Far from exhausting the topic of ethics in psychiatry, this paper takes an inner look into the clinical, expert, research and educational aspects of psychiatry one of the fundamental sciences most sensitive to ethical debates and dilemmas. Built on solid ethical principles, the informed consent is a reference standard for human rights' protection because, regardless the circumstances, and
... [Show full abstract] particularly in psychiatry, the patient needs be informed and to make decisions prior to confiding in physicians. When this cannot be achieved, the responsibility for acting on behalf of or to the benefit of the patient falls on the psychiatrist as long as necessary. Science can have a major harmful impact on human rights, and this scenario forces the bioethics to consider the science from both the medical (to give a human-oriented justification to each scientific discovery) and legal (to protect the human rights) points of view. The science must serve the entire community, and for this reason the research must comply with high ethical standards because the access to knowledge is a fundamental human right and this triggers the need for an ethical code in research. Bioethics reveals its deep human and universal message by aiming to high moral standards that makes the patient overpass any disease and the physician to apply high professional standards.