Why some people think psychiatry isn't real branch of medicine?

Defensiveness: I agree with dr. Omrani about ignorance being a big reason. Some people have remarkable abilities in this area. Another is defensiveness, because they are frightened of "those" people with psychiatric problems. It's easier to dismiss an issue than to delve into and understand it. People often do dismiss psychiatry -- until they or their family members need help. Then, the light may dawn.

Psychiatry: The 'all in your head' stigma. In reality, mind & body inter-connect, and many medical issues can affect thoughts & moods, & vice versa.

A wound not visible: Most of medicine depends on the physical exam and laboratory procedures (blood work; cat scan) to make a diagnoses. In psychiatry we cannot understand and diagnose malfunctions through these actions. Also you cannot see the "wound" in psychiatric illness. And lastly unfortunately many psychiatrists do not communicate with their medical colleagues reinforcing its separate status.

Fear: Do the terms "lunacy", "lunatic", "psychotic", "crazy" or "mental disorder" give you warm, comforting thoughts or do they cause you to feel uncomfortable ; possibly even anxious? How often do movies present people with mental illness as being deranged? For some it is easier to deny the validity of issues rather then contend with or think about them.

Anitpsych. sentiment: Controversy has often surrounded psychiatry,[168] and the anti-psychiatry message is that psychiatric treatments are ultimately more damaging than helpful to patients. Psychiatry is often thought to be a benign medical practice, but at times is seen by some as a coercive instrument of oppression. Psychiatry is seen to involve an unequal power relationship between doctor and patient, and advocates of anti-psychiatry claim a subjective diagnostic process, leaving much room for opinions and interpretations.[168][169] Every society, including liberal Western society, permits compulsory treatment of mental patients.[168] The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that "poor quality services and human rights violations in mental health and social care facilities are still an everyday occurrence in many places", but has recently taken steps to improve the situation globally.[170] Psychiatry's history involves what some view as dangerous treatments.[168] Electroconvulsive therapy is one of these, which was used widely between the 1930s and 1960s and is still in use today. The brain surgery procedure lobotomy is another practice that was ultimately seen as too invasive and brutal.[169] In the US, between 1939 and 1951, over 50,000 lobotomy operations were performed in mental hospitals. Valium and other sedatives have arguably been over-prescribed, leading to a claimed epidemic of dependence. Concerns also exist for the significant increase in prescription of psychiatric drugs to children.[168][169] Three authors have come to personify the movement against psychiatry, of which two are or have been practicing psychiatrists. The most influential was R.D. Laing, who wrote a series of best-selling books, including; The Divided Self. Thomas Szasz rose to fame with the book The Myth of Mental Illness. Michael Foucault challenged the very basis of psychiatric practice and cast it as repressive and controlling. The term "anti-psychiatry" itself was coined by David Cooper in 1967.[168][169] Divergence within psychiatry generated the anti-psychiatry movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and is still present. Issues remaining relevant in contemporary psychiatry are questions of; freedom versus coercion, mind versus brain, nature versus nurture, and the right to be different.[168]