Opinions of Polish psychiatrists on psychiatry and their own professional role

Purpose: Psychiatry as a discipline of medicine and science is subject to constant social assessment. Psychiatrists – its key representatives – often share discriminating experiences with mentally-ill patients. The aim of the paper is to analyse the attitude of Polish psychiatrists towards psychiatry and their own professional role. Methods: The studied group consisted of Polish psychiatrists. A diagnostic survey in the form of a questionnaire to be filled-in individually was used and 232 questionnaires underwent the final analysis. Results: According to the majority of psychiatrists (62.9%), the greater part of the society is aware of the fact that psychiatry is a discipline of medicine; 47% of psychiatrists believe that an average citizen considers psychiatric treatment to be either only slightly effective or ineffective at all. According to 53.8% of the respondents, 40 to 100% of the society associates psychiatric therapy with violence. In the opinion of the majority of respondents (84.1%), a small part of the society (up to 40%) believes that psychiatry is a field of magical influences. A small part of the studied doctors (8.6%) claim that most of the society (60% and more) thinks that psychiatry is used to protect individuals who break the law. According to 46.5% of the respondents, a smaller part of the society (up to 40%) claims that psychiatrists become similar to their patients. Most of them (56.9%) think that the prestige of psychiatry in the eyes of doctors of other specialisations is low or very low. According to 62.5% of the studied psychiatrists, doctors of other specialisations think that the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment is average, although most of their colleagues (76.2%) are satisfied with the choice of this specialisation. A vast majority (96.1%) expressed satisfaction with their own choice of medical specialisation. According to the great majority (76.8%), the level of emotional burden related to the work of a psychiatrist is high or very high. Most of the respondents (64.3%) estimate that the level of legal responsibility related to the work of a psychiatrist is more than average. A vast majority of the studied persons (86.6%) claim that financial outlays designated to psychiatry are lower as compared to other disciplines of medicine. Most of the respondents (87.5%) believe that doctors of other specialisations often or very often treat men- tally-ill patients in a discriminating manner. Conclusions: Polish psychiatrists believe that psychiatry is an undervalued and discriminated discipline of medicine. At the same time, they express high level of satisfaction with their choice of this medical specialisation.