&gt; A lot of people who commit suicide are typically on antidepressants and seeing therapists.<p>A lot of people die in emergency departments under the care of doctors. There&#x27;s a reason for that that has nothing to do with the ability of the doctors.<p>&gt; Antidepressants even carry a black box warning they can increase suicidal thinking.<p>Which is in part due to the unscientific (but legally sound) way that such side effects are attached to these drugs. I&#x27;m less concerned with the fact that they are labelled thusly and more concerned with the fact that in some cases there have been statistical increases in suicides. Yes, that is a problem, but you&#x27;re both separating that out of the larger picture of pharmaceuticals and dumping it in with psychiatry in general.<p>&gt; Psychiatry is mostly based on an unproven hypothesis of chemical imbalance in the brain. Of which there&#x27;s no actual scientific evidence to back up this claim.<p>This is an incredibly bold claim with no actual scientific evidence to back it up. There is, in fact, a lot of science backing up psychiatry and psychology (entire journals). Their experiments use widely accepted techniques that are also used in other sciences, like biology and medicine.<p>&gt; In fact, studies have concluded antidepressants can cause imbalances where nonexisted before,<p>No study has made this blanket conclusion. Perhaps some studies have reached this conclusion about a specific class of anti-depressant or a single anti-depressant.<p>But you can&#x27;t use that as evidence that psychiatry is flawed. First, anyone in medicine who can prescribe medication can prescribe antidepressants even if they aren&#x27;t trained in psychiatry. Second, many medications can cause problems in our systems; it&#x27;s why we have the prescription system in the first place. Antidepressants are not unique in this regard and therefore do not reflect on psychiatry in the specific.<p>&gt; and can cause severe life threatening withdrawals if you stop taking them suddenly.<p>Just like many other pharmaceuticals, some antidepressants can cause withdrawal symptoms when the patient is not weaned off the medication properly. Noncompliance is a problem in ALL medicine. In the realm of mental illness there is also the problems of stigma and lack of proper insurance coverage both of which can create additional problems with compliance.<p>&gt; Psychiatry is a pretty flawed practice in my opinion as well. I&#x27;m sure it helps some people, but it also does a lot of harm as well.<p>I won&#x27;t see anyone without a Ph.D. A Ph.D. means they&#x27;ve done some science. But (just as with MDs),it&#x27;s no guarantee that they&#x27;re critical thinkers and scientists when they get out into the world and practice. But mine can cite papers, recommend reading, form reasoned opinions, and his Ph.D. thesis is impressive (I asked to see it).<p>I suspect you&#x27;re largely judging the field from the current state of affairs: massive stigma, poor insurance coverage, and mediocre practitioners who are quick to write prescriptions but slow to make sure the long term healing is done. Find a psychiatrist, psychology, MFT, or whoever through your average insurance plan and you&#x27;re more likely than not getting a counselor more than an actual therapeutic healer.<p>But these are largely economic and social problems, not a question of the effectiveness of the healing.