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Psychiatry and religious/spiritual share an interest in human flourishing, a concern with beliefs and values, and an appreciation for community. Yet historical tensions between science and religion have often reinforced disciplinary boundaries and obstructed dialogue, leaving clinicians uncertain about how to approach ethical dilemmas arising between them. Common questions concern conflicting values, the ways that religion/spirituality informs the value commitments of patients and their clinicians, and what principles should guide the interaction between clinicians’ own professional and personal commitments.This volume aims to help readers think more clearly about these issues as they present to psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, religious professionals working in mental health settings, bioethicists and trainees in these disciplines. Rather than philosophical arguments or practice guidelines, chapter authors offer a conceptual framework for understanding the role of religion/spirituality in ethical decision-making, as well as pragmatic guidance for approaching challenging cases. Authors in Part One explore several dimensions of the ethical challenges presented by religious/spiritual related to diagnosis, integrated treatment, harmful religion, and the work of ethics committees and religious professionals. Those in Part Two consider ways of approaching these issues as they arise in different clinical contexts, such as forensic, consultation-liaison, geriatric, child, international and community psychiatry, as well as in psychiatric research and teaching.Less

Rated as one of the top 15 breakthroughs in medicine over the last 150 years, evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become highly influential in medicine, and promotes the seemingly irrefutable principle that decision-making in medical practice should be based, as much as possible, on the most up-to-date research findings. EBM has been particularly popular within psychiatry, a field that is haunted by a legacy of controversial interventions. For advocates, anchoring psychiatric practice in research data makes psychiatry more scientific valid and ethically legitimate. Few, however, have questioned whether EBM, a concept pioneered by those working in other areas of medicine, can be applied to psychiatric disorders. This resource analyzes the basic assumptions of EBM, and critically examines their applicability to psychiatry. By highlighting the basic ethical tensions between psychiatry and EBM, the author addresses the fundamental and controversial question of whether psychiatrists should practice evidence-based medicine at all.Less