Psychologist vs Psychiatrist: Who Should You See?

What is a Psychiatrist?

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, meaning they’ve gone through medical school and have a PhD or PsyD. Unlike pediatricians or your primary care provider, however, they chose to specialize in mental health treatment. They are medical doctors for the brain and can treat anxiety, depression, Bipolar Disorder, Eating Disorders, ADHD, and much more!

A psychiatrist can treat mental health disorders by:

• Diagnosing mental health disorders
• Prescribing medication for mental health disorders
• Managing medication for mental health disorders

These are things that a regular therapist cannot do. Medication isn’t part of everyone’s healing journey (it is possible to recover from mental health issues without medication), but mental health medication can be crucial to many people’s recovery from severe, complex, or treatment-resistant mental illnesses.

Psychologist vs Psychiatrist: Key Differences

You’re struggling with your mental health. Maybe your anxiety has been out of control or your depression has been crippling. Maybe you’ve just gotten out of a tough relationship or moved cities and are feeling lonely. Maybe you’ve just experienced a major trauma. 

Who should you see: a psychologist or a psychiatrist? 

It depends, and the answer might be both. 

Let’s look at the similarities and differences between a psychologist and a psychiatrist. 

Both psychologists and psychiatrists: 

• Can treat mental health disorders 
• Can diagnose mental health disorders
• Are mental health professionals
• Are covered by most insurance plans

However, a psychiatrist can also:

• Prescribe medication for mental health disorders
• Manage medication for mental health disorders

Although Psychiatrists can conduct traditional talk therapy, many of them choose to focus on medication management. Sessions with a Psychiatrist will be primarily focused on how the medication is making you feel, any side effects you might be experiencing, and what changes to your medications or lifestyle can result in the best treatment for you.

What Can a Psychiatrist Do that a Therapist Cannot?

A psychiatrist is the only mental health professional who can prescribe and manage medication. Psychologists, therapists, counselors, clinical social workers, life coaches, and any other mental health professional cannot prescribe mental health medication. 

Although a primary care provider or other doctor can prescribe mental health medication, they do not have the in-depth training and experience in treating mental health disorders that a psychiatrist does. Therefore, it is recommended you see a psychiatrist if you are looking for medication to treat a mental health disorder. 

Psychologist or Psychiatrist: Which Is Right for Me?

Now that we understand the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, you’re probably wondering which one is right for you. 

The answer is probably both. 

Many mental health professionals will break down treatment for mental health challenges into three categories:

• Talk therapy 
• Medication management
• Lifestyle changes

Talk therapy is conducted by psychologists and therapists and is an evidence-based approach to working through mental health challenges and developing healthy coping mechanisms through talking to a professional. It is proven to reduce distressing symptoms of mental illnesses and improve quality of life. 

Medication is used by many people to help them manage their symptoms. For some disorders, like Schizophrenia and Bipolar, medication is a primary treatment. For others, like depression and anxiety, it can be very helpful for severe cases but is not always needed. 

So when do you need a psychiatrist? We recommend reaching out to a psychiatrist if you:

• Are struggling with a severe mental illness. This could be a psychiatric condition such as Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder. Or, it could be a severe mental illness, like crippling depression or severe anxiety. 
• Therapy isn’t working for you. For some people, therapy just isn’t enough. There are many causes of mental health issues, some of which are imbalances in brain chemicals like serotonin or dopamine. In these cases, medication, which can regular imbalances, can be incredibly powerful in treating mental health issues. 
• You have complex or comorbid disorders: Comorbidity refers to the presence of two or more mental illnesses in one person. For example, ADHD and anxiety or anxiety and depression are common comorbid disorders because they occur together. It can be tricky to address comorbid disorders with therapy alone because they often exacerbate each other and require different approaches. Medication that a psychiatrist prescribes can help with this. 

A psychiatrist will commonly prescribe medications and conduct medication management for the following disorders:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• ADHD
• Bipolar
• Schizophrenia
• Eating Disorders
• OCD
• PTSD
• Personality Disorders

And much more! This is far from a conclusive list. Medication for mental health disorders is a complicated but useful tool in managing mental illness. It should only be done under the supervision of a psychiatrist or medical professional, as side effects of some mental health medications can be dangerous. 

How to Find an Online Psychiatrist for Medication Management

If you are looking for a psychiatrist, Lifebulb Counseling and Therapy can help. We now offer in-house psychiatrists to prescribe and manage medication for mental health disorders. This means you can receive talk therapy and psychiatry from us. We accept most major insurances and have little to no wait times. 

Medication can be an incredibly powerful tool to address debilitating mental health issues. Don’t wait until it becomes unbearable, seek help now. 

Contact our team to be scheduled with our psychiatrists or browse for a therapist or psychiatrist near you using our therapist directory. 

If we don’t have a psychiatrist available in your state, our therapists can refer you to a psychiatrist who accepts your insurance and specializes in what you need. Together, a team of therapists and psychiatrists can create the best treatment plan to help you feel better and recover quickly. 

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