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The psychiatric profession and the Australian government: the debate over collective depression syndrome among asylum-seeking detainees
Citation
Bostock, WW, The psychiatric profession and the Australian government: the debate over collective depression syndrome among asylum-seeking detainees, Psychology Research and Behaviour Management, 2 pp. 121-127. ISSN 1179-1578 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2009 Bostock, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd. This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
Official URL: http://www.dovepress.com/
Abstract
Psychiatrists have long had involvement with the political process, both individually
and as a profession. They have made valuable contributions to debate over such issues as war,
conflict, terrorism, torture, human rights abuse, drug abuse, suicide and other public health
issues. However, they have also been complicit in some gross atrocities. Over several years
there has been debate over the Australian Government’s treatment of asylum seekers, and the
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists took the unusual step of publicly
criticizing the Australian Government’s policy on grounds of its toxicity leading to a diagnosis
of collective depression syndrome, particularly among child detainees, but also adult detainees.
The official Ministerial response was to deny that collective depression exists and to assert that
the concept is meaningless. Can this intervention by psychiatrists be interpreted as a product
of earlier political behaviors by psychiatrists? The willingness of psychiatrists to cooperate
with other professions, notably psychologists, pediatricians, physicians and lawyers, is noted,
as is presence of minority voices within the Australian psychiatric profession. The significance
of the debate over the mental condition of asylum-seeking detainees is that its outcome has
implications for how Australia sees itself and is seen by the rest of the world, that is, its national
identity.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | collective depression syndrome, psychiatric profession, political intervention, |
| Research Division: | Studies in Human Society |
| Research Group: | Policy and Administration |
| Research Field: | Arts and Cultural Policy |
| Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
| Objective Group: | Government and Politics |
| Objective Field: | Government and Politics not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Bostock, WW (Dr William Bostock) |
| ID Code: | 61212 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Deposited By: | Government |
| Deposited On: | 2010-03-01 |
| Last Modified: | 2014-12-04 |
| Downloads: | 350 View Download Statistics |
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