Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:00:24.190Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can deception be therapeutic?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Larry Culliford
Larry Culliford*
Affiliation:
South Downs Health NHS Trust, Brighton BN1 3RJ
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Type
The Columns
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 26 , Issue 7 , July 2002 , pp. 276
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 2002. The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Sir: In their letter, Gralton and Sandford (Psychiatric Bulletin, March 2002, 26, 114) admit withholding information from their patient, suggesting, however, that she ‘was not told a lie’.

It was impressed upon many like me in our school-days that to tell less than the truth is to tell a lie. If we, as a profession, reject this version of the matter, might we not reasonably be accused of attempting to deceive ourselves?

Public confidence is paramount, so to defend deception under any circumstances is a risky business. Why take chances?

Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.