For an Interdependent Political Party and Profession

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

A recent Gallup Poll found a record high 45% of voters identified as independents.¹ The younger generation is the most responsible for that escalation.

Although I applaud the freedom of mind in independent thinking and our original Declaration of Independence from being an English colony, I wonder if we need a different political identification—that of interdependence. With all our political conflict and increasing violence, we need to feel more connected, cooperative, and compassionate with one another.

Lately, I have been emphasizing interdependence in psychiatry, too, as in the September 18, 2025, column “A Declaration of Psychiatric Interdependence and Independence.”² In the more successful psychiatrist and patient alliances, interdependence is a key. Patients must have some trust and dependence on their psychiatrists despite the modern ethical principal emphasis on autonomy. The adverse influence of psychiatric disorders on freedom of the mind requires that. On the other side of this treatment coin, work satisfaction for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals is partially dependent on how well their healing endeavors go. It is hard to be psychological dependent on patient improvement with continuing systemic obstacles to what we can do to help.

The interdependence principle is also necessary to better address what I have called the social psychopathologies. The various antis, isms, and social phobias are harmful, not only to the victims, but the perpetrators. We must be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers to enhance mental health.

In our global world, countries are dependent on one another economically, and ultimately for their independent existence. For psychiatric resources, we are dependent on the politicians of various countries, not less resources as happened in the US in 2025 and in the beginning of 2026.

Publishers like Psychiatric Times, our professional writers and editors, and especially you readers are also interdependent.

Ultimately, we professionals in psychiatry are interdependent on one another. Our interdependence starts in training and continues in continuing education. Interdependence is needed for:

• Reducing burnout and moral injures
• Curbside consultations for patient care
• Successful teamwork and group process in systems of care
• Effective organizational leadership at different levels

Speaking of colleagues, this is the time of the 4th year anniversary of the death of Carl Hammerschlag, as described in my Psychiatric Times eulogy on January 25, 2022, “The Death of Our Dancing Healer, Carl Hammerschlag, MD.”³ He was renowned for his work with Native Americans, who still seem to be at the bottom of receiving helpful psychiatric resources, let alone the use of their wisdom for addressing environmental destruction and other societal challenges. He always closed his communications with the Lakota saying that represents a world of interconnectedness of all life and what supports life, so I will too:

To “all my relations.”

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

Reference

1. Jones JM. New high of 45% in U.S. identify as political independents. Gallup. January 12, 2026. Accessed January 22, 2026. https://news.gallup.com/poll/700499/new-high-identify-political-independents.aspx

2. Moffic HS, Fleming JL. A declaration of psychiatric interdependence and independence. Psychiatric Times. September 18, 2025. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/a-declaration-of-psychiatric-interdependence-and-independence

3. Moffic HS. The death of our dancing healer, Carl Hammerschlag, MD. Psychiatric Times. January 25, 2022. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-death-of-our-dancing-healer-carl-hammerschlag-md