When To Use A Pcp For Mental Health Medication
If you think you need medication for a mental health condition and arent sure where to turn, you can always start with a visit to your primary care provider , says Dr. Cliff Hamilton, a psychiatrist with Summit Health in New Providence, New Jersey.
PCPs are generalists, but they typically have enough mental healthspecific training to recognize, diagnose and treat common issues. Depression and anxiety, for instance, are well within most PCPs wheelhouses, says Dr. Nathan Kakish, an internal medicine and pediatrics physician at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital in McHenry, Illinois.
Starting with a PCP has a few benefits. For one, they already know your medical history, which means they might think of potential underlying causes before making a mental health diagnosis. Say you go to the doctor because youve been anxious or moody your PCP might run lab tests to rule out other medical issues that can cause those symptoms, such as thyroid dysfunction, rheumatological disorders, low vitamin D levels and anemia, before prescribing an anti-anxiety medication or antidepressant.
Scopes
Are There Different Types Of Anxiety Disorders
There isnt just one type of anxiety. Anxiety comes in many different forms, from generalized anxiety disorder to specific phobias.
You may have a generalized anxiety disorder if you have ongoing anxious feelings and worry about many different things.
Social anxiety involves social interaction. Someone with social anxiety may worry and have intense anxious feelings about going into public, public speaking, or making small talk. Social anxiety can severely impact your quality of life and your closest relationships.
Other types of anxiety are phobias, such as fear of flying or fear of needles. Anxiety can come along with other mood disorders as well. Some people with anxiety experience panic attacks and may be more likely to suffer from depression and vice versa.
Hormone Imbalance & Depression
Hormones are our bodys chemical messengers. Almost every process our brains and bodies carry out is regulated by hormone signals. This includes cortisol and insulin, as well as sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone.
Symptoms of HPA axis or cortisol dysregulation can leave us feeling fatigued, depressed, and without motivation. This system is highly sensitive to things like chronic stress and a poor diet.
If you struggle with depression, your functional doctor will also likely check your thyroid levels, as this hormone plays a crucial role in mood health. You TSH, free T3, and free T4 can provide insight as to whether or not your thyroid is functioning properly.
Many women report severe mood swings, crying spells, and even suicidal thoughts occurring cyclically, indicating these may be due to PMDD or PMS as a result of hormone imbalance.
CentreSpringMD offers in-depth and thorough hormone testing to identify hormone imbalance and help you restore optimal function to this complex system.
Likewise, integrative and internal medicine is a key resource in a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Recommended Reading: Can Anxiety Go Away On Its Own
Coping Support And Resources
In addition to your prescribed treatment, you may want to join a support group. It can be very helpful to talk with other people who are experiencing symptoms similar to yours. Its good to know that you are not alone. Someone else with similar symptoms can understand what youre going through and offer support and encouragement. Being part of a group can also help you develop new social skills.
Your community will likely have several support groups, either for your specific disorder or for anxiety in general. Check with your medical professionals to learn what resources are available in your area. You might ask your:
- mental health provider
- primary doctor
- county mental health services agency
You can also participate in support groups online. This may be a good way to start if you have social anxiety disorder or feel uncomfortable in a face-to-face group setting.
Treatment of diagnosed anxiety is often multi-disciplinary. This means you may see one or all of the following medical practitioners:
- primary care physician
Internists Located In Katy Houston Tx
Everyone experiences anxiety as a part of life, but if youre suffering from it frequently, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. If so, youre not alone 30% of American adults suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. At Katy Internists in Houston, Texas, the team understands the impact mental health has on your physical well-being and offers effective treatments to treat anxiety. To learn more, call the office or use the online scheduling tool to book a consultation today.
Don’t Miss: Can You Use An Inhaler For Anxiety
Stay In Touch With Your Doctor
Mental health medications arenât like antibiotics or some other medications, where the doctor tells you to take the medication for a certain period of time, then everything is fine and you never discuss the problem again.
You should stay in touch with your doctor and let them know how your symptoms are doing and if youre experiencing side effects.
Your doctor may want to adjust the dosage of your medication or switch you to something different based on your results and side effects.
Connecting The Dots With A Functional Integrative Medical Center
When a patient with depression seeks treatment for their symptoms, a functional doctor will seek to understand the underlying causes creating the depression itself.
A diagnosis of depression tells us what a patient is suffering with, but not the imbalances that created it in the first place.
For example, you may be diagnosed with depression, but depression isnt causing your feelings of sadness or apathy. The same rule applies to anxiety as well. Lifestyle, diet, environmental, and emotional triggers all play a role in our mental wellbeing.
Integrative and internal medicine is one of the many holistic approaches we take to help stabilize our mind, body and mood. Our Atlanta-based office makes it simple to consult a specialist who can help identify which type of integrative medicine works best with your mind and body.
You May Like: Does Anxiety Cause Irregular Heartbeat
Key Points About Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Generalized anxiety disorder is a condition where you worry constantly about everyday issues and situations.
- Healthcare providers diagnose GAD when your worrying happens on most days and for at least 6 months.
- You may also feel restlessness, extreme tiredness , trouble focusing, grouchiness, increased muscle tension, and trouble sleeping.
- Treatment may include medicine, counseling, relaxation methods, and lifestyle changes.
- If you have GAD, you may also have another mental health condition such as depression.
Should Mental Health Be A Primary
- Save Story
Save this story for later.
Patients occasionally ask me if Ill be the doctor wholl take out a gallbladder or deliver a baby. I tell them, You deserve better. Im a primary-care internist, and my expertise is broader than it is deep. I manage high blood pressure and cholesterol but refer people with heart attacks to cardiologists I perform Pap tests and prescribe birth-control pills but send pregnant women to obstetricians and I often diagnose, but never treat, cancer.
With mental illness, though, the limits of my role are less clear. Im comfortable helping people get through lifes more common emotional challenges, like divorce, retirement, disappointing children. If youre hearing voices, or if you walk into my office and announce that youve decided to kill yourself, as someone did not long ago, I know exactly what to do: escort you to a psychiatrist. But what about the lawyer whos having trouble meeting deadlines and wants medication for attention-deficit disorder? Or the businesswoman whose therapist told her to see me about starting an antidepressant? Or the civil servant trying to shake his Oxycontin addiction? Theyve all asked me to treat them because they dont want or cant easily access psychiatric care.
I thought, Wouldnt it be great if a psychiatrist appeared in my office every time a patient needed one? In the future, one willmost likely on a screen.
Read Also: Why Has My Anxiety Gotten Worse
Inflammation Triggers Anxiety & Depression
The Standard American diet heavily consists of inflammatory foods. Processed carbohydrates, and sugar hijack brain chemistry and create metabolic issues which are linked to depressive symptoms and mood disorders. Sugar creates an unstable source of energy for the brain, which can alter brain chemistry and exacerbate depressive symptoms and anxiety .
In addition, undiagnosed food sensitivities, such as those to dairy, gluten, or soy, trigger an inflammatory immune response in the gut, which can affect the brain.
Increased inflammatory activation of the immune system in the gut can affect the central nervous system , playing a role in depression, fatigue, and anxiety .
Mindfulness Meditation May Ease Anxiety Mental Stress
- By , Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
My mom began meditating decades ago, long before the mind-calming practice had entered the wider public consciousness. She liked to quote sayings from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist monk known for his practice of mindful meditation, or present-focused awareness.
Although meditation still isnt exactly mainstream, many people practice it, hoping to stave off stress and stress-related health problems. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has become more popular in recent years. The practice of mindful meditation involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and then bringing your minds attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future.
But when researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD sifted through nearly 19,000 meditation studies, they found 47 trials that addressed those issues and met their criteria for well-designed studies. Their findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, suggest that mindful meditation can help ease psychological stresses like anxiety, depression, and pain.
Don’t Miss: What Scent Helps With Anxiety
Health Providers Who Treat Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety is excessive worry and uneasiness that intereferes with normal activities and relationships. The cause is often not immediately apparent. Anxiety disorders are a far more common problem than we may think. In the United States alone, disorders are the most common mental illness, impacting an estimated 40 million adultsor 18% of the population. Ranging from generalized anxiety, social anxiety, eating disorders, and others, most of us have experienced at least a moment of anxiety at one time or another.
Whether its a specific life event thats causing anxiety or possibly a , anxiety is a normal reaction for us as intellectual beings to real or imagined stressors. If you think you need to seek help for an anxiety disorder, thats a big first step in getting better. Remember, anxiety issues are treatable through many different means, and there are several providers who can help you find the right treatment option for you.
Report Problems With Your Medications To The Fda
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
The opinions expressed in WebMD Communities are solely those of the User, who may or may not have medical or scientific training. These opinions do not represent the opinions of WebMD. Communities are not reviewed by a WebMD physician or any member of the WebMD editorial staff for accuracy, balance, objectivity, or any other reason except for compliance with our Terms and Conditions. Some of these opinions may contain information about treatments or uses of drug products that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. WebMD does not endorse any specific product, service or treatment.
Do not consider Communities as medical advice. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your care plan or treatment. WebMD understands that reading individual, real-life experiences can be a helpful resource, but it is never a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified health care provider. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or dial 911 immediately.
You May Like: Can Yoga Help With Anxiety
Postpartum Depression Treatment In Nyc
If you feel depressed after your babys birth, its essential to seek help immediately. Our highly experienced physicians can discuss your feelings and can evaluate your depression. They may order medical tests to rule out other causes for your symptoms. Usually, postpartum depression treatment involves psychotherapy or antidepressants, or a combination of both. A psychotherapist can talk through your concerns, helping you to find better ways to cope with your feelings and to set realistic goals. Any prescribed medication will enter your breastmilk if you are breastfeeding, but most antidepressants are safe for use during breastfeeding. Our best-rated physicians and top doctors in NYC can discuss the potential risks and benefits of using antidepressants. You must speak with your doctor to discuss these issues.
See someone right away if you want to hurt or kill yourself!
If you ever feel like you might hurt yourself or someone else, do one of these things:
- Go to the emergency room at your local hospital
- Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
Treatments may include medications that relieve depression, counseling, or both. We need to tailor the treatment to your individual needs. Please contact one of our board-certified primary care doctors of internal medicine in Midtown to set up a consultation for a thorough evaluation. We look forward to meeting you.
How Is Anxiety Diagnosed
Dr. Prebus diagnoses anxiety by conducting a comprehensive physical and psychological evaluation. He has you fill out a mental health questionnaire and orders blood tests and urinalysis to rule out other underlying health problems.
Afterward, Dr. Prebus asks you a series of questions about your lifestyle and symptoms. Answer honestly and dont be afraid to express your feelings. The more information you provide, the easier it is for Dr. Prebus to develop a treatment plan that helps you feel better.
Recommended Reading: Can I Get A Service Animal For Anxiety
Things To Think About
Besides finding someone who is well qualified, you also want a mental health professional who specializes in treating problems similar to those that you have. You should trust them, even when what they’re saying is uncomfortable for you.
While you’ll usually go for psychotherapy weekly or monthly, psychoanalytic sessions could be several times a week for a while.
Before you schedule that first appointment, you may want to research and ask about a potential therapist’s:
- Treatment approach and philosophy
What Causes Disorders Like Depression And Anxiety
Its unclear why these problems affect some patients and not others. Its likely a combination of inherited traits and environmental triggers. A patient who has a bad relationship might have more trouble bouncing back from that if theres a family history of depression, for example. Moods, themselves, are slaves to brain chemistry and biological changes like hormones, which makes medical intervention critical.
Don’t Miss: Can Hypnosis Help With Anxiety And Depression