In Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, University of Liverpool’s John Read suggests the “unscientific” nature of psychiatry is a major part of what is driving medical students away from the profession globally.
“There would seem to be two choices here, fraught with quite different risks for the profession,” writes Read. “The options might be characterised as authoritarian and authoritative. Will psychiatrists dismiss all criticism as symptoms of ‘antipsychiatry disorder’? Or will they locate the problem where it is seen so clearly to be by people outside the profession (professional and client alike) – a rigid adherence to a narrow biogenetic ideology combined with arrogant dismissal of those with broader perspectives? Will they genuinely listen to the concerns of colleagues, service users, carers and medical students and seek to address those concerns in a professional, scientific, authoritative manner?”
Read, J. “Saving Psychiatry from Itself: Will Young Psychiatrists Choose Authoritarian Power or Authoritative Respect?” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 131, no. 1 (January 1, 2015): 11–12. doi:10.1111/acps.12355. (Full text)