When something hurts, he goes to the doctor. If the throat hurts - to the therapist, if the teeth - to the dentist, if the legs - to the orthopedist. And to whom to go if the soul hurts? To a psychologist or psychiatrist? Many people often confuse these two specialties, so you need to carefully understand the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
General concepts
The names of these specialties are very closely intertwined. This is not surprising, because a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist are terms with one root. From the Greek "psycho" - the soul, which means that these professions are closely related to brain activity, the higher nervous system and the psyche as a whole. But each of them has its own fundamental differences. Let's deal with the concepts:
- Psychology is a science that deals with general questions about the state of the soul.
- Psychiatry refers to the medical field and involves the treatment of various mental disorders.
- Psychotherapy is a method of treatment by acting on the psyche.
Let us examine in more detail the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
Psychologist
A psychologist is a specialist who has graduated from a higher humanitarian educational institution, most often a pedagogical one. He has no relation to medicine as such. His task is to study the inner world of a person, to figure out what problems he has, how he can be helped. The help of a psychologist is most often oral. He has no right to prescribe drugs and make diagnoses. The result of his activity is the client’s own solution of his problem of overcoming crisis situations related to the patient’s family or personal life, his career, study or other aspects of life.
Work as a psychologist means a complete immersion in the inner world of his client. That is why such specialists most often work in medical institutions as a consultant. For some time, psychologists have to work in schools, kindergartens and universities. Their specificity of work is called a psychologist-teacher. By their actions, such employees tell teachers how to conduct a dialogue with their wards in order not to disturb the delicate child psyche.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a doctor who graduated from a medical institution of higher education. This is a person who occupies a position exclusively in hospitals and clinics. So, he makes diagnoses and prescribes medications. The scope of his activity is limited to diseases of the central nervous system and psyche. He diagnoses such ailments as schizophrenia, hallucinations, split personality and others.
The psychologist and psychiatrist often work together. So, a person with a deep depression, a psychologist can send to a psychiatrist for outpatient treatment. After all, such a condition is fraught with very serious consequences, and to prevent them, medicines are needed.
Psychotherapist
A concept very close in meaning is a psychotherapist. If it is not so difficult to understand how a psychiatrist differs from a psychologist, then a psychotherapist most often causes confusion. In fact, this is a specialist who deals with mental disorders in people and treats them with various non-drug methods. If the psychiatrist prescribes a healing pill, the psychotherapist will have a conversation.
Literally from Greek, "psychotherapy" is translated as "soul treatment." It differs significantly from the specialization of a psychologist, since it deals with deeper problems, but does not use drugs, as a psychiatrist does.
Treatments for psychotherapists include:
- Hypnosis.
- Psychoanalysis.
- Art therapy.
- Neuro-linguistic programming.
- Game therapy.
- Non-directive hypnosis and others.
Psychologist's activity
Classes with a psychologist are the main tool that a specialist uses during his work. They can be individual or group, carried out directly at the place of work of a specialist or be away. A special direction is classes with children. They are held in different age groups. Moreover, this direction is subject to two strategies. The first is simple consultations for creating conditions for comfortable study, and the second is the behavioral correction of relations in a team, communications, or personal problems of a teenager.
Psychologist's help to married couples implies conducting classes individually with spouses or simultaneously with two. In each case, the specialist chooses the direction of the classes that are suitable for a particular problem. He makes all his decisions based on his personal experience and the practical recommendations of other colleagues.
Reasons for contacting a psychologist
There can be a huge number of reasons that would force a person to seek help. For example, such a specialist is necessarily present in the antenatal clinic and in the hospital. Pregnant ladies can experience huge stress associated with personal problems, and then consultation and support are simply necessary. Many problems arise after childbirth. In medicine, there is even such a thing as postpartum depression. But, besides this, people turn to psychologists with the following problems:
- Dissatisfaction with oneself and one's life.
- Constant stress at work that leads to depression.
- Disorder in family life.
- Lack of support and understanding from adults. The problem most often occurs in adolescents. Such help often becomes salvation from suicide.
- Adaptation difficulties in elementary school.
- Post-traumatic complications.
- Psychological support for incurable and complex diseases.
Psychiatrist Activities
If working as a psychologist involves simple consultations with children or adults, then the psychiatrist has a more difficult task. It is very difficult to make a correct diagnosis for mental disorders. As a rule, long-term monitoring of the patient is necessary. Patients with schizophrenia, for example, do not realize this, and most often they behave quite adequately.
The psychiatrist’s tests help to make the correct diagnosis. There are a great many of them. The patient is invited to answer either a series of questions relating to general topics, or draw up a personal portrait. A separate direction is associated with associations. So, people are shown specially designed paintings that resemble spots, and are asked to explain what subject can be seen in this. Associative tests help identify people prone to aggression or suicide.
Medical tests
In addition to intellectual tests, a psychiatrist will necessarily examine the internal state of a person. This can be judged by the results of the following procedures:
- Biochemical examination. The content of one or another element in the blood can talk about various neuropsychic complications.
- Endocrinological examination. Hormonal disorders can cause depression, panic fear, psychosis.
- Immunological tests. Often the cause of mental disorders is viruses, especially those that are sexually transmitted.
- Toxicological studies. It may not necessarily be drugs or pills. Disorders of the brain cause poisoning by industrial or household chemicals, heavy metals or hazardous waste.
- Electroencephalogram - drawing on the paper curves of the activity of the departments of the brain.
- Polysomnography is also an EEG, but it is applied during the deep stage of sleep. It allows you to identify many diseases that are difficult to diagnose while the patient is awake.
- Nuclear magnetic tomography. This is the most advanced method for diagnosing brain problems. Allows you to see even the smallest details that the EEG will not catch. With it, you can detect cancer in the very early stages and prevent a stroke.
Total
So, to summarize, what distinguishes a psychiatrist from a psychologist. The first specialist is a person with a higher medical education. He uses clinical methods of diagnosis and prescribes medication. The psychologist is engaged in consultations and is not related to medicine. He is a philologist, and his work is closely related to pedagogy.