On the need for evidence-based psychiatry

Evidence-based medicine has, for the most part, been enthusiastically greeted by policymakers, purchasers, and clinicians. Some of those directly involved in patient care, however, are wary of the term and of its possible exploitation and consider it a way of justifying cuts in services and straitjacketing medical practice by restricting clinical freedom and judgement. In psychiatry, some clinicians maintain that they have always based their practice on evidence, whereas others feel that evidence-based medicine has limited relevance to complex mental health problems.