Contemplating Fallout of War and the Atomic Bomb

This video series is taking a short break while Dr Moffic travels. For now, enjoy the rerun of this video with updated commentary.

This video from August 2, 2023, about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II, along with the following video on August 9, grappled with the movie Oppenheimer and how to balance the destructiveness of the bomb vs continuing the war as usual. A similar dilemma has been taking place in Gaza after the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. The moral question is whether Israel is justified in the unintended deaths of thousands of citizens, including children, deliberately put in harms way by Hamas, in order to end the threat of Hamas to the existence of Israel. Humanitarian needs of food and safety have been quite apparent. Both sides will end up with a high incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder and prolonged grief. It is a choice between 2 moral priorities, each of which has its harms as well as benefits.

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 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.