Dr. Richard Alexander Dickes, MD

I don't know how other psychiatrists are because he in the only one I ever saw but he definitely over prescribes medications. I am wondering if he gets funding from the drug companies that he prescribes for. I am going to give him a 2 or 3 which is more than fair because although he diagnosed my situation somewhat accurately and i was cured he took a long round about way to get there. I kept challenging on his types of medications and dosages he was prescribing and would refer to a book and journal to back up my points but he would just say "who are you going trust me or a book." The truthful answer was A Book! This was in 1991 long before the internet. Long story short I was cured but I was on a very severe and strong medication for 6 months that made me like a zombie. I stopped taking it on my own after I couldn't stand it anymore. After I stopped taking it I was perfectly fine. He wanted to just perpetuate the over medication a lot longer. I stopped taking it and told him I was… fine and would not be seeing him anymore.

Dr. Dickes treated me for about 3 years. He worked with me to find the perfect combination of medicines that would ultimately help me. He’s an older doctor, so typing isn’t quite his strong suit, but nevertheless, appointments rarely lasted over 15 minutes. He’s not a therapist, so you may need to supplement his care with a therapist of some sort. I recommend him for anyone seeking a psychiatrist who may not need the therapist portion.

Good listener. Knows his stuff. Compassionate.

Helpful and kind.

While Dr. Dickes spends his time typing into the computer while you speak to him, he is a great doctor. He listens carefully, answers questions fully, and shows great compassion when difficult emotions arise. I found him, and his office, highly responsive and receptive. Going to a psychiatrist is not fun, going to Dr. Dickes is not fun, but he is a solid choice.

I have been a patient of Dr. Dickes for several years and though initially he may seem like a straight, down to business type of doctor, he is really very kind. He always returns phone calls and is willing to help at any time and has helped me tremendously in managing depression and anxiety. I recommend highly and without reservation.

He is an arrogant jerk I hate the guy

Knowledgeable and compassionate physician. Dr. Dickes truly cares about his patients.

This quack put me on a higher-than-recommended amount of an antidepressant (he told me this at the time), which caused severely debilitating physical and mental effects and devastated my life for years afterwards. I was even unable to walk properly while taking this higher dose, so extreme was it, and I had been taking a recommended amount with no such effects for more than a year previously. However, sadly, that was not the worst of it. I was also placed on an additional antidepressant at this time which caused severe disorientation and psychotic symptoms which I had never even come close to experiencing previously. This toxic brew, and the extreme mental and emotional disturbances that it caused in me, cost me a suicide attempt and a psychiatric hospitalization at a fairly young age -- within just a few months. The loss of self-confidence which ensued sent me on a downward spiral for several years afterwards. It took me about five years in all just to start to put my life… together after this cataclysmic experience, and I still don't believe that I am today where I would be in my overall life situation had this not occurred. In hindsight, all I needed was help with my abusive and depressing family situation; instead I went into Dickes' office with depression and came out with something much more serious. To be fair, Dickes was not the only shrink I was sent to during this period of my life, so in a way, this stint was merely continuing a trend. However, it seems to me that it was his markedly poor decisions with my prescriptions that were directly responsible for sending my brain chemistry over the edge, to depths which I have no reason to believe that I would have experienced otherwise, and from which I have had to suffer a very long and painful recovery, one which is still ongoing many years later. I would say that this experience set me back a decade in all versus where I would be today had my life never fallen apart. Never trust this guy with your brain chemistry, is all I can tell you.

It's actually kind of stupid that Accurate Diagnosis is a ratable category.