One Year After the President’s Inauguration

This video series is taking a short break while Dr Moffic travels. For now, enjoy the rerun of this video with updated commentary.

It would be hard to deny that this past year has been one of the most eventful of any President of the United States.

“I do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the presentation of a video on psychiatry and society to the best of my ability, and in the process, try to reflect the basic ethical principles of being a physician and psychiatrist, which is found in our ethical principles preamble that I, quote, must recognize responsibilities to patients first and foremost as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to myself.”

In preparation for last year, I came up with an oath, adapted from the Preamble of our ethical principles, especially now the secondary responsibility to society. Given the increasing rise in divisiveness within the United States, and now the hostile takeover in bending other countries to our will, it ethically requires psychiatric professionals to be upstanders and respond for the mental well-being, not only of patients, but communities like ICE’s actions in Minneapolis.

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.