The human brain is still a mystery and scientists and researchers are trying desperately to discover how it works. Even in this day and age, treatment is problematic. There is no blood test, x-ray, CT scan or other definitive device to show up a mental illness. A psychiatrist has to rely on observation and the patient’s description of his/her symptoms which is far from a perfect way of making a diagnosis, isn’t it?
Many times our son told his psychiatrist things that were not correct but due to patient confidentiality, we were not consulted. I feel strongly that a psychiatrist should hear both sides of the story.
Mental illness affected our son, our whole family, friends and neighbors too. It hindered David’s ability to perform ordinary everyday tasks. I dream of the day when mental illness will be easier to diagnose. I also dream of the day that a miracle drug will be found.
A brain damaged by schizophrenia.
Jill's Experiences with Mental Health , Stigma, Alzheimer's Disease, Grief & Grieving & serenade2seniors 
I find it interesting that you were not asked for your ‘side’ of the story and the blame was often put back on you for supposedly causing David’s illness.
When my GG was seeing a psychiatrist last year, he asked for me to be there and asked questions about how I was dealing with things and for observations on what I had seen. He also asked our Tween questions. He told us that this helped him form a more rounded diagnosis. Whilst the diagnosis of the GG was not as extreme as David’s (Critical depression and anxiety), I found it quite a mentally draining process myself.