Psychiatry is the Best Medicine!

Stephen Lawrie (University of Edinburgh) reckons psychiatry, his profession, is underrated. Psychiatry remains rooted in the doctor-patient relationship: psychiatrists still actually speak to patients and carers to find out what the problems are, how they came about and what might be done about them. Psychiatrists keep biological, psychological and social factors in mind. Believe it or not, psychiatry has amongst the most effective treatments in medicine at its disposal. Most people get better, and combining talking and drug treatments works best of all. So why is psychiatry sometimes looked down upon by other specialties?