Thread by @DrLondonoTobon

Please don’t call me a medication provider- A 🧵 and discussion

Psychiatrists and other physicians are being referred by many as “medication providers.” I do prescribe medications but that is only a VERY small part of what I do ... /1
#medtwitter #psychtwitter

and labeling me as a “medication provider” or “medication doctor” reduces me to that, confuses patients, and propagates misconceptions about #mentahealth and #psychiatry. In general, people are already confused about the different professions within the #mentalhealth system /2

Mental healthcare is a complex and sometimes confusing system. However, because of its complexity, we need to work hard on education rather than reducing the roles to one tool the person uses (e.g. medication provider).
/3

Why? I hear patients, family and friends say to me- “I don’t need/or don’t want to go to a psychiatrist, they only prescribe meds.” When I hear that, I get all sorts of emotions and feelings which is why I decided to write this thread. /4

So what do psychiatrists do? Firstly, we are medical doctors, that means we went to medical school, learned about the human body, how it works and what happens when it is not working optimally. /5

We learn how all the organ systems are connected, about biology, psychological processes, social processes and how those interact with each other. Those skills allow us to understand someone’s ailments from a broad and also a nuanced perspective. /6

Psychiatrists
1. Are able to see the whole person from biology to how social systems affect the person, 2. Have training in diagnosing individuals with psychiatric and other conditions, they also understand how psychiatric conditions interact with other medical problems- /7

including how medical problems can affect mental health (e.g. thyroid, nutricional, cancer, heart problems).
3. We use and get trained in a variety of tools to help individuals including but not limited to a) connecting people to resources that may decrease stress /8

b) psychological therapies (various forms), c) other therapies (e.g. light therapy, ECT, TMS, DBS), d) nutrition/physical/ sleep optimization and therapies, d) medications, and e) many more. /9

We work with other healthcare providers if we are not trained in certain pieces or need support.

Additionally, many psychiatrists are trained to work in teams, they also get trained in leadership skills which helps them oversee and coordinate care for their patients. /10

Psychiatrists and other physicians do a lot more than prescribe medications- and as such we should not reduce them to “medication providers”

#medtwitter and #psychtwitter what are your thoughts?

/11 (end)