Our Ethical Responsibilities to Each Other

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” - Thomas Paine, The Crisis, December 23, 1776

In the harsh winter of the American Revolution in 1776, our country’s future was at stake.Washington rallied the troops by reading the sentence above.

Perhaps we can consider that these are the times that try psychiatrists’ souls. As I tried to convey in yesterday’s column, the future of mental health may be at stake, down to just the words used to describe our well-being.

Just as Paine tried to rally the troops, we may have to rally our colleagues. Everything about psychiatry is currently at some risk: the medications we use, the words we speak, the words we write, and adequate access to care. That means using our psychiatric expertise to understand what is at risk and not being defensive about our role.

The Preamble of the American Psychiatric Association’s Principles of Medical Ethics (2013) conveys these ethical responsibilities. Patients came “first and foremost,” but society, other health professionals, and self come next. Consequently, we must support each other in dedication to these principles. It is the ethical way.

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.