When a person has something to hurt, 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 a psychiatrist? Many people often confuse these two specialties, so you need to carefully understand the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
General concepts
Названия этих специальностей очень тесно intertwined with each other. This is not surprising, because a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist is a single-root term. 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 fundamental differences. We will understand 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 influencing the psyche.
We will understand in more detail the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
Psychologist
Психолог – это специалист, окончивший высшее humanitarian educational institution, most often pedagogical. He has nothing to do with medicine as such. His task is to study the inner world of a person, find out what problems he has, how to help him. Psychologist help is often oral. He has no right to prescribe drugs and make diagnoses. The result of his activity is concrete advice on how to get out of crisis situations related to the patient’s family or personal life, his career, study or other aspects of life.
Working as a psychologist means total immersion ininner world of his client. That is why such specialists most often work in medical institutions as a consultant. For some time, psychologists must work in schools, kindergartens and universities. Their specificity is called psychologist-teacher. By their actions, such staff members tell the teachers how to conduct a dialogue with wards correctly so as not to disturb the delicate childish psyche.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a doctor who graduated from a medicalhigher education institution. This is a person who holds a position exclusively in hospitals and clinics. So, he makes diagnoses and prescribes medications. The scope of its activities is limited to diseases of the central nervous system and psyche. He diagnoses such illnesses as schizophrenia, hallucinations, split personality and others.
A psychologist and a psychiatrist often work together.For example, a psychologist can send a person with deep depression to a psychiatrist for outpatient treatment. After all, this condition is fraught with very serious consequences, and in order to prevent them, medications are needed.
Psychotherapist
A very similar concept 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 writes out a healing pill, the psychotherapist will hold a conversation.
Дословно с греческого, "психотерапия" переводится as "soul treatment." It differs significantly from the specialization of the psychologist, since it deals with deeper problems, but does not use medications, as the psychiatrist does.
Treatments for psychotherapists include:
- Hypnosis.
- Psychoanalysis.
- Art therapy.
- Neuro-linguistic programming.
- Igroterapiya.
- Non-direct hypnosis and others.
Psychological activity
Classes with a psychologist - is the main toolwhich is used by an expert during its activities. They can be individual or group, held directly at the place of work of a specialist or be visiting. A special direction - this is classes with children. They are held in different age groups. Moreover, this direction is subject to two strategies. The first is simple counseling to create the conditions for comfortable study, and the second is a behavioral correction of team relationships, communication or personal problems of a teenager.
Psychologist help couples impliesconducting classes individually with spouses or simultaneously with two. In each case, the specialist chooses the direction of employment that fit the specific problem. He makes all his decisions based on his personal experience and practical recommendations from other colleagues.
Reasons for contacting a psychologist
Reasons that would make a person turnfor help maybe a huge amount. For example, such a specialist is necessarily present in the antenatal clinic and in the maternity hospital. Pregnant women may experience tremendous 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 yourself and your 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 assistance often becomes a salvation from suicide.
- Difficulties with adaptation in primary school.
- Post-traumatic complications.
- Psychological support for incurable and complex diseases.
Psychiatric activity
If work as a psychologist implies simpleconsulting 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 observation of the patient is necessary. People with schizophrenia, for example, do not realize this, and most often behave quite adequately.
The psychiatrist tests help to make the correct diagnosis.They exist a great many. The patient is asked to answer either a series of questions relating to general topics, or to make a personal portrait. A separate direction is associated with associations. So, a person is shown a specially designed picture, resembling spots, and asked to explain which object in this can be seen. Associative tests help to identify people prone to aggression or suicide.
Medical tests
In addition to intellectual tests, the psychiatrist will certainly examine the internal state of a person. This can be judged by the results of the following procedures:
- Biochemical examination. The content of an element in the blood can talk about various neuropsychic complications.
- Endocrinological examination. Hormonal disorders can cause depression, panic anxiety, psychosis.
- Immunological tests. Often the cause of mental disorders are viruses, especially those that are sexually transmitted.
- Toxicological studies.It may not necessarily be drugs or pills. Disruption of the brain causes poisoning by industrial or household chemicals, heavy metals or hazardous waste.
- Electroencephalogram - plotting on paper the activity curves of the brain.
- Polysomnography is also an EEG, but is applied during the deep sleep phase. Allows you to identify many diseases that are difficult to diagnose while the patient is awake.
- Nuclear magnetic tomography.This is the most modern method for diagnosing brain problems. Allows you to see even the smallest details that can not catch the EEG. It can detect cancer at the earliest stages and prevent stroke.
The result
So let's summarize how a psychiatrist differs frompsychologist. The first specialist is a person with a higher medical education. He uses clinical methods of diagnosis and prescribes medication. The psychologist deals with counseling and is not related to medicine. He is a philologist, and his work is closely connected with pedagogy.
