Psychiatrists know what it feels like to practice in a field questioned at every turn. From the earliest days of our specialty, we have faced doubts not only from the public but also from our own colleagues in medicine. The very existence of conditions such as schizophrenia, melancholic depression, bipolar disorder, or attention-deficit disorder has been challenged repeatedly. We have heard the claims: It’s just weakness. It’s a vitamin deficiency. It’s a lifestyle choice. We have also watched an endless parade of “miracle” fixes (herbal blends, fad diets, and now viral social-media remedies) proposed as if they could replace careful diagnosis and evidence-based treatment.

Today, the rest of medicine finds itself in familiar territory. Vaccination, cancer therapies, and even basic preventive care are under siege by misinformation and conspiracy theories. Physicians in every specialty are encountering patients convinced that Facebook posts outweigh peer-reviewed science. Many feel devalued and isolated.

Psychiatrists have been here before. Our experience offers lessons:

• Stay anchored in evidence. Decades of neurobiology, genetics, and clinical trials now validate what early psychiatrists knew from observation: Mental illness is real, complex, and treatable. We learned to keep presenting data patiently, even when ignored.
• Cultivate empathy for the skeptic. A patient who is delusional still deserves care; likewise, a person swayed by online falsehoods often acts from fear or past harm. Meeting them with curiosity, not contempt, opens the door to education.
• Model resilience and collaboration. Psychiatry has survived generations of dismissal by integrating neuroscience, psychology, and social science. That same interdisciplinary spirit can help other fields counter today’s misinformation.

The challenge of our era is not merely to refute bad science but to remain a steady beacon for those in pain. Psychiatrists can remind the wider medical community that dignity, patience, and relentless commitment to evidence will outlast the noise.

Farid Sabet-Sharghi is a psychiatrist.