do doctors(surgeons) know about psychology too?

Question

when people tell others to see a doctor in this section, do they mean to see a regular doctor or a doctorate psychiatrist?
and also do doctors with nothing to do with psychology, such as surgeons, know a lot about mental illnesses?

doctors focus mostly on the physical problems, don't they?

Answer 1

When people say to see a doctor, I would bet that they mean seeing your primary or family physician. General doctors should be able to recognize most common mental illnesses, and refer people to psychiatrists. Also, I think it is wise to see your doctor before you see a psychiatrist, because the symptoms may have other non-mental causes, such as medication side effects or chronic conditions that make them feel depressed.

As for surgeons, they don't need to know much about mental illness to do their job, because their job is operating on people. They had to learn about mental illness in medical school, but they will have no hands on experience.

Answer 2

Doctors/Surgeons know enough about psychology to be considered better than a layman but they're not specialists like psychologists/psychiatrists.

Depending on the illness, people usually mean a specialist in the area or a family physician.

For ex, if a person had joint pains, he/she would first be recommended to visit a family physician or a chiropractor. If a person had UTIs, a doctor in this case is a physician/urologist. You may bypass the family physician and visit a specialist - However most insurances require a physician's referral to visit a specialist and most people's first line of contact is family physician since family doctors tend to have a more holistic approach.

If you're referring to family physicians, yes, they focus on the physical aspects mostly. If you mean doctors in general, then psychologists/psychiatrists deal with the mental aspects of health.

Answer 3

No, medical doctors (unless they are psychiatrists) do not know much about psychology unless they have a personal interest in learning it during their free time. The medical school curriculum covers very little psychology. So, when someone on Answers says, "see a doctor" they are referring (generally) to a psychiatrist (medical doctor) or a psychologist (PHD in psychology). Often times, though, you need to go to a general medical doctor to get a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist.
Good Luck

Answer 4

They have a better understanding than the average joe. They're all required to take classes. But it's like a regular doctor has like 20 hours worth of psychological training where a psychiatrist has like 200, type of situation.

Answer 5

Some family docs handle alot of psychological issues. When I first started my meds for Depression, I went thru my family doc mainly because he new that I couldnt afford a psychologist and secondly because he new ME and I new HIM. Its more of a comfort thing when you are first dealing with this. The more comfortable you are, the better you will heal. I think to answer your question, it's more up to the person who is going thru the problems. What are they comfortable with?
P.s. I dont know if surgeons no anything about psychology.

Answer 6

The time is passed when one doctor did it all. The medical people need to be protected from malpractice suits so they all specialize and become more careful about getting sued.

Answer 7

Yes. They take classes as part of their curriculum