Is psychiatry a religion?

摘要

In the 19th century, Matthew Arnold famously wrote of the ‘melancholy long withdrawing roar of the sea of faith’.1 This referred to the decline of Christian belief and the influence of Christian institutions in the day-to-day life of European societies. Such a decline was predicted by the enlightenment, which promised the triumph of rational science over religious superstition.2 Predictions of the demise of religion have been somewhat validated by the course of history. Fewer people are attending religious services, religious institutions have lost much of their influence on the masses, and religious views are frequently mocked and vilified as archaic delusions more suited to a dark and distant past.3,4 GK Chesterton famously remarked that when people stop believing in God, they start believing in anything. This begs a simple question – is there a lay replacement for religion in contemporary societies? Is there any comparable system of beliefs, behaviours and attitudes that stands as a binding doctrine held ‘true’ by the populace at large? Is there any such comparable system marked by a proselytizing zeal and enthusiastic sense of mission? In this essay, I argue that psychiatry, and its handmaiden, clinical psychology, now constitutes an amorphous system of beliefs, behaviors and attitudes whose functions and doctrines are unsettlingly similar to those held by conventional religions. Are psychiatrists the new priests? Are clinics the new confessionals? Are pills the new prayer? Read on to learn that now may be the time to proudly add ‘psychiatry’ to the pantheon of world religions.