Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ethical Issues and Ethical Problems in Psychiatry

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ethical Dilemma in Psychiatry

  • 13 Accesses

Abstract

Psychiatry is a medical specialty that aims to understand, classify, prevent, treat disorders, and improve mental health. Medical ethics is a discipline that evaluates, analyzes, and discusses ethical principles in the field of medicine, examines the value issues that arise in medical practice, and establishes rules and norms. The relationship between psychiatry and ethics occupies a distinctive place in medical ethics due to the unique characteristics of psychiatry. Over the past century, developments in the psychiatric practices and treatments had increased remarkably. As psychiatric practices have advanced, the relationship between psychiatry and ethics has been increasingly discussed, leading to the development of specialized guidelines in this field. Advances in genetics, imaging, and pharmacology have made mental disorders more understandable, and developments in treatments have led to the evolution of ethical approaches in psychiatry. It seems very important to include ethical evaluation and approach issues in psychiatric education. In this chapter of the book, we summarized the history of psychiatry, the relationship between psychiatry and ethics, and ethical issues and ethical problems in psychiatry. The chapter contains a summary of highlights of clinical ethics approaches in psychiatry and suggests recommendations to guide psychiatrists and mental healthcare providers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. 5th ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Beauchamp TL, Walters L. Contemporary issues in bioethics. 3th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Inc; 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Peele R, Chodoff P. The ethics of involuntary treatment and deinstitutionalization. In: Bloch S, Chodoff P, Gren SA, editors. Psychiatric ethics. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999. p. 423–40.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Simon RI. Defensive psychiatry and the disruption of treatment boundaries. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2000;37(2):124–31.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Türkiye Psikiyatri Derneği. Ruh hekimliği (psikiyatri) meslek etiği kuralları. 2002. https://psikiyatri.org.tr/tpd-kutuphanesi/belge/311.

  6. Sackett DL, Rosenberg WMC, Gray JAM, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. BMJ. 1996;312(7023):71–2. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. The principles of medical ethics with annotations especially applicable to psychiatry. American Psychiatric Association. 2013 Edition.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Herbert PB, Young KA. Tarasoffat twenty-five. FOCUS. 2003;1(4):376–81. https://doi.org/10.1176/foc.1.4.376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Maralit AM. Beyond the bump: ethical and legal considerations for psychologists providing services to pregnant individuals who use substances. Ethics Behav. 2023;33(2):89–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2022.2093202. Accessed 4 Apr 2023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Appelbaum PS. Reflections on the Goldwater rule. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2017;45(2):228–32. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28619865.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Palmer BW, Harmell AL. Assessment of healthcare decision-making capacity. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2016;31(6):530–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acw051.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Jonsen AR, Siegler M, Winslade WJ. Clinical ethics: a practical approach to ethical decisions in clinical medicine. New York: McGraw Hill Professional; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Chieze M, Clavien C, Kaiser S, Hurst S. Coercive measures in psychiatry: a review of ethical arguments [review]. Front Psych. 2021;12:790886. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.790886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Richmond JS, Berlin JS, Fishkind AB, Holloman GH Jr, Zeller SL, Wilson MP, Rifai MA, Ng AT. Verbal Deescalation of the Agitated Patient: Consensus Statement of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry Project BETA De-escalation Workgroup. West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(1):17−25. https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2011.9.6864.

  15. Ewuoso CO. Beneficial coercion in psychiatric care: insights from African ethico-cultural system. Dev World Bioeth. 2018;18(2):91–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/dewb.12137.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Tannsjo T. Coercive care: ethics of choice in health & medicine. London: Routledge; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Tannsjo T. Coercive care. London: Routledge; 2002. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203004845.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  18. Tannsjo T. The convention on human rights and biomedicine and the use of coercion in psychiatry. J Med Ethics. 2004;30(5):430. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2002.000703.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Garriga M, Pacchiarotti I, Kasper S, Zeller SL, Allen MH, Vázquez G, Baldaçara L, San L, McAllister-Williams RH, Fountoulakis KN, Courtet P, Naber D, Chan EW, Fagiolini A, Möller HJ, Grunze H, Llorca PM, Jaffe RL, Yatham LN, et al. Assessment and management of agitation in psychiatry: expert consensus. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2016;17(2):86–128. https://doi.org/10.3109/15622975.2015.1132007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Staden CWV, Krüger C. Incapacity to give informed consent owing to mental disorder. J Med Ethics. 2003;29(1):41. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.29.1.41.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Appelbaum PS, Grisso T. MacArthur competence assessment tool for clinical research (MacCAT-CR). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press/Professional Resource Exchange; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Gutheil TG, Simon RI. Non-sexual boundary crossings and boundary violations: the ethical dimension. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2002;25(3):585–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0193-953x(01)00012-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Charlton BG. Sexual ethics in psychiatry. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 1993;6(5):713. https://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/Fulltext/1993/10000/Sexual_ethics_in_psychiatry.22.aspx.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. American Psychiatric Association. The principles of medical ethics: with annotations especially applicable to psychiatry. 2001st ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Gutheil TG. Forensic psychiatry. In: Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ, editors. Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry, vol. 2. 6th ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins; 1995. p. 2747–75.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gutheil TG, Brodsky A. Preventing boundary violations in clinical practice. New York: Guilford Press; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Gabbard GO, Lester EP. Boundaries and boundary violations in psychoanalysis. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, TOBB ETU School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Gamze Gürcan

  2. Department of History of Medicine and Ethics, TOBB ETU School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Perihan Elif Ekmekci

Authors
  1. Gamze Gürcan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Perihan Elif Ekmekci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gamze Gürcan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical History and Ethics, TOBB ETU School of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye

    Perihan Elif Ekmekci

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gürcan, G., Ekmekci, P.E. (2024). Ethical Issues and Ethical Problems in Psychiatry. In: Ekmekci, P.E. (eds) Ethical Dilemma in Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56211-2_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56211-2_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-56210-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-56211-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation