How long do you wait before meeting with a psychiatrist after your therapist proposes that you have PTSD?

[SmallSteps]

My therapist and I are quite new to each other, and we have met a couple of times, but she's very booked and our sessions are 45 minutes online. I had never considered that the nightmares that had been plaguing me were a sign of PTSD. Now I'm not sure what the next steps are, I see her once every 8 or 9 days, which I feel isn't enough. What are the next steps?

 

[Friday]

I only meet with a psychiatrist if I need want medication &/or med management. That’s maybe 15minutes once a month, or once every 3-6mo. Plus daily 10 second phone calls (leaving a message more often than not) if I’m on a new med & they want daily updates for the first week or two.

If I want more time in therapy? I book more time in therapy. Typically? I either do 2-4 hour sessions once or twice a week… or just touch base monthly for 50min. Depends on what I’m working on.

 

[SmallSteps]

I would like to meet with a psychiatrist to be able to get a diagnosis mainly, I feel that my family doesn't take my or my therapist's word seriously, and I would have the strength to tell the person who caused my PTSD if I had concrete "evidence". My father is a very hard person to get through to, even more, when I am scared of him.

Do you go the traditional therapy route? Or know of any online therapy services that would allow me more time weekly? I use better help, and again I love my therapist but it's definitely not enough time.

thank you for your response btw, means a lot to me

 

[Sideways]

I would like to meet with a psychiatrist to be able to get a diagnosis mainly

This is an excellent reason to see a psychiatrist. Diagnosis is a lot more complicated than it can look like, especially since a lot of ptsd symptoms overlap with other disorders.

Having the correct diagnosis means having the best shot at getting helpful evidence-based treatment.

Here in Australia? You'd book an appointment with your regular GP (primary care doctor) and talk to them about getting a referral. Ask for someone with a trauma focus if they're available in your area.

I would have the strength to tell the person who caused my PTSD if I had concrete "evidence".

Wowsers! I personally wouldn't. They don't deserve to know my confidential health information, let alone be given any kind of ammunition to use against me!!

Healthy boundaries can be a bit of a minefield - have you discussed disclosure with your therapist?

You know, your suffering is valid irrespective of whether you have ptsd (or any other disorder). A person who can't empathise with that? I personally wouldn't give them the privilege of knowing anything personal about me and where I'm at now.

Mod Note:
I've moved this thread across to the Treatment & Therapy forum. Hit us up at Contact Us if you bave any questions

 

[Freddyt]

I would like to meet with a psychiatrist to be able to get a diagnosis mainly

Correct diagnoses will also recommend the type of therapy that may work best for you. In Canada my path was similar to @Sideways. GP - Mental Health Nurse - Psychiatrist - Mental Health Nurse - Psychologist.....

I would have the strength to tell the person who caused my PTSD if I had concrete "evidence".

Yeah, Steer clear of this idea. As much as you think it may be "getting back at" someone, you can create problems you don't need that really negatively affect you. That and - like me - you may find trauma isn't where you thought it was.....

Do you go the traditional therapy route? Or know of any online therapy services that would allow me more time weekly? I use better help, and again I love my therapist but it's definitely not enough time.

I don't know about traditional, but I went the route recommended by the Psychiatrist.
The only difference between virtual and in person is that the person treating may not be able to read your body language as well with virtual.
As for time - I see my T for 50 min every 2-3 weeks for EMDR depending on how things are. Depending on the type of therapy you may need more or less. Get wwhat kind of therapy sorted out first so you can begin some meaningful therapy, then work on frequency.

 

[SmallSteps]

huh. I hadn't really thought of it that way. I guess I still feel that somewhere deep down he can be the father that I needed. If I could prove that I wasn't crazy or sensitive and that there was something tangibly ""wrong"" (Not that there is anything wrong with people suffering from mental health problems, just that I was actually affected by something out of my control) that I could save myself and my siblings still living with him a load pain and suffering. And if I never saw him again he would know why. Or just treat me nicely, like I've been asking since I was a kid.

He doesn't even know I'm in therapy, I doubt he would approve since I pay for everything out of pocket there isn't much he could do. I guess I just wanted something to 'hold on to'. Regardless I just don't want things to stay as they are.
A diagnosis of anything would help me feel less out of control.

 

[Freddyt]

People like that will never change. Manipulation and using others is how they live their lives. The only reason they want you back is usually to do more damage......

What they do makes them feel powerful and strong when in the light of day, they are weak and pitiful....

 

[Charbella]

@SmallSteps
I echo the previous posters. I would be very wary of disclosing to your abuser. My mom was abusive and she has in the past used therapy against me as evidence of how I’m screwed up not her. As far as she knows therapy was never about her of course at the time it wasn’t. It was about the sexual abuse I disclosed. I’m 20 years past that and seeing a therapist again. I wouldn’t tell her for all the money in the world. She does not know about the PTSD and there are times when my behavior is definitely driven by it in her presence but I wouldn’t take comfort in her knowing I had it to explain my behavior because my behavior is as much about what she is doing in the moment as it is about the past.

I’ve had to accept that she will never understand me and treat me the way she does others. No diagnosis will change that because it isn’t about me, it’s about her.

If you have younger siblings who you feel are being abused, you should contact the authorities. You can do this anonymously.

To answer your question I agree that if your motives are a diagnosis than a psychiatrist is your answer. I see my T twice a week for 50 minutes, one session of EMDR and one to process what comes up and/or what’s coming up in my life.

 

[Sideways]

If I could prove that I wasn't crazy or sensitive and that there was something tangibly ""wrong""

This is worth picking apart with your T for sure. Because even though your motivation is to somehow change him, you're proposing that you go about it by changing yourself, and the way he perceives you.

My two cents (take what's helpful, leave the rest), abuse doesn't stop because the victim becomes better, or more persuasive, or any other thing. Abuse doesn't stop because the abuser sees "well shit, I guess I really did hurt you". You couldn't have stopped it as a child by being "better", there's no reason to think that you could now.

If you think that your siblings are being abused, there's ways to address that (raise it with your T, and do it with their support behind you). Granted, in many parts of the world, the systems in place to protect at-risk children are shit. But the systems do usually give you some degree of protection as the person intervening.

Your job now, your number one priority? Is healing, and getting to a point where you're living your best life. Not being sick enough, or damaged enough, to somehow persuade your abuser to change his ways. Get well, and do what you need to do for your siblings in a way that protects your own healing. You will be best placed to help them if you help yourself first.

 

[caroline_13]

I would like to meet with a psychiatrist to be able to get a diagnosis mainly, I feel that my family doesn't take my or my therapist's word seriously, and I would have the strength to tell the person who caused my PTSD if I had concrete "evidence". My father is a very hard person to get through to, even more, when I am scared of him.

Do you go the traditional therapy route? Or know of any online therapy services that would allow me more time weekly? I use better help, and again I love my therapist but it's definitely not enough time.

thank you for your response btw, means a lot to me

Maybe the reason you can't get through to your father is your father. Not you.

I hope you are in a safe place; and I mean safety in all forms.

My therapist and I are quite new to each other, and we have met a couple of times, but she's very booked and our sessions are 45 minutes online. I had never considered that the nightmares that had been plaguing me were a sign of PTSD. Now I'm not sure what the next steps are, I see her once every 8 or 9 days, which I feel isn't enough. What are the next steps?

I've spent a decade or two trying to present evidence to my parents, and reason with them. FWIW, it got me no where. In the short term, anyway, but I see that I had to go through all that as part of my process.

My dad's reaction to my telling him that I have PTSD still haunts me; however, maybe it was the proof I needed to see him for what he is.

Whatever your path is, your path is. You don't have to listen to us, it's just something to digest.

My mother also used my "therapy" against me; now, I look back and it's just funny how exceptionally stunted she is as a person and how the whole world sees it (super obvious) (although she has money and I still barely do). I am living life, after all, and most people who use the fact of therapy against someone need it most of all.

 

[MrMoonlight]

For me getting properly diagnosed was really important. I wanted answers. I needed to know what happened to me the previous decades. Getting an assessment from a psychiatrist answered that question. It also led me to proper medications, books, therapies and support groups...not to mention outpatient programs.

 

[Freddyt]

Correct diagnoses

Lets change that to correct general diagnoses. Mine was Generalized anxiety disorder. It becomes more when specific circumstances are found in therapy. So the big general conditions were diagnosed by the Psychiatrist, the actual trauma events by hte psychologist.