The ethics of research can be complicated in any case, but become especially hard to work through regarding the inclusion of people without mental competency to make their own decisions. This is particularly true in the case of mental illness because the loss of competency isn’t always as easy to define for a mentally ill person. As a result of this, researchers must be cautious when considering how to go about testing drugs on the mentally ill. Any drug trial, even one with possible therapeutic benefits, is potentially harmful to its participants. Further consideration is needed to determine if the possible harms of placing a potentially non-consenting participant outweigh the benefits of the trial. To start out, it is important to differentiate between practice and research, especially in this discussion of therapeutic research trials. Practice is meant to treat an individual in order to improve upon their quality of life. The practice of medicine generally yields good outcomes and is not inherently risky, with some exceptions. However, research on the other hand includes subjects or participants to learn something about people or a topic as a whole. While it seems that the differences are clear, there are many times when the lines between the two may blur. One of the ways that the differences are more ambiguous is in the case of …show more content…
To examine the effects of mental illness and competency on ethics in research, the case of Dan Markingson can be used. Many things need to be considered before enrollment in research pursuits. For one thing, the participant’s ability to make that decision (their competency) must be assessed. If they are found to be competent, they must be given the same rights as other participants. This may come with some adaptations, however. For example, the participant may need to have informed consent given to them in a different
When you think of mental illness, you don’t always think about all the ways it can affect you or your loved ones. Even if you do, you don’t realize how much a mental illness can change whoever it is affecting. “The Brain on Trial” by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist, is an article about mental illnesses and our legal systems. He explains the various effects mental illnesses can have on people and how the legal systems don’t always take this in to account in court. He also talks about the changes in your brain and personality when you have something such as a tumor or dementia. His stories are true and provide real world examples of some of the effects he has seen in people who have developed a mental illness.
Ethical guidelines are the frameworks and standards that govern psychologists in conducting a morally justified research to respect the rights of the participants. Since the researchers are responsible for the welfare of the participants, it is vital for them to act in accordance with a specific strict code of ethics and moral principles. One of the common ethical framework used in many psychological studies is IVCARD where ‘I’ stands for Informed Consent, ‘V’ equals Voluntary Participation, ‘C’ is Confidentiality, ‘A’ being Accurate Reporting, ‘R’ is Right To Withdraw and ‘D’ as Do No Harm. Although there are few disadvantages of these strict ethical guidelines, the advantages outweigh them. This is evident from two of the
Special attention should be giving to understanding informed consent and any challenges that may be presented and prescribing ethically medications to special populations such as children. According to the Gerald Tietz of the Washington law review (1986), indicates that it is well within a practitioner’s scope of duty to inform the patient of significant effects were injuries that may be related to the prescribing of any particular pharmacological treatment. This informed consent should be expanded to include the harms were dangerous presented also with non-use of additional treatment interventions such as therapy or CBT. Additional trends identified in ambulance pediatrics (Cooper, Arbogast & Ding, 2006), or the trends and the prescription of antipsychotic medications for children in the United States of America. The information taken from the national ambulatory medical care survey in regards to the US population indicated that between 1995 and 2002 there were nearly 6,000,000 visits to health providers by children in the US that had been subscribed or prescribed antipsychotic medications. Nearly 1/3 of the prescriptions for lease populations were provided by non-mental health service professionals. The study of the department of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville also indicated that over half of the prescriptions for these children were given based on behavioral indications or affective disorders which find a way
The author considers the simplest way of finding out best practice is by using guidelines. According to Field & Lohr (1992) guidelines are “systematic developed statements to assist practitioners and patients decisions for specific clinical circumstances.” Evidence is always current and a generous collection of many different systematic research reviews with multiple random control trials are available (AGREE, 2000). These types of trials are graded at the top level of hierarchy (Guyatt et al 2002).Nevertheless in contrast Devereaux and Yusuf (2005) argue that top level hierarchy is not a guaranteed deviation from the truth in randomized trials. The clinical guidance used is the National Institute of Clinical Guidance (NICE 2009) is based in the author’s homeland and is an independent organisation responsible for providing guidelines. The ethos behind NICE (2009) is to promote and prevent poor health nationally involving the public, health professionals and patients in the process (NICE 2009).
The current method to heal mentally ill patients in the United States is mostly done through forced medication. Elyn Saks believes there may be a better way to help the men and women suffering with a mental illness than forced medication. “The Consent Dilemma” shows how the current method of forced medication is outdated and how there is a more effective method to help people that have a mental illness. All the rhetoric devices are used in “The Consent Dilemma” by Elyn Saks in the magazine Politico. The rhetoric devices are used to show that the current system used to help the mentally ill is in need of an update.
The issue that seemed to be prominent in the area of mental illness and the idea of the “insanity plea” was related to the death penalty. There can be serious ethical dilemmas associated with evaluating these assessments for a professional psychologist. For example, the Ethics Code
The process used to pool the data together was clinical trial decision making. The main factors influencing this process consist of patient, provider, and treatment. Two studies specifically explored decision making by the patient. Education requirements impacted decision making since understanding the risks and benefits of clinical trials was the most important factor taken into consideration by the patient. Educational interventions were noted to have increased patient enrollment. (Biedrzycki, 2010).
People’s rights are important, just as peoples’ safety, but what if the two contradict each other, especially when discussing people who suffer from mental illness. When we talk about severely mentally ill people, should we be more concerned about the particular person, or what the mental illness is capable of doing to the person. Debates and serious conversation have been sparked by the simple question that most people are yearning for an answer to: should the mentally ill be forced to take medication. Both sides of the argument makes points that make you think about ethics, and decent human rights.
The APA ethical guidelines help to ensure that all psychological research maintains the integrity that it does not do harm or conflicts with the majority of the human populations moral ethical codes. However, in some situations the APA ethical guidelines must be viewed as just that: guidelines. If a study has the potential to benefit humanity as a whole and does not result in the permanent or irreparable harm to a human being then some guidelines must be permitted to be stretched or even broken in the interest of human advancement and scientific progression. After all the goal and responsibility of a psychologist is to enhance our understanding of human behavior as well as to find ways to use this information to better society and humanity
After all, we can never completely understand the unbearable life with a severe mental illness, unless we actually have the illness. “Whether a person’s life is worth living or not is an existential question and not a medical question. Doctors are not trained or qualified to answer these questions, and therefore should not be involved in them. As professionals we are obligated to maintain the integrity of our profession. We should not permit it to be misused.
Dan Crenshaw had been the worship pastor at the church for as long as anyone could remember. Is was odd to Dan that lately everyone was always asking if he was ok. Of course he felt fine, just getting a little older. He was faithful to get his annual physical and always passed with flying colors. He was sure that the finger trembling he’d noticed when waving was nothing; come to think of it, he’d been having a little difficulty typing too. He’d had trouble sleeping for a while, but that was probably normal for his age. He made a note to check with his Dr. next physical, certain that it was nothing but getting older. In February 2013, after a routine physical, Mr. Crenshaw was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. At a mild to moderate stage, treatment will focus on patient safety, and mobility as well as education ( (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016).
Labeling individuals, nurses prescribing needed medications for psychiatric patients, and the argument on the insanity plea are among the many mental health debates happening in the world today. This world is full of many cultures that have diverse definitions of norms, healthy, and deviance, which makes deciding who is making the correct argument very difficult. There is no one solid answer to the multitude of questions that come along with the dealings of anyone with a mental illness or diagnosis. This essay will explore multiple possibilities of both sides of the debates.
The big question is, is it humane to allow a medially ill being who is clearly in need of help sit in a jail cell instead of being allowed to get treatment at a hospital. This question has been a controversial topic for many years. This can be viewed as a good thing because it brings attention to the much neglected mental health system. Is it right to be allowed to commit a crime because of a lapse of judgement due to a mental disability. No, but it 's also not right to deny someone who is in severe need medical help. Getting treatment for their illness will be more beneficial in the long run than them sitting in a jail cell. The Lamb and colleagues study examined
Insanity can provide accused criminals with a defense that will allow them to escape any prison sentences. Nevertheless it can provide mentally ill defendants with proper treatment in place of prison time. The way in which mentally ill offenders have been tried in the U.S. courts system is an ethical debate between those who believe mentally ill are not culpable and others who believe insanity does not excuse wrong doing. Often mentally ill will receive poor representation and compensation due to the idea that law professionals are not proficient in medicine. Attorneys must refer to medical text like the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), that defines mental disorders as an illness that significantly
It is now accepted worldwide that before a drug is brought into routine use its efficacy, safety, and the balance between two need to be formally demonstrated. The efficacy of new drugs nowadays is almost invariably established with a technique known as ‘randomized controlled trial’.