For docs, more biology info means less empathy for mental health patients

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

1-Dec-2014

Contact: Bill Hathaway william.hathaway@yale.edu 203-432-1322 Yale University @yale

Give therapists and psychiatrists information about the biology of a mental disorder, and they have less -- not more -- empathy for the patient, a new Yale study shows.

The findings released Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge the notion that biological explanations for mental illness boost compassion for the tens of millions of Americans who suffer from mental-health problems.

Conventional wisdom suggests that biological explanations for psychiatric symptoms should reduce the blame patients receive for their behavior by making genes and brain cells the culprits. This, in turn, should increase feelings of compassion.

In a series of studies, U.S. clinicians read descriptions of patients whose symptoms were explained using information that focused on either genetics and neurobiology or on childhood experiences and stressful life circumstances. Among other questions, the clinicians were asked how much compassion they felt for the individual, an essential element of therapy.

The clinicians consistently expressed less empathy and compassion for the patient when his or her symptoms were explained using biological factors, the researchers found.

"Biological explanations are like a double-edged sword," said Matthew Lebowitz, a Yale graduate student in psychology and lead author of the study. "They tend to make patients appear less blameworthy but the overemphasis on biology to explain psychopathology can be dehumanizing by reducing people to mere biological mechanisms."

Clinicians also viewed psychotherapy as less likely to be effective when provided biological explanations for illness rather than psychosocial ones. This is problematic because many studies suggest certain types of psychotherapy are important and effective treatments for many mental disorders, the authors note.

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For docs, more biology info means less empathy for mental health patients