Ethics in psychiatry

Abstract

Psychiatrists in the UK have recently lamented the need for a code of ethics for psychiatry. There is a clear difference between a code of ethics and a code of practice (such as the non-statutory one of the UK Mental Health Act of 1983) or indeed a code of conduct. Sarkar and Adshead (2003) argue for the need to protect the patient in a world which is becoming more and more contractarian and utilitarian. Indeed the public often views psychiatrists as having to protect it from psychiatric patients and because of this the latter are put at a higher risk for detention. Codes of conduct and practice are therefore not sufficient for psychiatrists I as patients put trust in these professionals to "protect their interests when they are not well enough to protect themselves".