Drowned by doubts – Why am I thinking of quitting psychiatry?

From Mad in Spain: I am a psychiatrist who has recently started his career and I have been practicing adult psychiatry for five years, in outpatient care within a hospital mental health system in the United States. I decided to dedicate myself to psychiatry because listening to people is what I like the most. I have an infinite curiosity and I am interested in the human experience. A relative of mine had schizophrenia, he was rejected by his family and my heart opted for him and for those who struggle with similar experiences. I thought that, being a sensitive, unprejudiced and open-minded young man, for me this was the ideal career.

Read the full article here and the English translation here. 

5 COMMENTS

  3. To quote the author “I estimate that 80% of these experiences are due to relationship trauma, both current (abusive or unsatisfactory relationships) and past (traumas caused by the people who cared for them). These are very serious problems; however, they are not medical problems and should not be medicalized.” Yes I agree.
    They are not medical problem but that doesn’t mean they are not serious or real. It doesn’t mean that anything that isn’t biologically caused is just distress that people need to tolerate and it will go away, on it’s own, if someone is willing to. People die from such “distress”. Some die from the stress it puts on the body, some from suicides, some from people who choose to kill first before they die.

    The problem is Psychology doesn’t seem to want to study how emotion builds up and is retained long term from such interpersonal conflict. The societal view is everyone is responsible for their emotional state and behavior. If we study interpersonal interactions, that interferes with assigning blame and responsibility to just the individual. However, interpersonal dysfunction and conflict will result in severe psychological problems. Refusing to study interpersonal conflict doesn’t change that, it just means we don’t have the knowledge to intervene properly. I work in a Domestic Violence unit. Domestic Violence is a problem that has been around since the beginning of time. Has psychology studied why emotion builds to such a level that people murder and commit suicide, because I can’t find it. I had to figure it out by myself to get out of a dangerous situation and get my sanity back. Understanding that problem provides much info on other social ill. If there is someone out there interested in studying interpersonal conflicts, I have information to share and would be interesting in talking.

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  4. I would also love to have a chat with the author of this article. It is very sad that so few ‘professionals’ be they psychiatrists or other people working in this area actually know how to help people wrongfully labelled by psychiatry. It is understandable that because we live in such an unjust world people might want a quick fix. However, because all the propaganda that has become part of our daily diet is still the story most people believe, it is very difficult for the public to find out the true story about coercive, deceptive, toxic psychiatry. http://www.mindfreedomireland.com

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