Your First Psychiatric Visit: First Steps and Mistakes to Avoid

The first step toward a psychiatrist scares many people: "I won't go there, they'll drug me, turn me into a vegetable." Because of this fear, people go to the wrong place and start from the wrong end. Dr. Saulitis offers a simple logic for the first steps: enter through the main door — a competent psychiatrist who can rule out severe psychiatric pathology and map out a plan. This brochure is about what to do before and during your first visit so you won't be disappointed.

Step one: start with the psychiatrist, not the end

The main mistake is fear of the psychiatrist and medication, which makes people rush straight to a psychotherapist or psychoanalyst, hoping "all my problems will be solved there." It is better to start with a competent psychiatrist and only then decide how to treat the given condition — medication isn't always required.

"It is better to start with a competent psychiatrist and then decide how to treat the given condition."

A psychoanalyst is not the entry point for treatment: you go there after you've already figured out what your problem is. If you arrive "for treatment" and with the stance that everyone around is to blame, it will only get worse.

Step two: prepare the physical picture

A fundamental mistake is thinking the head and the psyche are separate from the body, and showing up without blood tests or other examinations. According to the doctor, a great many conditions are linked to and caused by physical factors.

"You must always prepare and gather all the information about bodily or somatic manifestations."

This allows treatment to be chosen wisely rather than by guesswork.

Step three: choose a setting where you'll be heard

If there is no acute psychosis, hallucinations, or similar states, the doctor advises choosing a private psychiatrist. His reasoning: on a conveyor-belt appointment you easily lose the most important thing — your faith in psychiatry, when you're treated like "just another fool who showed up." The goal of the first visit is to be understood and to get a treatment chosen, not to be processed through a queue.

Step four: let go of illusions

Three expectations that get in the way:

• that the therapist will say "magic words" or hand you a "magic wand" and everything resolves on its own;
• that it will be quick and the result will last forever (usually the result takes a long time and can quickly fade);
• that it's enough to "take some pills" and all will be well.

Reality is different: the process can be long-term, sometimes for the rest of your life; medications may need to be changed, and above all your approach to life may need to change. Long-term psychotherapy and a psychologist's help may be needed to learn simple life skills.

Step five: count on a team

The modern approach works as a team: psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychologist, and a support team together. When they work together, you can realistically hope for a result. The psychiatrist sets the direction; if needed, relatives and other specialists are brought in to help you.

Practice: a first-visit checklist

1. Choose the entry point correctly — start with a competent psychiatrist, not a psychotherapist or psychoanalyst.
2. Gather information about bodily (somatic) manifestations and any existing blood tests and examinations.
3. If there's no acute state, choose a private specialist who will actually listen.
4. Write down your expectations and honestly check them against the "magic pill" and "quick result" illusions.
5. Tune in to a process and a possible team of specialists — this is not a one-off event.

If you proceed this way, the doctor estimates that in most cases there will be no disappointment, and a result will appear. Then "you needn't fear being turned into a vegetable" — on the contrary, you'll be understood and a treatment will be chosen.