Psychiatry is bunk

[namisthebabe]

The "practice" and "science" is bunk due to the following reasons:

 

- Mental illness doesn't exist.

- Psychiatrists don't comprehend modern society. They seem to think the paragon of mental health is the homely 1950s.

- Psychiatrists enter the profession to control people, in addition to regulating their patients', thoughts, values, beliefs and even hobbies. They want to remove the tenet of not intefering in patients' lives beyond the interests of good health.

- Psychiatrists seem to believe that only "the select" warrant good or ethical treatment, whilst most others should just suck it up.

 

In this case, why can't psychiatry be banned?

[StringJunky]

This is a science forum. Can you provide some sort of evidence to support your assertions?

[Arete]

The "practice" and "science" is bunk due to the following reasons:

 

Let's take a known mental illness like schizophrenia as an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Symptoms

 

are you saying that no one actually suffers the symptoms? or that the known causes of those symptoms are different to those demonstrated to be so?

 

What evidence beyond "nameisthebabe says so" do you have?

[hypervalent_iodine]

!

Moderator Note

I've moved this thread to Speculations.

 

namisthebabe, you will need to provide evidence to support your claims or this thread will be closed.

[eastwest]

This is a science forum. Can you provide some sort of evidence to support your assertions?

first,it is psychiatry that must provide evidence that it is science.

 

Let's take a known mental illness like schizophrenia as an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Symptoms

 

are you saying that no one actually suffers the symptoms? or that the known causes of those symptoms are different to those demonstrated to be so?

 

What evidence beyond "nameisthebabe says so" do you have?

the problem is not the symptoms but the causes.there is no evidence that the brain generates the symptoms.it seems that their families are the cause of these symptoms beacause they are authoritarian,no humor,bad communication, stingy,intolerant... .you must know that besieged workers have the same symptoms that schizophrenic

 

the fundamental feature in science is the power to predict.psychiatry can not do it or is at the same level that psychology,astrology,sociology,economy.so psychiatry is not science

[Mellinia]

While I agree that psychiatry can't be quantified nor quantified, I still cannot agree that there is no such thing as mental illness as there is unfortunately, recurring patterns in cases of "illness" where parts of the brain are damaged. It's just that psychiatry is not an tool adequate enough to use.

[StringJunky]

first,it is psychiatry that must provide evidence that it is science.

 

No, the OP made the assertion. It is incumbent upon them to support it...this is the way science is done.

[Arete]

first,it is psychiatry that must provide evidence that it is science.

 

the problem is not the symptoms but the causes.there is no evidence that the brain generates the symptoms.it seems that their families are the cause of these symptoms beacause they are authoritarian,no humor,bad communication, stingy,intolerant... .you must know that besieged workers have the same symptoms that schizophrenic

 

the fundamental feature in science is the power to predict.psychiatry can not do it or is at the same level that psychology,astrology,sociology,economy.so psychiatry is not science

 

 

1) The largest risk factor for schizophrenia are heritable components (i.e. genetics). http://www.bmj.com/content/335/7610/91 To say it is entirely caused by the behavior of "their families" is demonstrably false.

 

2) Evidence shows that schizophrenia is associated with abnormalities in brain chemistry http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673609609958. If you wish to assert that it isn't you'll need to provide a more parsimonious explanation for observed evidence.

 

3) Anti-psychotic medication ameliorates the symptoms of acute schizophrenia more effectively than a placebo in double blind trials. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/17092691/reload=0;jsessionid=Pnr6vvoMrdexrQ9jY25G.2 Given that's the gold standard for proving the efficacy of a treatment, we'll need evidence beyond your say so that brain chemistry isn't a factor and psychiatry has no ability to predict.

 

4) Hallucinations and delusions - key symptoms of schizophrenia are not listed amongst the symptoms of stress. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-symptoms/SR00008_D assuming that's what you mean by "besieged" workers. Therefore it does not seem that the symptoms of stress and schizophrenia are synonymous. Do you have any evidence that they are?

 

5) The "fundamental feature" of science is the application of the scientific method. As the study of anti-psychotic medication above demonstrates, psychiatric clinical trials follow the scientific method. Ergo, studies of psychiatry are science.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Arete

[lightburst]

the fundamental feature in science is the power to predict.psychiatry can not do it or is at the same level that psychology,astrology,sociology,economy.so psychiatry is not science

The characteristic of science is that you try to find the mechanisms behind something in a systematic and logical manner. Since Psychiatry is more of a medical discipline as far as I understand, I'd imagine they would try to find differences between normally functioning brains and brains that suffer from mental illness. Given that knowledge, they concoct/use medicine/chemicals/compounds that work on those differences and bring those brains to normal working order. You sell the ones that work and bin the ones that don't.

 

If it doesn't quite go to your standard of 'prediction', akin to something like Physics, then it just means that 1.) The brain is so complicated and/or 2.) The discipline is incomplete/young.

[Dekan]

Is it true, that psychiatrists get driven nuts by their patients?

[John Cuthber]

there is no evidence that the brain generates the symptoms

Yes there is. The symptoms are modified by drugs that act on the brain.

[Phi for All]

The "practice" and "science" is bunk due to the following reasons:

 

- Mental illness doesn't exist.

- Psychiatrists don't comprehend modern society. They seem to think the paragon of mental health is the homely 1950s.

- Psychiatrists enter the profession to control people, in addition to regulating their patients', thoughts, values, beliefs and even hobbies. They want to remove the tenet of not intefering in patients' lives beyond the interests of good health.

- Psychiatrists seem to believe that only "the select" warrant good or ethical treatment, whilst most others should just suck it up.

 

In this case, why can't psychiatry be banned?

 

Please defend only your first bullet point, about mental illness not existing. The rest of them are obviously subjective generalizations that can be trivially debunked. You paint with too broad a brush when you make assertions about all psychiatrists.

 

Unless, of course, you can adequately support your first reason. If you can show that mental illness doesn't exist, that would explain the rest. So I'd like to hear why you think mental illness doesn't exist before I answer "why can't psychiatry be banned?".

 

Is it true, that psychiatrists get driven nuts by their patients?

You can't drive me nuts. At most, it would be a short putt.

[ethelwold]

You might like this article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/the-real-problems-with-psychiatry/275371/

 

As far as I'm concerned, psychiatry is not a science but an alternative religion.