to ten subsidised visits per calendar year. I think most people need more than this and if you go every fortnight the sessions will end quickly. You can of course pay the full fees and continue attending.
A psychiatrist's fees are always rebated through Medicare though there is often a large out of pocket expense. Once you reach the Medicare safety level you get the majority of the fee back. Call into Medicare and check out where you sit with this and how it works.
This is the fees part. Psychiatrists seem to go deeper into your past and look, with you, at all the happenings in your life. They take a very broad view of your life and want you to understand the impact of your childhood etc on your life. Psychologists tend to concentrate on what is happening in the here and now and giving you tools to manage what you have. I am quite willing to be corrected on this.
So it boils down to cost and availability, and the type of therapy you want/need. I think this discussion would be best held with your GP. If you are going to do this then write down some notes on your current interactions with your psych and how you feel about her. And also what sort of person you would like to talk to.
I don't really know whether you need a new psych of any persuasion. Sometime you appear to be managing very well with your current psych and at other times really wanting to run away. I think a lot of this is more because of your fears and trying to put your toe in the water, deciding it's too cold and running back up the beach. It's easy to make it it the psych's fault (which it is at times).
Love to know what you think.
Mary
