"They scheduled me with a psychiatrist."

Find out which kind it is first

A treating psychiatrist or psychologist is providing care, which you are entitled to under § 4600 where a psychiatric injury is part of the claim. How to get it.

A medical-legal evaluator — a QME or AME in psychiatry or psychology — is not treating you. They are producing a report for the case. The distinction is not always explained, and it changes how you should think about the appointment.

Ask the office directly: "Is this a treating appointment or a medical-legal evaluation?" They will tell you.

What a psychiatric evaluation involves

A long interview, often two to four hours — considerably longer than a physical exam.

Written psychological testing. Standardized instruments, some of which include validity scales designed to detect exaggeration. Answer them honestly and consistently. Attempting to look worse than you are is detected by the instrument and it destroys the report.

A detailed personal history — childhood, relationships, prior treatment, substance use, legal history. It feels intrusive because it is, and it is standard.

And questions about your work history and the events at issue.

What to do

Be honest about bad days and good days. Someone who describes unremitting catastrophe is contradicted by any ordinary Tuesday. Someone who describes variability is not contradicted by anything.

Say what changed. Not "I'm depressed" — "I used to coach my daughter's team and I stopped in March. I sleep four hours. I have not driven on the freeway since the accident." Specific changes in function are what a report is built from.

Do not minimize. People understate psychiatric symptoms out of embarrassment, and the report reflects the understatement.

Mention every prior stressor truthfully. A prior divorce or bereavement does not defeat the claim — the standard under § 3208.3 asks whether actual events of employment were the predominant cause, and predominant means more than half, not all. Hiding a prior stressor that is in your records is far more damaging than the stressor itself.

Ask for an interpreter if you need one. Free, and your right. In a psychiatric evaluation this matters more than anywhere else — nuance is the entire content of the examination. How to get one.