Ethics in Psychosomatics

Professor George N. Christodoulou
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Athens
President-Elect, International College of Psychosomatic Medicine

The psychosomatic approach in Medicine is per se ethical in that it advocates the best (holistic in contrast to dogmatic) treatment for the patient. It is also ethical because it provides more psychological and psychosocial attention to those whose condition is predominantly determined by such factors, thus following the dictum of Aristotle “the essence of inequality is to treat in an equal manner those that are unequal”.

This paper will concentrate on the Codes of Ethics in Medicine and the Behavioral Sciences, starting from the Hippocratic Oath and continuing with the Declaration of Geneva (WMA, 1948, amended 1968) the Principles of Medical Ethics (AMA 1980) the Declaration of Helsinki (WMA 1964, revised 1975) the Physician’s Oath of the Soviet Union (1971) the Declaration of Hawaii (WPA 1977) and the Declaration of Madrid (1996) with the Guidelines in specific situations (Madrid 1996, Hamburgh 1999).

There is a common factor in all these codes, namely that the highest ethical priority is the well-being of the patient. This, indeed, should be the highest value to be observed and not other theoretical, vague and obscure considerations concerning society, relatives, the therapist and other peripheral determinants. In an age characterized by over-specialization (a by-product of the overwhelming expansion of information) and de-humanization of medical practice (a by-product of hyperbolic faith and dependence on technology) psychosomatic medicine can play a substantial role in channeling these phenomena towards more ethical directions.