The Discontents of Psychiatry: What Can the History of Psychiatry and Values-Based Medicine Contribute to Resolving Them?

This chapter examines how a better understanding of how our current scientific views regarding psychiatric diagnosis and treatment have evolved may help us understand why many of the criticisms leveled against psychiatry make little sense or apply only in a qualified way. It was written from the point of view of a practicing clinician. I do not present new findings from the history of psychiatry here; instead, I endeavor to argue the potential usefulness of those for the clinician. I also look at how approaching the history of psychiatry from the perspective of values-based medicine (VBM) could enhance our historical analysis, especially for the purposes of developing a theoretical approach and clinical practice of psychiatry that is more suited to our needs and preferences.