You may be right about that, but in many instances, the role of the psychiatrist is that of the psychotherapist with the addition of the ability to prescribe medications. Both are sometimes used in treatment of mental conditions.

I don't see any categorizing of mental illnesses here. The only answer that I have for that is that many, many people with mental illness do not seek therapy or help at all. In fact, many more are undiagnosed mentally ill than ever seek treatment for their illnesses.

It is just absurd to me to project people into little boxes of diagnosis and treatment. The wise psychiatrist, and there are many out there, is very alert to all kinds of treatment, both psychotropic medications, talk therapy, physical therapy, diet correction, etc., and even statements to some people who seek therapy that "you don't need to see a psychiatrist: somebody else does." Even Dr. Goodwin and Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison who wrote "Bipolar Illness" tell us that bipolar illness is not a static one but a dynamic condition constantly changing.

Life has taught me (not necessarily everyone else, mind you), that truth has a way of ultimately making itself believable.

The longer I post here the more I realize that what we say has meaning that can be interpreted in so many ways that it becomes meaningless to try to carry on a discussion for much longer than an "I agree with you" or "that's good" or "help" or "what does that mean" or "would you please post a source so that we can verify that?"

Maybe that's why we are called on to post a "quick" reply. I'll try to remember that.