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Psychoanalysis and the Need for More Scientific Psychiatry

When psychoanalysis first broke onto the psychiatric scene, psychiatric treatments were minimal at best and dangerous and experimental at worst. Asylums were still the norm and patients so outnumbered doctors that little was done for those patients beyond basic physical care. Psychoanalysis was a new way of looking at the mind and it gained popularity all over the world. Still, psychiatrists were unable to treat the patients that were actually ill and so they turned to alternatives that have deeply impacted the psychiatry of today.

What is Psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis is the invention of Sigmund Freud. It began as an attempted treatment for hysteria. Freud believed that by unlocking repressed sexual desires from childhood, a person could deal with various neuroses in adulthood. What he and his contemporaries found were thousands of patients that deeply wanted a relationship with their psychiatrist. Psychoanalysis allowed for patients to undergo slow and methodical introspection under the care of a clinician that would offer sincere interest in the thoughts and feelings of the patient. Interestingly, the patients in the early 1900's were typically upper middle class, relatively affluent people.

Whereas actual mental illness was thought of as shameful and uncomfortable, psychoanalysis created a new view of psychiatry in general. It became fashionable to visit the psychiatrist. People enjoyed conversations involving their complexes and commonly brought them up with friends.

Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry

While psychoanalysis has a part in psychiatry, it may fit better into psychology. It addresses the human need to talk through struggles and tensions, but does very little in treating abnormal conditions of the mind. Even though many psychiatrists enjoyed Freud's fame by implementing his theories, many other psychiatrists were still more interested in finding treatments for actual disorders. They wanted to help the tens of thousands of people that were idly waiting help in the many asylums across the world. One thing that psychiatry did gain from Freud is the willingness to form ‘one on one' relationships with patients rather than coldly treating them as test subjects.

Scientific Advances in Psychiatry

Through scientific study, doctors began to learn more about the effects of socialization and positive interaction on their psychiatric patients. They also began experimentation with other types of treatment. For example, inoculation with malarial blood was proven effective at bringing remediation to one particular brain disorder called Neurosyphilis. Julius von Wagner-Juaregg actually won the Nobel Prize for his work and discovery. Following that discovery, other medications were also discovered that could actually bring relief to patients suffering from all kinds of mental disorders. Currently there are effective treatments for Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia and many more disorders that affect the brain.

Psychiatry seemed to be at risk for a considerable amount of time for losing its status as a scientific field. As research continues, the psychiatric field continues to gain prominence and curative abilities. It has come a long way from the time of asylums and chains to the respectful treatment of patients that live in the world with everyone else. Hospitalizations and other restraints are sometimes necessary for the protection of society as a whole, but in general, things are getting better and mental health is just another part of humanity that needs treatment on occasion.

Shorter, Edward. A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997.