Many psychiatrists have never read the full case record of the people they prescribe medications to. Even fewer could identify all of the various drugs and drug combinations that you have tried over the years and what the outcomes of those drug trials were. In light of this I have found it important to begin to keep my own record of what medications I have tried, for what symptoms, at what dosages, and for what period of time. Whenever a psychiatrist suggests a new drug or a new dose, I always check my record just to be sure it hasn't been tried before. I don't want to repeat ineffectual or even harmful drug trials.
Psychiatrists often have conflicting interests.
It would be comforting to think that psychiatrists were serving our individual interests. But this assumption would be naive. Many psychiatrist complain of the competing interests that tear at the ethical fabric of their practice. In other words, some psychiatrists receive their paychecks from managed care corporations that require them to prescribe one type of drug rather than others that are expensive. Sometimes psychiatrists are wrong.