Psychodeontological prerogatives related to the stigma of patients affected by mental disorders

Abstract

The American Psychiatric Association defines mental illnesses as alterations in the cognitive, emotional or behavioral sphere (or a combination of these domains), which lead to suffering and/or problems in the person's social, professional or relational interaction skills. Given the range of possible symptoms, when talking about mental illnesses, reference should always be made to a standardized classification system, i.e. a list of disorders recognized to date, accompanied by their description and lists of symptoms and essential criteria for diagnosis. Currently, the most widely used manual in the world is the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), published by the American Psychiatric Association, whose structure follows a multiaxial system. Other international norms or classification systems include the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), which is often referred to by the WHO in mental health action plans, defining "mental disorders" as the range of disorders that falls under the ICD-10 classification. Within the given classifications, we can find disorders of different severities, with significant differences both in terms of the degree of suffering and in terms of the effects on the person's capacity for social interaction. However, the present paper does not aim to analyze clinical problems related to mental illnesses, but to address the state of care of people suffering from such illnesses in our country. In particular, we are motivated by the need to examine, from a bioethical point of view, critical issues arising from various studies of the current state of psychiatric care, critical issues affecting the lives of people with mental illness and their families, and which are strongly denounced to the institutions by the scientific societies.