Shrink Rap Today  Three psychiatrists explain their work  Search
Me?  Questioning How Psychiatric Units Search Patients and Their
Belongings  We've been blogging over on Shrink Rap for just
about seven years now. We've gotten to know our readers well,
but one topic keeps coming up over and over: while some people
are happy with the psychiatric treatments they've received and
the doctors they've seen, others feel they've been mistreated in
some way. They've had side effects from medications, or they've
felt humiliated by insensitive words or practices they find
degrading. As a psychiatrist, I can see one side of the story
easily: safety is paramount, life is unpredictable. As a
blogger, I've come to understand that even treatments offered
with the best of intentions can cause distress, and whlle this
isn't limited to psychiatry, there is a contingent of people who
feel strongly. There are anti-psychiatry groups, and psychiatric
"survivors," which I think is somehow different from being a
cancer survivor.  Whil