The Relevance of Arieti's Work in the Age of Medication

This paper looks at the relevance of psychoanalysis as a treatment option for psychotic individuals at a time when psychosis is invariably considered to be a biologically-based brain disease, for which the preferred course of treatment is psychotropic medication. In recent years, the use of psychoanalysis has declined noticeably in favor of evidenced-based biomedical approaches, which rely heavily upon statistical probabilities for ameliorating specific psychotic symptoms. Well-publicized biological approaches have proliferated, often to the detriment of the psychotic individual's general health, emotional recovery, and long-term rehabilitation. Sadly, these approaches may also be a significant factor affecting mortality rates in those suffering with psychosis, known to be about 25 years shorter, on average, than the general population.