Ethics

“Call no man happy before he is dead.”

Emergency psychiatry navigates complex ethical dilemmas, balancing patient safety, autonomy, and confidentiality in high-stakes situations.

Exploring the complexities of assisted dying, ethical dilemmas, and the evolving role of physicians in end-of-life decisions.

The debate on physician-assisted suicide challenges medical ethics, emphasizing the role of doctors in providing care, not death, while navigating societal pressures.

Peripartum psychosis is considered a psychiatric emergency. Here is how an interdisciplinary team can provide the best care.

Here is an updated ethical oath geared for our time.

We asked our readers if they thought psychiatry is doing enough to address federal doubt. Here's how they responded.

These 3 stories offer a lesson in humility to psychiatry.

The Ethics Committee of the American Psychiatric Association has released its 2025 edition of their opinions on the principles of medical ethics. What is our ethical way forward?

How do your fellow clinicians feel about ethical quandaries in psychiatry? Find out here.

We want to hear from you: what else can psychiatry do to address federal doubt?

Are these the times that try psychiatrists’ souls?

We want to hear from you: what ethical issues in psychiatry are you most worried about?

Recap Psychiatric Times Black History Month coverage, including welcoming a new sports psychiatry section editor and a clinical conversation on using CBT to empower Black patients.

Here are highlights from this week in Psychiatric Times, including conference updates and trial news.

Palliative psychiatry takes a dangerous turn when discussions lead to advocacy for assisted suicide policies for mental illness.

How can you handle patient gifts as a clinician?

How can we ensure an accountable, effective, and limited conservatorship system? Here are some actionable concepts.

How can you as clinicians balance a patient’s right to autonomy with beneficence?

Is forcing a school shooter to donate his brain to scientific study unethical?

Is it time to take patient healing further?

Nothing prevents psychiatrists from taking full part in the political process or even the culture wars—as long as they do it outside of their roles as psychiatrists, says one doctor.

Clinicians can ensure high-quality care by remaining informed about legal and ethical considerations in navigating patient privacy dilemmas.

In this CME article, learn how best to provide end-of-life care to patients with psychiatric disorders.

How can you best ethically treat patients?

Ethics as first therapy.

Outpatient civil commitment in Maryland will go into effect in July 2025. Learn more here.

Here’s why the euthanasia of animals as an argument for physician-assisted suicide is invalid…

An expert offers a critical examination of the "slippery slope" argument.

What role does countertransference play in physician-assisted suicide? Learn more here.