The APA Committee on International Abuse of Psychiatry and the Committee on Abuse and Misuse of Psychiatry in the U.S. want to invite all psychiatrists to a symposium at the annual meeting in San Diego in May on these critical but sometimes overlooked issues. The symposium, initiated by the U.S. committee and cosponsored by the international committee, of which I am the chair, will provide an opportunity for exchanging ideas and information about abuses of psychiatry in this country and abroad.

The two committees recently discussed the merits and disadvantages of merging but eventually decided to remain separate and work cooperatively. The annual meeting symposium is a product of this joint effort. In addition, under the sponsorship of the international committee, members of both committees will staff a full-day, annual meeting open house on Sunday, May 18, at which attendees can discuss issues with or present information to committee members.

There are many issues worthy of discussion. In the U.S. there are instances of psychiatrists cooperating with big business or government agencies to deny individuals fundamental human rights. One example is a company's referring to a psychiatrist a nuclear power plant safety inspector who exposes unsafe procedures or conditions and subsequently firing the person on "health grounds." Another example is a forensic psychiatrist's treating a psychotic prisoner to render him fit for execution.

Internationally, evidence strongly suggests that the Cuban government is forcing political dissidents to undergo psychiatric treatment, much as that government's former Soviet patrons once did. In China, where human rights are violated on a large scale, the government has not found it necessary to hide these abuses behind the guise of psychiatric treatment. Information from other countries in the Far East is difficult to come by, but evidence continues to surface that psychiatry is being misused in places such as Turkmenistan and other remote parts of the former Soviet Union.

At our annual meeting events, the committee members hope to make it clear to our colleagues everywhere that we all need to be diligent in preserving not only the fundamental rights of the mentally ill, but also our ethical responsibility to uphold human dignity and, above all, to "do no harm."

D. Ray Freebury, M.D.
Toronto, Ont.

(Psychiatric News, March 7, 1997)