The New York Times Freakanomics blog just had a great discussion questioning how much progress psychology and psychiatry have really made during the last century, with contributions from psychologists, psychiatrists, economists and a woman who lost her son to suicide.
The responses obviously come from quite differing perspectives but are largely positive and seem mostly to cite a scientific approach to understanding the mind and brain as the most important factor (danke schön Willhelm Wundt).
Dan Ariely’s comments are particularly interesting as he suggests that one of our greatest advances is the discovery that our own experience isn’t necessarily a good guide to how our own mind works.
Anyway, a good collection of short commentaries that are worth reading in full.
Link to NYT Freakanomics psychology and psychiatry discussion.
Mind Hacks 