Help choosing between two Psychiatrists?

Question by K A: Help choosing between two Psychiatrists?
Hi everyone,

Today I took my first step forward in getting help for myself and saw a Psychiatrists. One Psychiatrist was at a medical center, and the other was one at my State University.

The Psychiatrist at the medical center was a residency student who had a mentor/teacher supervising my session. Their diagnosis together was that I had Major Depression and suggested I start two forms of treatment, one involving therapy/psychotherapy and the other was giving me medication called: Wellbutrin (Bvproprion). Because i’m a low income college student without health insurance, I paid a $ 54 sliding scale first time session and future session will be around $ 30. I don’t know how much the Wellbutrin will cost me. This session ended in which the Psychiatrist told me that he’ll call me soon to set up an appointment next week; he did not prescribe anything but said to let me think about everything over night.

The Psychiatrist at my State University basically jumped straight into a cost analysis of my getting help. He compared the costs per session (free at my state vs the $ 30 at the medical center) plus also comparing potential drug costs with generic drugs vs brand drugs. He also said that seeing two Psychiatrist wouldn’t really help, but that he said anything they can do at the medical center we can do the same and also cheaper. Next we went over why i’m visiting and he also came to the conclusion that I had depression. What he recommended was Citalopram 20mg tablets which he prescribed right there, then he also suggested I take blood tests to test my metabolic rate and thyroid function (something like that). He then told me what dosage I should take and make a follow up appointment in two days.

So in general, I have two potential Psychiatrists, one costs more and is from an official medical center, and the other is more proactive and from a state university health center.

Honestly i’m lost to who I should go with, but I know I need help (Potentially suicidal) and I don’t want to make the wrong choice. At this moment, money is not much of a factor because I want help.

Thank you

Best answer:

Answer by Sharman B
Go with the second is my recommendation. They both sound good however the second does make sense about the cost and I like the fact that they immediately prescribed medication for you. But don’t go with just the medication. Get a little psycho therapy too so you can figure out what may be causing your depression besides a chemical imbalance.

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