"But we should also pause for thought. First, the traffic is not all one way. For every previously viewed unexplained or psychiatric illness whose "medical" cause is identified, there is an equal and opposite traffic, as previously viewed medical entities such as visceral proptosis, autointoxication, floating kidneys, chronic appendicitis and so on and so on make the opposite journey."
The comments above on the face of it might convince someone who never questions an authoritative statement but it is a clearly disingenuous remark.
First of all, psychiatry* was happy to include General Paresis of the Insane, Ulcers and probably many other illnesses that are now treatable. So, were psychiatrists mistaken in their beliefs that they were helping these people? They must have had such a belief or they would have concluded that psychiatry had nothing to offer and that the cause was likely elsewhere (as yet unidentifiable). This should be a problem. Are psychiatrists not able to identify between who is or is not in need of their specialty? If not how can they conclude that 'the traffic flows both ways'? Of course, we will never be 'treated' to any sort of reliable and sensible explanation to THAT question. Or so many others we have asked in the past. Why might that be?
And in the world of psychiatry there are NO unidentifiable illnesses. As it stands presently ALL illnesses for which there are no clear medical treatments are under the perview of psychiatry according to BPS psychiatrists.
Further, when it was discovered that GPI and ulcers were treatable with medicine the patient was cured and could go on to live their life.
Rather disingenously, it's suggested that the 'traffic that goes both ways'. This means that patients who come to psychiatry (including for, as per the example, some rather faulty diagnoses) are now treated. But does that mean cured? Do they all go home to live their lives free of illness?
Of course the psychiatry of the BPSists doesn't 'work' that way. It's far more 'complicated' than mere medicine and there is more art than science so psychiatry has responded by lowering standards of science because it cannot be held to account that way. So we are meant to just believe that they know all they think they know and that 'all will be well' if we do.
Psychiatry's top problem with regards to illnesses of unknown aetiology is that it really is in fact a belief system with NO evidence. And psychiatrists are extremely resistant to the idea of finding any evidence. And so far, the ubiquitous questionnaire with questions manipulated to get the answers they seek and the persons belief in the psychiatrist have been the pillar holding up the industrial site of the sausage factory cure.
*All of this refers of course to the BPS ideology in psychiatry.
