Suffering from mental illness is a stigma for most people. With COVID 19, people are voicing out their mental concerns and sharing them with their near and dear ones. People have fear and anxiety of being infected due to COVID 19 as there is no specific treatment available for the same. “Prevention is better than cure” this motto has been followed during the pandemic as well. Due to social distancing, many people are confined at home which is leading to mental illness. Also, the quarantine scenario after being infected by COVID 19 is giving rise to many mental health problems. From anxiety to depression to addiction, COVID 19 has created great turmoil for the mental health of many individuals. Nowadays, everyone is giving importance to mental fitness so that they are in a balanced condition of mind.

How to know whether you need a psychiatrist, psychologist, and counselor?

When it comes to mental illness, the first thing that comes to your mind is consulting a psychiatrist who can look into the problem and prescribe you some antipsychotic medications. Well, here is the catch before you land up falling prey to antipsychotic medications, you can save yourself by consulting a psychologist.

How early intervention can help?

Early intervention in mental illness is a great strategy for a good recovery and better outcome. In this COVID scenario, more people are getting affected with low mood disorders, restlessness, and lack of sleep. Getting your problem addressed by a psychologist at an initial stage would give good outcomes. Psychologists are providing a new domain to mental health fitness. Consulting a psychologist first can help you a great deal with your mental health fitness. If you have a mild version of any mental health disorder, it’s better to consult a psychologist who can help you with some therapy and training sessions that can reboot your system. Counselors provide you with counseling sessions under their guidance and supervision to motivate you and keep you in healthy balanced condition.

If you need professional help, you must first know whom to approach for the right treatment and therapy. There are some significant challenges that can be the stepping stones during the initial stage of treatment while choosing the correct medical health care professional out of the three, counselor, psychiatrist, psychologist. It might be confusing who might be the most valuable to you. Let’s give you an insight into the best medical health professional for mental illness. 

Counselor

A counselor is the one who holds the title of the therapist. They are basically who advise people and coach people to take the right decisions in their life. They are people who help patients with goals, passion, aspirations, advice, motivation, stress, positive behavior, etc so that they can deal with emotional distress. A counselor will help you figure out the problem and help you out with solutions eventually making you more organized in life.

Psychologist

These people specialize in psychotherapy like talk therapy or CBT(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). These professionals are similar to the counseling services addressing emotional issues and helping patients to solve them. They can also provide assessment, diagnosis, and treatment if you may have severe symptoms. 

Psychiatrist

These are medical doctors who are licensed. These professionals basically specialize in preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental illness. They are professionals who have studied 5.5 years of medical course. These people diagnose the internal underlying problem that could cause psychiatric symptoms.

Educational requirements

• Counselors do not have educational requirements for clinical licensing. They must have done diploma(2 years) or degrees(3 years ).
• Psychologist are not medical doctors but must have a degree in psychology which basically helps in understanding human behavior and emotions
• Psychiatrist are doctors who have completed 5.5 years of the course and specialized in psychiatry with residential training

Treatment

• Counselors generally provide training and motivation sessions that will help in guiding you to make the correct decision. They will also help you with positive thinking. They help you deal with failure, rejection in life,  difficult relationships, marriage problems, or social mental issues. 
• Psychologists have a long time process with a scientific and valuable approach focussing on psychology. They target stress, struggles, and work. They have more research-based therapy as compared to the counselors. 
• Psychiatrists are medical doctors who basically diagnose a mental health illness. They are allowed to prescribe medicines and antipsychotic pills which may be required depending on the diagnosis.

The truth is that each of them is similar and working towards mental health and illness. Make a correct choice among the three which can give you excellent mental health. Start by choosing the right professional for mental care who can provide the correct guidance to you. Remember, a counseling session can be taken from a counselor alone with a therapy session from the Psychologist. All three treatments can go hand in hand to taper down the dosage of antipsychotic pills.