The concept of human dignity as a value basis of psychiatry

Human dignity is composing the main theme for the interaction with mentally ill people, which requires certain competence and a certain sensitivity. The action in the psychiatric daily routine in dealing with mentally ill people is always an enforcement and must always remain questionable. Child and adolescent psychiatry is arranged in between pedagogical responsibility and psychopathological understanding. Here the emotional structure of the young man has not been sufficiently constituted yet. For this reason the conception of human being by people working in psychiatric departments has to be affected by the valuable singularity of each other. Human dignity is jeoparding in psychiatry frequently by compulsory measures and stigma. Therefore it is more important that action in psychiatry is taking place among social dignity. In the consorting with mentally ill people, people working in the field of psychiatry have the obligation to support them actively in the protection of their identity. This obligation has an indispensable, existential significance in psychiatry.