Featured Blog: Ars Psychiatrica

The featured blog is ‘Ars Psychiatrica‘ by Dr Neil Scheurich who has an extensive list of publications including articles on the interface between the arts and psychiatry. In his introductory article, Scheurich explains some of his motives for writing and his emphasis on resisting the move towards overmedicalisation of psychiatry, a debate that continues on both sides of the Atlantic and perhaps representing a deeper question about the identity of psychiatry. Scheurich’s review of some of Checkov’s works is a pointer to some valuable material for studying the intersection between psychiatry and literature. There is also a consideration of some of the limits of psychiatry as this article illustrates in which the difficulties inherent in diagnosis are discussed. Scheurich also offers us some of his thoughts on his blogging experience. There is a discussion of lumpers and splitters in terms of psychiatric diagnosis and Scheuerich’s comment that he is a splitter who considers the individual attributes of the patient with a separate diagnosis for each patient is reminiscent of Jung’s statements on the matter. There is much more to ‘Ars Psychiatrica’ which is filled with poetry, quotes, art work and classic literature reviews in an enjoyable celebration of the arts and their intersection with psychiatry.

Disclaimer

The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.