After three years of collaboration with Dr Dainius Puras, child psychiatrist and professor at Vilnius University, and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, I had the privilege of sitting down with him for a profound conversation on Human Rights in Psychiatry. We explored the ethical and philosophical foundations of rights-based mental health care, the global movement away from coercive and over-medicalised models, and the need to restore autonomy, dignity, and participation at the heart of clinical practice.
I was also honoured to hear Dr Pūras’ reflections on my recently introduced frameworks: Rights-Based Existential Psychiatry and Dynamic Eclectic Existential Psychopharmacotherapy (DEEP Therapy), approaches that seek to bridge existential meaning with human-rights principles in contemporary psychiatry.
What emerged was not just an interview, but a dialogue on the future of psychiatry, one rooted in ethics, freedom, and shared humanity. Whether you are a psychiatrist, psychologist, student, policymaker, or simply someone interested in the intersection of mental health and human rights, I hope this exchange offers both inspiration and reflection.