My intention is not to sound mystical, but merely to speak a corrective to the seeming belief among biologic psychiatrists that they have figured something out, that we are largely determined in our natures by genetic necessity. To me it is a tragedy that psychiatry has taken this road. Psychiatry has access to something that other disciplines do not, namely the trust, words and narratives of suffering human beings. If we allow it, our patients can teach us much about who we are. In this process patients get better in many unexpected ways.
Psychiatric medications have their place in treatment in terms of lessening painful symptoms.
But to speak only of genetics, biology and medications is a travesty, an intolerable silencing of the words and experience of human suffering, and thus a diminishing of who we are as human beings. Please direct any questions or comments to Dr. Kaiser at Mental Health InfoSource. Dr. Kaiser is in private practice in Chicago, and is affiliated with Northwestern University Hospital.