Googling ‘Psychiatrist Near Me’ may be one of the biggest challenge for an individual. There are more negative forces which deter us from googling ‘Psychiatrist Near Me‘, even if that’s the most appropriate contextual option. Beautifully described by Hampton :
- If you have idea of self harm or others… see a psychiatrist.
- Compromised functionality (i.e. eat, sleep, work, play)… see a psychiatrist.
- Overwhelming and chaos in mind… see a psychiatrist.
- If you have a mental health issue… see a psychiatrist.
Dr Saral from Kansas writes:
- A mood related problem which is endogenous (unrelated to environment or events around you!). It is when everything else is going right but still persistent and pervasive mood issues .
- If you have a psychotic illness or you have some mental illness that fall on psychosis group. In case of lack of insight, one may need assistance for management.
- Any form of addictions.
- Any form of anxiety in severe intensity range, suicide attempts and organic behavioral disorders.
In this digital era, to find a psychiatrist is easy. Just googling “Psychiatrist Near Me ‘ will solve the purpose. You will get a list of Psychiatrist Near Me (/you) in less than a second. Either online/offline.
Why people do not google “Psychiatrist Near Me’?
Stigma:
Mental Health is highly stigmatized. People have a very negative opinion about it. People with mental illness have long experienced prejudice and discrimination. But other than public stigma (most prominent form: represents the prejudice and discrimination directed at a group by the larger population), Self-stigma also occurs when people internalize these public attitudes and suffer numerous negative consequences as a result. Due to stigma, people decide not to take professional help and avoid the search “Psychiatrist Near Me”. Media stereotypes and Lack of education are most often responsible for the stigma.
Cost:
Many people feel spending on Talk Therapy as waste of money. People often feel or told that a friends advise will benefit them and that’s absolutely free. But, lack of professional approach and lack of neutrality makes them poorer supporter. Moreover , a friendly advise is seldom practiced. Remember “There is no free lunch”!
Lack of acceptance:
People often do not accept having Mental disorder. They often try to find/blame some or other reasons and locus of condition is kept out. So, they do not consider issue as psychiatric and they keep themselves away from googling ‘Psychiatrist Near Me’.
Lack of Awareness:
I am a practicising psychiatrist in delhi, and often find in the national capital of india, people delay their treatment or search on google for “Psychiatrist Near Me” due to lack of awareness that where should they go to see their mental disorders. People tend to go to primary care physicians , who often themselves are not much exposed to Psychiatry training during MBBS curriculam. Quakery is rampanrt in India, specially in villages, where often people are shunned down by the MixoPaths.
Lack of professionals :
In a coutry around 1.4 billion people there are odd 5000 practising psychiatrist, people themselves at times do not find an effective result for ‘Psychiatrist Near Me’.
Following popular beliefs than scientific information:
A common popular belief is that seeing a psychiatrist or taking treatment is a bad thing. Medications are discussed more in bad light and the golden time from disorder onset to treatment initiation increases. Some one or other will come , with their “expert” advice to not to google ‘Psychiatrist Near Me’ or to start treatment.
Trying Pseudoscience before Science:
People start with all kind of so called pseudo scientific treatments before going for actual scientific treatment. Tey will spend a lot of time and money and report some relief due to placebo and reassurance effect. Later when situation starts deteriorating, they do google search “Psychiatrist Near Me”
Considering evil spirits influence:
Many people , specially with psychosis, consider their issues as the effect of evil spirit. The symptoms are so bizarre, they feel its some kind of super natural activity. They prefer to search a ” taantrik baba‘ than “Psychiatrist near me”.
As a professional Psychiatrist, my suggestion is that you must analyze your reason to avoid taking professional help.