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Addiction is only caused by a certain class of drugs called benzodiazepines which are well-known anti-stress medications. These include drugs such as lorazepam, bromazepam, alprazolam and others. For obvious reasons, the trade names are not mentioned in this article, but these are commonly used drugs and your your doctor will definitely know the trade names they are marketed under. Certain sleeping tablets, such as zolpidem and zopiclone, which act on the same receptors in the brain as the above drugs are also addictive and are also prescribed by doctors of various specialties. NO other psychiatric medication is addictive, but this does not mean, of course, that they can be stopped immediately and without medical supervision. It is important to emphasise, however, that even the "heaviest" psychiatric drugs do not cause addiction and can be easily stopped when this is deemed necessary by your doctor.

Now let's go back and have a look at anti-stress medication (benzodiazepines) and sleeping tablets...

These drugs should be prescribed for as short a time as possible, and certainly not for more than a few weeks, until the appropriate drugs needed to treat the specific mental illness can be prescribed, such as e.g. antidepressants. People on relative small doses can also become addicted to these sleeping tablets if taking them for around 2 months, but addiction usually requires large doses which, of course, is not a rare phenomenon.

Alprazolam is one of the most commonly prescribed sleeping tablets, but happens to be one of the most addictive. In addition, it is also one of the most powerful benzodiazepines, i.e. one of the heaviest drugs of its kind, and it also has a very short half-life (i.e. short action). This, in turn, means that tolerance is easly established that the patient continually needs larger and larger doses to to have the same effect and eventually becomes addicted. Another negative is that, because it has a short duration of action, anxiety can reappear in a worse form. This phenomenon is more likely to occur more intesely in those who receive larger doses for longer periods of time and is known as "rebound anxiety" the international literature. This, of course, can also make someone's need for alprazolam more intense to "cure" the anxiety that it exacerbated and thus contributes to their addiction.

It is very difficult to come off this medicaation, and doing so requires regular psychiatric monitoring. Looking at how alprazolam doses relate to doses of other drugs: 0.5 mg of alprazolam corresponds to 5-6 mg of bromazepam (a drug used intermittently by most of the population). That is, if someone is taking 2 mg of alprazolam per day that is like them taking a giant 20-24 mg dose of bromazepam per day! This knowledge about the doses of these drugs has been available since the late 1980s. In recent decades, in addition to looking at Psychiatry books, anyone can find the relevant table by doing a simple internet search.

The same holds true for the sleeping tablets mentioned above, which also cause dependence and tolerance, with the result that after some time either the patient needs a larger dose to achieve the same effect, or after stopping them, the insomnia reappears in a more severe form form - a phenomenon referred to in the international literature as "rebound insomnia", i.e. insomnia that returns more severely after stopping the drug.

Today there is no reason to prescribe addictive drugs for insomnia, as psychiatrists can prescribe completely safe, effective and non-addictive medicines.

In principle, the main difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist that a psychiatrist is a doctor, and indeed the only specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. So the psychiatrist is the who can say with certainty, whether or not a psychological problem or particulat symptoms that a person is facing are part of a mental illness. A psychologist is a scientist who applies a psychological treatment, called psychotherapy.  Postgraduate training in one or more types of psychotherapy is usually required because this training is not provided in the psychology faculty at the University. The psychiatrist, as part of his specialty, must also have been trained in psychotherapy, but after the specialty he may or may not work with psychotherapy. Both are mental health professionals who should work together for the good of the patient.

Therefore, a psychiatrist who is should strengthen the therapeutic relationship that a patient has with a psychologist and recommend that he continue treatment, recommend psychotherapy when it is indicated, and also refer his patients for psychotherapy. Even if he practices psychotherapy, he should refer his patients to another psychiatrist or psychologist, since he himself does not practice and is not sufficiently trained in the type of psychotherapy that would be best for them.

The σωστός psychologist should also refer the patient for a psychiatric evaluation to rule out a serious mental disorder, but also to get a diagnosis and a treatment plan. All patients, whether they suffer from a physical or mental illness or simply have some symptoms, have the right to a diagnosis and a scientifically documented treatment plan drawn up a qualified physician. In our case, the diagnosis may often be a mild mental illness, the main treatment for which may be psychotherapy. At this point the right psychiatrist recommend that the patient continues psychotherapy with the therapist they are already seeing, as long as the wish to do so.

Choosing a psychotherapist (psychologist or psychiatrist) is a personal matter and it certainly has to do with what suits the patient as an individual. There  are many different "schools" of psychotherapy and it is not possible to say that one is better or worse than another, although in many cases individual patients will benefit more from a certain type of psychotherapy than from others.

A scientifically based psychiatric diagnosis and treatment plan is not a matter of personal choice or opinion. In these cases, when the psychiatrist is sufficiently informed and practices psychiatry according to the latest available scientific information, and always with the patient's best interests in mind, he must recommend the type of psychotherapy which is officially indicated internationally as therapy or adjunctive therapy for the mental illness from which his patients suffers, regardless of whether he practices it or not. In the event that this does not happen and either the patient has a mild mental illness or simply some psychological problems and there is no official indication for a specific type of psychotherapy, the psychiatrist must, as a doctor, recommend the type of psychotherapy that will help his patient the most, regardless of whether he or his partners provide that particular type of psychotherapy.

So, the conclusion is that when patient is referred by a psychiatrist to a psychologist or vice versa in the patient's best interest, and ONLY then, the mental health professional has nothing to fear. And, beyond the obvious benefit to the patient, this also works positively for the mental health professional as it strenghtens the patients' trust in him.

The answer to this question is "no, it is not always necessesary to see a psychologist". Someone with a mild mental health or psychological problem who does not have a mental illness, and has not managed to solve the problem on thier own, can find a solution through psychotherapy with a psychologist, without ever to see a psychiatrist, just as someone with a simple cough can get well without seeing a doctor. But in both cases, a visit to a specialist will rule out a more serious illness, either physical or mental, and will provide the help needed to deal with any such illness.

A psychiatrist is the ONLY medical specialist who has the necessary knowledge and experience to diagnose whether a patient's symptoms or psychological problems are part of a mild or severe mental illness, and is also the ONLY specialist able to formulate a safe, personalised and scientifically based treatment plan for each patient.

Everything is a matter of choice -  for the patient and also for the psychologist if the patient does have a mental health problem.

The patient makes choice concerning their health, which may turn out to be correct and as they did not need to go to a psychiatrist.  Also, many times the patent may be correct to go to a psychologist as they did not need a doctor. Here it is all a matter of cost-benefit, and since the cost in time and money of a visiting a psychiatrist is insignificant compared to the benefit for the patient, patients have nothing to fear from visiting the doctor. Not only can a patient and his family prevent the worst by doing this, but the patient’s life can be saved with a timely visit to a psychiatrist. In the same way, a psychologist can also have peace of mind by "transferring" responsibility to the psychiatrist for on case anything goes "wrong".