re: Just made my first psychiatric appointment

As a person who has dealt with substance abuse issues with over 6 years clean now, I'd have to agree with some of the other posters here. I believe instead of calling a psychiatrist first, you should contact an inpatient rehab, or an intensive outpatient (IOP) facility first. The inpatient would mainly be if you need to detox or need a higher level of care and just need to get away from everything for a little bit. The IOP is close to inpatient, as far as groups and stuff would go, but it's usually for people who don't need to detox or for people to continue a high level of care when they get out of inpatient.

Once you get into one of those places, they will usually have their own psychiatrist on staff for you to see, or will evaluate you to see if you even need one. Some psychiatrist also deal with addiction, as often times with addiction, there will be a dual diagnosis (addiction and mental health). The only issue is, most psychiatrist will usually just put you on meds instead of really getting to the root of the problem, or at least as successfully as the other places will be able to. And I'm not saying you won't have a good psychiatrist, but it's often a factor of time and needing a greater level of care.

Regardless, you're on the right track and the most important thing is you've admitted to yourself you need help and are now seeking it.

I just thought I'd share from my own personal experience. Good luck man, it'll be hard but it can definitely be done. One thing I've learned, is if you have a setback, reach out and don't let it spiral out of control. Just know you definitely have someone pulling for you over here.