End of Talk Therapy?

Gone are the days when sessions with psychiatrists went on for hours till patients poured their hearts out. Many a time, people portray problems in the mind due to the absence of patient, non-judgmental listeners, a gap easily filled by these intuitive professionals. Today, the trend has changed, and time is equated to money, quite literally. Psychiatrists are reimbursed less for 45-minute talk therapy sessions. They make much more on 15 –minute prescription writing sessions.

If one were to go into details, a psychiatrist can earn $150 for three 15-minute medication visits as against only $90 for a 45 minute talk therapy session.

So at the end of the day, the changing policies of insurance companies are dictating the manner of therapy given to patients who visit psychiatrists for help. Even though medications are a blessing to some patients, a blanket prescription to all who visit psychiatrists simply increases patients’ dependence on these drugs. It is time psychiatrists do some soul-searching before this trend establishes and turns into a business.



Source-Medindia