From psychiatric care to psychic care, for an ethic of restraint

Abstract

This analysis of the ethical issues raised by the relationship between caregiver and patient is based on the history of psychiatry and sensitivity to the ethical tensions that run through the field of psychiatry and mental health. Taking a step back from the injunction to treat well, not fetishizing it, adopting a holistic approach, equipping ourselves to counter the stigmatization and self-stigmatization that so often accompany psychic and/or psychosocial disability, and inviting reflection on proportionality in mental health are all ethical priorities that are insufficiently invested in psychiatric clinics.