Should i see a therapist or psychiatrist?
i too suffer from serious diagnosed depression. when i tried to commit suicide, and wound up in the hospitals a couple years ago, they suggested i see one of both. a therapist is someone who listens to you. like seriously - its the one you always see in the movies, when they lie on the long chase couch and talk while the other one writes? that's a therapist. but i chose to see a child therapist and at the time i was 17. so i went thinking it was gonna be like in the movies, but it wasn't that at all. she had finger paint and action figures and all kinds of stuff. my favorite was the GIANT sand box she had. i used to dig my hands deep into the sand, and it made me feel well at peace. it was so fun to talk to her because she really really did listen to what i had to say, and didn't really put her spin on things til i asked her opinion. and she always gave me the straight up truth. i also saw a psychiatrist. he was UBER boring. kinda like dr. phil - you know the way he talks? ugh. so lame. anyway - therapists are like your listeners. that's all they do. psychiatrists on the other hand, prescribe you medicine to treat your mental health issues. they're like doctors in psychiatric medicine. like - i'm currently on antidepressants and mood-stabilizers. they're really helping a lot. but when i don't think they are, he figures out why. changes the treatment, the medicine, the dosage, whatever. if you have a problem that you're not able to just solve with therapy, you should probably go see a psychiatrist, because it may not be something you can help. it could very well be a chemical imbalance in your brain. it happens to the best of us. trust me. see a therapist first. if spilling your heart out all over the place just isn't doing the trick, see a psychiatrist. really - don't think you're crazy just cuz you have to see someone to help you be happy. that's the way i felt for a while. you're not. you just need to coax your brain out of being in a state that you're not satisfied with.
What is mental health?
Mental health is a concept that refers to a human individual's emotional and psychological well-being. Merriam-Webster defines mental health as "A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life." According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no one "official" definition of mental health. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined. In general, most experts agree that "mental health" and "mental illness" are not opposites. In other words, the absence of a recognized mental disorder is not necessarily an indicator of mental health. One way to think about mental health is by looking at how effectively and successfully a person functions. Feeling capable and competent; being able to handle normal levels of stress, maintain satisfying relationships, and lead an independent life; and being able to "bounce back," or recover from difficult situations, are all signs of mental health.