Not really, you don't have to understand something to take advantage of it. My grandmother doesn't really understand how computers work but she still loves usi

Not really, you don't have to understand something to take advantage of it. My grandmother doesn't really understand how computers work but she still loves using her computer. Psychiatrists love SSRIs because they are efficacious (for a much smaller minority of those prescribed them than people realise), even when they're not more effective than placebo - placebos are actually pretty effective at treating issues. They're relatively cheap, easy to get patients who might be going through various issues to comply with the treatment, SSRI's being efficacious for the first few months after starting treatment is not that controversial, and that can allow you to monkey branch to more sustainable forms of treatment. The fact psychiatrists are prescribing drugs for a mental illness when they aren't aware of its mechanism of action is far from the worst sin of psychiatry. First off, the very notion that psychiatrists/doctors should gatekeep prescriptions in the first place being helpful isn't an evidence based practice, and how we define and diagnose mental illness in the first place is a Pandora's box of assumptions.