Psychiatrists and Psychologists are the physicians who cater to the field of mental health and behavior. They mainly deal with the inner workings of the human mind. Both of them work in different roles with patients. They both work for the improvement of patient’s mental health and quality of life. The major differences between the two professions include educational qualification, their different roles, types, and treatments. In this blog, you will learn the difference between a Psychologist vs Psychiatrist and their qualification and the method of treatments.
Who is a Psychologist and Psychiatrist?
A physician who practices psychology is called a Psychologist. Psychology is a branch of medicine that deals with studying the human mind and behavior. It shows the feelings, behavior, and thinking of human beings.
A professional who specializes in psychiatry is called a Psychiatrist. Psychiatry refers to a field of medicine that deals with the treatment of emotional disturbances, abnormal behavior, and mental illness. A Psychiatrist only looks at neurological, biochemical, and biological abnormalities.
Differences Between Psychologists and Psychiatrists
Here we’ll discuss the difference between a Psychologist vs Psychiatrist based on treatment and symptoms.
Education and Qualification
Psychologist
A physician holding a degree in Psychology is a Psychologist. An applicant must complete a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Master of Arts (M.A.) in Psychology. This educational qualification is not enough to fulfill the eligibility criteria.
A degree in Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) is needed to build a career in Clinical Psychology. This requires a total of 5 to 7 years of education which includes 3 years of B.A., 2 years of M.A., and 2 years of M.Phil.
Psychiatrist
A physician with a medical degree in Psychiatry is a Psychiatrist. The educational qualification and criteria of a Psychiatrist is to first complete the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree. After that, a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in Psychiatry.
This requires a total of 7.5 years of education which includes 5.5 years of MBBS and 2 years of M.D.
Roles and Responsibilities
Psychologist
The roles of Psychologist are as follows:
Identify the patterns of behavior or emotions
A psychologist can identify the behavior or emotions in patients by using observational and data collection skills. They depend on the discovery of consistencies occurring in patients. It helps to collect enough information for their formal diagnosis. It helps diagnose patients who suffer from psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, or anxiety.
They also treat emotional or behavioral disorders which include conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Observe, Study, and Interview individuals
Psychologists learn more about the mental health conditions of individuals by studying, observing, and interviewing them. The observation identifies the challenges to the learning ability and cognitive skills of individuals. They must be interviewed and surveyed by the psychologist for the research study.
Psychologists use strong interviewing skills to gather valuable responses about the individuals. The survey uses the method of data collection. It can optimize the collection of data from each participant.
Considering the geographic location of each individual and asking questions, the psychologist chooses the data collection method.
Predict the behavior of the patient
In this role, Psychologist continues to study and interview to discover more information about their patients. This profession uses this information to conduct tests for the behavior of the patients and educate them on their mood. Psychologists use the findings of the patients. This helps him or her to understand better and manage their health conditions.
Conduct Research
A psychologist conducts research through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method techniques. Their research is conducted by proposing new theories. This confirms the validity of psychologists.
Psychologist reviews the published articles and other existing literature. This identifies their existing knowledge and provides new insights.
Write research papers, reports, and articles
A psychologist writes research papers, articles, and reports. This helps them to share their findings. They consist of industry publications that publish their findings. It is helpful for other people living in the community to read about the theories or study results.
Sometimes, created documents such as articles, research papers, and reports may be shared with their patients or colleagues. This depends on the content of the documents.
Psychiatrist
The roles of a Psychiatrist are as follows:
Gather information about the patient
In this role, the Psychiatrist deals with the mental problems of the patients. They need to gather and maintain their information and records for their speedy recovery. These include social and medical history which is obtained from patients, relatives, and other professionals.
Examining
A psychiatrist conducts several examinations to solve the actual problems of the patients. There are several treatments that are used to recover patients from the results of these examinations.
Evaluate
A psychiatrist needs to evaluate the data and tests to diagnose the nature and extent of mental disorders of the patients. This is required to make some judgments for the treatment of the patient.
Collaboration
A psychiatrist deals with several cases to collaborate with other physicians, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or other professionals. This helps discuss the current treatment plans and progress of the patients. Psychiatrists may take suggestions to recover the patients soon.
Psychotherapeutic treatments
A psychiatrist treats behavioral, mental, or emotional disorders in their patients. The importance of this treatment is to make the patients feel confident. This identifies the successful recovery of the patients.
Advisory
Not everybody understands the actual problem of the patient. In this way, the Psychiatrist advises and informs about the conditions of patients to relatives, guardians, etc., and makes them understand about their sensitive care.
Medicinal prescription
Psychologist
Psychologists do not prescribe any medicine. Psychological tests and therapies are conducted to diagnose and treat patients, respectively.
Psychological tests include achievement tests, personality tests, clinical tests, cognitive tests, attitude scales, neuropsychological tests, emotional intelligence tests, and so on.
The psychological therapies are accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), activation and modification of behavior, body psychotherapy, bonding psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), transpersonal psychology, etc.
Psychiatrist
Psychiatrists prescribe medicine to treat bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Schizophrenia, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
These medicines are fluoxetine (Prozac), Phenelzine (Nardil), Venlafaxine (Effexor), Paroxetine (Paxil, Seroxat), Olanzapine (Zyprexa), Ziprasidone (Geodon) and many more.
Types
Psychologist
There are several types of Psychologists. These include the following:
- Health Psychologist
- School Psychologist
- Consumer Psychologist
- Sport Psychologist
- Social Psychologist
Psychiatrist
There are several types of psychiatrists. These are as follows:
- Forensic Psychiatrist
- Young Adult Psychiatrist
- Geriatric Psychiatrist
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
- Addiction Psychiatrist
- Perinatal Psychiatrist
- Neuropsychiatrist
- Organizational Psychiatrist
Treatment
Psychologist
A psychologist carries out psychological treatment such as learning difficulties, anxiety, behavioral problems, adjustment issues, and mild depression.
Psychiatrist
Psychiatrist treats those patients who are suffering from bipolar disorder, psychotic behavior, autism, severe anxiety, schizophrenia, severe depression, etc.
Conclusion
This blog explains the comparison between psychologists and psychiatrists in terms of treatments, medicines, and their roles. This denotes the different approaches of both professions. The roles and responsibilities of these professionals are to make the successful recovery of the patients.
These professions are used to treat mental, behavioral, or emotional problems in patients. They also treat some disorders such as attentive deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), etc.