Psychiatrists Are Choosing Medications Over Traditional Psychotherapy

Many U.S. psychiatrists in today's environment are opting to break out the prescription pad and write prescriptions rather than inviting a patient to their couch for talk therapy. Some patients may like the new idea of prescribing medication rather than the more traditional therapy from their psychiatrists, especially for a quick fix, but is it just a band-aid or an actual resolution to the problem?
Lead author Dr. Ramin Mojtabai of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, which performed the most recent study based on the new trends of psychotherapy, explained that in today's environment insurance companies are reimbursing psychiatrists at a lower rate for a 45-minute psychotherapy, than they are for three 15-minute medication visits, possibly causing the swing in the form of treatment.

Psychiatrists are in a business, and as any business they also strive to make a profit. While their primary job is to help treat patients, they must also consider the profit-and-loss factor. Because patients are responsible for whatever part of their visit insurance doesn't cover, they may opt for the therapy that best meets their budget rather than their psychological needs. The authors of the study wrote that, "Psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy to all of their patients relied more extensively on self-pay patients, had fewer managed-care visits, and prescribed medications in fewer of their visits compared with psychiatrists who provided psychotherapy less often."

The findings of the new study, based on an annual survey performed during U.S. doctor visits, were published in a recent edition of Archives of General Psychiatry. The researchers based their analysis on 14,000 psychiatrist visits during a 10-year period and excluded psychologists visits or visits to other mental health counselors who may use talk therapy for treatment. Over 1996-1997 the study resulted in an average of 44 percent of patients that visited psychiatrists and received psychotherapy, but by 2004-2005 that number had dropped to only 29 percent.
Psychotherapy is used by trained psychotherapists as relational intervention. Psychotherapists work with a range of techniques to aid patients or clients in several areas, such as relationship building, open communication, attitude and behavior adjustments, and family struggles or group relationships, in hopes of improving the mental state of patients. Psychotherapy also known as verbal therapy, is used in hopes of aiding patients to evaluate their behaviors and thoughts and help to ease symptoms. Though there are other practitioners that may use psychotherapy to help patients, only psychotherapists may administer other medical treatments, such as psychosurgery, electroshock, and prescribe medications.

Some situations, such as those with childhood trauma or chronic depression sufferers, may benefit more from treatment through psychotherapy, than through medications. A child who is in the middle of their parents divorce may need to talk to someone outside of the family that can help them deal with their hurt, fears, and emotions. Hopefully, psychotherapists will continue to evaluate the overall situation, not be swayed by the insurance company's reimbursement percentage, and continue offering psychotherapy to those that would better benefit from the talk therapy rather than medications. Even though, based on this most recent study produced by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, it seems couches used for talk therapy are being left vacant more often than in the past.