“Am I a psychopath?” “The difference between psychosis and psychopathy?” , “How do I find the right psychiatrist?” I often get asked similar questions, so, based on my understanding, I’ve been trying to write a little something to clear up the confusion. First, psychosis and neurosis: both terms have some sort of pejorative overtones and are more colloquial. Psychosis (psychosis): generally refers to heavy mental disorders in general, such as schizophrenia, etc.; often the cause of the disease is unknown, and need to be treated with antipsychotic drugs; Neuropathy: the original meaning is neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, brain tumors and so on. But it is more often used to insult people. It should be noted here that what was previously thought to be a psychiatric disorder becomes a neurological disorder once the etiology is determined, such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, etc., but there is also a crossover between the two. Neurosis: a group of disorders characterized by anxiety and depression, insomnia and somatic symptoms. Now gradually replaced by terms such as anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, depressive disorders, scenery. Second, mental illness and mental disorder: mental illness (mental disease): general reference to mental mental illness, this usage is not rigorous enough, because disease generally refers to the etiology of the disease is more clear, and the etiology of mental mental illness is not known, so this statement is the legacy of history, and often with mental disorders generic; mental disorder (mental disorder): Or mental disorder, just two translations, was originally the same meaning. But in the minds of Chinese people will have different expectations. It is believed that mental disorders are more serious and psychological disorders are less serious. This is just a general avoidance of the public. disorder is a more rigorous word, the etiology of the problem is unknown to use this word, that is, disorder. Third, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, psychological counselors Psychiatrists (psychiatry): generally refers to a medical background, to receive a systematic formal education in clinical medicine, with the right to prescribe, similar to the role and positioning of the internist, biomedical field, more inclined to believe that mental disorders is a neurological or brain pathology, more often treated with drugs, less often used a sociological and psychological perspective to understand the mental disorders. adopting sociological and psychological perspectives to understand, diagnose and treat mental disorders. Generally work in psychiatric hospitals and general hospital psychology departments. They are sometimes called psychologists. Psychologists (clinical psychologist, psychotherapist): or known as clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, generally for the psychological background, to receive a systematic education in psychology, favoring the social and psychological field, more inclined to philosophical, social and psychological point of view to understand the mental disorders, do not have the right to prescribe, and more often use psychological counseling or psychotherapy to help patients. They do not have the right to prescribe, and more often use psychological counseling or psychotherapy to help patients, so these people are not doctors in the strict sense of the word. Psychological counselor: a social profession certified from the Ministry of Labor, trained in psychology, the source is more complex, the level is still uneven, the acceptance and trust in the general public is not enough, the future still needs to be standardized and grow. Anxiety disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, depressive disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder: these terms co-exist generically, and may be gradually replaced by “disorder” in the future. V. Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurology: generally located in psychiatric hospitals, drug treatment-based, for heavy mental disorders, called psychiatry; for anxiety and depression, characterized by psychotherapy, called clinical psychology; generally located in general hospitals, drug treatment-based, or highlighting psychotherapy, or not highlighting psychotherapy, for anxiety and depression, called psychiatry Generally located in general hospitals, the etiology of the disease position is relatively clear, to surgery or drugs as the main means of treatment, known as the Department of Neurology; most of the patients with anxiety and depression are more inclined to first consult the Department of Neurology, to receive medication; six, can provide psychotherapy services to the population: 1, psychiatrists: this professional positioning requires that the psychiatrists should be a multi-faceted, can not be “depraved “for neurologists or surgeons, will only prescribe drugs or electric shock, do not understand psychotherapy. The training and education of psychiatrists in the United States is more standardized and comprehensive. Although many psychiatrists in the United States do not personally do psychotherapy, they have received systematic training and know how to do psychotherapy. Of course, some American psychiatrists also do psychotherapy themselves and often become leaders and pioneers in the field of psychotherapy. In China, the training of psychiatrists is copied from the training of internists, and psychotherapy training is not emphasized. Therefore, most Chinese psychiatrists strive to become a “pure” doctor in order to achieve a better social status. Because psychiatrists earn the lowest income among Chinese doctors, they do not have a high social status among their peers and are somewhat marginalized (in fact, psychiatrists are marginalized doctors, they just don’t want to admit it). There are many psychiatrists who have changed careers or resigned, and the psychiatric workforce is always weak. Only a very small part of psychiatrists are unwilling to “sink”, unwilling to retreat, unwilling to flee, and strive to jump out of the biomedical “pit”, and more want to solve the clinical problems encountered, take the initiative to study philosophy, sociology, psychology, the practice of psychotherapy, to provide patients with urgent needs with a systematic approach to the treatment of psychiatric problems. They have taken the initiative to study philosophy, sociology, and psychology, and to practice psychotherapy, providing systematic and formalized psychotherapy to patients in urgent need. Sadly, this tiny fraction, estimated to be less than 5% by visual inspection, is a small probability. Happily, this group will gradually grow in the future, especially in tertiary hospitals in large cities. 2, psychotherapist: in specialized hospitals, this part of the population may often be medical background, nursing background, psychological background, or any other background, and so on, more marginalized than psychiatrists, but only as a psychiatric hospitals and the existence of a title. Happily, there are more and more psychotherapists with psychology backgrounds growing up, albeit with difficulty. Because their access to patients, the degree of participation in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, as well as the enthusiasm of the work, the hospital’s attention to them, etc., are far from enough. 3, psychological counselor: is a social profession from the Ministry of Labor certification, received training in psychology, the source is more complex, the level is still uneven, in the social struggle and difficult to survive, it is difficult to enter the mainstream medical field and be recognized. Their acceptance and trust among the general public is still insufficient, and they still need to be standardized and grow in the future. Happily, they are also growing with difficulty and moving forward while groping. The newly enacted mental health law also places many restrictions on them, which makes sense, but also requires more tolerance. 4, psychologists: working in universities, research institutes of the Department of Psychology, generally for the university teachers, with a deep background in psychology education, but only a very small part may specialize in the direction of psychotherapy, can be called clinical psychologists, they are more inclined to psychological theory and thinking to understand mental disorders, with a certain depth. However, the shortcoming is that they do not have much contact with patients and may be limited to patients with milder conditions. It is hoped that psychologists and psychiatrists should have more collision of ideas, which will promote the development of psychotherapy and deepen the degree of specialization. The above, only represents my personal opinion, some may be just intuition, and no data to support, there may be fallacies.