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vgaffney's picture

Psychiatrists

 I plan to represent psychiatrists as a group of scientists in the 21st century. As medical practitioners specializing in the field of psychology, they operate within an interesting intermediary position between the social sciences and the hard sciences. Psychiatry as a specialization in medical practice did not come about until the mid nineteenth century—relatively new direction of scientific energy. The number of insane asylums increased during this century—as well as the number of patients seeking treatment. It wasn’t until the 20th century that psychiatry really developed into a field with a biological/anatomical approach. Other scientific fields—physics, chemistry—play into the field in addition to biology. For example: neurotransmitters (neurology), neuroimaging (physics), psychiatric medications (involving a number of scientific approaches), and the influence of genetics. The field also raises important ethical questions, which has led to the “anti-psychiatry” movement which claims psychiatry is too fixed within the hard sciences, resulting in poorer care and quality of treatment on a social level—even more so than other physicians, psychiatrists must tread between the scientific and the social. Additionally there are historical accounts of abusive psychiatrists which used the field as a means to control their patients (such as leaders in totalitarian regimes). There are great social and scientific implications which arise from this discipline.

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