An Overview of Psychiatric Ethics

Psychiatry and Human Rights2Many psychiatrists chose to involve themselves in the plight of the asylum seekers. The issue ofchildren being held in what were tantamount to concentration camps was anathema to many inthe profession. Involvement of psychiatrists varied from the provision of clinical services for thosein detention to very public advocacy. The dilemma, simply put, was the virtual futility of trying toalleviate the psychological distress arising from traumatic imprisonment and in the face ofpersisting social injustice. As one psychiatrist noted of tending to children in detention:“Treatment of much of the disease and distress was meaningless withoutaddressing the causes (indefinite mandatory detention, family separation,impermanent protection). Prevention always being better than cure, the optionswere limited. It was not enough to be sympathetic, to sit with, to listen and to nod.The only choice was advocacy” (p.218) 237Several prominent psychiatrists signed a formal letter of protest at the Australian Government’streatment of asylum seekers. 238 Such public forms of advocacy created tension within the RANZCPmembership, frequently along partisan political lines. This led to an at times rancorous debate inscientific literature 239,240 and popular media, 241 including allegations of government interference insome psychiatrist’s research into the mental health of asylum seekers. 242 The debate over asylumseekers prompted consideration of the role of psychiatrists in such social debates, with one surveyidentifying the majority of the RANZCP’s constituency supporting some form of activism. 24339IMET AN OVERVIEW OF PSYCHIATRIC ETHICS