The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act. This is contrasted with an excuse of provocation, in which the defendant is responsible, but the responsibility is lessened due to a temporary mental state. It is also contrasted with the justification of self defense or with the mitigation of imperfect self-defense. The insanity defense is also contrasted with a finding that a defendant cannot stand trial in a criminal case because a mental disease prevents them from effectively assisting counsel, from a civil finding in trusts and estates where a will is nullified because it was made when a mental disorder prevented a testator from recognizing the natural objects of their bounty, and from involuntary civil commitment to a mental institution, when anyone is found to be gravely disabled or to be a danger to themself or to others.
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly mental issues. Sometimes a psychiatrist works within a multi-disciplinary team, which may comprise clinical psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and nursing staff. Psychiatrists have broad training in a biopsychosocial approach to the assessment and management of mental illness.
Charles Julius Guiteau was an American man who assassinated James A. Garfield, president of the United States, in 1881. Guiteau falsely believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election victory, for which he should have been rewarded with a consulship. He was so frustrated and offended by the Garfield administration's rejections of his applications to serve in Vienna or Paris that he decided to kill Garfield and shot him at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Garfield died two months later from infections related to the wounds. In January 1882, Guiteau was sentenced to death for the crime and was hanged five months later.
Forensic psychiatry is a subspeciality of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiatry in which scientific and clinical expertise is applied in legal contexts involving civil, criminal, correctional, regulatory, or legislative matters, and in specialized clinical consultations in areas such as risk assessment or employment." A forensic psychiatrist provides services – such as determination of competency to stand trial – to a court of law to facilitate the adjudicative process and provide treatment, such as medications and psychotherapy, to criminals.
Park Elliot Dietz is a forensic psychiatrist who has consulted or testified in many of the highest profile US criminal cases, including spousal killer Betty Broderick, mass murderer Jared Lee Loughner, and serial killers Joel Rifkin, Arthur Shawcross, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Kaczynski, Richard Kuklinski, the D.C. sniper attacks, and William Bonin.
The Utica Psychiatric Center, also known as Utica State Hospital, opened in Utica on January 16, 1843. It was New York's first state-run facility designed to care for the mentally ill, and one of the first such institutions in the United States. It was originally called the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica. The Greek Revival structure was designed by Captain William Clarke and its construction was funded by the state and by contributions from Utica residents.
Amariah Brigham was an American psychiatrist and, in 1844, one of the founding members of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, which eventually became the American Psychiatric Association. While serving as the first director of the Utica Psychiatric Center, Dr. Brigham launched and became the first editor of the Association's official journal, The American Journal of Insanity.
Larry M. Davis, M.D. was a practicing American psychiatrist from 1971 until his accidental death in 2006.
Vladimir Petrovich Serbsky was a Russian psychiatrist and one of the founders of forensic psychiatry in Russia. The author of The Forensic Psychopathology, Serbsky thought delinquency to have no congenital basis, considering it to be caused by social reasons.
Isaac Ray was an American psychiatrist, one of the founders of the discipline of forensic psychiatry. In 1838, he published A Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity, which served as an authoritative text for many years.
The Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, also known as The Superintendents' Association, was organized in Philadelphia in October, 1844 at a meeting of 13 superintendents, making it the first professional medical specialty organization in the U.S.
William Potts Dewees was an American physician, best known for his work in obstetrics, being described in American Medical Biographies as a "Philadelphian obstetrician [that] was so famous that no parturient woman of the time considered herself safe in other hands."
Ira Thompson Van Gieson was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, bacteriologist and neuropathologist.
Edward Charles Spitzka was an eminent late-19th century alienist, neurologist, and anatomist. Dr. Spitzka was the author of the landmark psychiatric manual "Treatise on Insanity, Its Classification, Diagnosis and Treatment" published in 1883. He pioneered studies of the anatomy of the human nervous system.
Ebenezer Kingsbury Hunt was a prominent physician in Hartford, Connecticut.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to psychiatry:
Edward Nathaniel Brush was an American physician, a mental hospital administrator, and an editor of psychiatric journals.
George Alder Blumer, M.D. (1857-1940) was a physician, a mental hospital administrator, and a journal editor. He was a leader in the provision of humanitarian care for mental hospital patients.
Allan McLane Hamilton was an American psychiatrist, specializing in suicide and the impact of accidents and trauma upon mental health, and in criminal insanity, appearing at several trials.
Mittheilungen aus dem Leben Geistesgestörter published in Pest, Hungary in 1859, is a novel written by Bruno Schön. The author, a popular priest and doctor of theology, dedicated himself to working in an insane asylum in Vienna and describes some of the cases he faced in his professional career. Schön wants to reduce the fear of the 'insane' and aims to create more understanding among the public for mental illnesses by giving short explanations of their various causes. Thus, his book is an attempt to bridge the gap between the common stigmas surrounding mental illness and professional psychiatric knowledge of the time. The focus of the book lies on giving funny and interesting examples, rather than on professional theories to keep the general public interested. It is thus a pioneer in giving information about mental illness, especially the symptoms of what is today known as schizophrenia.
