Recently, someone reached out to me about her mental health condition. She is experiencing symptoms of depression that definitely needs medical treatment. She mentioned that she has seen a psychologist/psychotherapist a few times but she didn't find them helpful. I suggested her to see a psychiatrist because her mental illness is definitely beyond the scope of what a psychologist can do. It made me realize that many people do not know the differences between the two and that can be problematic if a person is seeking help for an acute mental illness.
A Psychologist is someone who usually has a PhD in Clinical Psychology. They have knowledge in psychotherapies, counselling and other treatment methods that improves some one's psychological well being. They are helpful to someone who experiences distress because something traumatic has happened to them. For example, someone who has witnessed the tragic death of a loved one, someone who has been robbed at gun point, or someone who has been abducted for decades and has just been returned to the society, or veterans who returned home with PTSD. In other words, they have very understandable reasons to be depressed. During treatment, the therapist will aim to help them with counselling and behavioral therapy, and if necessary, they might suggest the use of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications on a short-term basis. People can completely recovered from their condition after a series of treatment. There are other people who are not sick, but they see their therapist on a long-term basis because their therapist is like a good friend with a lot of wisdom, they can talk about their problems in a safe and therapeutic way. Most psychologists have their own private practice, their fees are not covered by public health care.
On the other hand, a Psychiatrist is someone who is a medical doctor graduated from a medical school. They treat people with mild to severe psychiatric disorders with the use of medications. From experience, when seeing a psychiatrist, they do not attempt to talk you out of your problem. They do not deal with the reasons and trigger of some one's mania or depression. For most mental illnesses, these external reasons are usually very trivia. The focus of treatment is to correctly diagnose the person and find the right type of medication for their condition. Since most conditions cannot be cured, a person should see a psychiatrist on a regualr basis to renew their prescription, likely for the rest of their life. Sometimes, a referral to a psychiatrist takes months in Ontario. When a person is acutely suicidal, they cannot wait that long. Therefore, the best way is to admit them into an Emergency department. A Psychiatrist is covered by Health Care.
If you are already depressed to a point where you are suicidal, it's very likely that you have a medical condition and you need to see a psychiatrist right away. If you are still able to function on a daily basis, meaning that you can sleep and you still have the desire to eat, and most importantly, the reason of your depression is big and everyone agrees with it, then, you are probably in a bad mental state that is temporary. You might not need to be placed on medications. Having a good psychologist/psychotherapist will help facilitate your healing process.
