Slow Psychiatry: Rethinking the Role of Psychiatric Drugs

The current prevailing model for the use of psychoactive drugs is a disease-oriented model. The drugs are thought to target specific disease processes such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. In this talk, Dr. Steingard describes an alternative model—a drug-centered approach—which focuses more on the effects of each drug. She explains the distinctions between and implications for each model. She also describes a way of working with people, called need-adapted approaches, which allows time for the discussions required to understand and help people experiencing the complex problems that are labeled as psychiatric illness.