I'm so interested in psychiatry because it's like the sense of what is true just shifts so much with each generation. If we're given being given external scientific insights about how our minds work, we may adjust our behavior in relation to those theories. That does feel like more one of the reasons I'm drawn to writing about it. There's kind of a bonus it seems like with the history of psychiatry and that people seem to have kept really detailed notes.
Rachel Aviv is a staff writer for The New Yorker. Her new book is Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us.
“I used to feel that if I knew everything, that was a good sign. And I've become more aware that if you know everything you want to argue, that's not such a good sign…. Do I have a genuine question? Is there something I’m trying to figure out? Then the story is worth telling. But if I don’t really have a question or if my question is already answered, then maybe that should give you pause.”
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