Psychiatrists call for rollback of policy banning discussion of public figures’ mental health
Twenty-two psychiatrists and psychologists, including some of the field’s most prominent thinkers, have called on the American Psychiatric Association to substantially revise its controversial Goldwater rule.
Twenty-two psychiatrists and psychologists, including some of the field’s most prominent thinkers, are calling on the American Psychiatric Association on Thursday to substantially revise its controversial Goldwater rule, which bars APA members from offering their views of a public figure’s apparent psychological traits or mental status.
In a letter to be delivered to the APA, Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, one of the world’s leading experts on the psychological effects of war and political violence; Philip Zimbardo of the “”; violence expert Dr. James Gilligan; and their colleagues argued that the Goldwater rule, which the APA adopted in 1973, deprives.
