Should psychiatrists diagnose personality disorders?

Stuart Sorensen

I've been a qualified mental health nurse since 1995. Throughout the intervening years I've always tried to face the ethical and conceptual challenges of my work head on. That hasn't always been comfortable and from time to time it's seen me at odds with some of my colleagues which is never a nice situation to be in. There's a lot wrong with modern psychiatric practice and we have an awful lot to learn (it is only 2018 after all) but there's a lot right too. Here I explore the notion that personality type is nothing to do with psychiatry at all and contrast it with the practice of psychiatry itself. We have come a long way since the Victorian and Edwardian 'asylums' but that doesn't mean we should get complacant. That doesn't mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the issue. Please leave me a comment on the blog or follow the links from there to my Youtube channel to comment on the video version instead. https://mindthecaretrain