Friday, December 23, 2016

Have I been right all along about critical psychiatry?

In an article I mentioned on my critical psychiatry blog (see post), Professor Sir Robin Murray says he wishes he had tried "harder not to follow of the fashion of the herd" (sic) in his research career in psychiatry. He thinks the mistakes he has made "have usually resulted from adhering excessively to the prevailing orthodoxy".

That's as may be. I'm glad he is now admitting his mistakes. As I implied in my post, I wish he would go further in realising the conceptual mistake he has and still continues to make about the nature of mental illness.

Actually, I think it's understandable the reason he has taken the position he has in his career. He has been a professor in psychiatry and knighted for his research efforts. I have tended to concentrate on my clinical work and been suspended twice for my efforts (eg. see previous post). So what if I've been right about critical psychiatry all these years!

3 comments:

Eric Setz said...

I don't know how long it took the surgeons to accept that sterilization of their hands, tools and operating theaters decreased the death rate of their patients.
It has long been known that Psychosomatic illness do in fact exist. Not all illness are physical in nature. The corollary of this then is that human beings are not all physical and that to say that all stems from the brain is reductionist.

Maybe you are right and psychiatry is wrong.

If your patients are recovering you are right.

If you are simply putting chemical straight jackets on your patients you have a way to go.

Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year.

Diana Rose said...

And us SUs and SU researchers have known it for a long time - this time though I'm glad it's him - he has clout + it shows Psychiatry is beginning to implode. Take it with good grace Duncan.

DBDouble said...

Not sure what the 'implosion of psychiatry' would be, Diana?