Husband and Wife Explore Psychiatry—As Seen on TV

Katherine Peters, M.D., Ph.D., often meets with patients whose perceptions of the world of medicine have been shaped by television shows. Sometimes they’ll expect to find out the results of a genetic test right away, and express surprise that medicine can take a long time.

“They’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you do this like Dr. House?’” she said, referring to the medical drama featuring an antisocial doctor whose approach to diagnosing illnesses is akin to Sherlock Holmes’ deductive reasoning.

Peters is a professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University School of Medicine. She and her husband, psychiatrist Andrew R. Newberg, M.D., love watching medical dramas like “Chicago Med” and dissecting how the shows depict their professions.

The pair presented a session called “As Seen on TV” in the Mental Health Innovation Zone, essentially hosting a game show in which they showed clips from TV shows, discussed how psychiatry was depicted, and asked attendees to answer questions about the appropriate way to provide treatment. The shows included “Chicago Med,” “House,” “The Shrink Next Door,” and others.

Sometimes, Newberg said, TV shows are surprisingly accurate, depicting psychiatrists who listen to and affirm their patients. Other times, they’re ridiculous—and completely unbelievable in how they portray physicians and the practice of psychiatry.

“The portrayal of psychiatrists by TV shows and media does influence people’s expectations for what they may get with the medical system and the psychiatric treatment system,” Newberg said, adding that it’s important for psychiatrists to engage with their patients and determine what their sources are for their information in a nonjudgmental way.

“The last thing you want to be is close-minded with your patients,” Peters said. “We need to be open for them to tell us what’s going on with them.”

Misinformation is rampant in the media, Peters continued. “What we need to do,” she said, “is find ways to integrate reality and make it more empowering instead of pushing people down.” ■