Fundamental Differences Between Psychology and Psychiatry: An Overview

How many times have I been asked, “So are you a psychiatrist or psychologist? They’re basically the same, right?” I often say, “That’s like referring to an astronomer as an astrologer.”

For the uninitiated, the two have different educations and hold different degrees. Psychologists are doctors of philosophy (Ph.D.) or psychology (Psy.D.); psychiatrists are medical doctors/physicians (M.D.).

The difference is critical. Physicians are trained throughout medical school and residency to view the body as a series of organs that comprise an organism. Their purview, then, is a machine that is either functioning properly or is, to one degree or another, broken.

When a suffering person comes to them, the lens with which they view that person is similar to a mechanic who attempts to find a physical aberration that directly or indirectly causes the undesirable symptom. The study of psychiatry (meaning, treatment of the soul) essentially seeks to better understand the electrical, structural, or chemical mechanisms that are broken—or imbalanced—and how to apply medical solutions to fix these broken parts or systems. Neurons, tissue, the brain, and the central nervous system: these are all that exist and matter to the psychiatrist.

Psychology, on the other hand, literally means study of the soul. Originally, it was a broader field of study that, when allied and merged with medicine, created the offshoot that is now known as psychiatry.

Today, psychology is a social science. The academic branch of psychology, residing in universities, attempts to study human behavior, emotion, thought, and relationships. The clinical branch of psychology attempts, like psychiatry, to intervene with people who suffer in their behaviors, emotions, thoughts, and relationships.

Next, I will discuss one of the key differences between psychology and psychiatry: the belief—or lack of belief—in the soul.

Yoga yoga yoga!

OK, this might not be a popular perception, but has anyone else noticed that yoga enthusiasts are a bit like street preachers?

Just think about some of the more obnoxious born-again types and how they talk about their faith and replace “Jesus” with “yoga”:

“Excuse me, can I talk to you about yoga…?”

“One of these days, you are going to realize your need for yoga.”

“Have you had a personal encounter with yoga?”

“Hey, would you like to join me this Sunday for yoga? There is a new wonderful teacher who can answer all of your questions about yoga…”

“Don’t be afraid; yoga can change your life. You don’t have to give up everything, just add the beauty of yoga…”

“Yoga is calling you; are you hearing its call?”

“Let me tell you the exciting things yoga has done in my life!”

"Yoga covers a multitude of sins."

“There is a yoga workshop Tuesday evening. It’s free—they are so excited about introducing people to yoga. They want to spread the word about yoga.”

“It’s OK, I thought yoga was silly at first too. But then I really studied it and figured it out and it just hit me. Yoga is the way.”

"Let me tell you how yoga spoke to me this morning!"

“There are many choices in this world. Why not try yoga?”

“Have you thought about giving your life to yoga?”

I’m going to be in trouble for this one. But I couldn’t help myself.

No Maste.

Happy Body, Happy Mind

For every treatment psychiatry offers, there exists a natural alternative that is safer and more effective.

This is my motto. This is the fundamental vision of my clinical practice.

As my practice grows in size and scope, experience clarifies my belief that a fundamental intervention strategy for emotional and behavioral problems must include the Body Triad: Diet, Sleep, and Exercise.

I have preached about proper sleep for years. It is so fundamental to cognitive and emotional functioning that I often refuse to engage in psychotherapy with someone who is not sleeping properly. It is about as useful as doing therapy with an inebriated person. Just as a drunk brain cannot process, nor can a sleep-deprived brain.

For years, I was somewhat skeptical about the impact of a poor diet on a person’s emotions and cognitive abilities. Sure, I always knew that a healthy diet would help my heart, give my muscles what they need to perform, and improve my complexion. But I wasn’t so sure about claims that childhood behavior disorders could be magically cured by dietary means.

I was wrong. Personal and professional experience, combined with a stream of quality, published studies, has convinced me that a poor diet can profoundly impact a child’s emotional and behavioral regulation. It only follows that adults’ functioning can be similarly affected—positively or negatively. Personally, I have learned that food dyes—which are in a majority of the food supply—can make my children…well, nuts. One of my girls absolutely goes bonkers when she consumes certain dyes; she begins to exhibit most of the symptoms of of the mythical disorder, ADHD. I can only imagine how many children with that label actually suffer from food dye sensitivities and other dietary sensitivities.

A recent study published in Lancet goes a long way to show how powerfully diet affects children. One of the key notions of the study is that what might be perfectly healthy for one child might be toxic for another child. Food allergies and sensitivities can wreak havoc while flying under the radar for years. There is no doubt now that each child has a unique diet profile; just like some cars require higher octane fuel, some children require a diet with or without certain foods. It is worth investigating.

The third rail of the Body Triad is exercise. Some excellent studies has shown beyond a doubt that the very best treatment for depression—even moderate to severe depression—is regular exercise. We’re not talking about extreme exercise; you don’t have to run a marathon to feed your brain what it needs. 30 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise 4-5 times per week is good enough for most people.

Imagine what our culture would be like if it were properly fed, rested, and exercised. Imagine what families would be like. Imagine what YOU would be like if you were feeding your brain the diet, sleep, and exercise that it needs for optimal functioning.

Wrestling Girls

A friend of mine asked the question, “Why are boys wrestling girls in Iowa?”

Perhaps you have read about the high school wrestler in Iowa who essentially forfeited a tournament match because his opponent was female. He is catching all kinds of flak from feminist groups. I wouldn’t be surprised if they stormed the state capital, raising caricatures of the young man that look like Hitler. That’s all the rage now, you know.

But seriously, let’s take a look at this situation.

First, the young man behaved like a consummate gentleman. He said nothing about the girl’s chosen sport. In fact, he acknowledged her accomplishments and praised her ability. He lamented his decision in a way that shows remarkable awareness of the powerful counterarguments to his decision. Would that our politicians were able to think this critically and behave this gallantly.

Second, the boy clearly thought this situation through. There was no tobacco-spitting, terse response, like “Girls…they shouldn’t be rolling around with boys—until they’re married.”

Rather, this young man was taught by his parents and church that boys and girls shouldn’t have physical contact where private areas will likely be touched. They reason that it can spur all kinds of thoughts and temptations that are frankly not worth it. They believe that it is also improper.

I recognize that propriety is a word that many in our hypermodern culture do not comprehend, but for most of world history, there have been rules describing proper public behavior. There are remnants of this antiquated notion. For example, it is still generally considered bad taste to pick one’s nose while ordering dinner at a restaurant (or so they tell me).

Of course there are extremes (e.g., wearing burqas) of propriety that should be rejected and some (e.g., girls only wearing skirts and dresses) that are unnecessary. But what about men opening doors for women? For most of history, this was considered the proper behavior of a gentleman. In some parts of the country today, it is considered affront to women’s liberation. I can’t count the number of times a woman has looked at me exasperated as I held a door for her; I have even gotten, “I am completely capable of opening my own door.” One of the consequences of the extreme feminist movement.

But a remnant of heroes remains. They refuse to wrestle women—although they will certainly play them in chess or Scrabble. They hold open doors for women, children, and the elderly, even if their motives are questioned and their natures abused. Their attitudes are charitable toward women, even during disagreements with them. Would that our public officials learned and practiced such charity, self-sacrifice, and critical thinking!

We can learn something from them Iowa high school boys.

Chinese Mothers Are Indeed Superior (but So Are American Mothers)

It’s time I jump into the fray on Professor Chua’s contention, asserted in her book, that Chinese mothers are superior.

To begin, the very notion suggests that there is a competition between Chinese mothers and American mothers. I find this highly suspect. There is already enough competition between China and the United States to inspire a whole library section of books. I don’t think that American mothers should concern themselves with whether Beijing mothers are better. As interesting as it would be to have parenting as a new Olympic sport, I think we should avoid making this into a contest.

However, let’s examine the argument, presuming that there can be such a thing as a superior mother.

Chua contends that American parents—represented by the primary caretaker, the mother—are essentially too wimpy. American mothers spend too much time tiptoeing around their children, fearing that they might damage their child’s self-esteem and creating conflict with their child. On that count, Chua is preaching to the choir. As I assert in my book, American parents are guilty of this ridiculous pattern.

Chua praises the directness and stark hierarchal structure of the Chinese family. Parent says; child does. Period. There is no sass, defiance, or negotiation. So far, so good.

There are some questionable extremes in Chinese (and many Eastern) family structures. She recounts a daughter being forced to practice a piano piece for three hours. It is justified when the child finally masters the piece and exudes pride for having accomplished her goal. In some ways, this could be an enormously powerful experience. The child’s abilities are respected and an important lesson is learned: hard work must often be lengthy and arduous and even significantly uncomfortable. This lesson will certainly help the child in future endeavors. This kind of parenting could cure our ADHD epidemic. Hurray for Eastern medicine!

These examples delineate some of the superior aspects of non-Western parenting. If more American parents moved to a parent-first philosophy with stricter discipline, respecting children’s fortitude and the necessity of challenges to build character and endurance, then I would be pleased.

But there is another side of the ledger in this equation.

Let’s look at WHY Chinese parents tend to parent this way. It is consistent with the Eastern view of children and family. The communal view of children is that children exist to serve the family; their accomplishments and behavior directly reflect the esteem of the family. In Eastern families, there is no such thing as individual self-esteem. There is family esteem. Each person is expected to subjugate their will to that of the family. When they do this, they are good.

It is consistent, then, for Eastern parents to have extremely strict expectations of their children. Play dates, sleepovers, and other experiences are not simply luxuries; they are a colossal waste of time.

Contrast this with the parenting philosophy of American parents. Children are, by and large, considered individuals with equal value, will, and self-determination. Even in strict families, children are trained toward an individualistic lifestyle. Children are taught to discover themselves—for their own good.

In Christian families, this is amended by the idea of finding one’s individual gifts and talents and to perceive them as traits that can be used to further the Kingdom of God. But still the emphasis is on the individual.

There is an additional contrast between Chinese and American families that must be noted. China is a Communist regime that has a one-child policy. That one child, it could be hypothesized, holds enormous pressure to continue the family’s aspirations. Any thoughts of this are dispersed among multiple children in most American families. If Johnny doesn’t get a Harvard law degree, maybe Suzy will. We’ll make sure Johnny can at least dunk or make a video that ends up on YouTube.

The religious difference between the two nations is not minor. What is the value of a child whose nation believes that the child belongs first to the state, then the family, contrasted to the value of a child who belongs first to God? It’s something to think about.

In the end, Chinese mothers do a magnificent job at raising their children—in many ways. But to measure successful parenting based on a child's accomplishments reveals more about the values of Chinese mothers far more than their skill at parenting. Similarly, the way American parents raise their children reveals a great deal about their own values. Each set of parents is simply living out their beliefs and values—and quite successfully.

That is both scary and encouraging.

Psychiatry Kills

Many have seen or read the advertisements for Abilify and other antipsychotics* as a treatment for depression. The advertisements suggest that if one’s antidepressant is not doing an adequate job, one should consider adding another psychoactive drug to the cocktail. (Note that the ads don’t suggest stopping the drug that isn’t working but adding MORE drugs. The new psychiatry mantra: "If it's broke, whatever you do, DON'T FIX IT").

One thing people need to know is that neuroleptics/antipsychotics cause diabetes. That’s right; they CAUSE diabetes.

An interesting study in the January Archives of General Psychiatry found that women who have diabetes and depression have a significantly higher risk for mortality and cardiovascular disease. In case you didn’t catch that, this means that depression + diabetes = more death.

So psychiatrists are recommending that people who are depressed—who already have a higher risk for diabetes than the general public—take a drug that is known to cause diabetes, which then, in combination with their depression, is likely to result in a higher mortality rate.

One can only speculate as to how a psychiatrist could prescribe any of this in good conscience. Either they know about the risk and ignore it or they are plain ignorant. In either case, it is no wonder why psychiatrists are among the most loathed of medical professionals.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid neuroleptics like the plague. Actually, this stuff is worse than the plague; at least the plague killed you quickly.

*Actually, the term “antipsychotic” is not a scientific term. It is a marketing term for the class of psychoactive drugs called neuroleptics. Drug manufacturers and psychiatrists HOPE and believe that neuroleptics can remove or reduce psychotic symptoms. This does not mean that they do.

Feeling SAD This Season?

Guest Blog by Jaclyn Pistorio, M.A.


Snow, sleet, and sub-zero temperatures? Yes, it is officially winter time! Many of us seem to be a bit more “down in the dumps” during these darker and colder months of the year. Ever wonder why you feel low around the same time, every year? Although SAD is not officially accepted as a distinct psychological disorder, it is a seasonal condition that impacts individuals every year.

Usually, SAD symptoms appear during the shorter, darker months of the year and tend to go away during the sunnier months. Winter-onset SAD symptoms include: depression, hopelessness, anxiety, loss of energy, social withdrawal, oversleeping, appetite changes (increase in craving for carbohydrates), and difficulty concentrating.

Unfortunately, the specific cause of SAD remains unknown. Like with many mental health conditions the causes may include genetics, environment, and health condition. A few specific factors that may come into play include your biological clock, melatonin levels, and serotonin levels. The reduced level of sunlight in the shorter seasons may actually disrupt your body’s internal clock, leading to feelings of depression. The changes in season and sunlight have also been shown to disrupt the normal levels of serotonin (a brain chemical) and melatonin (a natural hormone).

So why are we talking about SAD? Well, the prevalence of this disorder actually increases as you head north from the equator! Studies have actually shown that only 1 to 2 percent of all people who live in Florida suffer from the disorder, compared to 5 percent in Maryland and 10 percent in New Hampshire. I knew I should have moved to Florida.

Most of us have experienced these symptoms at one time or another so, how do you know if you have SAD or not? It is normal to have some days when you feel down. But if you feel down for days at a time and you can’t seem to get motivated, it may be time to see your doctor or therapist. Fear not, because there are several things you can do at home to alleviate your mild symptoms! Several treatments have also been shown effective in reducing severe symptoms.

Just because the seasons have changed doesn’t mean you have to change along with them.