“ Not every one will under stand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.”
The Psychiatrist is a medical specialist who can provide integrated medical intervention from medication, psychotherapy and self management strategies to enable whole personal healing. As a psychiatrist, Dr Kataria can help you recover not just the symptoms but also overcome the predicament you are in, and ultimately gain psychological insight and psychological growth as you recover.
Dr. Kataria brings extensive clinical experience in the management of depression and other mood disorders, panic disorder, OCD and generalised anxiety and social anxiety disorder.
Neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and Autism usually present with comorbid diverse psychological symptoms. Assessment and management of these disorders is important to achieve full recovery and enhance overall quality of life.
Working with younger adults is my passion as it is extremely rewarding to help at this crucial life stage in order to help them understand their predicament. Timely intervention can positively change their life trajectory hence getting good outcome as they explore further life challenges associated with their vocation, relationship and parenting.
Dr Kataria is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrist, and a member of AHDH network.
Understanding your Treatment
“Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts your life will start to change”
Psychological disorders affect the person physiologically, functionally, emotionally, and thinking. Untreated or poorly treated psychological conditions not only affect subject’s sense of self but also has an overarching impact on their relationships, and families. This also offers an opportunity to stop the intergenerational transfer of long standing inadequate and dysfunctional coping styles. Therefore, the effective treatment also needs to be a composite of medications (if needed), psychotherapy, and practical techniques of self-management.
Medications
The challenge is in choosing medications with the least side effects to the individual, chiefly avoiding weight gain, lethargy or sexual side effects, as patients often need to take them for several months or longer to prevent recurrences.
The aim is to reach complete remission as soon as possible, and at times, achieving this requires not just pushing the dose higher, but the strategic use of augmenting agents. We are all different individuals with different responses, side effect vulnerabilities and this is where the specialists’ expertise is critical in selecting the quickest, effective choices with the least side effects to match the individual.
Practical self-management techniques
These are practical strategies that provide important relief when symptoms strike acutely, and thus empower the patient in mastering control over their symptoms. Techniques to help manage panic attacks, avoidance, loss of motivation, inattention, and insomnia.
Working collaboratively with the patient, effective coping habits are also developed to overcome stress whether they are from work, relationship, or avoidance.
Moreover, establishing healthy routines is now essential as we become increasingly isolated under Covid restrictions.
Psychotherapy
My role is to assist the patient develop better self-awareness, self-regard, and determine who they are, what are important in their life. These may differ from what others expect of them, and require courage and creativity to explore. It’s important to avoid imposing proscriptive dogmas, instead, facilitate the patient to crystallise these answers to resolve inner conflict.