[peepee1982]

I have had such bad experiences with psychiatrists and psychologists being contrarian and demanding filling in generic tests leading to no working solutions (aka you're depressed here's a prescription for an SSRI. Still depressed? We'll up the dose).

My current psychiatrist figured out my main issues after talking to me for 15 minutes. Sent me off to a psychologist back up his assumptions before prescribing anything. Recommended therapists who specialize in the area I needed support in.

The psychologist I went to was great as well (after seeing one that was a terrible). She did a lot of testing (three sittings lasting around two hours) but said the tests were really just to rule out other things. The important part were the conversations.

My life improved tremendously after that.

[it_is_beautiful]

My ex was on antidepressants which had a huge impact on her life. If she missed her meds or (god forbid) was late on her prescription, it was terrifyingly bad.

Orthogonally, she also had sensitivities to light and epileptic symptoms. She told the doctor this, and the doctor doubled her dose of antidepressants. Just one of many, many stories. I've come to consider the higher-level of medicine quite scientific, but the on-the-ground doctors as unscientific. They mostly don't have time or enough feedback to make good decisions in most cases I've seen. That's a profession that shouldn't work on faith.

[512]

How does one find a good psychiatrist/psychologist? My experiences have ranged from "very bad" to "OK at best" and I think finding someone a bit more invested into figuring things out might help a lot.

[Gerard0]

It is definitely not easy. Specially because you cannot "see" their past work or results except from someone telling you about it. I practice psychoanalysis (lacanian if you gotta give it a name) and really liked your wording: "finding someone a bit more invested into figuring things out". Feel free to hit me up (gerhn cupipo com) if interested in starting an analysis (or anyone reading this). We can have up to 4 sessions which you won't have to pay for unless you think we are up to something and decide to continue.

[normie3000]

And how do you, as a first-time patient, assess the quality of psych* you are seeing?

[peepee1982]

I found mine by word of mouth. Other than that, the only way I can think of is trying till you find a good one.