In their seminal essay, Societal Perceptions of Physicians: Knights, Knaves, or Pawns?, Christine Cassell and Sachin Jain, refer to three kinds of physicians: knights, knaves and pawns. The knights are motivated by virtue and service. The knaves by rigid self-interest, and the pawns are passive victims of their circumstances (employers and corporate masters).
It is clear, that most U.S. psychiatrists these days are Knaves and/or Pawns. They don't have time to listen to their patients, but rather, adjust their medicatons in short visits and depend on psychologists and social workers to listen and counsel. We have a a new specialty, "psychopharmacologists" whose knaves and pawns generate the income they want at the expense of their patients.
See a recent article in the NY Times: "Talk Therapy Doesn't Pay." "A 2005 government survey found that just 11 percent of psychiatrists provided talk therapy to all patients, a share that had been falling for years and has most likely fallen more since. Psychiatric hospitals that once offered patients months of talk therapy now discharge them within days with only pills."
If you agree or if you are outraged, please let us know.