A Brief History and Milestones of Psychiatric Ethics

Abstract

This chapter aspires to adopt a comprehensive perspective to encompass the intricate and interwoven complexities inherent in psychiatric ethics. In pursuit of this objective, it is dedicated to a thorough exposition of the historical trajectory of psychiatry ethics. The purpose of this section is to demonstrate how the epistemological trajectory of approaching mental health disorders was intertwined with the dominant social, religious, cultural, and economic paradigms of the time and how they cultivated ethical problems within this trajectory. When reading this section, it becomes evident that traces of ancient Greek, Roman, and medieval etiology and treatment approaches and their ethical indications for mental disorders still persist in some of our current practices. This awareness can assist in reevaluating and eliminating some of the irrational and unscientific beliefs and patterns in our contemporary approaches and their ethical implications. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.