Challenges for Ibero-American Psychiatry from a Moral Standpoint

Abstract

Departing from the notion that psychiatry as a discipline renovates through invention, innovation, and transformation, this paper presents an approach to the syncretic characteristics of Ibero-American psychiatry stressing the essential role of translation in the reception, adoption, and implementation of knowledge and practices developed in other regions of the world. This applies both to scientific and humanistic dimensions of psychiatry, considering that as a praxiology or science of actions deals with embodied persons embedded in cultures that need to be considered in the process of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. This involves translational humanities considering that basic axioms concerning human nature need a reflective equilibrium between beliefs, constructs and real conditions of practice. The innovations put forward by Ibero-American psychiatry, and expressed through modifications in institutions and concepts, can be studied against the background of the moral determinants of health, a comprehensive concept beyond the usual conceptualization of social determinants. The limitations imposed by scarce resources, shortage of trained practitioners, political instability, poverty, and economic dependence are a reminder that the challenges ahead are not only technical but moral as well.