Many times GP's are unwilling to prescribe medication that can be used for self harm, when a person has a history of ideations and/or attempts. However, psychiatrists know more about what can be prescribed (including shots rather than pills) or how to prescribe only a small number of pills per day to prevent attempts. Personally I would not go to a GP for psychiatric medication, because psychiatrists have more training and experience with anti-depressants than GP's, and greater expertise means someone who knows how to prevent side effects (a big concern for me when I took medication) as well as how to prescribe for better symptom relief. GP's may not know the difference between different kinds of symptoms or have a theoretical or practical grasp of how certain meds and certain doses are likely to affect people.