Melissa Weddle, MD, MPH and Patricia K. Kokotailo, MD, MPH
Physicians should honor confidentiality whenever possible when screening and treating adolescents for sensitive health conditions such as substance abuse.
Psychiatrists face difficulties when deciding on treatment plans for patients who are not interested in receiving help or are lacking the capacity to make responsible decisions.
Psychiatrists face difficulties when deciding on treatment plans for patients who are not interested in receiving help or are lacking the capacity to make responsible decisions.
Psychiatrists face difficulties when deciding on treatment plans for patients who are not interested in receiving help or are lacking the capacity to make responsible decisions.
Refusals of psychotropic medication by detained criminal defendants raise conflicting dual loyalties for psychiatrists between the duty to treat a patient and the duty to protect society from that patient.
Research studies on the influence of spirituality on health are still immature but have still made strides in advancing physicians' understanding of the issues.
Physicians face a conflict between desiring to cure a patient of his or her psychiatric illness and recognizing that the cure will take away from the patient's purpose in life.
Physicians need to understand the need for clarity and rigor in defining spirituality in research and practice to bring spirituality into the practice of health care.