Dennis B. Kottler, MD
Westlake Village, CA
Appointments: 818-991-8376
Email: doc@psychiatrix.com
"Science is Not an Exact Science"
The public has a firm commitment to anything "scientific." While SCIENCE is clearly our best option in most cases, science, including medical science, is not fixed and sacrosanct. Medical recommendations change over time, sometimes reverting to previous recommendations. Examples are the constant debate about the best approaches to weight loss, benefits of exercise, and lately, which is worse too much fat or too much sugar in the diet. In psychiatry there are the constant revisions of specific disorders. We are now on DSM V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Ed).
Furthermore, there is the tendency to hold on to scientific and particularly medical dogma because they have become the conventional wisdom. This is a phenomenon I call scientific "FAITH," an often unwavering belief in the truth of "accepted" concepts and treatments. Sometimes the agnostic alternative can lead to enlightenment; conversely, stubborn attachment to conventional wisdom often impedes scientific progress.
Then there is "INTUITION," the "unscientific" process by which new ideas sprout in the adventuresome mind. After time, sometimes a long time, these ideas will often be picked up and looked at more carefully, applying the scientific method. These new ideas may replace the conventional wisdom and become the new dogma.
So the whole process is rather messy and not the neat collection of scientific "truths" that many have come to believe in.
Appointments: 818-991-8376
Email: doc@psychiatrix.com