In a letter to the head of the Iranian judiciary, the heads of 4 Iranian scientific associations for mental health protested the issuance of recent rulings for some female artists that include accusations of “mental illness” for “taking off the veil,” and demanded that these rulings be amended.
The heads of these four associations wrote, in their letter to Gholamhossein Mohseni IJE, which was published on Thursday, July 20, in the local media and social networks: “Diagnosing mental disorders is the prerogative of a psychiatrist, not a judge, just as diagnosing other diseases is the prerogative of doctors, not judges.”
In recent days, court rulings have been issued against three actresses, namely: Afsaneh Paykan, Azadeh Samadi, and Laila Blokat, with compulsory visits to psychological centers for the treatment of “anti-family personality disorder”, due to non-compliance with the “compulsory veil”.
On July 15, the media wrote that one of the punishments specified for Azadeh Samadi in the ruling issued by Branch 1088 of Tehran Criminal Court No. 2 is that she must visit psychiatric centers “every two weeks” for “treatment of anti-social disease” and finally present her “health certificate” to the authorities.
The heads of these four associations wrote: “What was mentioned in the text of the ruling as an argument for diagnosing a disease called anti-social personality is disproportionate, illogical, and unconvincing. Also, the title “mental illness and anti-family personality” is an unscientific and strange title, and it is not used by specialists.”
The letter was signed by Majid Sadeghi, President of the Scientific Society of Psychiatrists of Iran, Behrouz Dolshahi, President of the Scientific Society of Psychotherapy of Iran, Ahmad Ali Noorbala, President of the Scientific Society of Psychosomatic Medicine of Iran, and Hamid Reza Borsharifi, President of the Iranian Psychological Society; They stressed that “it should be avoided classifying people’s behavior with psychological diagnoses.”
These psychiatrists and psychotherapists have also accused the Iranian judiciary of causing such rulings to “broaden and highlight” the stigma of mental illness “in the minds of people in society,” “refusing people in need of treatment from pursuing necessary treatment,” and adding “social barriers to accessing mental health services.”
The heads of the four mental health associations warned of “the misuse of psychiatry and psychology in the Iranian judiciary”.
At the same time, a number of psychiatrists and lawyers have condemned this judicial measure in separate statements.
“Do you know what impact compulsory referral to counseling centers has on the health system and public trust?” wrote Arsiya Taqwa, a psychiatrist and member of the conference’s secretariat on mental health and media, in an article addressed to Iran’s judges.
As Kambiz Norouzi, a lawyer, told Khabar Online, “Psychology is a specialized field that psychiatrists and psychologists should talk about. A judge, no matter how knowledgeable he is, is basically not qualified to diagnose mental illness, and this is a kind of interference in medical affairs.”
“All this insult, contempt and illusion in a court ruling is shameful for the average citizen, not to mention the artist who is part of the artistic memories of Iranians,” wrote the lawyer, Mohsen Berhani.
He added, “The goal is to intimidate others by harming some actors? No society has been reformed or changed by humiliating women and artists.”
It is noteworthy that the issuance of this judicial ruling against Azadeh Samadi immediately sparked a protest from the Artists Syndicate, but only a few days later it was reported that the head of the relevant branch of the court issued the same ruling to Afsaneh Paykan.
2023-07-20 19:25:32
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