Psychiatry and its Critics (Contd.)


We can handle critics effectively by:

1. Continuously putting our own house in order.
2. Not indulging in too much self-criticism, although critical self-appraisal is necessary, and welcome.
3. Letting those who get well speak about psychiatry more than we do.

One patient getting well and speaking about psychiatry is worth 100 psychiatrists and their eloquent praise of the branch.

I remember a recent psychiaric conference at Kolkata. The organisers had arranged a cultural prog. It was solely done by former psychiatric patients. The singers, dancers, even most of the musicians, were former patients. After giving a performance, the patient-performers recounted how they were earlier suffering with one or the other psychiatric problem, and how psychiatry helped them out of it.

Apart from their heart warming performance, their courage to speak up, and the gratitude about how they were helped, made for a memorable evening for us all.

Yes. Psychiatry helps. We know.

But they also said it does. That makes it worthwhile to do so much more for them.

Ajai
23 May 2006