Bioethics and Psychiatry

This book offers a timely, practice-oriented exploration of ethical challenges in psychiatric care within India's evolving mental health landscape. Positioned at the intersection of psychiatry, bioethics, and public health, this volume provides a focused analysis of community-based mental health delivery, legal frameworks, and culturally nuanced ethical decision-making.

Drawing on formative clinical experiences at the Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi, and extensive fieldwork from the community mental healthcare programs in Kerala, the book examines ethical dilemmas in resource-limited settings. It introduces a critical distinction between the institutional hospital-view and the home-view of ethics, exploring lived ethics within the messy reality of doorsteps, tea shops, and religious gatherings.

Informed by the India's Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA) 2017, the volume navigates the profound ruptures between global human rights ideals and indigenous values. It proposes a framework of Relational Autonomy, reconciling Western concepts of individual agency with the sociocultural reality of Indian familial interdependence and collectivist norms.

Structured across five concise chapters, the book addresses foundational bioethical principles, community psychiatry, human rights policy, crisis ethics, and future directions for ethical innovation. It also explores emerging topics such as telepsychiatry, artificial intelligence, and peer support services, making it relevant to contemporary practice and research.

This volume is an essential resource for psychiatrists, mental health professionals, policymakers, and researchers seeking to understand and apply ethical principles in Indian psychiatric contexts. It also offers valuable insights for international audiences interested in non-Western approaches to bioethics and disability studies. Combining scholarly rigor with practical relevance, the book supports both clinical application and academic instruction in psychiatry, bioethics, and public health.

Explores ethical challenges in Indian psychiatry through law, culture, and community-based care models Examines crisis ethics in mental health, including pandemics, disasters, and telepsychiatry practices Integrates field-based insights with legal analysis to guide ethical psychiatric care under MHCA 2017

Autorentext

Dr. Uvais Nalakath Arakkal is a Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Researcher, and bioethics scholar based at Iqraa International Hospital and Research Centre, Kerala, India, where he also serves as Clinical Director of Rythm , a community mental healthcare initiative dedicated to sustainable, rights-based psychiatric care. With formal training in psychological medicine, global bioethics, mental health law, and medical ethics, Dr. Uvais brings a rare interdisciplinary lens to the evolving interface of psychiatry, bioethics, human rights, and medical jurisprudence.

An International Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (IFAPA), as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), the Indian Psychiatric Society, and the Addiction Psychiatry Society of India, Dr. Uvais has authored more than 180 publications in prestigious national and international peer-reviewed journals. His extensive research footprint spans psychological medicine, public mental health, bioethics, and mental healthcare law. In addition to his prolific writing, he serves on the editorial board of the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine and remains a frequent reviewer for leading global publications, including The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia , BMJ , BMC Psychiatry , and the Asian Journal of Psychiatry .

His academic and clinical work is marked by a sustained commitment to integrating ethical reflection with frontline psychiatric practice, particularly in culturally informed care, community psychiatry, and the protection of vulnerable populations. Through his scholarship and service, Dr. Uvais advocates for a model of psychiatry that extends beyond symptom management to engage deeply with questions of dignity, justice, law, and the moral foundations of mental healthcare.

Dr Katshu is a Clinical Associate Professor and Joint Director of the Centre for Translational Neuroscience in Mental Health at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham. He is an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in Early Intervention in Psychosis, Chronic Psychosis and Neuromodulation at the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He leads the Undergraduate Psychiatry teaching programme at the School of Medicine, University of Nottingham. Dr Katshu graduated in Medicine from University of Kashmir. He trained in Psychiatry initially at the Central Institute of Psychiatry, India and later at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He did his PhD in Cognitive Neurosciences from Bangor University. His work focusses on understanding the biological underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders, specifically psychosis, with the aim to develop individualised treatments, including next generation neuromodulation. His work is supported by British Medical Association, Wellcome Trust, MRC, and NIHR.

Inhalt

Introduction to Bioethics in Indian Psychiatry.- Ethical Challenges in Indian Community Mental Health.- Mental Health Policy and Human Rights in India.- Psychiatry in Crisis: Ethical Responses in India.- Advancing Ethical Care in Indian Psychiatry.