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Psychoanalysis has its root in medicine. When Breuer and Freud initiated the Studies of Hysteria (1895), there were no psychiatrists. The physicians who dealt with the emotionally disordered were alienists who practiced mainly in large hospitals such as the Bethlehem, The Salpetriere, and the venerable state hospitals in the United States. During the time of Freud's initial innovative contributions, medicine rested upon shaky scientific foundations with little in the way of technology. It was in such a setting that Freud's genius enabled him to hypothesize that we are deeply influenced by unconscious forces. His explication of the dynamics of the conflicts which influence both normal and neurotic behavior is an enormous contribution which has stood the test of time.
The bad news is that the public image of psychiatry and psychoanalysis has been dropping. For example, the Gallup polls show this order of status: M.D.'s, Supreme Court Justices, other professionals, and then Psychiatrists and others (Time, “Psychiatry's Depression,” 1979).
In addition, legal restrictions in regard to time-limited emergency commitments, treatment, and the use of drugs are rampant.