This Introduction describes the book as an analysis and discussion of questions at the intersection of psychiatry, philosophy and law that have arisen from advances in psychiatric research and practice in the last 30 years. After pointing out the extent to which mental illness constitutes the global burden of disease, it outlines a paradigm for major psychiatric conditions as diseases of the brain and mind consisting in a biopsychosocial model in which the DSM-5 and RDoC are complementary frameworks. The Introduction explains psychiatric disorders as disorders of consciousness, memory and will, examines invasive and non-invasive treatments for them, how these treatments affect autonomous agency and the obligations of researchers to subjects participating in psychiatric research. In addition, it explores ethical and legal issues in brain interventions for psychopathy, arguments for and against euthanasia and assisted suicide for psychiatric disorders and how to prevent them.
Being influential or being misleading? Citation bias in psychiatric research and practice
