A Psychiatrist in Germany Conveys That We Are Not Immune to Major Harming, But Gratefully That Is the Very Rare Exception

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

“It’s very likely I will die this year in order to bring justice.” - Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, MD

I had anticipated this column would be on hold until the beginning of January due to the holidays, but the press is always on call and subject to unanticipated breaking news. A global news item involving a psychiatrist was too hard to ignore, at least with a preliminary coverage.

Some years back, I wrote an article for Psychiatric Times on October 6, 2016, titled “The Worst Psychiatrist in History.” Fortunately, I could not find many strong and clear nominees, even with canvassing other American Psychiatric Association members. But there were some, especially psychiatrists who supported—sometimes under strong duress—oppressive governments in Nazi Germany, the Old Soviet Union, and South Africa.

There are also more ambiguous areas where psychiatrists can do more harm than good. One could be leading managed care companies that put profits over patient care.¹ That resonates with the current murder of a UnitedHealthcare executive in New York. Some accuse psychiatrists of doing too much harm in an overuse of psychopharmacology, though that can also relate to the desire and need for better medications, as well as the business control of medicine and psychiatry.

The winner back then—or really, clear loser though—was Radovan Karadzic. Perhaps his history also resonates in an odd way with the recent focus on possible genocidal intent in the Mideast. In March 2016, Dr Karadzic was found guilty of genocide and other crimes against humanity during his leadership of the Bosnian Serb Republic that killed Muslims during an ethnic cleansing campaign in wartime Sarajevo.

Just recently, you may have heard that we have a new public example of a psychiatrist, Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, who apparently clearly violated the Hippocratic oath and more by driving a car through a crowded German Christmas market, killing 5 and injuring over 200. As described in the CNN article today, “Suspect in German Christmas market attack had history of troubling social media posts that grew increasingly dark,” he had a history of making increasingly anti-Islamic statements online. Although it is not usual for individuals to criticize their own religions, his seemed extreme and very atypical. It puts an unusual twist on the current Islamophobia concern that some of us are writing about in a second edition of Islamophobia and Psychiatry.²

From Saudi Arabia, he has been in Germany since 2006. He had worked in a psychiatric clinic in a small town and a correctional facility, but reportedly was not working since October of this year. He had renounced his Islamic faith and began supporting far right politics. He was investigated on and off.

Besides the terrible tragedy in itself, his history is so unusual, being a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia who not only gave up his religion but wanted to punish Germany for its tolerance towards those of Islamic faith. Does that suggest some paranoia and mental disturbance, if not full disorder?

Here is another in a series of unusual global killings that we have covered in Psychiatric Times, including by a woman perpetrator in a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, and the health care executive already mentioned. Is our global political conflicts and tensions seeping down into our collective consciousness?

Fortunately, as in the other examples of psychiatrists who harm, they are notable for their rarity. Psychiatrists can be potentially particularly risky because of our knowledge base of others and that we would not often be thought to be so destructive. Given the still remaining stigma against psychiatric patients and psychiatrists, it is crucial to emphasize the rarity of exceptions to our healing work but not assume that it is impossible.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

References

1. Moffic HS. The Ethical Way: Challenges & Solutions for Managed Behavioral Healthcare. Jossey-Bass; 1997.

2. Moffic HS, Peteet J, Hankir AZ, Awaad R, eds. Islamophobia and Psychiatry. Springer; 2019.