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In 1991 psychiatrist Dr. Martin Orne, who'd treated the poet Anne Sexton on and off before her suicide in 1974, courted extreme controversy after he released the recordings he'd made of his sessions with her to biographer Diane Middlebrook.
Many in the psychiatric profession still consider this an enormous betrayal of trust. His reasoning was that her poetry was so open about her mental illness, and she strongly believed in her lifetime that such honesty could assist fellow sufferers, that it was what she would have wanted.
What are your opinions on this? Should a medical professional ever be allowed under any circumstances to publicly reveal what a patient told them, even if the patient is dead?
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
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If the patient gave her or his permission,why not?Otherwise,no
- the partially blind semi bald eagle
Bastard Elect
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Yeah, it really depends on the patient herself. If she expressly gave her permission, then I can't see a problem. However, if he only assumed she gave permission, then I think he screwed up and the recordings should have been sealed.
PS. If you can, try your hand at giving some of the others a bit of feedback. If you already have, thanks, can you do some more?
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no emphatically.
without his patients specific permission his oath tells him he must not.
i'd say his her relatives have grounds to sue.
the thing is many in the public may just think she's putting it on for attention etc. they can't know how she really feels. but now not only her but her family may have to face some hostility.
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Her family tried to sue anyway I think, though I can't remember if they were successful. One of them was worried because Anne was a notorious pathological liar, and she would allegedly make up stories about family members to her psychiatrist. She never gave consent for the tapes to be given away at any specified point during her life or after her death.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
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No consent by her (or her estate) = no release. Seems absolutely black and white to me.
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."
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i'd have thought he'd get struck off the register.
i also think the estate could sue even if she gave her consent if she was deemed not to be of sound mind etc.
