The American Psychiatric Association called out members of its profession for offering their professional opinions about public figures—namely those they haven’t personally examined.
The rebuke comes after questions about President Trump’s mental fitness have surfaced in recent days.
“We at the APA call for an end to psychiatrists providing professional opinions in the media about public figures whom they have not examined, whether it be on cable news appearances, books, or in social media,” the group wrote. “Arm-chair psychiatry or the use of psychiatry as a political tool is the misuse of psychiatry and is unacceptable and unethical.”
Allegations about Trump’s mental fitness were put forth in Michael Wolff’s latest book, “Fire and Fury.” Beyond that, however, more than a dozen lawmakers met with a Yale University psychiatrist, Dr. Brandy Lee, who warned them Trump was “going to unravel, and we are seeing the signs.” Lee has not personally examined the president.