What is Psychiatry? Was ist das, die Psychiatrie?

Abstract

Drawing on Heidegger’s method of analysis, the question of what is psychiatry is explored from within. This leads to a conception of psychiatry as a form of interpersonal interaction in which there is a specific reaching out of one Being to another. It is a ‘specific reaching out’ because, following the recognition through the interaction between Beings that the other is in some form of distress, there is the corresponding need to assuage. The reformulation of psychiatry in this sense is important because it emphasises the unity with which we communicate and interact, and it also serves as a reminder of the need in psychiatry to develop novel methods to undertake research in this complex and constantly evolving field.