scholarly journals It is ethical to diagnose a public figure one has not personally examined

2018 ◽  
Vol 213 (5) ◽  
pp. 633-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gartner ◽  
Alex Langford ◽  
Aileen O'Brien

SummaryShould psychiatrists be able to speculate in the press or social media about their theories? John Gartner argues the risk to warn the public of concerns about public figures overrides the duty of confidentiality; whereas Alex Langford suggests this is beyond the ethical remit of psychiatric practice.Declaration of interestA.O'B is joint debates and analysis Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry. J.G. is the founder of Duty To Warn, an association of mental health professionals who advocate the president's removal under the 25th Amendment on the grounds that he is psychologically unfit and dangerous.

2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony F. Jorm ◽  
Helen Christensen ◽  
Kathleen M. Griffiths

Objective: A national survey of Australian adults in 1995 showed a low level of recognition of mental disorders and beliefs about treatment that were often discordant with those of professionals. The present study aimed to find out whether recognition and treatment beliefs have changed over 8 years. Method: A national survey of 2001 adults in 2003–2004 included the same questions as the 1995 survey. These interview questions were based on a vignette of a person with either depression or schizophrenia. Results: Over the 8 years, the public showed better recognition of depression and schizophrenia and gave more positive ratings to a range of interventions, including help from mental health professionals, medications, psychotherapy and psychiatric ward admission. Conclusions: The Australian public's beliefs have changed over 8 years to be more like those of mental health professionals. This change may have positive implications for helpseeking and treatment concordance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Holzinger ◽  
H. Matschinger ◽  
M.C. Angermeyer

Aims.Several population studies on beliefs about depression carried out in western countries during the 1990s have shown that the public clearly favors psychotherapy over antidepressant medication. The present study examines whether this phenomenon still exists at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century.Materials and Methods.In 2009, a telephone survey was conducted among the population of Vienna aged 16 years and older (n = 1205). A fully structured interview was administered which began with the presentation of a vignette depicting a case of depression fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV for a moderate depressive episode.Results.Psychotherapists were most frequently endorsed as source of professional help. Antidepressant medication still was more frequently advised against than recommended. Respondents familiar with the treatment of depression tended to be more ready to recommend to seek help from mental health professionals and to endorse various treatment options, particularly medication.Conclusion.At the end of the first decade of this century, there still exists a large gap between the public's beliefs and what mental health professionals consider appropriate for the treatment of depression. Therefore, further effort to improve the public's mental health literacy seems necessary.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-61
Author(s):  
Lorena Andrade ◽  
Ana Mauch ◽  
Jéssica Costa ◽  
Kelly Silva ◽  
Lucas Almeida ◽  
...  

RESUMO   Objetivo: Analisar como as redes sociais digitais podem ser ferramentas essenciais para profissionais dentro dos serviços de saúde, mediante as alterações que ocorreram com a pandemia. As rotinas de prática assistencial para o público infantojuvenil na clínica psicossocial foram diretamente afetadas. Metodologia: Em uma abordagem qualitativa descritiva prospectiva, esse artigo apresenta o planejamento, a execução e os desafios enfrentados pela equipe de um Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Infantil no Distrito Federal na utilização das redes sociais como fontes de comunicação e atendimento. Trata-se de um grupo terapêutico para adolescentes, no qual o meio de comunicação e mediação das discussões foi um chat online. Na condução do grupo a equipe é composta por três profissionais da unidade, e a duração do chat é de uma hora e meia. Conclusão: O uso das mídias sociais é um meio de orientação, acolhimento e esclarecimento de dúvidas é facilmente articulado pela equipe, seja por meio de teleatendimento, chats online, vídeo chamadas. Aliás, tais recursos digitais devem ser utilizados com responsabilidade por profissionais de saúde. As informações e abordagens devem priorizar a privacidade dos relatos dos pacientes e a veracidade das informações compartilhadas acerca das precauções em frente a pandemia do COVID-19.    Palavras-chave: Adolescente, saúde mental, coronavírus, TIC em saúde.   ABSTRACT Objective: Analyse how social media is capable to become an essential and effective tool for health professionals. Since the emergence of Covid-19, the routines inside de psychosocial clinic were directly affected. Methods: This article possesses a qualitative approach, which description is about the schedule, execution, effectiveness, and challenges will be presented for a Mental Health Unit from a Psychosocial Clinic at Distrito Federal, Brasilia - Brazil. Social media was selected to be a major tool for communication and assistance for kids, adolescents, and families. The initiative is a therapeutic online group for adolescents. The discussions and interactions were held by online chat. All the conduction is executed by mental health professionals from a reference local unit. Conclusion: Social media has great potential to establish a good and healthy connection with their patients during the quarantine. It can be used as a means of orientation, welcoming, and further explanations. The Health Team can use alternatives of home-office, live web chats, video calls, and smart posts on open or private social media. That said, it must be used by health professionals with accurate responsibility to avoid fake news and to preserve all patient information.   Key-words: Adolescents, mental health, Coronavirus, HIT.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Wang ◽  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Pu Cheng

This article describes a psychological practice reference to provide peer support via social media, derived from the experience learned from our intervention project, which was developed and carried out by a group of experienced mental health professionals, offering peer psychological support to healthcare professionals working at the frontline of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. The authors describe the infrastructure of the team and the novel model of peer-to-peer crisis intervention via social media. This offers a model for intervention that can be used elsewhere for current pandemic and future crises.


1995 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-169
Author(s):  
Maria B. Tomé de la Granja

The Health and Safety Executive (1992) defines violence against staff as “any incident in which an employee is threatened or assaulted by a member of the public in circumstances arising out of the course of his or her employment”. Verbal abuse and threats are, as the Health and Safety Executive notes, the most common types of incidents, and staff have the common-law right to be protected from such incidents in the course of their work. While the literature on physical violence against mental health professionals is quite large and expanding (see, for example, Health and Safety Commission, 1987; Shepherd, 1994; Wykes, 1994), comparatively little emphasis has been placed on verbal assaults, although these may be extremely distressing.


1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-375
Author(s):  
Charles J. Meyers

A California appellate decision uses a Tarasoff analysis to remind mental health professionals that they have a duty to communicate serious threats and known dangers not only to their patients' readily identifiable victims but also to their patients' subsequent caregivers. It also serves notice that the Tarasoff duty can be extended to threats of suicide. Positing a hierarchy of threats and duties implied in the laws that make therapists responsible for intervening to prevent their patients from doing harm, the author suggests courses of action for each step of the hierarchy. The more dangerous the patient, the more aggressive is the expected intervention on the part of the therapist.


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