2 ms·
I feel like the more I learn about psychiatry, the less faith I have in psychiatrists. It is astounding what we don't know, and how wrong we've been in the past
by aalleavitch 9y ago
I feel like the more I learn about psychiatry, the less faith I have in psychiatrists. It is astounding what we don't know, and how wrong we've been in the past.
(B.S. in Biology and Psychology, studied neuroscience in school)
- jdietrich 9y agoThere's a bit of a paradox at play. We know that placebo effect is incredibly important in the treatment of depression and other psychiatric disorders. We know that there are still huge areas of uncertainty and ignorance and that our best treatments just aren't very effective. If we publicly admitted those facts, then our already not-very-effective treatments would get less effective, because the placebo effect would diminish. If we admit that psychiatry still has lots of glaring deficiencies, then a lot of people will end up getting sicker. If we don't admit it, then we might not invest enough in fixing those deficiencies. Nobody has a clear answer to this quandry. Is it worth sacrificing some patients now for the benefit of patients in the future? Would admitting the deficiencies in psychiatry dissuade people from seeking treatments that are actually effective? Is it possible to maintain a public facade of effectiveness, while privately accepting that we don't know what the hell we're doing? Would that be ethical? Does the risk of believing your own bullshit outweigh the benefits to patients of getting a good placebo?
- duncan_bayne 9y agoI may be wrong, but I thought the placebo effect didn't diminish if the subject was aware of, or even anticipating, the effect?