Psychiatry has changed considerably since L. Ron Hubbard's days. mother in law is very scathing about psychiatry because back when she was a nurse, it was even more inexact than it is now. It is far more precise these days, has far more cohesion in terms of the same or similar diagnostic standards applying regardless of where you are or who you see; it still is far from anything as specific as a blood test to determine if you are anaemic, or have recently had glandular fever. But there is a value in GOOD psychiatry, and a need for it. We still shouldn't expect too much in terms of fine detail and precision, but there have been times I've been very glad there are good psychiatrists out there, doing what they do so well. I'm also very glad that they HAVE developed psychiatry much further, as a field, away from Freudianism and towards more relevant and appropriate management of people who need their services.
In the past a lot of psychiatry was simply observation of a few unfortunate individuals, from a very subjective point of view. Now there is much more emphasis on actually doing something to help people, even as far as preventing major problems by alerting families to warning signs of depression, for example.
In the car yesterday mother in law & I were listening on the radio to a psychiatrist I've worked with, talking about problems of suicidal depression especially in men. mother in law initially commented, "I wish they wouldn't talk about this, it is likely to encourage people to attempt suicide."
I pointed out that far from encouraging suicide, talking about it (especially in the way this professor was doing) actually allows the people concerned to raise the topic and talk about it, instead of feeling like they have to lock away those feelings because they are so taboo. There were no sad stories, no sense of shame surrounding the various histories of people who rang up to talk about their experiences, only a sense of relief that the topic was out in the open.
A lot of good strategies were discussed as well as some myths dispelled. This is modern psychiatry working positively, I feel. When they are actively working to support people BEFORE they become disaster cases, this is healthy, preventive medicine. It's good to see psychiatry having a go at this too.
We know it's still inexact. We know there is still a fair bit of guesswork - but there is less guesswork than there used to be.
mother in law was impressed at what she heard, she is slowly realising that the field of psychiatry she knew compared to how it's practiced today is like comparing the pre-anaesthetic, pre-antiseptic amputations to modern surgery with all its cleanliness and facilities.
Let's hope the improvement continues - we do know it's needed.
Marg