Goldwater Rule

From the American Psychiatric Association:

Since 1973, the American Psychiatric Association and its members have abided by a principle commonly known as “the Goldwater Rule,” which prohibits psychiatrists from offering opinions on someone they have not personally evaluated. The rule is so named because of its association with an incident that took place during the 1964 presidential election. During that election, Fact magazine published a survey in which they queried some 12,356 psychiatrists on whether candidate Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP nominee, was psychologically fit to be president. A total of 2,417 of those queried responded, with 1,189 saying that Goldwater was unfit to assume the presidency.

While there was no formal policy in place at the time that survey was published, the ethical implications of the Goldwater survey, in which some responding doctors even issued specific diagnoses without ever having examined him personally, became immediately clear. This large, very public ethical misstep by a significant number of psychiatrists violated the spirit of the ethical code that we live by as physicians, and could very well have eroded public confidence in psychiatry.

It is utterly irresponsible and completely unethical to diagnose an individual as mentally ill and unfit to assume the presidency without personally examining the individual.

Those yapping about President Trump's mental status come off as entirely unprofessional. They shame themselves and their professions.

The way journalists, politicians, doctors, and others are speculating about Trump's mental health is ridiculous.

It's wrong.