Ethical perspectives regarding Euthanasia, including in the context of adult psychiatry: a qualitative interview study among healthcare workers in Belgium.

INTRODUCTION: Previous research has explored euthanasia's ethical dimensions, primarily focusing on general practice and, to a lesser extent, psychiatry, mainly from the viewpoints of physicians and nurses. However, a gap exists in understanding the comprehensive value-based perspectives of other professionals involved in both somatic and psychiatric euthanasia. This paper aims to analyze the interplay among legal, medical, and ethical factors to clarify how foundational values shape the ethical discourse surrounding euthanasia in both somatic and psychiatric contexts. It seeks to explore these dynamics among all healthcare professionals and volunteers in Belgium. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 Dutch-speaking healthcare workers who had encountered patients requesting euthanasia for psychiatric conditions, in Belgium, from August 2019 to August 2020. Qualitative thematic analysis was applied to the interview transcripts. FINDINGS: Participants identified three pivotal values and virtues: religious values, professional values, and fundamental medical values encompassing autonomy, beneficence, and non-maleficence, linked to compassion, quality care, and justice. These values interwove across four tiers: the patient, the patient's inner circle, the medical realm, and society at large. Irrespective of their euthanasia stance, participants generally displayed a blend of ethical values across these tiers. Their euthanasia perspective was primarily shaped by value interpretation, significance allocation to key components, and tier weighting. Explicit mention of varying ethical values, potentially indicating distinct stances in favor of or against euthanasia, was infrequent. CONCLUSION: The study underscores ethical discourse's central role in navigating euthanasia's intricate landscape. Fostering inclusive dialogue, bridging diverse values, supports informed decision-making, nurturing justice, and empathy. Tailored end-of-life healthcare in psychiatry is essential, acknowledging all involved actors' needs. The study calls for interdisciplinary research to comprehensively grasp euthanasia's multifaceted dimensions, and guiding policy evolution. While contextualized in Belgium, the implications extend to the broader euthanasia discourse, suggesting avenues for further inquiry and cross-cultural exploration.

Contribution of ethical reasoning learning sessions on medical training.

INTRODUCTION: Ethical reasoning is an important skill for all physicians who often face complex ethical dilemmas in their daily practice. Therefore, medical training should include methods for learning ethical theories and concepts, as well as how to apply them in practical situations. AIM: Assess the contribution of an Ethical Reasoning Learning session to fifth medical students' training through a comparison of results of the same objective and structured clinical examination (OSCE) in the form of simulated interview before and after sessions. METHODS: Four 45- minutes' sessions of Ethical Reasoning Learning (ERL) were implemented during a psychiatry internship for four groups of 5th-year students of the faculty of medicine of Monastir (Tunisia). Each session was divided into 7 parts: introduction, reading of a clinical vignette, brainstorming concerning the problems posed by this clinical situation, classification of the problems, identification of the principles of medical ethics, construction of the ethical matrix, and a conclusion. RESULTS: Fifty-seven students participated in the study divided into 4 groups. We found a significant difference in the means of the OSCE scores before and after the ERL session and a significant difference between the probability of respecting medical secrecy during pre and post-ethical reasoning learning sessions (p <0.001). We have found an effect of ERL sessions on the acquisition of this ethical competence by medical students. CONCLUSION: We learned that an ERL session has improved medical training in ethics applied to psychiatry. Other sessions dealing with other ethical skills are necessary to confirm these results.

Diagnostic staging and stratification in psychiatry and oncology: clarifying their conceptual, epistemological and ethical implications.

Staging and stratification are two diagnostic approaches that have introduced a more dynamic outlook on the development of diseases, thus participating in blurring the line between the normal and the pathological. First, diagnostic staging, aiming to capture how diseases evolve in time and/or space through identifiable and gradually more severe stages, may be said to lean on an underlying assumption of "temporal determinism". Stratification, on the other hand, allows for the identification of various prognostic or predictive subgroups based on specific markers, relying on a more "mechanistic" or "statistical" form of determinism. There are two medical fields in which these developments have played a significant role and have given rise to sometimes profound nosological transformations: oncology and psychiatry. Drawing on examples from these two fields, this paper aims to provide much needed conceptual clarifications on both staging and stratification in order to outline how several epistemological and ethical issues may, in turn, arise. We argue that diagnostic staging ought to be detached from the assumption of temporal determinism, though it should still play an essential role in adapting interventions to stage. In doing so, it would help counterbalance stratification's own epistemological and ethical shortcomings. In this sense, the reflections and propositions developed in psychiatry can offer invaluable insights regarding how adopting a more transdiagnostic and cross-cutting perspective on temporality and disease dynamics may help combine both staging and stratification in clinical practice.

Navigating merits and limits on the current perspectives and ethical challenges in the utilization of artificial intelligence in psychiatry - An exploratory mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in psychiatry presents opportunities for enhancing patient care but raises significant ethical concerns and challenges in clinical application. Addressing these challenges necessitates an informed and ethically aware psychiatric workforce capable of integrating AI into practice responsibly. METHODS: A mixed-methods study was conducted to assess the outcomes of the "CONNECT with AI" - (Collaborative Opportunity to Navigate and Negotiate Ethical Challenges and Trials with Artificial Intelligence) workshop, aimed at exploring AI's ethical implications and applications in psychiatry. This workshop featured presentations, discussions, and scenario analyses focusing on AI's role in mental health care. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires and focus group discussions evaluated participants' perspectives, and ethical understanding regarding AI in psychiatry. RESULTS: Participants exhibited a cautious optimism towards AI, recognizing its potential to augment mental health care while expressing concerns over ethical usage, patient-doctor relationships, and AI's practical application in patient care. The workshop significantly improved participants' ethical understanding, highlighting a substantial knowledge gap and the need for further education in AI among psychiatrists. CONCLUSION: The study underscores the necessity of continuous education and ethical guideline development for psychiatrists in the era of AI, emphasizing collaborative efforts in AI system design to ensure they meet clinical needs ethically and effectively. Future initiatives should aim to broaden psychiatrists' exposure to AI, fostering a deeper understanding and integration of AI technologies in psychiatric practice.

[Advance directives and mental disorders: a practice recommendation of the Commission for Ethics and Law of the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics]. / Patientenverfügungen und psychische Erkrankung ­ eine Praxisempfehlung der Kommission Ethik und Recht der DGPPN.

BACKGROUND: Since the creation of legal requirements for advance directives by the legislator in 2009, special aspects of their application in the treatment of people with mental illnesses have been discussed. GOAL OF THE PAPER: Important questions on dealing with advance directives in everyday life will be answered in a practice-oriented manner. RESULTS: Among other things, this document answers the question of the conditions under which a patient can refuse or consent to hospitalization and treatment in advance, and in particular how to deal with advance directives whose implementation would also affect the rights of third parties. The German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN) has addressed these and other questions in the present document and added practical advice on how to formulate advance directives for people with mental illnesses and how to deal with psychiatric advance directives. DISCUSSION: The DGPPN has developed an advance directive for the area of mental health and published it on its website together with detailed explanations. With the help of this advance directive, people can decide on their treatment in phases of incapacity to consent in the context of a mental crisis or illness.

Comparing the World Psychiatric Association and European Psychiatric Association Codes of Ethics: Discrepancies and shared grounds.

BACKGROUND: Codes of ethics provide guidance to address ethical challenges encountered in clinical practice. The harmonization of global, regional, and national codes of ethics is important to avoid gaps and discrepancies. METHODS: We compare the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) and the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Codes of Ethics, addressing main key points, similarities, and divergences. RESULTS: The WPA and EPA codes are inspired by similar fundamental values but do show a few differences. The two codes have a different structure. The WPA code includes 4 sections and lists 5 overarching principles as the basis of psychiatrists' clinical practice; the EPA code is articulated in 8 sections, lists 4 ethical principles, and several fundamental values. The EPA code does not include a section on psychiatrists' education and does not contain specific references to domestic violence and death penalty. Differences can be found in how the two codes address the principle of equity: the EPA code explicitly refers to the principle of universal health care, while the WPA code mentions the principle of equity as reflected in the promotion of distributive justice. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that both WPA and EPA periodically update their ethical codes to minimize differences, eliminate gaps, and help member societies to develop or revise national codes in line with the principles of the associations they belong to.Minimizing differences between national and international codes and fostering a continuous dialogue on ethical issues will provide guidance for psychiatrists and will raise awareness of the importance of ethics in our profession.

[Historical comments on ethics in psychiatry : Challenges in the 19th century]. / Historische Anmerkungen zur Ethik in der Psychiatrie : Herausforderungen im 19. Jahrhundert.

With the emergence of an early psychiatry around 1800, a number of questions arose on dealing with a group of persons whose "alien", irritating and disruptive behavior was considered to be a phenomenon of being sick. In the context of the growing importance of human rights, the term humanitarianism attained a high relevance as the reference for early psychiatrists. Based on historical sources it is shown that despite a multitude of psychiatric beliefs on humanitarianism the established psychiatric practice was dominated by patriarchal order regimes up to the first decade of the twentieth century, later superimposed by the challenges of somatophysiological and experimental research as well as perceptions of biological racism. The associated new ethical questions were partially addressed within psychiatry but did not prevent an increase in the assessment of the mentally ill as "inferior".

[Historical aspects of ethics in psychiatry : From the end of humanitarianism up to the Human Rights Convention]. / Historisches zur Ethik in der Psychiatrie : Vom Ende der Humanität zur Menschenrechtskonvention.

The establishment of academic psychiatry was completed around 1900. Simultaneously, in view of the societal crisis phenomenon the professional self-concept of the psychiatrist was shifted to a self-image, according to which psychiatry had to place its expertise at the service of the people and the country. This was particularly expressed in World War I in the brutal dealing with the so-called war neurotics. In association with the so-called death by starvation of ca. 70,000 institution inmates, in the post-war period Karl Bonhoeffer debated a transformation of the term humanitarianism. The worst consequence of the rejection of humanitarian thoughts are the murders of invalids under National Socialism; however, legitimization of such crimes by alluding to collective ethics, as attempted by Karl Brandt, seems to be less than convincing. The reform of psychiatry initiated in the 1960s and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2008, have achieved prerequisites for a supportive psychiatry with reduced coercion, whereby many questions also in the legal and social systems must still be clarified.

The gender-affirming model of care is incompatible with competent, ethical medical practice.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the compatibility of gender-affirming care with the principles and practices of psychiatry. CONCLUSIONS: The assumption that there is no pathology involved in the development of gender diversity is a necessary precondition for the unquestioning affirmation of self-reported gender identity. Cases where psychosis is the undeniable cause of gender diversity demonstrate this assumption is categorically false. To protect this false assumption, gender-affirming guidelines forbid the application of the core psychiatric competencies of phenomenology and psychopathology to the assessment of gender diversity. They substitute the political goal of expanding personal liberty for the evidence-based medicine processes of clinical reasoning, rendering them incompatible with competent, ethical medical practice.

Crisis y encrucijadas de una psiquiatría en busca de futuro / The crisis and crossroads experienced by a psychiatry in search of the future

Asumiendo la metáfora de la encrucijada, propuesta por Santiago Levín, en la que estaría situada la psiquiatría en la actualidad, el presente artículo pretende reflexionar sobre algunos aspectos de una crisis paradigmática de la medicina mental que ha hecho a algunos temer por su futuro. Se abordan algunas cuestiones epistemológicas de cierto calado, como el régimen de "verdad" en el que supuestamente deben manejarse los expertos, así como los dilemas planteados en los dos elementos clave del encuentro clínico: el diagnóstico y el tratamiento. Finalmente, se insiste en la importancia de lo ético, lo social, y lo político a la hora de replantear saberes y prácticas. (AU)

On the understanding we accept where psychiatry would today be located in the metaphor of the crossroads, as proposed by Santiago Levín, the purpose of this article is to explore certain aspects of a paradigmatic crisis in mental medicine that has raised some concerns as to its future. Certain deep epistemological questions are addressed, such as the schema of "truth", where experts should supposedly manage themselves, and the dilemmas raised from the two key elements of a clinical session: diagnosis and treatment. Finally, the study emphasises the importance of the ethical, social, and political aspects of rethinking knowledge and practices. (AU)

Ethical perspective of covert medication in psychiatry.

Schizophrenic patients deny health care due to lack of insight in many cases. In such situations most of the psychiatrists opt for covert medication in consultation with the families. Covert medication has legal and ethical implications. Moreover, it has certain clinical implications for the patient. In addition, how long the covert medication can be continued and when should it be revealed to the patient are questions that cannot be answered in black and white. This article is a commentary on a real scenario of covert medication in ethical perspective.

Obtaining informed consent: psychiatric nurses' knowledge and practice at federal neuropsychiatric hospital Enugu, Nigeria / Obtención de consentimiento informado: conocimiento y práctica de enfermeras de psiquiatría En El Hospital Federal de Neuropsiquiatría Enugu, Nigeria / Obtendo consentimento informado: conhecimento e prática de enfermeiras psiquiátricas no Hospital Federal Neuro-Psiquiátrico Enugu, Nigéria

Abstract: Background: Within a psychiatric care setting, informed consent is the voluntary acceptance of a plan for medical care by a competent patient after full disclosure of the care plan, its risks, benefits, and alternative approaches. This implies that the patient must have full information about any treatment options and must be competent to make the needed decisions. Objective: To assess psychiatric nurses' knowledge and practices of obtaining informed consent. Research Method: The study used a quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from a random sample of 99 nurses selected from a total of 131 nurses of different professional cadres working in the hospital, by means of a structured questionnaire constructed by the researchers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Respondents' score on Knowledge of Informed Consent was above average (15.06 ± 2.671 out of a possible total score of 25). Likewise, their score on the disclosure of full information to psychiatric patients before treatment was well above average (6.01 ± 2.198 out of a maximum possible score of 8). However, respondents' score on the practice of obtaining Informed Consent was below average (2.41 ± 0.940 out of a maximum possible score of 5). Conclusion: Though a majority of the participants indicated good knowledge of informed consent, there was no corresponding correct practice of obtaining informed consent from patients in the hospital.

Resumen: Antecedentes: En un establecimiento de cuidado de la salud mental, el consentimiento informado es la aceptación voluntaria de un plan de cuidado médico de un paciente competente después de haber recibido información completa del plan, sus riesgos, beneficios y alternativas posibles. Esto implica que el paciente debe tener información completa acerca de las opciones de tratamiento y debe ser competente para realizar las decisiones necesarias. Objetivo: Evaluar el conocimiento y la práctica de obtención de consentimiento informado de enfermeras de psiquiatría. Método de investigación: El estudio usó un diseño de encuesta transversal cuantitativo y descriptivo. Los datos fueron recolectados de una muestra al azar de 99 enfermeras seleccionadas de un total de 131 de diferentes grupos profesionales que trabajan en el hospital, mediante un cuestionario estructurado desarrollado por los investigadores. Los datos se analizaron mediante estadística descriptiva. Resultados: El puntaje de los encuestados sobre el conocimiento de consentimiento informado fue mayor del promedio (15.06 ± 2.671 de un posible puntaje total de 25). De la misma forma, su puntaje sobre la entrega de información completa a los pacientes de psiquiatría antes del tratamiento fue bastante mayor que el promedio (6.01 ± 2.198 de un máximo posible de 8). Sin embargo, los puntajes de los encuestados sobre la práctica de obtención de consentimiento informado fue por debajo del promedio (2.41 ± 0.940 de un máximo posible de 5). Conclusión: Aunque una mayoría de los participantes indicó un buen conocimiento del consentimiento informado, no hubo en correspondencia una práctica correcta de obtención de consentimiento informado de pacientes en el Hospital.

Resumo: Background: Em um ambiente de cuidados psiquiátricos o consentimento informado é a aceitação voluntária de um plano para cuidado médico, por um paciente competente, depois da apresentação integral do plano de tratamento, seus riscos, benefícios e abordagens alternativas. Isso implica que o paciente deve ter informação completa sobre quaisquer opções de tratamento e deve ser competente para tomar as decisões necessárias. Objetivo: Avaliar conhecimento e práticas de enfermeiras psiquiátricas ao obter consentimento informado. Método de Pesquisa: O estudo utilizou um desenho de levantamento transversal descritivo, quantitativo. Os dados foram coletados de uma amostragem aleatória de 99 enfermeiras selecionadas de um total de 131 enfermeiras de diferente quadros profissionais trabalhando no hospital, por meio de um questionário estruturado construído pelos pesquisadores. Os dados foram analisados usando estatística descritiva. Resultados: O escore dos respondentes no Conhecimento do Consentimento Informado esteve acima da média (15.06 ± 2.671 de um escore total possível de 25). Da mesma forma, seus escores na apresentação de informação completa para pacientes psiquiátricos antes do tratamento esteve bem acima da média (6.01 ± 2.198 de um escore máximo possível de 8). Entretanto, o escore dos respondentes na prática de obter Consentimento Informado esteva abaixo da média (2.41 ± 0.940 de um escore máximo possível de out 5). Conclusão: Embora a maioria dos participantes indicou bom conhecimento do consentimento informado, não houve prática correta correspondente em obter o consentimento informado dos pacientes no hospital.

Las perplejidades éticas del Rey Ludwig II de Baviera: locura, extravagancia y profesión médica / The ethical perplexities of king Ludwig II of Bavaria: madness, extravagance and medical profession / As perplexidades éticas do Rei Ludwig II da Baviera: loucura, extravagancia e profissão médica

1. Bernhard von Gudden diagnosticó el trastorno del Rey Ludwig II de Baviera como "paranoia" (locura), aunque Ludwig nunca fue personalmente evaluado por este experto psiquiatra, diagnóstico que usó el gobierno bávaro para justificar la remoción de Ludwig del poder. 2. Su conducta progresivamente anormal; sus proyectos múltiples de construcción, por los cuales incurrió en fuertes deudas; su convicción de descender directamente de los Borbones gracias al "bautismo"; su desenfrenada vida homosexual, todo constituyó la base para el diagnóstico psiquiátrico. 3. De acuerdo con los criterios actuales de la psiquiatría, Ludwig mostró rasgos de un trastorno de personalidad esquizotípico, unido a un sindrome orbitofrontal, y un modo de existencia extravagante. 4. Bernhard von Gudden fundamentó su diagnóstico y peritaje psiquiátricos siguiendo los principios éticos de beneficencia y primum non nocere, "ayudar, al menos no dañar".

Abstract: Bernhard von Guden diagnosed the Bavarian King Ludwig II with "paranoia" (madness), although Ludwig was not personally evaluated by this expert psychiatrist, a diagnosis that the Bavarian government used to justify removing Ludwig from power. 2. His increasingly abnormal behavior, his multiply building projects, for which he incurred much debt, his conviction that he descended from the Bourbons through "baptism", his unbridled homosexual life, together formed the basis for the psychiatrist´s diagnosis. 3. According to modern criteria of psychiatry Ludwig displayed traits for schizotypal personality disorder together with an orbitofrontal syndrome, and an extravagance way of existence. 4.Bernhard von Gudden based his psychiatric diagnosis and expertise following the ethical principles of beneficence and primum non nocere, "to help, at least not to harm"

Resumo: 1. Bernhard von Gudden diagnosticou o transtorno do Rei Ludwig II da Baviera como "paranoia" (loucura), ainda que Ludwig nunca tenha sido pessoalmente avaliado por este especialista psiquiatra, diagnóstico que o governo bávaro usou para justificar a remoção de Ludwig do poder. 2. Sua conduta progressivamente anormal; seus projetos múltiplos de construção, pelos quais incorreu em fortes dívidas; sua convicção de descender diretamente dos Bourbons graças ao "batismo"; sua desenfreada vida homossexual, tudo constituiu a base para o diagnóstico psiquiátrico. 3. De acordo com os critérios atuais da psiquiatria, Ludwig mostrou traços de um transtorno de personalidade esquizotípico, unido a uma síndrome órbito-frontal e um modo de existência extravagante. 4. Bernhard von Gudden fundamentou seu diagnóstico e perícia psiquiátrica seguindo os princípios éticos de beneficência e primum non nocere, "ajudar, ao menos não prejudicar".