Professionalism In Psychology

In an ideal world, mental health professionals and patients who suffer from mental disorders would consistently agree on the ideal course of treatment. More realistically, however, there are inherent limitations in the knowledge of both parties that render this consensus as impossible. On one hand, taking away patients’ rights to choose their treatment plan could prove catastrophic; despite the extensive knowledge and expertise of mental health professionals, giving perfect diagnoses and treatment plans would require that they are capable of reaching a complete understanding of every patient and every drug. Since they have not undergone the same experiences as their patients, nor are they biologically inclined to react the same way to those

Even a guide as widely used and trusted as the DSM is updated regularly in newer versions to accommodate novel psychological breakthroughs and changing mindsets. Just like most other areas of study, psychology is unavoidably imperfect; it is bound to evolve as new knowledge is gained in the field, and what one mental health professional may diagnose as a mental disorder may not be agreed upon by others. Mental illness is not as straightforward as some think; even people who are considered to be mentally healthy may exhibit a few symptoms that could be indicative of mental illness but are not considered severe enough to warrant a diagnosis, such as an occasional bout of apathy or the intermittently obsessive thought. Depending on how a patient frames this phenomenon and on the opinion of the professional, it’s feasible that a mental health professional may label an overall mentally healthy person with a disorder. A misdiagnosis or incorrect treatment can result in catastrophic effects on a patient’s life and mental health, worsening symptoms or subjecting a mentally healthy person to unnecessary drugs and other invasive treatments; a patient’s rights to refuse drugs and

For example, in patients with depression, it is known that different patients benefit more from different treatments; some patients have successfully managed their depressive episodes with drugs, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. Others insist that simply switching to a healthy diet and maintaining regular exercise are more effective ways of alleviating symptoms than psychological treatment. In this particular scenario, forcing a patient into a certain treatment regimen would be impractical, since even the mental health professional would not know which treatment to enforce in order to best suit that specific patient. Moreover, in situations where a drug required to treat a mental disorder poses risks to a patient’s health or causes detrimental side effects, it is important that a patient retains his/her say in whether or not these risks or unwanted effects are worth the benefit of the