Are you willing to visit a psychiatrist to get a treatment plan for depression, anxiety, or any other mental health issue but can’t go to the clinic due to mobility issues or a busy schedule?  Maybe you just prefer the convenience of seeing a board certified physician via a video conference.

Using telemedicine psychiatry, you can see an online psychiatrist in Texas that allows you to get the best treatment from the comfort of your home without having to disturb your schedule.

In this article, we’ll highlight a few important things you must keep in mind when choosing a telepsychiatrist in Texas.

With telepsychiatry, you can easily find the best online therapy for certain conditions including Psychological Testing and Evaluation, Clinical Psychiatry, Cognitive Therapy, Geriatric Psychiatry, and Child Psychiatry.

​

Hopefully, you’ve learned all the important benefits of working with a psychiatrist online. Now, let’s take a look at the tips you may follow when choosing your Online Psychiatrist in Texas.

Choose at least 3 psychiatrists
Many psychiatrists are now providing their services online. So, you can easily choose the 3 best psychiatrists from the list of psychiatrists that are providing services online. Now, you need to prepare a chart where you can compare the services of these psychiatrists to choose the best professional for your needs.

You can add certain elements to this chart such as response time, skills,  experience, location, and cost. Based on the data you collect, you can decide which psychiatrist is best for your needs.

Ask them for Certifications
When you get in touch with the psychiatrists, you can research their certifications. You may need a general psychiatrist, or one that is certified in a specialty that you need.

Experience
Experience is another important factor you must consider when choosing a Texas online psychiatrist. Usually, people prefer choosing the most experienced psychiatrist from the list. But, with experience often comes increased cost. We recommend working with a psychiatrist that has at least two years of experience.

Reviews
You may also take help from reviews of the patients that have worked with these psychiatrists before. These reviews give a clear picture of how well the psychiatrist can solve your problem. However, you need to make sure that you’re choosing a psychiatrist from a reputable platform with real reviews.

Location
Although you’re choosing a psychiatrist online, we recommend considering choosing a person that is located near you. Thus, you’d easily be able to visit their clinic if the need arises.

Cost
The cost of each session also helps with deciding which psychiatrist is best for your needs. The benefit of working with an online psychiatrist is that they can sometimes have lower costs compared to traditional ones near your home. 

Conclusion
Working with an online psychiatrist is a bit different than online shopping because you’re supposed to trust someone with your health. Therefore, we’ve shared a detailed guide you may follow when choosing an online psychiatrist Texas. We’ve also shared the benefits you’d get while working with an online psychiatrist. We can help you if you’re still confused about finding a psychiatrist online. Please call and let us know how we can help you.

​

​Social anxiety is something that all of us have experienced at one point in life. It is the feeling of being uncomfortable or nervous in a social situation. 
However, when the nervousness becomes severe in intensity or occurs too frequently, it can affect your ability to interact with others and it can influence your social behavior negatively. Social anxiety can also create an adverse impact on your self-esteem and self-confidence. 
Hence, it is important to be aware of what social anxiety means and why it occurs so that you can take appropriate steps to avoid it. 

Patients who suffer from social anxiety often prefer to avoid any social events. Things usually considered “normal” by others such as making eye contact and small talk make them uncomfortable. They also tend to flush or feel physically anxious in the presence of others, especially strangers or people they feel intimidated by.
Some other symptoms of social anxiety include:

• Rapid heartbeat
• Trembling of hands
• Increased sweating
• Shaky voice
• Dizziness
• Muscle tension
• Inability to your catch breath
• Stomach upset

​Each person with social anxiety experiences difficulties in interacting with others, but in different ways.
Here are some common situations in which you may have trouble:

• Speaking at public events
• Talking to strangers
• Going to parties
• Starting conversations
• Entering a room, especially when a number of people are already present
• Dating
• Going to school or work
• Making eye contact while talking
• Eating in front of other people

Not all of these situations cause discomfort in patients with social anxiety. For example; some people may be able to give a speech with confidence but going to a party seems like a nightmare to them. [1]
The symptoms and characteristics each patient experiences varies depending on their past experiences - both pleasant and unpleasant. [2]
For example, if they have bitter memories of how they were bullied at school, they may fear facing similar situations while at the workplace. This may lead to social anxiety that becomes worse while in meetings or giving a presentation.
On the other hand, if they have received praise for their talent and capabilities to make a presentation, they may not develop anxiety at the workplace. 

In most cases, the socially anxious people have reasons, usually an unpleasant event they have experienced, for dreading certain situations. [3]
However, in general, it is the overwhelming fear and anxiety of:

• Being humiliated and embarrassed
• Being judged by others
• Being the center of attention
  
• Offending someone accidentally

Social anxiety can compel you to avoid situations that people usually consider “normal”. This can prevent you from enjoying your life and create a sense of hopelessness.
Avoiding most or all social situations may even affect your personal relationships. Over a period of time, it can also lead to:

• Poor social skills
• Low self-esteem
• Increased sensitivity to criticism
• Depression

Hence, it is important to seek proper treatment in order to avoid the impact of social anxiety on your life. [4]

​In Conclusion, It is possible to control the symptoms of social anxiety by seeking appropriate treatment including counseling and behavioral therapy. The use of medications may be recommended in severe cases of social anxiety to help a person feel at ease.

References:

1. https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-social-anxiety-disorder#1
2. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/social-anxiety-disorder-more-than-just-shyness/index.shtml
3. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder
4. https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-social-anxiety-disorder#2

​

The profession of psychiatry has a bit of an aura of mystery around it. What do the men and women of this profession actually do every day?

Psychiatrists first train as medical doctors, although their work involves human thinking, emotions, and behavior. The fact that psychiatrists work with these less tangible areas of human experiences perhaps makes their work seem more mysterious than a regular medical doctor dealing with a physical disease state.

Scientific discoveries in recent decades have broadened our understanding of mental health disorders, and we now know that thought, emotion, and behavior are rooted in the processes of the brain and nervous system. Disorders of thought, emotion, and behavior can often be treated with medications and a broad range of other psychotherapy treatment options.

In essence, a psychiatrist’s job is to evaluate people for mental disorders, offer a diagnosis, and set out a treatment or management plan for the patient’s benefit. In some cases, treatment means a total recovery from the problem. For others, effective management of symptoms is the goal in psychiatric care.

Because of their medical training, psychiatrists can utilize all types of medical tests and lab work to rule out physical diseases as the cause of the patient’s symptoms, and they can prescribe medications.
​
A psychiatrist’s advanced training in genetics and their understanding of family medical history allows them to provide a comprehensive evaluation of all factors involved in a patient’s condition. 
​

Psychiatrists work in private practices, mental health clinics, hospitals, prisons and rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and research settings at universities and in industries. Many also practice online psychiatry and see patients through a phone or computer. A psychiatrist’s daily work depends on where they work.

However, most psychiatrists have regular appointments with clients, whether they are in an out-patient office or an institutional location. Psychiatrists evaluate new patients to determine their condition and to make a diagnosis.

The evaluation may require medical tests like blood tests, x-rays, or cat-scans to see if a physical disease such as a brain tumor or neurological disorder underlies the person’s mental health symptoms.

A person whose mental health problems are arising from a physical disease may still need the help of a psychiatrist. For example, people with severe, chronic conditions often need medications for anxiety and depression, and prescribing and monitoring the use of these medications is one job of a psychiatrist.

When psychiatrists use medications to treat mental conditions, a psychiatrist’s job includes regularly monitoring the patient’s response to the drug and changing the prescription as the person’s symptoms improve or in response to side-effects.

Psychiatrists and their patients must work closely together to understand a medication’s effect on that person. The risks, benefits, side-effects, and outcomes require on-going evaluations by both the patient and the psychiatrist.

Besides prescribing medication, many psychiatrists also offer patients psychotherapy counseling and other forms of treatment, such as behavior modification, EMDR therapy, and desensitization therapy for phobias.
​
People who make the best psychiatrists are those with a high degree of empathy and patience who are also good at listening and communicating compassionately to a broad range of people. 

Psychiatrist References:
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness
https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/psychiatrist/
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-psychiatry

A compassionate word to our community:
​
At the start of this global pandemic, I think most of us believed that social isolation and the virus would be short-term issues.  I had hoped that during this intermission from normal that I would quickly adapt, but with each passing week I am still surprised that we are facing the same social burdens as 4+ months ago.  Tomball and Harris County remain Covid-19 hotspots despite many adjustments.  As a nation, I hope we are moving back toward the road to normal.
 
The well-being of our patients is at the forefront of our thoughts and prayers as we battle this relatively new threat.  While the virus physically effects the body of those infected, the mental health toll continues to weigh on us all.  We are all attempting to manage change, social isolation, economic unrest, and other unique challenges to our mental health.  As a diverse community, there is no one healthy way to handle all of these changes.  As an individual, it is important to reflect on our emotions to determine how we are managing the isolation and associated frustrations. 
 
 
Rest assured that Your Family Psychiatrist is available to you during this crisis.  We continue to offer psychiatric and counseling services to patients via online appointments, and we hope to offer in-person services electively soon.  We encourage our patients to make use of our confidential and accessible options now rather than delay treatment.  If you are struggling during these unfamiliar conditions, please reach out to us at 281-849-4080.

For a person battling mental health issues, it can be difficult to talk to a psychiatrist in spite of knowing they can help  overcome stressful situations.

You may develop anxiety before meeting a psychiatrist and feel confused or unclear about what exactly you should discuss. You may also feel wary of discussing your personal life or any unpleasant events related to your past or present. As an anxiety doctor in Houston, I know that your hesitation or anxiety may create a kind of barrier between you and your psychiatrist thus taking it longer for you to recover. It will surely help to know some tips on how to talk to your psychiatrist so that you can receive the best treatment.

If you are planning to visit a psychiatrist or are already seeking treatment for mental health issues, read on to know the right way to discuss your concerns with your doctor.
​

• Prepare for the appointment

Before each appointment, prepare in advance the points you want to discuss. You can write down how you feel, the times you felt good or bad, and the possible factors or situations that increased your symptoms. [1]
This would help your psychiatrist offer effective suggestions to help you overcome your symptoms.

• Take your time

If you suffer from anxiety, you may not be quick to open up, especially during the first few visits. It's best to give yourself time to feel at ease while talking to your psychiatrist. [2]
You need not rush into discussing all that you feel. 

• Avoid hesitation

​You may feel nervous about discussing your personal life with your psychiatrist. The hesitation may lead you to hide some facts that could be crucial for your treatment. Remember that the events or experiences that hurt you the most could be responsible for your mental health issues. Hence, it is advisable to discuss your symptoms as well as past experiences with the psychiatrist to help him/her offer appropriate advice. [3]
However, if you feel any particular experience is too uncomfortable for you to share, you may avoid discussing it during the first visit. Over the next visits to the doctor, as you gain more confidence and start feeling comfortable, you can share the more painful experiences.

• Have an open mind

While discussing your concerns, be open to feedback and ideas that may be different from what you previously thought. Take your time to develop a bond so that you feel comfortable with the doctor. This will ensure you can discuss your concerns with an open mind and in a clear manner.

Conclusion

Your psychiatrist can provide you the strong bridge to cross from your current state of mental health to a happier state. You can follow the tips discussed above while talking to your psychiatrist. This will allow them to understand your concerns in a better way. It will also allow them to offer the best treatment to help you overcome your mental health issues more effectively.

If you are looking for a Texas Online Psychiatrist or a Psychiatrist in Houston, give us a call: 281-849-4080

References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21969650/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096184/
https://www.yourhealthinmind.org/psychiatry-explained/your-first-appointment
​