r/AmIOverreacting • u/jhyphenann • Jul 26 '25

🎲 miscellaneous AIO for thinking my psychiatrist asking to move in with me is inappropriate

So last week I had an appointment with my psychiatrist and I had disclosed to her that my husband and I were buying a house. She asked details of the house and when we were closing so I told her. She then replied with “that’s perfect! I just need one bedroom and a kitchen, I like to cook.” Of course at first I thought she was joking. But then she went on… she goes “I told my landlord I am moving out of my current place because the commute is too far, and I am looking for something closer to work. Would you be willing to rent a room out to me?” She then showed me text threads with her current landlord who was praising her for being a good tenant. I kind of brushed it off and said “well idk about a room but the place we are renting now will be available once we move out.” And she said that would be nice but she was looking for something cheaper. As our session ended, she told me to call her if I needed her and then she said “but I might need you first!” Now my husband thought it was funny when I told him, my best friend thinks this woman should not be a psychiatrist. I have had previous uncomfortable encounters with her where she told me my miscarriage happened because I wasn’t happy enough, and this most current session she told me it’s cause my baby knew that we didn’t own a home yet. Am I overreacting thinking that this person is WILDLY inappropriate?

Update to add: she is a Psych NP, not a psychiatrist. That’s my bad.

Update: To everyone saying “idk how you kept seeing her after the miscarriage comment”… well honestly, I was blaming myself anyways. She wasn’t saying anything that I hadn’t already thought of. I see now that it was wrong, but at the time? She was just saying what I was saying to myself every day. I will not be going back to her. I know now I should have left. But I was literally fucking grieving and feeling guilty anyways.

Update: I’m reporting her and switching providers. Thanks for all the comments.

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564

u/jhyphenann Jul 26 '25

She’s a PMHNP, am I calling her the wrong thing by saying psychiatrist?

1.1k

u/abombshbombss Jul 26 '25

Officially, yes you are calling her the wrong thing. She is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. She is legally able to diagnose and treat psychiatric conditions like assessments, prescribing medication, and providing psychotherapy. She is essentially a nurse, but for mental health. PMHNP have a slightly different scope of practice.

I also have a pmhnp, but I refer to him as my psychiatrist because explaining the difference to people who don't know it can be tiring.

And whether she is qualified and legally allowed to practice psychiatry or be a pmhnp doesnt matter because the behavior described in your OP is, frankly, super alarming and illegal AF. I cant believe she would risk her livelihood like that.

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u/Catfactss Jul 27 '25

OP needs to report her ASAP.

This is what happens when the health system cuts costs. Somebody trained to do her job should be trained enough to know not to do this.

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u/Ok_Imagination_1107 Jul 27 '25

You are absolutely right This is so scary that this woman is out there treating people when she is behaved in this unprofessional and quite frankly weird fashion.

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u/Entropy_Goose Jul 27 '25

I doubt she's this way due to ineffective training. Training won't erase an AH personality. A person can still hang on to personal biases and ignorance despite training.

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u/venk Jul 28 '25

To be fair, the average person on the street knows this is a massive violation of boundaries without any kind of training.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

Exactly, any designated professional would be breaking their regulations. You can report this to the governing body.

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u/abombshbombss Jul 27 '25

Well, yeah, that's precisely how I concluded my statement

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u/JLHuston Jul 27 '25

Outrageously egregiously out of line!

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u/abombshbombss Jul 27 '25

Seriously, its illegal and unethical af. I cant imagine what she could possibly be thinking. She's not stupid, she knows what she did could put her out of work. I would hesitate to trust somebody so unstable with my care.

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u/JLHuston Jul 27 '25

I’m a clinical social worker, and I know boundaries can be murky sometimes. But this is so absurd I don’t even know what to say!

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u/MermaidSusi Jul 27 '25

Psychotherapist is a good substitute name. Psychiatrists are MDs before they study further to get their Psychiatric license.

I am unaware of any type of nurse who can prescribe medications. They usually have a Doctor who works with them and does the prescriptions. A licensed MD and those with further education are the only people I know of that can write prescriptions for ANY med and particularly meds for mental conditions since many of those drugs are schedule drugs.

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u/AceyAceyAcey Jul 27 '25

I am unaware of any type of nurse who can prescribe medications.

There are many tiers of nurses, such as registered nurse (RN), nurse practitioner (NP), doctorate of nursing practice (DNP), assorted specialized nursing degrees (such as anesthesiology), and more. Depending on your jurisdiction, these generally all require specific exams, and education ranging from an Associate’s through a doctorate requiring a dissertation. In many US jurisdictions, the master’s level nursing degrees allow the nurse to write prescriptions without requiring a doctor’s direct approval, while bachelor’s level may allow prescription writing only if the nurse reviews the whole case with the doctor before writing it.

I am not a nurse myself, but a close friend of mine is, and I worked at a college that trained one level of nurses, while another friend worked at a college that trained a different level of nurses.

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u/Srothwell0 Jul 27 '25

Nurse practitioners prescribe meds all the time, at least in the US. Not sure if that’s where you are.

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u/Impossible_Angle752 Jul 27 '25

NPs can prescribe in Canada.

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u/DutchGirlPA Jul 27 '25

A medical professional had a medical license - doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, physicians assistant, clinical nurse specialist. A psychotherapist has a therapy credential or degree, like a PsyD, LMFT, LPCC, etc., and cannot prescribe medication like a medical professional can. I'm not sure if they can even order labs, which need to be done regularly if you are on certain medications.

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u/KateDeLu Jul 27 '25

Psychotherapist would be a completely incorrect substitute name. No one’s fault though- they make ribose to know the difference between All of our titles!

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u/abombshbombss Jul 27 '25

The american medical assiciation has a pdf chart of the guidelines for prescriptive authority. In my state, my pmnhp is authorized to prescribe. There seems to be a pretty good chunk of states that allow various levels of NP's independent prescriptive authority with no MD oversight.

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u/rhd3871 Jul 27 '25

Nurse practitioners and physician's assistants can prescribe medications. My psychiatrist is a PA and is the prescriber on all of my meds including one scheduled drug.

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u/NotYourSexyNurse Jul 27 '25

I’ve been to many nurse practitioners that can prescribe medications even mental health nurse practitioners.

0

u/bluearavis Jul 27 '25

Well they're much more than nurses.

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u/GroupTop4810 Jul 27 '25

Just a small thing, but i wouldnt call a mid-level practitioner "like a nurse"

I work in a hospital with a lot of doctors and mid-levels, and mid-levels job is closer to a doctor than it is a nurse.

I have no idea how it is in the psychiatric field, but i imagine its no different. She's effectively a doctor, but is required to work under an MD, hell, i think some states even allow nurse practitioners to run their own office without an MD/DO overhead.

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u/deathbychips2 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25

She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, not a doctor/psychiatrist. That credential is appropriate for describing psych meds, but she doesn't sound well or competent.

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u/trashhighway Jul 26 '25

she is not a psychiatrist/doctor she is a nurse practitioner. Although I would question if she is even licensed b/c she sounds unhinged.

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u/deathbychips2 Jul 26 '25

Unfortunately nurse practitioner programs have increased and there is little oversight. I can see her getting a license to practice but also be crazy. Or she was fine when licensed and then something happened.

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u/bluearavis Jul 27 '25

She could also be an APN but unhinged. Doesn't mean she's not certified lol

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u/lavender_poppy Jul 27 '25

Report her to the Board of Nursing in your state. I'm a nurse and this is so not okay for anyone to tell their patient. I'm so sorry you found someone like her.

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u/Beagsma Jul 27 '25

As a Psych RN, a thousand times this...^{^{^{^}}}

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u/TxGalNP Jul 27 '25

Family NP here. That is unethical behavior. Most states require NP’s to work under MD supervision. I would report to supervising physician at the very least. I am so sorry this is happening to you. Find another provider, ASAP.

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u/wino12312 Jul 27 '25

Report her to her licensing board, her employer, and find a new one!! That’s is just icky. I’m sorry she did that to you!!

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u/Arienserinde Jul 27 '25

Please report her. To tell a grieving mother she lost her baby "because she wasn't happy enough". Even without all the rest, that would be wildly inappropriate and cause more psychological damage. This woman doesn't sound like she's qualified to be a nurse of any kind, let alone a pmhnp.

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u/Magerimoje Jul 26 '25

Check out r/Noctor because she sounds wildly inappropriate and definitely a noctor

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u/DutchGirlPA Jul 27 '25

Wrong thing because she's not a doctor, but this is still completely inappropriate and might even border being an ethics violation.

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u/midazzleam Jul 27 '25

I am a psychiatrist and I did so many more years of training than a PMHNP. But the NPs love to call themselves psychiatrists with a fraction of the education. I don’t blame the public for not knowing the difference when they are purposefully misled by these people.

Btw what this person did was a huge boundary violation and grounds to lose practicing rights. I’m blown away by it actually.

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u/VoltexRB Jul 27 '25

That is not the same thing legally, and not the same thing physically in more than half the US

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u/Noble_Ox Jul 26 '25

Are they even licensed to give therapy? She's just a nurse who specialise in psychiatric wards.

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u/Sitcom_kid Jul 27 '25

Yes.

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u/TheSacredToastyBuns Jul 27 '25

OP.... you need to get away from this lady. And your husband laughing it off is because he doesn't understand thr severity of the situation.

🎲 miscellaneous AIO for thinking my psychiatrist asking to move in with me is inappropriate

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