Given the all-encompassing expertise on mental health apparently possessed by psychiatry, it would follow that psychiatrists and psychologists should be among the sanest, wisest and most stable of all the population, especially in light of the fact that they are responsible for our 'mental health' and constantly advise the public on what is best for us. It would follow that they would be paragons of mental stability, have great marriages, and set an enduring example to society which would prove that the tenets of psychiatry can stand the tests of pressure and time.
The truth is very different. A very extensive documentation of their statistics as an occupation.
Tidbits include:
- In America, psychiatrists commit suicide twice as often as doctors in general. This figure is five times the rate of the general population
- When the physician membership of Alcoholics Anonymous in the United States was studied, it was found that 17% were psychiatrists, even though psychiatrists in America make up only 8% of the medical profession.
- Psychiatrists have much higher rates for all types of [psychotropic drug] use at any time than do other groups of physicians."
- Psychiatrists also lead other branches of medicine in marriage difficulties - including sexual problems.
- A 1988 American study discovered that a higher incidence of sexual abuse existed among prominent doctors in psychiatry - tenured professors and chairmen of ethics committees - than among the rank and file.
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