Importance Of Confidentiality In The Practice Of Psychiatry

Confidentiality in the Practice of Psychiatry There is much debate about how psychiatric patients should be cared for and treated. Especially in an in patient setting, many healthcare providers will choose to care for mentally ill patients in their own way. Patients who are mentally ill have restrictions on certain aspects of their care such as access to certain things along with the environment they are in. Although confidentiality is important and should be maintained in all aspects of medical care, I do think that psychiatric patients should have the same have the opportunity to keep as much information confidential as they wish. Given the circumstances there are reasons to breach that confidentiality in mentally ill patients in order to keep the patient safe and out of harms way.

Patient Confidentiality When working in healthcare we are taught first and foremost that patient confidentiality is always extremely important. You should talk to one other than the patient about their medication condition,

When you meet him you can tell there is something off about him but many people just associated it with his brilliant mind. He later begins showing signs of having a mental illness. Despite his knowledge the illness takes over him and impedes in him doing his work. It gets in the way of his personal and work life. John had to fight the hallucinations and take medication for him to be well. It was hard to see such a brilliant intelligent man go from one extreme to another. It was like as soon as he had his mental out break all was taken from him. With the right medication and with John being compliant in taking his medications he is able to control his schizophrenia and hallucinations and try to return to his old self. With the help of his wife, friends and healthcare team he is able to remember what life was like before his mental illness