The human being is a tremendously complex organism, formed by multiple corporal systems. And this great complexity can be altered by a large number of diseases. Fortunately, when this happens, there are medical and health services to help people.
But what happens when people talk about imbalances in brain biochemistry or mental problems? In these cases there are different professionals such as psychologists or psychiatrists.
The psychiatrist is a medical doctor specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Among mental health professionals, the psychiatrist is the only one authorised to prescribe medication.
The psychiatrist is a doctor, since to practice as such he had to follow the full cycle of medical studies before specialising in psychiatry. Often psychiatrists complete their studies with a background in psychoanalysis or psychotherapy, which allows them to accumulate degrees.
Psychiatry corresponds to a specialty in the field of medicine, so that to choose to pursue this career, the professional will have to graduate first in medicine and then specialise as a psychiatrist, that is, this science corresponds to a graduate in medicine.
In which case people will have the help of a psychiatrist?
The psychiatrist diagnoses and treats mental problems, diseases such as schizophrenia, paranoia, autism or manic-depressive psychoses, among others. It also deals with the most frequent problems such as depressions.
To determine what happens to the patient, the doctor uses listening and work on the body and, sometimes, proposes a psychotherapy, according to their training. If there is a need, it can prescribe a chemical treatment. For this, it has psychotropic medications: antidepressants, in case of depression; neuroleptics for schizophrenics, anxiolytics to calm anxiety.
In case of need, the psychiatrist in Gold Coast can prescribe the hospitalisation of a patient.
How does a psychiatrist work?
The psychiatrist will constantly evaluate the symptoms and modify the treatment according to the changes he finds during the process. It will do so until the symptoms disappear and the person can do a withdrawal of the medication or a fixed dose depending on the disorder.
At all times the psychiatrist will explain the progress and changes in his patient’s treatment and will resolve the patient’s doubts in a respectful and friendly way, if necessary also with close relatives.
Specialisation
Psychiatry is a branch of medicine of great interest and usefulness for citizenship, trying to treat the various disorders and mental problems that may arise. However, not all psychiatrists work with the same type of patients, thus existing a great diversity of specialisations.
Like other branches of medicine, the psychiatrist can specialise in various fields to cover a more detailed aspect to be addressed, among these are mainly
- Neuropsychiatrist: They are responsible for treating disorders of the nervous system.
- Geriatric psychiatrist: Specialises in mental illnesses of the elderly.
- Paidopsiquiatra: They are responsible for treating the pathologies of children.
- Addictology: They are responsible for the management of addictions in patients.
In the same way, the specialist can adapt and specialise in various pathologies that have the same behavioural origin, for example, the treatment of diseases related to sex, feeding, learning, and sleep disorders. The psychiatrist’s main function is to assess, diagnose and treat the presence of different psychiatric disorders in order to generate a recovery of the subject and an improvement in their quality of life.
