Originally Posted by
Bamboozle 
Psychology as a pseudoscience? Ouch.
While there are certainly a crap ton of variables when dealing with mental conditions/illnesses, researchers do have testable theories in this discipline. This field is most certainly in its infancy, but as technology and methods improve, so will psychology.
I have depression and anxiety and have benefited from therapy many years before. Also, the med that I’m on right now is helping. I know I can’t do this on my own. Therapy and meds is the best shot I have.
Bam, please don't be offended. I'm not saying psychology can't be useful, having someone to bounce ideas off of and such. That part is really helpful, which is why I'm here.
But, yes: pseudoscience. Perhaps it will evolve into a real science one day. But usually it seems like they turn to medical/biological science-- cat scans, blood tests, and such-- to find what's going on in your brain. And medical sciences-- psych drugs-- are useful for treatment. Telling your shrink all your ills might help you deal with them, but it's still sort of sketchy as science.
Tis why you still need someone with medical training-- a psychiatrist, M.D., or D.O.-- to give you drugs. As you well know, your psychologist can't prescribe psych drugs.
But when it gets down to the nitty-gritty "alcoholic" seems to be sort of an elusive term anyway. Kinda like being happy: If you think you are, you are. If you think your drinking is a problem, guess what? It is.