If you have ever gone through a mental health crisis, then, you know how important is to have a plan in place to aid in the prevention and recovery from one. We’ve discussed having your people in place at length. People are important, they can be the difference between life and death. Having your core people in place is a big and important step, however, possibly more important, is having your team of professionals.
Your friends are not professionals, unless they are. It is imperative that you have a team of professionals to assist you with your prevention and recovery of/ from a crisis. It has been recommended that you have both a psychiatrist, and a psychologist. Some would even go a step further and say you need to have your primary care physician included in this “team”. We will get into why later in this post.
Psychiatrists are medical doctors that specialize in psychology. They are able to diagnose and treat psychological disorders both with medicine and talk therapy. Often this is your first stop and someone you will see regularly, but not as frequently as you would see your psychologist. They usually are the ones that will assess whether or not your need medication to manage your disease. You will see them typically to determine how well the medication is working or if it needs to be adjusted.
Your psychologist is a professional you will see more frequently typically for talk therapy. They cannot prescribe medications, however, they should be informed if you are on them, and what you are on. This doctor is going to be your best line of defense before, during, and after a crisis. They will get to know you, your diagnosis, and how you are processing life very intimately if you are consist and using them effectively.
Your primary care physician should be there to asses your overall health. They need to be aware of your diagnosis, the medications you are taking, and how they are affecting your daily life. Your doctor is necessary to ensure that the medication you are taking isn’t having any negative impact on your overall physical health. Also, they can determine if any physical issues arising from you disorder. For example, when someone is consistently anxious or dealing with anxiety, their blood pressure could be elevated. A primary care physician will likely monitor you want to monitor this person overtime to determine the likelihood they might need to be medicated for hypertension, or provide options to help lower their blood pressure.
So much of mental illness is medical. It is important to understand that and act/ plan accordingly. You must be honest with all three of these professional so that they know how to help you. It could be helpful to authorize all of them to share records with each other in order to provide the best care possible for you.
Please check out our Resources tab if you don’t have a professional or contact your insurance for network providers.
