An initial assessment with a psychiatrist at our clinic

In certain situations, we may recommend that you have an appointment with our psychiatrist. In this appointment the psychiatrist will talk with you to understand how your difficulties have arisen and how they are impacting your life now, as well as asking you about any physical health problems you have had, so that an appropriate treatment package can be developed. 

Psychiatric medication

There are a range of medications that can be prescribed to help people with mental health difficulties. The types of problems that can be helped by medication include anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), psychotic disorders including schizophrenia, ADHD and personality disorder. These medications require a doctor to prescribe them just like any medications you take for physical health problems.

Follow-up appointments

When you start on a psychiatric medication it is important to have a follow-up appointment to check whether you find it helpful and if there are any side-effects. It is often the case that a period of monitoring and dose adjustment is needed because many of these medications take a while to develop their full effect. People have very individual responses to psychiatric medications – if you don’t find a particular medication suits you there are usually a number of alternatives which we will help you consider so that you can find the most appropriate prescription for your needs.

How do I choose a psychologist or psychiatrist?

The things to bear in mind when choosing whether to see a psychiatrist or psychologist are whether you’re likely to need medication or not. If you will need medication, then it’s very important to be assessed and treated by a psychiatrist, though you may also need to see a psychologist for talking treatment as well.

How long does a psychiatric consultation take?

A consultation with our psychiatrist is an interview which lasts typically around an hour. And during that time, we would talk about all the different factors, which could have led to the psychiatric difficulties that you’re having now.

What happens during an initial assessment meeting?

It’s always important to have a thorough assessment initially so that you can be clear about what the diagnosis is and then plan the treatment that’s going to be right for you. So for some people, it’s going to be very important that they take medication. And for most people, there’s going to be a very important process of having psychological help to help them manage and come to terms of their difficulties.

What is involved in a psychiatric consultation?

A psychiatric consultation is a meeting to look into the symptoms that you’re having to see how long you’ve been suffering from them and what might have led to them coming on. We would also spend some time thinking about your development and what the rest of your life has been like, the different factors which might impact on how you are today.

How do I know if psychiatric treatment has worked?

Successful treatment will mean that you don’t suffer the symptoms anymore and that you don’t need to take medication anymore. That’s our goal with everybody that we assess and treat.

How do you decide on a treatment plan?

When you’re coming for assessment, it’s often helpful to see a psychiatrist in the first place to have a full diagnostic assessment. And then you can develop a treatment plan together, which might well include a combination of psychiatric treatment, meaning medication, and psychological treatment, which should be a talking treatment delivered by a psychologist in the clinic.

When is medication required for psychiatric disorders?

Medication can be very helpful for a wide range of psychiatric disorders. And one of the best known examples would be clinical depression. But there are a wide range of disorders including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, ADHD, where people can get a great deal of benefit from psychiatric medications.

What are the treatment options for substance misuse?

Different treatment options for substance misuse are medical, where you can take a medication to help you manage withdrawal and addiction effects, and psychological, to help you both cope with the cravings and also make the changes in your life and the underlying causes that have led you to substance misuse in the first place.

What are antidepressants?

Antidepressants are medications used to treat depression. They should help your mood to lift. You should normally take them for at least six weeks to see if they’re having a helpful effect, and you won’t become addicted to them.