The Goldwater rule, goes back to 1964 when Goldwater ran for president against LBJ. A bunch of shrinks opined in the public press that Goldwater was mentally unstable and unfit for the presidency. In short the shrinks called Goldwater crazy. Goldwater sued them for libel.
The American Psychiatric Association, after the election was over and the smoke had cleared, issued a rule that shrinks must not opine about the mental conditions of people they had not met and examined in person. Which makes sense. If you haven't examined the person yourself, what do you really know?
And, in the few cases where you have examined the person, that makes you the doctor and the person your patient. For a doctor to talk/write about a patient's mental or emotional state is a clear violation of ethics, common courtesy, and ordinary politeness. Should my doctor discuss my health, physical or mental, with anyone, I would be deeply offended, offended enough to find a more honest doctor ASAP.
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