Psychiatry Research EG

One issue that has attracted the attention of our profession for decades is the struggle against political abuse of psychiatry, i.e. preserving political opponents or people otherwise breaking the law from being kept in mental hospitals under the pretext of mental illness. Investigations and efforts to monitor and prevent such violation included visits to mental hospitals and attempts to ensure that no person is being kept there for reasons other than his or her suffering from a mental disorder. The scope of such initiatives has been widely covered in the literature. The Hawaii and Madrid Declarations, which set guidelines and regulations to prevent abuse of our profession, have been a valuable product of this concern.