ABSTRACT
Mental health professionals are faced with ethical issues on a daily basis throughout their working life. This chapter aims to raise awareness of such dilemmas rather than conduct a detailed analysis of any single problem. It provides a brief overview of some of the ethical dilemmas and areas of consideration within the practice of mental health. Our brains represent a rainforest of reciprocal interconnections between neurons cultivated through experience from an early age, and the nature of such interconnection is greatly affected by the quality and intensity of experiences over time. However, the minds of individuals deemed to suffer with mental disorders are regarded as abnormal despite the absence or lack of evidence for brain disease or structural abnormality. There is a presumption that such individuals have brains that are functioning abnormally. The 'norm' in this sense, however, refers to the majority and clearly this can change over time.
