Hmm. Sure enough there are a fair few psychiatrists out there
who match your description, but there are also a few good ones who
are trying to change things.
I had the good fortune to work as a research assistant with John
Mathai at the Royal Children's Hospital, and he's a psychiatrist
who's of the firm view that medication is absolutely the last
resort.
One problem you will find in the psychiatric field is inappropriate
use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The key
characteristic of DSM-IV is differential diagnosis, by which
diagnoses are reached only when all other possible causes of
symptoms have been ruled out. Of course, ruling out all other
causes is often a long and complicated task, and so I have seen
many cases of psychiatrists not performing the differential
diagnosis thoroughly.
A classic case of this is ADHD. Research has already
comprehensively documented that the presenting symptoms of PTSD in
children are very similar to those of ADHD. Proper differential
diagnosis is carried out by taking and examining a comprehensive
patient history, with particular attention paid to family history.
I have seen plenty of cases where practicioners have failed to do
so, and kids with PTSD end up diagnosed as having ADHD
instead.
Of course, the worst part of this is the medication. They go
straight on to Ritalin, with a dose of Catapres at the end of the
day to offset the hyperactivity spike when the Ritalin wears off.
As you would know, fymk, Catapres is also used to reduce blood
pressure - you can just imagine what effects keeping an 8-year-old
on Catapres would have after an extended period of time.
Anyway, back to John. He was not satisfied with the diagnostic
method, and came across some research into EEG readings showing
that hyperactivity episodes are related to increased theta-wave
activity and decreased beta-wave activity. John was trying to get
funding for research into using EEG as a diagnostic tool - if it
can be validated as a diagnostic method, it gets us away from the
guesswork that is currently used to diagnose ADHD (and that
unnecessarily puts a lot of kids on Ritalin).
So, despite the ongoing rivalry between psychiatry and psychology,
I'd say that there are a feww good psychiatrists out there, and if
they have their way, the field will improve.
