/sci/ - Science & Math

Would you guys be up for discussing neuroscience and its relation to psychology, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and psychiatry?

I was curious if I could please learn about /sci/'s opinions regarding: psychiatry, psychology, and/or other mental health care -related fields? I ask, because; I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist with “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” back in July of 2013. A psychologist diagnosed me with the following three disorders: “Major Depressive Disorder” — “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” and “Social Anxiety Disorder” back in July of 2016 (after administering the “Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2” alongside several other diagnostic classification, rating scales, checklists, inventories, and surveys.) However, I can't help but notice that most people don't consider these to be real “illnesses”. In fact, even I'm not sure that I believe these to be real illnesses.

Nobody in my family (or anybody else around me, for that matter) seems to care about me having been diagnosed with these disorders. A cousin of mine simply scoffed at the idea of me being diagnosed with ADHD, making a dismissive hand gesture at me and proclaiming, “everybody has ADHD!” My mother tells me, “oh, you have depression? Then why don't you simply stop being depressed? Will yourself out of your depression!” Other people have told me that social anxiety isn't a “real problem”.

I've noticed that even among all of my doctors there's disagreements about what is or isn't “science”. What is or isn't “pseudoscience”. I'll have my psychiatrist telling me, “for testing for personality disorders there's the 'MMPI-2' which isn't very scientific.” I'll have my psychologist telling me, “the psychiatrists of today are like the alchemists of the Middle Ages. The alchemists believed that they could create gold from lead, which we now know is impossible. Psychiatrists believe in 'chemical imbalances'. There is no such thing as 'chemical imbalances'.”

So what do you guys think?