Why Psychiatry?

Those of you who have read my blog previously must be knowing that I'm going to be doing a 2 year residency in Psychiatry. And it has been something that I've been adamant on doing for a long time. People have often asked me why it was that I was so keen on doing a residency in only this field.

I don't know the answer to that one yet. Not fully anyways. I believe that people have as many mental problems as organic ones. I believe that it is important to improve the quality of people's lives,and not only the duration of it. I believe that mental health is a science that is still in it's infancy,where there is a lot of as yet untapped potential to flourish.

When compared to about 50 years back when Schizophrenics were tied to their beds and made to stay there until they were deemed cured. Sometimes a cure was never possible. Now,it is possible to be cured of the condition on an OPD Basis,without even Hospitalization. Even if a cure is possible 33% of the time,remarkable progress has still been made. Same with Depression,and with Bi-Polar Mood Disorder. But there is still a stigma attached to this field,especially in rural areas,even to this day,when epileptics are thought to be possessed by a spirit when in the midst of a seizure.

The problem of addiction is something that will also need attention. Especially with the times as they are now. According to Dr.Ali Khwaja,noted Psychologist and Career Counsellor,Bangalore has the highest number of Cocaine addicts in the whole country! This is in addition to Alcohol and other substance abuse issues.

This is one area of medical practice that is a bit of an orphan as far as the medical fraternity is concerned. I guess that old adage which has been used for a long time and given in Erich Segal's medical romance 'Doctors' says it all:
A Physician knows everything and does nothing,
A Surgeon knows nothing and does everything,
A Psychiatrist knows nothing and does nothing.

So,there are challenges in this field. The most important of them is to remove all the misconceptions that are related to Psychiatry,and to make the services more accesible to the public. Not in terms of actual availability of Psychiatrists,but to reduce the inhibitions they might have to meet one.

It's an uphill task. No doubting that one. Let's hope change occurs; rapidly and effectively.