Are authoritatian mental health professionals mediocre?

You know how some mental health professionals are amazing? How they are like the friends you never had when you were growing up? How they seem to understand you infinitely better than anyone else?

And you know how there are also those mental health professionals who don't like to take a "no" for an answer? Who are authoritarian? Who want patients to obey all their commands? Who don't allow room for dissension or discussion? Who talk condescendingly to their patients? Who are what some people would call "d***s"?

I wonder if those mental health professionals are the equivalent of the antisocial nerds we knew in high school who tried to mask their social incompetence by acting arrogantly and always being sulky.

I also wonder if it's safe to assume that all mental health professionals who are authoritarian, condescending, etc, are ill suited for the job or if they are highly competent professionals but that's just the way they are.

Sigm, one thing which you must realise is that incompetence permeates all levels of society, and this includes the area of psychiatry. i think you'll find that the best psychiatrists are ones who are in their 30s or 40s and have a young family, as these are generally more caring about your situation. The younger the psychiatrist, the more arrogant he/she will be; and the older the psychiatrist, the more 'feckless' (as we say in Ireland) or unmotivated they'll be.

Chucky wrote: i think you'll find that the best psychiatrists are ones who are in their 30s or 40s and have a young family, as these are generally more caring about your situation. The younger the psychiatrist, the more arrogant he/she will be; and the older the psychiatrist, the more 'feckless' (as we say in Ireland) or unmotivated they'll be.

That's interesting.

I'd like to read a book about the psychology of mental health professionals.

Well, please remember that we're in the 'anti-psych' forum here and that meant I felt that I had the right to utter what I did; and what I uttered was a gross generalisation that should not be applied to every psychistrist/doctor! It is based on my own experience though. I'd like to add too that I think opposite sexes (i.e. female patient; male doctor (or vice-versa) work better.

Kevin