What do psychiatry and religion have in common

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I don´t like religion and I´m also not a great fan of psychiatry (even psychology). Both I detest for the same reason, for one thing they both have in common -patronizing.

Religion says "God knows what is good for you better than you do" (or pastors/priests know it better than you do because they know what God knows). I guess many anti-religious people feel the same and that´s why they oppose religion.

But psychiatry isn´t much better. It´s saying "psychiatrist/psychologist/therapist knows what is good for you better than you do". It´s actually very similar patronizing as you find in religion. Therefore I think psychiatry can be as harmful as religion.

But for a record, I don´t want to generalize. Not all psychiatrists/psychologists/therapists patronize people. But many do. Neither am I saying psychiatry cannot be helpful. It can. But many times psychiatry does more harm than good.

Transference.

You have to shift your trust from everyone else to the person who is talking to you. Thus, the pastor or the psychologist becomes your one best resource for affirmation and guidance.

Some may say that clinical psychology is church without the supernatural focus.

My wife has a degree in psychology.

I think it is good for everyone to have some form of counseling, even if it's nothing more than meeting the same friend for coffee at the same time each week. The point is to "think out loud" and get objective feedback. Not everyone feels the need for it, but it's a good practice if you want to live your life with a strong sense of purpose. It's a good way to stay focused.

Counselors and therapists are really just friends who get paid for empathy and validation. I wouldn't get very far because I don't feel like validating everyone all the time. I'm the guy who wants to solve all your problems for you and see you do exactly as I say to pull yourself together and get stuff done. I like simple solutions implemented quickly, and I don't want to see you again to fix the same problem.

Counselors don't get paid to do that. In the latest version of the Willy Wonka film, Willy lays down on the couch and talks his problems out in front of an Oompa Loompa shrink who takes notes and doesn't say a word. Willy eventually talks through his issues until he finds the solution on his own. Counselors can probably tell you exactly what your problem is and how to fix it. But they also know that you won't believe in the solution if you don't personally experience for yourself WHY a particular course of action is the right one. You'll buy into it if you came to the right conclusion on your own. All a counselor really does is help steer you in the right direction.

My wife always says that it's really the client who already knows the answer before they even walk through the door, just like Willy Wonka. Counselors just guide them towards accepting it. Let the client do all the talking and the counselor doesn't really have to DO anything.

Personally, I don't really respond to that. I like the instant feedback. I like being instructed on what to do. I find the process of "finding myself" to be inefficient. I'd want a friend or counselor who's more like Dr. Phil. With someone like Dr. Phil, you get one, maybe two follow-ups. Either you decide to move forward and fix things or you don't. What disturbs me about most counselors is that they are in it for repeat business. They don't want to fix anything. They want a reserved seat for your entire journey. That's where the money is. And if you really do benefit from someone like that and need that to ensure your success, keeping your mind and emotions balanced, there's nothing wrong with paying a professional to help you keep it together.

I handle it by talking to my wife and, to a lesser degree, to my kids (since I get more time with them than with my wife). I don't really have "friends" that I can talk to. Lately I've taken to writing things down in order to stay focused. I have some light fitness goals that I'm working towards, so I have a journal to record my exercise. I program synthesizers and have a thin notebook that I jot down sound design ideas and record progress made on my sound libraries. I've got another notebook related to synth programming where I just write down more general thoughts and opinions about where I am and where I want to go. What I really need are more notebooks to track things I'm doing with my kids, business-related info (like getting gigs, tracking piano student progress, money, etc.), and creativity-related goals I have. A lot of times counselors will tell you to do that kind of thing anyway, so why do I need to pay someone to tell me or help me see the obvious? Some people need that, and that's ok. I don't much see the point in paying someone to do that!

Everyone who has been successful at what they do has had some form of counseling along the way. They may not be psychologists, but everyone has to have a number of advisors to help them make informed decisions. There's no shame in relying on psychologists for help, even if you're perfectly mentally capable. Everyone has room for improvement.

I don't think there is much relation between the two. In my experience the two have been rather antagonistic towards each other.

There are some Christian counselors who try to combine the two. I used to know one, her advice for everything and anything was "trust Jesus and it'll work out." One can do that job with 10 minutes of training.


I like that the DSM specifically states it excludes "beliefs shared by a large number of people" from it's definition of delusional. It was put in there so they didn't have to diagnose religious people as delusional. I guess at least the psych industry gave them that much.

While the two may be dealing with similar issues, I think they have different ways of approaching them.
One encourages its patients to rejoice in their state, while the other encourages their patients to control it.