ISD II - Psychiatry - Short Essay Topics

ISD II – Psychiatry
Ethics/Humanities/Health Law

Short Paper Topics

Remember that those of you who selected the option of writing short essays during the ISD I & II course should submit your next essay by Jan. 31. Below are some possible topics connected to issues in psychiatry.

1. Consider the case of Mr. A. as described in Walter Everaerd’s article “A Case of Apotemnophilia.” Would it be morally wrong for a surgeon to decide to perform the amputation that Mr. A. desires? What factors need to be taken into account in order to decide this issue? If it would be wrong to perform the surgery, what changes in the case of Mr. A. would make it morally okay to carry out the surgery?

2. Thomas Szasz, a key figure in the ‘anti-psychiatry’ movement, famously (or perhaps infamously) argues that mental illness is a “myth.” His status as a critic of mainstream psychiatry has faded considerably since the 1960s and 1970s when he was a quite well known figure. Nonetheless, his challenge to mainstream ways of thinking about psychiatry is worth considering. In “Involuntary Mental Hospitalization: A Crime Against Humanity,” (on reserve) he argues that “it is improper to hospitalize anyone without his consent” (p. 295). Critically evaluate Szasz’s argument. What, if anything, is there to be learned from his view?

3. Although we often forget it, many of the diagnostic categories that psychiatrists work with have not always been with us. Psychiatric conditions have their own histories. In “Les Alienes Voyaguers: How Fugue Became a Medical Entity,” (on reserve) the Canadian philosopher and historian of science Ian Hacking describes a psychiatric condition, dissociative fugue, that went in and out of fashion between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Discuss the history Hacking offers of this condition. What, if anything, does it have to teach us about the psychiatric categories we work with today?

4. In “Good Science or Good Business?” (on reserve) David Healy discusses the huge commercial success of Prozac. Using this example, he argues that the business interests of the “medico-pharmaceutical complex” sometimes determine the categories and conditions psychiatrists work with. Discuss and critically evaluate his argument.

You may also write on a topic of your own choosing provided it deals with Ethics/Humanities/Health Law issues connected with psychiatry. Please see either John Crellin or Andrew Latus to discuss a topic.