Johns Hopkins University Researchers report today that the percentage of patients who visit psychiatrists for psychotherapy (talk therapy) have declined from 44% in 1996-97 to 29% in 2004-05. They attribute this decline to an increase in use of medications as well as changes in insurance company policies – most psychiatrists receive less reimbursement dollars for a 45-minute visit than for three 15-minute visits. However, the study did not consider visits to health professionals who are not doctors but still provide talk therapy. Full story.
Tags: psychiatry, psychotherapy, talk therapy
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Being 70 I moved from a town where I had lived for 45 years to a different town. I kept on working at the same company via computer, loved my job, I worked weekends and about 18 to 20 hours during week days, I really loved the excitement of getting every proposal finished and found that each one was a success . I moved next to my daughter’s house. It was very difficult since I had lived alone for about 30 years and all of a sudden I was surrounded with five family members. I thought I was going crazy. Shortly after that my boss stopped my work even though he kept paying.
I was completely depressed and decided to go to see a psychiatrist. He decided to give me antidepressants. No blood test no nothing except for those pills no guidance not anything but a prescription. I take pills if there is a reason. I saw no reason and I did not want my body to get used to them. I stopped the pills and the psychiatrist. I wish he had told me his method beforehand, that way I would not have wasted my time, the insurance money and his time.