well hello there, so you're interested in psychology/psychiatry. although many times people use them interchangeably, they are not the same thing. they may work in the same field but the approach is different. so lets break down
psychology according to wikipedia is "the study of behavior and mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as thought. It is an academic discipline and a social science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific cases."ok but what is that? well psychology is more of a science. a field of study were you research and put definitions for certain aspects of the human behavior and mind. let's say it's more abstract like philosophy. that's why a psychologist many times has a PhD in philosophy. all that doesn't mean that a psychologist doesn't have a place in the practical world, NO NO NOOO! a psychologist can see patients and offer professional advice and techniques. but a psychologist cannot prescribe any medication.
for example let's say you have an anxiety disorder(there are so many of them that I will talk about in different posts) and you decide to go to a psychologist. he will see you and talk to you, he/she will offer advice, maybe go back to the cause of the problem, also psychological tests can be a great tool for him/her, he/she will discuss what may induce your anxiety and so on. but you will not be prescribed any anxiolytics. he/she is not qualified to prescribe them or any other pharmaceutical drug for that matter. but who can give you the drugs ? a psychiatric
Psychiatry according to wikipedia is "the branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (an M.D. or D.O.) who specializes in mental health, including substance use disorders"so psychiatry is medicine. it's a part of medicine just like oncology and gynaecology. and like medicine, they really don't care about the normal behavior or personality of the human. unlike psychology which studies everything and observes normal behaviors just as keenly as the abnormal behavior. psychiatrists will work on the diagnosis and treatment. they are qualified to prescribe drugs. why? they spent years studying to be doctors and they know your body in every single meaning of the word. cytology, physiology and anatomy is nothing new to them. so they know how exactly will the drug affect your body, especially if you have any chronic diseases. also something very interesting. sometimes a side effect of a drug can cause mental problems. some drugs can cause depression and suicidal thoughts. one of which is used for acne, yes ACNE. like I want my acne gone not my life.
bottom line is they are both amazing and I love them both.They both dive deep into the human personality and mind. they try to figure out the most complicated creature on the planet. YOU !
