Can a regular g.p treat paranoia

[Wendyyyd]

Can a regular g.p (general doctor) provide a diagnosis and prescribe antipsychotics medication for Paranoia? Thank you

[specialmom]

Hi Wendyyy.  Well, they 'can' and sometimes it works out alright. Although the more complex a situation with a patient, the more difficult it is for them to give the best treatment and often it is a multi professional team that gives the most benefit.  How are things going?  I hope you are doing alright.

[Paxiled]

Can he or should he is the real question.  First, paranoia isn't really a disease.  While there is a disorder that has that word in it, it's really just another form of anxiety disorder.  True paranoia is a part of having a psychosis; it is a symptom, not the disease itself, in other words.  Most people use that term in its non-medical sense, to mean extreme fear of something, but in a medical sense it would normally include delusions included in a diagnosis of schizophrenia.  So if your GP gave you antipsychotics for something called Paranoia, no, I probably wouldn't got back to that doctor for anything because he got the name of the illness wrong.  Now again, there is a disorder within the anxiety framework that uses the word paranoia, but whether that is treated with antipsychotics or antidepressants or antianxiolitics I really don't know, but it isn't just called Paranoia.  There has been debate on these forums about whether a GP is qualified to treat any mental illness.  While no doubt some are, some have done a residency in psychiatry, the vast majority have virtually no education in medical school in psychology or have the amount of experience in managing the medications used for mental illness that psychiatrists have.  Clearly, some GPs are good at this and many psychiatrists are terrible at it, but whenever advice is offered on who to see for any medical or dental problem the advice always is, see the person who does the procedure the most often as they will just have the most experience with it.  You want a root canal, you can get it from a dentist, but if you see an endodontist your chances of lasting success are statistically higher because that's all they do.  Dentists do a whole lot of things and so aren't necessarily great at any of them.  Same with GPs -- they do everything, and nobody is great at everything.  Again, this is a generalization, but if your doc told you you're suffering with Paranoia, when you're either suffering from a severe anxiety disorder or schizophrenia, then you might have reason for concern.  The other problem is managing the medication -- these meds are hard to take and hard to stop taking.  Antipsychotics are harder to take than antidepressants.  Side effects are different.  The intensity of effect on the brain are different.  Different medications are used for the same conditions, and experimentation is usually necessary, and dosages must be altered as well as you progress or don't progress.  Stopping takes care, and must be done carefully.  If you believe you need medication, if your life is that disrupted, yes, a GP can diagnose and can prescribe.  It's your choice if you want to do that, see a psychologist first for a diagnosis by someone who doesn't prescribe meds but has the longest course of training in emotional illness, or see a psychiatrist, who will have the most training in the meds used for that.  It's up to you.