[GenXteacher]

“Psychology and Psychiatry have always had a tenuous hold on claims they were sciences with the standing of Chemistry and Physics.”

They have less validity than witchcraft. Religion and philosophy answer most questions about human behavior adequately.

[Chaguito]

As my PhD psychologist friend said to me, “The good news is that 15% of psychologically disturbed patients responded well to psychotherapy; the bad news is that 30% responded equally well to no treatment.”

[Retain Mike]

I think the professor I mentioned would agree with the assessment of witchcraft. Developments in statistics could have enabled these people to a least determine there was a marginal or significant propensity for a particular disorder. Careful studies could have identified and graded methods of treatment. Given persistence in searching for correct methods of analysis, even accumulated episodic events could have been sifted for transformation into valid information. Research would have proceeded more slowly and conclusions would have been less intuitive, but more stable.
The disciplines would more often have adhered to the medical principle of "first of all, do no harm". In all probability preferred therapies would have resulted in far fewer people being enabled by society, or medicated into a passivity where they did not disturb others. Responsible research could also have acknowledged those pesky humans, who in spite of their genetics and upbringing, decide to live positive lives without APA professional help. Following those threads could have provided some valuable insights. Instead we whack people with ever more expensive drugs and turn them into zombies. Obviously these Dr. and PhD types can claim to have been successful because these individuals no longer bother anyone.