Definition of the problem Several medically indicated therapies, including coercive
treatments, in psychiatric practice have been justified not only on the basis of relieving …

Definition of the problem The recent legal development emphasizes the right of self-
determination of psychiatric patients decidedly even in the case of them lacking the capacity …

In the debate on compulsory treatment of psychiatric patients (Zwangsbehandlung), an
excessive emphasis has recently been placed on patient's rights to self-determination …

The current intensive discussion on the legal and moral aspects of involuntary treatment of
psychiatric patients raises a number of ethical issues. Physicians are unambiguously …

The decision to involuntary hospitalize a patient underlines an inherent contradiction in
psychiatry between the need for care and the lack of consent to care. The growing …

The actual decision of the German Supreme Court fueled the old debate of the moral and
legal status of compulsory treatment in psychiatry in Germany. This article sheds a light on …

In psychiatry, like in somatic medicine, patients ideally agree with the treatment proposal of
the physician. Yet, psychiatric patients, more than other groups of patients, often refuse …

Coercion in the treatment of persons suffering from mental disorders is one of the major
ethical controversies in psychiatry. Despite great efforts to reduce the use of coercive …

Bioethics needs an elaborated concept of autonomy based on empirical knowledge about
the prerequisites of the capacity of autonomy. Whereas Beauchamp and Childress, and …

“Autonomy” has become a central point of reference in the realm of medical ethics. This also
applies without exception to psychiatry in patient care and research. The term of autonomy …