# Is psychiatry dishonest? Is it better for everyone if keeps faking diagnostic assurance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 6, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596 "2013-05-06T02:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/141 "2013-05-12T11:42:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You said you were on the board of directors. Were you actually one of the members of the board, or were you _staff_ for the board? I was actually on the board. I have experienced many things in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/142 "2013-05-12T12:19:37Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I was actually on the board. > I have experienced many things in my life. Did they know about what you thought of science and medicine? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/143 "2013-05-12T13:31:27Z")
This was a small hospital with a large psychiatric unit? A member of the board was on call 24/7, helped in the ER, and checked every patient’s status every day? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/144 "2013-05-12T14:10:05Z")
That certainly is an incredible story. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/145 "2013-05-12T14:59:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Did they know about what you thought of science and medicine? Some did and some didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/146 "2013-05-12T15:18:42Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > This was a small hospital with a large psychiatric unit? > > A member of the board was on call 24/7, helped in the ER, and checked every patient’s status every day? I was forced to sell my typesetting business due to desktop computers taking over the job. I noticed an ad for a computer technician at the hospital. When I applied the head of the computer dept. was a friend of mine. So I started as a computer technician on the night shift. Since I only lived 4 blocks from the hospital I was put on call 24/7. At night I checked all the patients status, the mental ward was on a floor by itself and was large. After the hospital closed the whole building became a mental hospital. I became friends with the CEO and he put me on the board. I begin to write for the newspaper of the hospital. Some times I worked in the ER, but never did any medical stuff. I became known for my ability to calm patients and doctors when tempers flared. They would call me to intervene. One night a patient hit a doctor who he said had hurt him. I listened to the doctor and then to the patient, I persuaded the patient who was in pain to continue the exam. He agreed as long as I stayed in the room. The patient was found too have a very serious condition and went to surgery immediately. I did a lot of things for the CEO like looking for seminars for the hospital, etc. Now this is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/147 "2013-05-12T15:56:11Z")
After the hospital became entirely a psychiatric hospital, it still performed surgery? Someone with physical pain that required surgery was being examined at the psychiatric hospital? None of your story sounds remotely plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/148 "2013-05-12T16:55:19Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I was forced to sell my typesetting business due to desktop computers taking over the job. I noticed an ad for a computer technician at the hospital. When I applied the head of the computer dept. was a friend of mine. So I started as a computer technician on the night shift. Since I only lived 4 blocks from the hospital I was put on call 24/7. At night I checked all the patients status, the mental ward was on a floor by itself and was large. After the hospital closed the whole building became a mental hospital. I became friends with the CEO and he put me on the board. I begin to write for the newspaper of the hospital. Some times I worked in the ER, but never did any medical stuff. I became known for my ability to calm patients and doctors when tempers flared. They would call me to intervene. One night a patient hit a doctor who he said had hurt him. I listened to the doctor and then to the patient, I persuaded the patient who was in pain to continue the exam. He agreed as long as I stayed in the room. The patient was found too have a very serious condition and went to surgery immediately. I did a lot of things for the CEO like looking for seminars for the hospital, etc. Now this is accurate. Not one single bit of this makes any sense. A compute tech checking on all the patients status? Becoming friends with the CEO _while working the night shift_? The CEO of a hospital making a nightshift Computer tech a Board Member? A psychiatric hospital doing surgery? Do you happen to be related to Buckaroo Banzai? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/149 "2013-05-12T17:07:06Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I was forced to sell my typesetting business due to desktop computers taking over the job. I noticed an ad for a computer technician at the hospital. When I applied the head of the computer dept. was a friend of mine. So I started as a computer technician on the night shift. Since I only lived 4 blocks from the hospital I was put on call 24/7. At night I checked all the patients status, the mental ward was on a floor by itself and was large. After the hospital closed the whole building became a mental hospital. I became friends with the CEO and he put me on the board. I begin to write for the newspaper of the hospital. Some times I worked in the ER, but never did any medical stuff. I became known for my ability to calm patients and doctors when tempers flared. They would call me to intervene. One night a patient hit a doctor who he said had hurt him. I listened to the doctor and then to the patient, I persuaded the patient who was in pain to continue the exam. He agreed as long as I stayed in the room. The patient was found too have a very serious condition and went to surgery immediately. I did a lot of things for the CEO like looking for seminars for the hospital, etc. Now this is accurate. With all due respect this sounds like a giant pile of made up horseshit. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/150 "2013-05-12T17:12:55Z")
I’m afraid you’ve gone just a tiny bit too far with your claims this time, **lekatt** -where and when did this supposedly happen? ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/151 "2013-05-12T18:32:14Z")
I really didn’t expect anything different from the posters on this board. After all, you pride yourself in skepticism. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/152 "2013-05-12T18:40:24Z")
So many people in pain today because they can’t love or trust. The world is a scary place for them. Love them. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/153 "2013-05-12T18:51:10Z")
An alternate model of love exists, and it does not require woo addled fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/154 "2013-05-12T18:59:48Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > An alternate model of love exists, and it does not require woo addled fiction. I find your lack of woo disturbing. _clenches fist_ ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/155 "2013-05-12T19:29:49Z")
Too depressed to even read the article…my psychiatrist seems to me to be up to date with current info/studies. He would admit that it’s an imperfect science - he’s devoted to his craft though. My ECT (electo convulsive therapy) doctor was also devoted to his job - studies seem to point to great results through ECT (googe the Mayo Clinic website on ECT). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/156 "2013-05-12T19:36:43Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I find your lack of woo disturbing. _clenches fist_ Have you seen a doctor about that “fist clenching” problem? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/157 "2013-05-14T12:05:05Z")
> [@Zago](#): > > Too depressed to even read the article…my psychiatrist seems to me to be up to date with current info/studies. He would admit that it’s an imperfect science - he’s devoted to his craft though. My ECT (electo convulsive therapy) doctor was also devoted to his job - studies seem to point to great results through ECT (googe the Mayo Clinic website on ECT). In what way do you think the ECT helped you? ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/158 "2013-05-14T15:25:35Z")
> [@Zago](#): > > Too depressed to even read the article…my psychiatrist seems to me to be up to date with current info/studies. He would admit that it’s an imperfect science - he’s devoted to his craft though. My ECT (electo convulsive therapy) doctor was also devoted to his job - studies seem to point to great results through ECT (googe the Mayo Clinic website on ECT). If you need some encouragement I can supply it. Privately ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/159 "2013-05-14T15:35:30Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > If you need some encouragement I can supply it. Privately What do you know about ECT? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596/160 "2013-05-14T15:39:42Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > If you need some encouragement I can supply it. Privately Wow, does this seem like a really bad idea. Like a really, really bad idea. I almost violated my personal prohibition against reporting posts for this, but I would think that the SDMB would not want woo practitioners using board resources looking for vulnerable individuals to do their woo to. Privately. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-psychiatry-dishonest-is-it-better-for-everyone-if-keeps-faking-diagnostic-assurance/657596.md?page=9)