Psychiatry Consultation at UL Health

A psychiatry consultation involves a conversation between you and a psychiatrist to find out what might be wrong and to come up with a management or treatment plan to help with the problem.

Psychiatry is a medical field that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental health conditions. A doctor who specializes in psychiatry is called a psychiatrist. There are several reasons why someone chooses to have or is referred by their GP to see and consult a psychiatrist. These include:

• Worry, fear, and anxiety

• Problems adjusting after experiencing stress or major life changes

• Depressed

• Bad/low mood that does not go away

• Thoughts of hurting other people

• Suicidal thinking

• Hurting themselves on purpose

• Being unable to sleep, relax, or wind down

• Having too much energy

• Obsessional thinking

• Constant negative thinking

• Feeling jumpy or on edge

• Feeling like people want to harm you or after you

• Delusions (fixed beliefs with no basis in reality)

• Hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not actually there)

• Memory problems

• Disjointed, rushing thoughts

• Hyperactivity, poor concentration and attention

• Agitation, violence, or emotional outbursts

• Out of control drug or alcohol use

• Problem gaming, gambling, or other addictive behaviors

• Insomnia or other sleep problems

• Problems around body image, dieting or eating

• Conditions that begins in childhood, such as childhood anxiety, intellectual disability, and autism.

Mental health conditions that may be diagnosed and treated in psychiatry consultations are as follows:

• Anxiety

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

• Depression and bipolar disorder

• Phobias

• Personality disorders

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• Paranoia and schizophrenia

• Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

• Sleep disorders, such as insomnia

• Eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia

• Addictions, such as alcohol and drug misuse.

Psychiatry consultation is usually needed for people with long-term, terminal, or painful physical health conditions to provide psychological support as well.