Psychologists have a duty to warn the country about Trump
Psychologists have a duty to warn the country about Trump
- In most cases, I would agree that psychiatric diagnosis is not a parlor game for celebrity gossip columns. But it is also in the ethical code of every mental health profession, and the law in all but a handful of states, that we must warn a potential victim of violence or harm, even if that requires us to violate the sacred principle of patient confidentiality.
How much greater an ethical burden must we carry if the potential victims are in the millions, and the risk is to both to their lives and our way of life? As we learned in the 1930s, silence is a sin when a dangerously disturbed leader is on the rise.
Defying the APA, and risking the loss of the licenses that allow them to practice their profession, 55,000 people have signed our petition for mental health professionals stating that Donald Trump is mentally ill and must be removed under the 25th Amendment.
- In most cases, I would agree that psychiatric diagnosis is not a parlor game for celebrity gossip columns. But it is also in the ethical code of every mental health profession, and the law in all but a handful of states, that we must warn a potential victim of violence or harm, even if that requires us to violate the sacred principle of patient confidentiality.
How much greater an ethical burden must we carry if the potential victims are in the millions, and the risk is to both to their lives and our way of life? As we learned in the 1930s, silence is a sin when a dangerously disturbed leader is on the rise.
Defying the APA, and risking the loss of the licenses that allow them to practice their profession, 55,000 people have signed our petition for mental health professionals stating that Donald Trump is mentally ill and must be removed under the 25th Amendment.
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