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CONTEMPORARY ISSUE

Psychiatric ethics in war and peace
A B S T R A C T
M. S. V. K. Raju
Department of Psychiatry,
Peoples College of Medical
Sciences & Research Centre,
Bhopal - 462 037, India
Address for correspondence:
Dr. Brig M. S. V. K. Raju,
Department of Psychiatry,
People’s College of Medical
Sciences and Research Center,
People’s University, People’s
Campus, Bhanpur, Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh, India.
E‑mail: msvkraju@rediffmail.com

Practice of psychiatry is a complex activity because the psychiatrist generally practises
his art in an emotionally charged environment with patients who may not be in a in a
state of mind to exercise autonomy as a result of cognitive impairment and preoccupation
with symptoms. No one principle of ethics will be suitable to guide right conduct in
widely variable situations. Making ethical judgements in the military context can be
difficult and may have potential for abuse as for an uniformed psychiatrist mission takes
priority over man. However mission centered and medical text book centred ethics need
not be compartamentalised. The present paper seeks to offer a brief overview of ethical
principles and specific situations in which one may have to make ethical judgements.

Keywords: Ethics, psychiatry, military

P

sychiatr y entered the battle field during the
Russo‑Japanese war at Harbin in Manchuria when the
Russian physician Avtocratov treated psychiatric casualties
in the combat area.[1] Psychiatrists and psychologists
served in large numbers in the two great wars.[2] In India,
the number of military psychiatrists increased from a
paltry three to forty five within a very short time during
World War II.[3] Although psychiatrists entered the battle
field to preserve the fighting strength in the just wars that
their respective countries waged, psychiatric ethics did
not enter the military milieu until the Vietnam War when
the USA and its allies fought somebody’s war far away
from their national boundaries. Psychiatrists, particularly
of the uniformed kind, started questioning themselves
about their allegiance as to whether the soldier or the
military organization that was the employer of the soldier
was their client.[4] Much has happened since Vietnam.
Terrorism and the consequential counter‑reactions and
over‑reactions are spreading mistrust fuelling fires of
hatred all around. Inchoate voices of saner souls are
becoming increasingly strident raising questions on the
ethics of war, of responsibility to the prisoners of war
(PW) or detainees as the case may be, of responsibility

toward local civil population during peace keeping
operations and so on.[5‑9]

Access this article online

Psychiatry is the only branch of medicine where the
doctor‑patient relationship is qualitatively different from
other branches. A psychiatrist is obliged to inquire in depth
into the social, psychological and physical dimensions
of human afflictions. His primary loyalty is to the
individual. However after taking oath of commission, he
finds himself in a professional landscape that is quiet alien.

Psychiatrists and psychologists are shouldering
responsibilities literally in the thick of battle now.
Though India does not have the type of combat mental
health infrastructure that the USA or some other
developed countries might be having, winds of change
started blowing across the barren mindsets here in this
country too. A  fledgling field psychiatry setup that is
well‑integrated into the primary medical care system is
emerging. Currently there is much internal strife in the
country due to rising aspirations arising out of regional
imbalances and inequities within the populations. On the
larger context, India is emerging as a power in the global
scenario which might involve more commitment of its
forces in areas far away from home largely in peace keeping
roles. The military environment around its borders is not
something one can be happy about. It is in this context
that the battle field ethics assume importance to a fiercely
democratic country.
PSYCHIATRIST IN THE MILITARY MILEU

Quick Response Code:
Website: www.industrialpsychiatry.org

DOI: 10.4103/0972-6748.123637

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Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry

The individual here is a member of a body of men and
women, bound by regimental ties and chain of command
that is wedded to the mission. A psychiatrist is obliged
reorient himself and “rank order” his loyalty first to the
military organization and then to the individual officer or
person below officer rank.

judgments are of two types.

The dictum, that a medical officer is a soldier first and only
then a medical man, is drilled repeatedly into the minds at
the officers’ academy of the army medical corps. A military
psychiatrist becomes a soldier, doctor and a psychiatrist all
rolled in one. Each role has potential to come in conflict
with the other. In peace time and locations his concerns
may be quite similar to his civil counterpart, but it is in
the combat scenario that he will find himself buffeted by
ethical dilemmas and conflicts. A  conflicted psychiatrist
can jeopardize the mission.[10]

They are moral judgments pertaining to certain actions
which may be right or wrong. Deontic judgments are
fundamentally based on teleological and deontological
theories.

Aretaic judgments

They are concerned with judgments pertaining to character,
motives, traits, emotions and persons.
Deontic judgments

Teleological theory

It is a theory of consequences. Its basic stance is that
an act is morally right if it bring something good in the
non‑moral sense e.g. power, pleasure, prestige, money and
so on. There are differences as to what constitutes good.
Ethical egoism and ethical universalism are two aspects of
teleological theory. The position that one is always to do
what will promote his own greatest good is called ethical
egoism. Epicurus, hobbes and nietzsche are the proponents
of ethical egoism. Ethical universalism (utilitarianism)
considers that the greatest general good is the ultimate
end. An act or rule of action is right if it promotes greatest
balance of good over evil. As per the stance of utilitarianism
the end justifies the means. John Stuart Mill and Jeremy
Bentham are the proponents of utilitarianism.[14]

PSYCHIATRY AND ETHICS
Agarwal, in a recent review, bemoans of the fact that
there is hardly any interest in the study of ethics among
psychiatrists in India.[11] Goel, generally combative in his
pronouncements, vividly narrating some incidents drives
home the point that medical practice in this country is
unregulated and conducted in what he calls as “ethical
vacuum”.[12] It is said that logically speaking there cannot
be a science of ethics in India as ethics presuppose free
will while the concept of “Maya” negates the reality of an
individual and the concept of “Karma” is transcendentally
deterministic. Both concepts are incompatible with
free will. It is not known if the prevailing disinterest
is a phenomenon of the underpinning philosophical
orientation. Bhattacharyya however avers that ethical
elements are embedded in the general organization of
philosophy and religion of the country and goes on
further to say that moral problems have always been
persistently pursued in India and all the mythological
heroes are ethically upright.[13] Whatever might be the
causes, clinicians do not find ethics interesting.[11] Medical
services in the armed forces are well organized and
regulated but surprisingly here too medical ethics, leave
alone psychiatric ethics, are not given the importance
that they deserve.

Deontological theory

It contends that there is something intrinsic in the act itself
which makes it right or wrong. An act or rule of action
may be right even if it doesn’t bring greatest balance of
good over evil for the self or society. Aristotle, Prichard
and Carrit are “act deontologists” while Immanuel Kant
and Socrates are “Rule Deontologists” (we ought to keep
our promises, we should not kill…). Kant propounded
the doctrine of universalism, also called as categorical
imperative, which states: “An act is morally right if one
can consistently will that the rule involved be acted on by
everyone in similar circumstances”. As per Kant end never
justifies the means.[14]
Ethical egoism could be self‑contradictory as if everyone
pursues his own good a given individual may not achieve
his own good. Act Utilitarianism (This act will produce
general good) may not respect individual rights; people
can be treated unfairly if it benefits community. Rule
Utilitarians are concerned with rules which cause general
good (my fallowing this rule will bring greatest general
good). However the question may arise that will an act be
right if it causes good to a small group or will a rule be right
if it causes greatest general good but harm in a particular
case. A utilitarian may prefer to distribute good equally
over a large population. This brings distributive justice into

NORMATIVE ETHICS
Morality pertains to character and behavior concerned
with what is right or wrong. Ethics is a branch of
philosophy which is concerned with moral problems and
determining what is right or wrong. Normative ethics
is concerned with moral judgments while meta‑ethics
inquiries into the basis and justification of ethics.[14] Moral
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Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry

the picture, i.e. greatest good to greatest number. Hence
criteria for right may be utility with justice.

By virtue of this power a psychiatrists can easily slip
into paternalistic roles overriding patients’ autonomy.[15]
This author feels that in actuality the so called “power”
is quite illusory and detrimental to the psychiatrist some
times. The ignorant, among whose ranks there are many
medical professionals, harbor ideas that psychiatrists are
good at language and write whatever they want to. Superior
officers carrying such impressions may subject psychiatrists
to stress of considerable ethical conflict by interference,
manipulation and at times to blatant intimidation.

Retributive Justice is the concern of law while ethics is
concerned with distributive justice. Justice is a matter of
comparative treatment of individuals. As per Sidgewick’s
principle “Justice is similar, injustice is dissimilar, treatment
of similar cases”. But what similarities that one needs to
take into consideration‑should people be treated as per
merit, as equals or as per need. Modern democracies are
equalitarian in nature. John Rawls developed his concept
of justice as fairness. He suggested that in deciding what
is the right thing to do one should assume that one does
not know what one is in a system, i.e., rich, poor, doctor,
beggar and so on. He may imagine that he is wearing “A veil
of ignorance” at the time of making an ethical judgment.

GENERAL ETHICAL ISSUES
Adequate knowledge of ethical principles will enable a
psychiatrist to appreciate the broad issues that he might
encounter in his practice. Lubit outlines four.[15]

But we can have a prima facie obligation to maximize
the balance of good over evil only if we have a prima
facie obligation to produce good and prevent harm.
This obligation is called Beneficence. The principle of
beneficence states four things: One ought not to inflict
harm, one ought to prevent harm, one ought to remove
harm and one ought to promote good.[14] But beneficence
does not tell us how to distribute good which brings us
back to justice.

Motivational bias

This is a tendency in a psychiatrist to believe that what
is good for him is the right thing to do (ethical egoism).
Motivational bias clouds the psychiatrist’s judgment
concerning what is in the patient’s best interest.
Ethical conflicts

These are conflicts between what one wants to do and what
is ethically right to do.

Modern psychiatric practice is based on four ethical
principles of Autonomy (a deontological concept that man
is intrinsically good and can take independent decisions),
Justice, Non‑malificience (Primum Non Nocere_ do no
harm) and beneficence. Actually beneficence includes
non‑maleficence. Psychiatric practice is a complex activity
and therefore no one principle can be used in every
situation. Lubit recommends beginning with a rule based
approach, either utilitarian or deontological, ensuring no
rights are violated. Using Rawl’s principle of justice (Veil
of ignorance) is also considered as important.[15]

Ethical dilemmas

These are situations in which a psychiatrist must balance
the rights and interests of the society (safety) with those
of the patient (confidentiality and freedom).
Boundary violations

A boundary may be defined as the edge of appropriate
professional behavior.[11] Sexual and non‑sexual violations
of boundaries are important concerns in psychiatric
practice particularly in the closed and insulated armed
forces community setting. Accepting expensive gifts,
entering into financial deals with patients and former
patients, sexual demeanors and relations are some of the
areas which a military psychiatrist should scrupulously
avoid like the proverbial plague. Medicalization and
horizontalism brought about by emphasizing descriptive
psychiatry seem to be depriving the psychiatrist of his
ability to introspect and exercise restraint to certain extent.

THE PSYCHIATRIST AND ETHICS
All medical encounters between a professional and a
patient are fiduciary and helping in nature. The interaction
is essentially between two autonomous individuals.
The mentally ill due to their cognitive, emotional and
motivational impairments are at a disadvantage in these
relationships. [11] Lazarus and Zur feel that military
psychiatrists have enormous power because of their ability
to diagnose mental disorder, authority to recommend
disposals and as the psychiatrists are commissioned
officers and most of the clientele are below officer rank
opportunities to exercise power increase.[16] Transference
and legal powers may also be some important factors.
Industrial Psychiatry Journal 

KEY ETHICAL ISSUES IN MILITARY PSYCHIATRY
Diagnosis

In general medicine diagnosis of a disease is fairly straight
forward in nature. There is a moral and evaluative element
in psychiatric diagnoses. Terms like “deterioration” and
“disregard for the rights of others” are included in the
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Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry

diagnostic criteria of some conditions. [17] Conditions
like personality disorders do not meet the robust criteria
of diagnosis.[11] In psychiatry diagnosis has implications
for involuntary treatment, insanity defense and loss of
job in the military setting. It is the duty of the service
psychiatrist to get relevant inputs from various sources
like the patient’s comrades, commanding officer and
family members before making a diagnosis of personality
disorder.[18]

an event a psychiatrist must endorse explicitly in the case
documents that the treatment is given in the best interests
of the patient and inform the commanding officer of the
hospital. Consent should be taken afresh from the patient
as and when he becomes competent.
Boundary violations

Psychiatrists should exercise great care to limit their
social relationships within the acceptable financial, social,
ideological and sexual boundaries. As the clinical and
therapeutic interactions are emotionally charged to a
smaller or greater extent the psychiatrist must cultivate the
habit of being ruthlessly honest with himself. There have
been instances where psychiatrists lost their reputations
because of momentary lapses which could have been
brought about by transferences, counter transferences
or by unalloyed demands of flesh. In an atmosphere of
provocation keeping a snap of his wife and kids in the office
may turn out to be a talisman for the married psychiatrist.

Confidentiality

Military psychiatrists come in professional contact with
service personnel through three main channels. The
common route is the referral by the authorized medical
attendant at the behest of the person’s unit commander.
A person can seek consultation voluntarily. At times a
person who is in the hospital for some other condition
might be referred by the medical officer (in‑charge).
It appears that in some countries in case of voluntary
consultation unit commanders are rarely told about the
person’s condition. The military position in many countries
is “strongly anti‑privilege”.[16] India is no exception.
Presiding officers of courts martial do not recognize
any ethical obligation.[16] Despite the constraints, there
is much room to maneuver for a psychiatrist to keep the
confidences of his clients. Failure in this respect may work
against the organization as service personnel may gravitate
towards non‑service psychiatric sources and create serious
consequences.

As a service psychiatrist is a marked man, being a rare
commodity he should take great pains to compartmentalize
his social and professional relationships because some of
his superior officers and subordinates might actually be
under his care. Boundaries must be drawn collaboratively
so that mistrust and rejection does not sneak into the
therapeutic scenario.
Fitness for deployment

In 2006, the US department of defense laid down minimum
mental health standards for deployment. No restrictions
on employability for persons having disabilities other than
psychosis and bipolar disorder were imposed. Mental health
screening is incorporated into the pre‑deployment medical
screening process of some countries.[2] It is unethical to
expose an incompetent soldier to the combat environment
putting him as well as his comrades to risk. In India, there
are no specific guidelines in this regard apart from the
general guidelines of the medical category system.

Informed consent

The supreme court of India held that a doctor has to seek
and secure the consent of the patient before commencing
treatment; consent so obtained should be real and valid.
The patient should have the capacity and competence to
consent. The consent should be voluntary and should be
on the basis of adequate information.[11]
The element of voluntarism represents a potential ethical
vulnerability for a patient who may feel unable to seek
treatment or decline recommended treatment because
seeking care may negatively impact the individuals career.
It is the experience of this author that people come for
consultation carrying the baggage of several prejudices.
A service person by virtue of his oath has already
surrendered some of his autonomy. Psychiatrist should
have a healthy respect for the patient’s autonomy.

Return to unit

When confronted with a minimally injured person a physician
may experience internal conflict between a desire to protect
the patient from additional trauma and the duty to support
the organization. A  psychiatrist may face similar conflict
in managing a patient with combat stress reaction. In the
guise of respecting a person’s autonomy he might evacuate
the patient who is reluctant to go back to unit or he may
become paternalistic and give a serious diagnosis to place the
evacuation on sound footing. Such decisions would come in
conflict with ethical principles of rule deontism, beneficence
and justice. A psychiatrist will be liable to disciplinary action
if it is found that he is abetting avoidance of legitimate
combat duties. He might introspect and raise the question to

Obtaining a blanket consent for electroconvulsive therapy
is unethical. Informed consent should be obtained before
each procedure. If the service man is not competent
consent from unit commander should be obtained as he
is the de facto parent (mai baap) of the soldier. At times a
soldier’s unit might be quite far from the hospital. In such
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Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry

himself if he were justified in putting a soldier to greater risk
of injury or even death by sending him back to unit. In the
event of injury or death happening he might question if he
would have been better off facing court martial rather than
carrying guilt in his bosom. It would be useful to remember
that the soldier willingly forfeited some autonomy by joining
armed forces. The ability of a soldier to exercise autonomy
at the height of stress of combat is also questionable. In
combat a psychiatrist may assume paternalistic role after
considering all the above principles.[10]

Article 12 of the Geneva convention proscribes medical
professionals to involve themselves in torture or biological
experiments.[16] This author is not aware of any explicit
guidelines in this regard from Indian Psychiatric Society
or from the armed forces medical establishment. Kala
commented strongly against so called truth serum being
used by investigative agencies.[20] Agarwal views it as highly
unethical for professionals to participate in such activities.[11]
Beam does not preclude the possibility of professionals
participating in interrogation in extreme emergency cases.[10]
Article 17 of Geneva conventions specifies that a PW need
only to give his surname, first name, rank, date of birth
and personal number. Article 13 of Geneva conventions
lay down that PWs must be protected at all times. PWs
autonomy would be violated if medical treatment is made
contingent on disclosing information. The principle of
beneficence would dictate appropriate medical care. PWs
are not considered as combatants. It can be argued that an
uncooperative PW is acting like a combatant. However the
doctrine of universalization of Kant cannot be applied here
as our soldiers also refuse to cooperate with an adversary.

Battle field triage

As of now psychiatrists are not required to be available at
forward surgical centers or field hospitals as focus is now
shifting towards primary care rather than specialist care of
psychiatric casualties. Psychiatrists will continue to remain
involved in consultation and training. Moreover in ideal
situations casualties are air evacuated directly to base hospitals.
But situations may arise when skies are not in your full control
and the medical resources are limited. In such circumstances, a
soldier who has little chance of recovery may not be treated or
even evacuated. In such events some may die who otherwise
would have survived if appropriate medical facilities were
made available. Such decisions will have to be taken in difficult
situations keeping in mind the principle of greatest general
good (utilitarianism and beneficence).

Peace keeping

Military medical officers deployed in peace keeping operations
encounter difficult decisions in regard to their obligation to
the local civil population, which may be under resourced
and vulnerable to abuse both by the peace keepers and the
warring factions. It is advisable for the medical contingents to
work through local authorities and community leaders. Due
care should be taken to identify local leaders, which in itself
may turn out to be a difficult task.[8] India is one of the major
supporting nations to the UN in peace keeping operations.
In recent times psychiatrists are also being deployed with the
peace keeping contingents. Their experiences can be collated
to formulate proper guidelines.

Battle field euthanasia

Situations may arise when soldiers might wish to embrace
death because of the nature of injuries or of circumstances.
Bhisma’s decision to die on a bed of arrows in Mahabharat
war can perhaps be cited as an example. Swann raised the
question of euthanasia in an assumed scenario where he
could neither care for his patients nor could he evacuate
and as the enemy is fast approaching must he retreat. The
options could be three: Kill them for mercy, leave them
to the mercy of the enemy or disobey the order to retreat
to another location and stay with them and do what best
can be done. All the options can be considered from the
angles of autonomy, beneficence, non‑maleficence and
justice. Swann argued that euthanasia could be a viable
option.[19] Taking a decision is one part, acting on the
decision is another grave issue. Interested readers may refer
to Swann[19] or Beam.[10]

Professional competence

Professional competence of the psychiatrist is the key
to ethical practice.[11] Military psychiatrists must continue
to update their knowledge. Knowledge is one aspect
of professional competence. The skill with which the
knowledge is transformed and delivered to the patient is
perhaps more important in clinical science.
CONCLUSION

Interrogation and torture

A psychiatrist might be asked to help in interrogating an
injured detainee or a PW who is under his care or he may be
asked to put his expertise at the disposal of the interrogating
team as consultant. The American Psychiatric Association
and the American Medical Association expressly forbid their
members to participate in any sort of interrogation mandated
by the military or law enforcing agencies. the American
psychological Association however took a different view.[9]
Industrial Psychiatry Journal 

Military psychiatrists encounter many ethical challenges in
the performance of their duties due to their fundamentally
conflicted nature and due to the diverse socio‑cultural,
environmental and operational climates in which they are
called upon to work. The subject of psychiatric ethics is
not given due importance in our country. The medical
corps of the army is a well‑knit organization with inbuilt
checks and balances. It has become necessary now to
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Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry

formulate a proper code of ethics for service psychiatrists
and hence that an ethically aware and prepared psychiatrist
could approach his job with appropriate attitude to deliver
ethically correct and professionally sound care to his
clientele.

10.	 Beam  TE. Medical ethics on the battle field: The crucible
of military medical ethics. In: Military Medical Ethics.
Vol. 2. Borden Institute, Walter Reed Army Medical Centre.
Washington DC 2003. p. 369‑402.
11.	 Agarwal AK. A review of Indian psychiatric research and
ethics. Indian Journal of psychiatry. 2010; 52(suppl):
s297-s305.
12.	 Goel DS. Contemporary issues in Indian psychiatry. Mental
Health Reviews, 2004. Accessed from http://www.
psyplexus/excl/indian-psychiatry.html on 8 Mar 2010.
13.	 Bhattacharya H. Indian ethics. In: Bhattacharyya H, editor.
Cultural Heritage of India. Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission;
1975. p. 620‑44.
14.	 Frankena KW. Ethics. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India; 1989.
15.	 Roy LH. Ethics in psychiatry. In: Sadock BJ, Sadock VA,
Dens P, editors. Comprehensive Textbook of psychiatry.
Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer | Lippincott Williams  Wilkins;
2009. p. 4439‑48.
16.	 Zur O, Gonzales S. Multiple relations in military psychology.
In: Lazarus AA, Zur O, editors. Dual Relations and
Psychotherapy. New York: Springer; 2002. p. 315‑28.
17.	 Fulford KW, Bloch S. Psychiatric ethics. In: Gelder M, Lopez
Ibor JJ, Andreasen N, editors. New Oxford Text Book of
Psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2000. p. 27‑31.
18.	Sood MM, Saldanha CD. Sociodemographic and Service
Profile of Cases Diagnosed as Psychiatric Investigation NAD
in Armed Forces. Indian J Psychiatry 2004;46:349‑53.
19.	 Swann  SW. Euthanasia on the battlefield. Mil Med
1987;152:545‑9.
20.	 Kala AK. Of ethically compromising positions and blatant lies
about ‘truth serum’. Indian J Psychiatry 2007;49:6‑9.

REFERENCES
1.	 Marc-Antoine C, Croq L. From shell shock to war neurosis
and PTSD: A history of psychotraumatology. In: Paul Macher
ed. Dialogues in clinical Neuroscience. Neuilly-Sur-Siene,
France. Les Laboratoires Servier. 2000. p. 47-55
2.	 Pols H, Oak S. War and military mental health: The US
psychiatric response in the 20th century. Am J Public Health
2007;97:2132‑42.
3.	 MSVK Raju. Genesis of military psychiatry in India. Souveneir.
Annual National Conference Indian psychiatric Society. Pune.
Souveneir committee. 2001. p. 32-35.
4.	 Warner CH, Appenzeller GN, Grieger TA, Benedek DM,
Roberts LW. Ethical considerations in military psychiatry.
Psychiatr Clin North Am 2009;32:271‑81.
5.	 Camp NM. The Vietnam War and the ethics of combat
psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry 1993;150:1000‑10.
6.	 Roberts LW. Informed consent and the capacity for
voluntarism. Am J Psychiatry 2002;159:705‑12.
7.	 Crosby SS, Apovian CM, Grodin MA. Hunger strikes,
force‑feeding, and physicians’ responsibilities. JAMA
2007;298:563‑6.
8.	 Tobin J. The challenges and ethical dilemmas of a military
medical officer serving with a peacekeeping operation in
regard to the medical care of the local population. J Med
Ethics 2005;31:571‑4.
9.	 Sharfstein S. Medical ethics and the detainsees at
Guantanamo Bay. Psychiatric News 2005;40:3‑6.

Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1	

How to cite this article: Raju M. Psychiatric ethics in war and peace.
Ind Psychiatry J 2013;22:71-6.
Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared.

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Psychiatric ethics in war and peace

  • 1. [Downloaded free from http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, IP: 115.184.11.175]  ||  Click here to download free Android application fo this journal CONTEMPORARY ISSUE Psychiatric ethics in war and peace A B S T R A C T M. S. V. K. Raju Department of Psychiatry, Peoples College of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Bhopal - 462 037, India Address for correspondence: Dr. Brig M. S. V. K. Raju, Department of Psychiatry, People’s College of Medical Sciences and Research Center, People’s University, People’s Campus, Bhanpur, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. E‑mail: msvkraju@rediffmail.com Practice of psychiatry is a complex activity because the psychiatrist generally practises his art in an emotionally charged environment with patients who may not be in a in a state of mind to exercise autonomy as a result of cognitive impairment and preoccupation with symptoms. No one principle of ethics will be suitable to guide right conduct in widely variable situations. Making ethical judgements in the military context can be difficult and may have potential for abuse as for an uniformed psychiatrist mission takes priority over man. However mission centered and medical text book centred ethics need not be compartamentalised. The present paper seeks to offer a brief overview of ethical principles and specific situations in which one may have to make ethical judgements. Keywords: Ethics, psychiatry, military P sychiatr y entered the battle field during the Russo‑Japanese war at Harbin in Manchuria when the Russian physician Avtocratov treated psychiatric casualties in the combat area.[1] Psychiatrists and psychologists served in large numbers in the two great wars.[2] In India, the number of military psychiatrists increased from a paltry three to forty five within a very short time during World War II.[3] Although psychiatrists entered the battle field to preserve the fighting strength in the just wars that their respective countries waged, psychiatric ethics did not enter the military milieu until the Vietnam War when the USA and its allies fought somebody’s war far away from their national boundaries. Psychiatrists, particularly of the uniformed kind, started questioning themselves about their allegiance as to whether the soldier or the military organization that was the employer of the soldier was their client.[4] Much has happened since Vietnam. Terrorism and the consequential counter‑reactions and over‑reactions are spreading mistrust fuelling fires of hatred all around. Inchoate voices of saner souls are becoming increasingly strident raising questions on the ethics of war, of responsibility to the prisoners of war (PW) or detainees as the case may be, of responsibility toward local civil population during peace keeping operations and so on.[5‑9] Access this article online Psychiatry is the only branch of medicine where the doctor‑patient relationship is qualitatively different from other branches. A psychiatrist is obliged to inquire in depth into the social, psychological and physical dimensions of human afflictions. His primary loyalty is to the individual. However after taking oath of commission, he finds himself in a professional landscape that is quiet alien. Psychiatrists and psychologists are shouldering responsibilities literally in the thick of battle now. Though India does not have the type of combat mental health infrastructure that the USA or some other developed countries might be having, winds of change started blowing across the barren mindsets here in this country too. A  fledgling field psychiatry setup that is well‑integrated into the primary medical care system is emerging. Currently there is much internal strife in the country due to rising aspirations arising out of regional imbalances and inequities within the populations. On the larger context, India is emerging as a power in the global scenario which might involve more commitment of its forces in areas far away from home largely in peace keeping roles. The military environment around its borders is not something one can be happy about. It is in this context that the battle field ethics assume importance to a fiercely democratic country. PSYCHIATRIST IN THE MILITARY MILEU Quick Response Code: Website: www.industrialpsychiatry.org DOI: 10.4103/0972-6748.123637 Industrial Psychiatry Journal 71 Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1
  • 2. [Downloaded free from http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, IP: 115.184.11.175]  ||  Click here to download free Android application fo this journal Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry The individual here is a member of a body of men and women, bound by regimental ties and chain of command that is wedded to the mission. A psychiatrist is obliged reorient himself and “rank order” his loyalty first to the military organization and then to the individual officer or person below officer rank. judgments are of two types. The dictum, that a medical officer is a soldier first and only then a medical man, is drilled repeatedly into the minds at the officers’ academy of the army medical corps. A military psychiatrist becomes a soldier, doctor and a psychiatrist all rolled in one. Each role has potential to come in conflict with the other. In peace time and locations his concerns may be quite similar to his civil counterpart, but it is in the combat scenario that he will find himself buffeted by ethical dilemmas and conflicts. A  conflicted psychiatrist can jeopardize the mission.[10] They are moral judgments pertaining to certain actions which may be right or wrong. Deontic judgments are fundamentally based on teleological and deontological theories. Aretaic judgments They are concerned with judgments pertaining to character, motives, traits, emotions and persons. Deontic judgments Teleological theory It is a theory of consequences. Its basic stance is that an act is morally right if it bring something good in the non‑moral sense e.g. power, pleasure, prestige, money and so on. There are differences as to what constitutes good. Ethical egoism and ethical universalism are two aspects of teleological theory. The position that one is always to do what will promote his own greatest good is called ethical egoism. Epicurus, hobbes and nietzsche are the proponents of ethical egoism. Ethical universalism (utilitarianism) considers that the greatest general good is the ultimate end. An act or rule of action is right if it promotes greatest balance of good over evil. As per the stance of utilitarianism the end justifies the means. John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham are the proponents of utilitarianism.[14] PSYCHIATRY AND ETHICS Agarwal, in a recent review, bemoans of the fact that there is hardly any interest in the study of ethics among psychiatrists in India.[11] Goel, generally combative in his pronouncements, vividly narrating some incidents drives home the point that medical practice in this country is unregulated and conducted in what he calls as “ethical vacuum”.[12] It is said that logically speaking there cannot be a science of ethics in India as ethics presuppose free will while the concept of “Maya” negates the reality of an individual and the concept of “Karma” is transcendentally deterministic. Both concepts are incompatible with free will. It is not known if the prevailing disinterest is a phenomenon of the underpinning philosophical orientation. Bhattacharyya however avers that ethical elements are embedded in the general organization of philosophy and religion of the country and goes on further to say that moral problems have always been persistently pursued in India and all the mythological heroes are ethically upright.[13] Whatever might be the causes, clinicians do not find ethics interesting.[11] Medical services in the armed forces are well organized and regulated but surprisingly here too medical ethics, leave alone psychiatric ethics, are not given the importance that they deserve. Deontological theory It contends that there is something intrinsic in the act itself which makes it right or wrong. An act or rule of action may be right even if it doesn’t bring greatest balance of good over evil for the self or society. Aristotle, Prichard and Carrit are “act deontologists” while Immanuel Kant and Socrates are “Rule Deontologists” (we ought to keep our promises, we should not kill…). Kant propounded the doctrine of universalism, also called as categorical imperative, which states: “An act is morally right if one can consistently will that the rule involved be acted on by everyone in similar circumstances”. As per Kant end never justifies the means.[14] Ethical egoism could be self‑contradictory as if everyone pursues his own good a given individual may not achieve his own good. Act Utilitarianism (This act will produce general good) may not respect individual rights; people can be treated unfairly if it benefits community. Rule Utilitarians are concerned with rules which cause general good (my fallowing this rule will bring greatest general good). However the question may arise that will an act be right if it causes good to a small group or will a rule be right if it causes greatest general good but harm in a particular case. A utilitarian may prefer to distribute good equally over a large population. This brings distributive justice into NORMATIVE ETHICS Morality pertains to character and behavior concerned with what is right or wrong. Ethics is a branch of philosophy which is concerned with moral problems and determining what is right or wrong. Normative ethics is concerned with moral judgments while meta‑ethics inquiries into the basis and justification of ethics.[14] Moral Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1 72 Industrial Psychiatry Journal
  • 3. [Downloaded free from http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, IP: 115.184.11.175]  ||  Click here to download free Android application f this journal Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry the picture, i.e. greatest good to greatest number. Hence criteria for right may be utility with justice. By virtue of this power a psychiatrists can easily slip into paternalistic roles overriding patients’ autonomy.[15] This author feels that in actuality the so called “power” is quite illusory and detrimental to the psychiatrist some times. The ignorant, among whose ranks there are many medical professionals, harbor ideas that psychiatrists are good at language and write whatever they want to. Superior officers carrying such impressions may subject psychiatrists to stress of considerable ethical conflict by interference, manipulation and at times to blatant intimidation. Retributive Justice is the concern of law while ethics is concerned with distributive justice. Justice is a matter of comparative treatment of individuals. As per Sidgewick’s principle “Justice is similar, injustice is dissimilar, treatment of similar cases”. But what similarities that one needs to take into consideration‑should people be treated as per merit, as equals or as per need. Modern democracies are equalitarian in nature. John Rawls developed his concept of justice as fairness. He suggested that in deciding what is the right thing to do one should assume that one does not know what one is in a system, i.e., rich, poor, doctor, beggar and so on. He may imagine that he is wearing “A veil of ignorance” at the time of making an ethical judgment. GENERAL ETHICAL ISSUES Adequate knowledge of ethical principles will enable a psychiatrist to appreciate the broad issues that he might encounter in his practice. Lubit outlines four.[15] But we can have a prima facie obligation to maximize the balance of good over evil only if we have a prima facie obligation to produce good and prevent harm. This obligation is called Beneficence. The principle of beneficence states four things: One ought not to inflict harm, one ought to prevent harm, one ought to remove harm and one ought to promote good.[14] But beneficence does not tell us how to distribute good which brings us back to justice. Motivational bias This is a tendency in a psychiatrist to believe that what is good for him is the right thing to do (ethical egoism). Motivational bias clouds the psychiatrist’s judgment concerning what is in the patient’s best interest. Ethical conflicts These are conflicts between what one wants to do and what is ethically right to do. Modern psychiatric practice is based on four ethical principles of Autonomy (a deontological concept that man is intrinsically good and can take independent decisions), Justice, Non‑malificience (Primum Non Nocere_ do no harm) and beneficence. Actually beneficence includes non‑maleficence. Psychiatric practice is a complex activity and therefore no one principle can be used in every situation. Lubit recommends beginning with a rule based approach, either utilitarian or deontological, ensuring no rights are violated. Using Rawl’s principle of justice (Veil of ignorance) is also considered as important.[15] Ethical dilemmas These are situations in which a psychiatrist must balance the rights and interests of the society (safety) with those of the patient (confidentiality and freedom). Boundary violations A boundary may be defined as the edge of appropriate professional behavior.[11] Sexual and non‑sexual violations of boundaries are important concerns in psychiatric practice particularly in the closed and insulated armed forces community setting. Accepting expensive gifts, entering into financial deals with patients and former patients, sexual demeanors and relations are some of the areas which a military psychiatrist should scrupulously avoid like the proverbial plague. Medicalization and horizontalism brought about by emphasizing descriptive psychiatry seem to be depriving the psychiatrist of his ability to introspect and exercise restraint to certain extent. THE PSYCHIATRIST AND ETHICS All medical encounters between a professional and a patient are fiduciary and helping in nature. The interaction is essentially between two autonomous individuals. The mentally ill due to their cognitive, emotional and motivational impairments are at a disadvantage in these relationships. [11] Lazarus and Zur feel that military psychiatrists have enormous power because of their ability to diagnose mental disorder, authority to recommend disposals and as the psychiatrists are commissioned officers and most of the clientele are below officer rank opportunities to exercise power increase.[16] Transference and legal powers may also be some important factors. Industrial Psychiatry Journal KEY ETHICAL ISSUES IN MILITARY PSYCHIATRY Diagnosis In general medicine diagnosis of a disease is fairly straight forward in nature. There is a moral and evaluative element in psychiatric diagnoses. Terms like “deterioration” and “disregard for the rights of others” are included in the 73 Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1
  • 4. [Downloaded free from http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, IP: 115.184.11.175]  ||  Click here to download free Android application fo this journal Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry diagnostic criteria of some conditions. [17] Conditions like personality disorders do not meet the robust criteria of diagnosis.[11] In psychiatry diagnosis has implications for involuntary treatment, insanity defense and loss of job in the military setting. It is the duty of the service psychiatrist to get relevant inputs from various sources like the patient’s comrades, commanding officer and family members before making a diagnosis of personality disorder.[18] an event a psychiatrist must endorse explicitly in the case documents that the treatment is given in the best interests of the patient and inform the commanding officer of the hospital. Consent should be taken afresh from the patient as and when he becomes competent. Boundary violations Psychiatrists should exercise great care to limit their social relationships within the acceptable financial, social, ideological and sexual boundaries. As the clinical and therapeutic interactions are emotionally charged to a smaller or greater extent the psychiatrist must cultivate the habit of being ruthlessly honest with himself. There have been instances where psychiatrists lost their reputations because of momentary lapses which could have been brought about by transferences, counter transferences or by unalloyed demands of flesh. In an atmosphere of provocation keeping a snap of his wife and kids in the office may turn out to be a talisman for the married psychiatrist. Confidentiality Military psychiatrists come in professional contact with service personnel through three main channels. The common route is the referral by the authorized medical attendant at the behest of the person’s unit commander. A person can seek consultation voluntarily. At times a person who is in the hospital for some other condition might be referred by the medical officer (in‑charge). It appears that in some countries in case of voluntary consultation unit commanders are rarely told about the person’s condition. The military position in many countries is “strongly anti‑privilege”.[16] India is no exception. Presiding officers of courts martial do not recognize any ethical obligation.[16] Despite the constraints, there is much room to maneuver for a psychiatrist to keep the confidences of his clients. Failure in this respect may work against the organization as service personnel may gravitate towards non‑service psychiatric sources and create serious consequences. As a service psychiatrist is a marked man, being a rare commodity he should take great pains to compartmentalize his social and professional relationships because some of his superior officers and subordinates might actually be under his care. Boundaries must be drawn collaboratively so that mistrust and rejection does not sneak into the therapeutic scenario. Fitness for deployment In 2006, the US department of defense laid down minimum mental health standards for deployment. No restrictions on employability for persons having disabilities other than psychosis and bipolar disorder were imposed. Mental health screening is incorporated into the pre‑deployment medical screening process of some countries.[2] It is unethical to expose an incompetent soldier to the combat environment putting him as well as his comrades to risk. In India, there are no specific guidelines in this regard apart from the general guidelines of the medical category system. Informed consent The supreme court of India held that a doctor has to seek and secure the consent of the patient before commencing treatment; consent so obtained should be real and valid. The patient should have the capacity and competence to consent. The consent should be voluntary and should be on the basis of adequate information.[11] The element of voluntarism represents a potential ethical vulnerability for a patient who may feel unable to seek treatment or decline recommended treatment because seeking care may negatively impact the individuals career. It is the experience of this author that people come for consultation carrying the baggage of several prejudices. A service person by virtue of his oath has already surrendered some of his autonomy. Psychiatrist should have a healthy respect for the patient’s autonomy. Return to unit When confronted with a minimally injured person a physician may experience internal conflict between a desire to protect the patient from additional trauma and the duty to support the organization. A  psychiatrist may face similar conflict in managing a patient with combat stress reaction. In the guise of respecting a person’s autonomy he might evacuate the patient who is reluctant to go back to unit or he may become paternalistic and give a serious diagnosis to place the evacuation on sound footing. Such decisions would come in conflict with ethical principles of rule deontism, beneficence and justice. A psychiatrist will be liable to disciplinary action if it is found that he is abetting avoidance of legitimate combat duties. He might introspect and raise the question to Obtaining a blanket consent for electroconvulsive therapy is unethical. Informed consent should be obtained before each procedure. If the service man is not competent consent from unit commander should be obtained as he is the de facto parent (mai baap) of the soldier. At times a soldier’s unit might be quite far from the hospital. In such Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1 74 Industrial Psychiatry Journal
  • 5. [Downloaded free from http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, IP: 115.184.11.175]  ||  Click here to download free Android application f this journal Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry himself if he were justified in putting a soldier to greater risk of injury or even death by sending him back to unit. In the event of injury or death happening he might question if he would have been better off facing court martial rather than carrying guilt in his bosom. It would be useful to remember that the soldier willingly forfeited some autonomy by joining armed forces. The ability of a soldier to exercise autonomy at the height of stress of combat is also questionable. In combat a psychiatrist may assume paternalistic role after considering all the above principles.[10] Article 12 of the Geneva convention proscribes medical professionals to involve themselves in torture or biological experiments.[16] This author is not aware of any explicit guidelines in this regard from Indian Psychiatric Society or from the armed forces medical establishment. Kala commented strongly against so called truth serum being used by investigative agencies.[20] Agarwal views it as highly unethical for professionals to participate in such activities.[11] Beam does not preclude the possibility of professionals participating in interrogation in extreme emergency cases.[10] Article 17 of Geneva conventions specifies that a PW need only to give his surname, first name, rank, date of birth and personal number. Article 13 of Geneva conventions lay down that PWs must be protected at all times. PWs autonomy would be violated if medical treatment is made contingent on disclosing information. The principle of beneficence would dictate appropriate medical care. PWs are not considered as combatants. It can be argued that an uncooperative PW is acting like a combatant. However the doctrine of universalization of Kant cannot be applied here as our soldiers also refuse to cooperate with an adversary. Battle field triage As of now psychiatrists are not required to be available at forward surgical centers or field hospitals as focus is now shifting towards primary care rather than specialist care of psychiatric casualties. Psychiatrists will continue to remain involved in consultation and training. Moreover in ideal situations casualties are air evacuated directly to base hospitals. But situations may arise when skies are not in your full control and the medical resources are limited. In such circumstances, a soldier who has little chance of recovery may not be treated or even evacuated. In such events some may die who otherwise would have survived if appropriate medical facilities were made available. Such decisions will have to be taken in difficult situations keeping in mind the principle of greatest general good (utilitarianism and beneficence). Peace keeping Military medical officers deployed in peace keeping operations encounter difficult decisions in regard to their obligation to the local civil population, which may be under resourced and vulnerable to abuse both by the peace keepers and the warring factions. It is advisable for the medical contingents to work through local authorities and community leaders. Due care should be taken to identify local leaders, which in itself may turn out to be a difficult task.[8] India is one of the major supporting nations to the UN in peace keeping operations. In recent times psychiatrists are also being deployed with the peace keeping contingents. Their experiences can be collated to formulate proper guidelines. Battle field euthanasia Situations may arise when soldiers might wish to embrace death because of the nature of injuries or of circumstances. Bhisma’s decision to die on a bed of arrows in Mahabharat war can perhaps be cited as an example. Swann raised the question of euthanasia in an assumed scenario where he could neither care for his patients nor could he evacuate and as the enemy is fast approaching must he retreat. The options could be three: Kill them for mercy, leave them to the mercy of the enemy or disobey the order to retreat to another location and stay with them and do what best can be done. All the options can be considered from the angles of autonomy, beneficence, non‑maleficence and justice. Swann argued that euthanasia could be a viable option.[19] Taking a decision is one part, acting on the decision is another grave issue. Interested readers may refer to Swann[19] or Beam.[10] Professional competence Professional competence of the psychiatrist is the key to ethical practice.[11] Military psychiatrists must continue to update their knowledge. Knowledge is one aspect of professional competence. The skill with which the knowledge is transformed and delivered to the patient is perhaps more important in clinical science. CONCLUSION Interrogation and torture A psychiatrist might be asked to help in interrogating an injured detainee or a PW who is under his care or he may be asked to put his expertise at the disposal of the interrogating team as consultant. The American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association expressly forbid their members to participate in any sort of interrogation mandated by the military or law enforcing agencies. the American psychological Association however took a different view.[9] Industrial Psychiatry Journal Military psychiatrists encounter many ethical challenges in the performance of their duties due to their fundamentally conflicted nature and due to the diverse socio‑cultural, environmental and operational climates in which they are called upon to work. The subject of psychiatric ethics is not given due importance in our country. The medical corps of the army is a well‑knit organization with inbuilt checks and balances. It has become necessary now to 75 Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1
  • 6. [Downloaded free from http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, IP: 115.184.11.175]  ||  Click here to download free Android application fo this journal Raju: Ethics in military psychiatry formulate a proper code of ethics for service psychiatrists and hence that an ethically aware and prepared psychiatrist could approach his job with appropriate attitude to deliver ethically correct and professionally sound care to his clientele. 10. Beam  TE. Medical ethics on the battle field: The crucible of military medical ethics. In: Military Medical Ethics. Vol. 2. Borden Institute, Walter Reed Army Medical Centre. Washington DC 2003. p. 369‑402. 11. Agarwal AK. A review of Indian psychiatric research and ethics. Indian Journal of psychiatry. 2010; 52(suppl): s297-s305. 12. Goel DS. Contemporary issues in Indian psychiatry. Mental Health Reviews, 2004. Accessed from http://www. psyplexus/excl/indian-psychiatry.html on 8 Mar 2010. 13. Bhattacharya H. Indian ethics. In: Bhattacharyya H, editor. Cultural Heritage of India. Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission; 1975. p. 620‑44. 14. Frankena KW. Ethics. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India; 1989. 15. Roy LH. Ethics in psychiatry. In: Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, Dens P, editors. Comprehensive Textbook of psychiatry. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer | Lippincott Williams Wilkins; 2009. p. 4439‑48. 16. Zur O, Gonzales S. Multiple relations in military psychology. In: Lazarus AA, Zur O, editors. Dual Relations and Psychotherapy. New York: Springer; 2002. p. 315‑28. 17. Fulford KW, Bloch S. Psychiatric ethics. In: Gelder M, Lopez Ibor JJ, Andreasen N, editors. New Oxford Text Book of Psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2000. p. 27‑31. 18. Sood MM, Saldanha CD. Sociodemographic and Service Profile of Cases Diagnosed as Psychiatric Investigation NAD in Armed Forces. Indian J Psychiatry 2004;46:349‑53. 19. Swann  SW. Euthanasia on the battlefield. Mil Med 1987;152:545‑9. 20. Kala AK. Of ethically compromising positions and blatant lies about ‘truth serum’. Indian J Psychiatry 2007;49:6‑9. REFERENCES 1. Marc-Antoine C, Croq L. From shell shock to war neurosis and PTSD: A history of psychotraumatology. In: Paul Macher ed. Dialogues in clinical Neuroscience. Neuilly-Sur-Siene, France. Les Laboratoires Servier. 2000. p. 47-55 2. Pols H, Oak S. War and military mental health: The US psychiatric response in the 20th century. Am J Public Health 2007;97:2132‑42. 3. MSVK Raju. Genesis of military psychiatry in India. Souveneir. Annual National Conference Indian psychiatric Society. Pune. Souveneir committee. 2001. p. 32-35. 4. Warner CH, Appenzeller GN, Grieger TA, Benedek DM, Roberts LW. Ethical considerations in military psychiatry. Psychiatr Clin North Am 2009;32:271‑81. 5. Camp NM. The Vietnam War and the ethics of combat psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry 1993;150:1000‑10. 6. Roberts LW. Informed consent and the capacity for voluntarism. Am J Psychiatry 2002;159:705‑12. 7. Crosby SS, Apovian CM, Grodin MA. Hunger strikes, force‑feeding, and physicians’ responsibilities. JAMA 2007;298:563‑6. 8. Tobin J. The challenges and ethical dilemmas of a military medical officer serving with a peacekeeping operation in regard to the medical care of the local population. J Med Ethics 2005;31:571‑4. 9. Sharfstein S. Medical ethics and the detainsees at Guantanamo Bay. Psychiatric News 2005;40:3‑6. Jan-Jun 2013 | Vol 22 | Issue 1 How to cite this article: Raju M. Psychiatric ethics in war and peace. Ind Psychiatry J 2013;22:71-6. Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. 76 Industrial Psychiatry Journal