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Societal Framework of Psychiatry

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Book cover Ethics in Psychiatry

Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 45))

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Abstract

This chapter will examine the ethical issues relevant to the relationship between society and its individual members, in health and illness. Particular attention will be given to the discussion of unmet needs of the mentally ill resulting from society’s negative attitudes towards them.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to this model ‘acceptable public health goals include: (1) reducing the risks of ill health that people are exposed to as a result of other people’s actions or behaviours, for example reducing drunk-driving and passive smoking; (2) reducing causes of ill health relating to environmental conditions, such as drinking water safety and housing standards; (3) protecting and promoting of the health of children and other vulnerable people; (4) helping people to overcome addictions and other unhealthy behaviours; (5) ensuring that it is easy for people to lead a healthy life, for example by providing convenient and safe opportunities for exercise; (6) ensuring that people have appropriate access to medical services; (7) reducing unfair health inequalities. At the same time, public health programmes should: (1) not attempt to coerce adults to lead healthy lives; (2) minimise interventions that are introduced without individual consent of those affected, or without procedural justice arrangements (such as democratic decision-making procedures) which provide adequate mandate; (3) seek to minimise interventions that are perceived as unduly intrusive and in conflict with important personal values’ (Nuffield Council on Bioethics 2007).

  2. 2.

    Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2007).

  3. 3.

    Editorial (2007) The ethics of public health. Lancet 370:1801.

  4. 4.

    See footnote 3.

  5. 5.

    Which are met in international epidemiological studies of psychiatric services (type, structure, number, access to, use of, efficiency etc) such as a lack of adequate assessment instruments some of which have been developed only recently (EPSILON, ESEMeD, EDEN) and some others, insufficient approaches (e.g. indicated by low response rates) and insufficient mental health reporting systems (up-to-now only global and unspecific data are available gathered by WHO, OECD, EUROSTAT, IMS.

Abbreviations

EDEN:

European Day-Hospital EvaluatioN

EPSILON:

European Psychiatric Services: Inputs Linked to Outcome Domains and Needs

ESEMeD:

European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

EUROSTAT:

European Statistics

IMS:

International Measuring System

OECD:

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

GP:

General Practitioner

WHO:

World Health Organisation

SES:

Socio-Economic Status

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CBF, Charitè – University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, D-14050, Germany

    Hanfried Helmchen

  2. Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programmes, CH-1209, Geneva, Switzerland

    Norman Sartorius

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  1. Hanfried Helmchen
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  2. Norman Sartorius
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Correspondence to Hanfried Helmchen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Klinik für Psychiatrie/ Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Berlin, Eschenallee 3, Berlin, 14050, Germany

    Hanfried Helmchen

  2. chemin Colladon 14, Geneve, 1209, Switzerland

    Norman Sartorius

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Helmchen, H., Sartorius, N. (2010). Societal Framework of Psychiatry. In: Helmchen, H., Sartorius, N. (eds) Ethics in Psychiatry. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8721-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8721-8_1

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