The person in the patient
BMJ 2008; 337 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a2262 (Published 28 October 2008) Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2262
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Great article with some astoundingly clear definitions of
unhappiness. If we are a "biological accident, thrown into a survival of
the fittest in terms of wealth and prestige, youth and beauty, with no
higher purpose or goal", then most of us should just give up. Of course if
we are not we are onto something big.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
I think veterinary practice is more variable and less mechanistic with respect to its patients than Alastair Santhouse suggests. If he is worried about tendencies to reduce the human patient to a veterinary-like 'machine' patient, perhaps he should spend some time with a practising vet. This could test his assumption that medical reductionism draws human medicine ever closer to veterinary practice.
True, there is great variation in veterinary medicine, from the 'almost person' status of companion animals to the 'almost machine' status of farm animals, but most vets strive to see their patients as sentient beings with needs, wants and sentient and emotional lives. This takes place within a culture where the status of animals is hugely variable and often ambiguous.
How vets strive to cope with these situations in varied clinical contexts is much more nuanced than your correspondent's letter suggests. In dealing with their patients, vets are forced to tread more ethically-unstable ground than their medical colleagues. An appreciation of this might be interesting for the author and the very valid sounding concerns he has for his own patients.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Man is a being in search of meaning
This is a timely reminder of what psychiatry should be but
increasingly is not. I recently wrote a book called the 'The Meaning of
Madness' arguing along similar lines for a broader concept of mental
disorders. Such a broader concept not only enriches clinical practice, but
improves outcomes and reverses stigma. More than two thousand years ago,
Plato defined man both as 'a wingless animal with two feet and flat
nails', and as 'a being in search of meaning'. I know which I prefer to
be.
Competing interests:
Author of 'The Meaning of Madness'
Competing interests: No competing interests