Coercion in psychiatry
The gap between formal human-rights principles and everyday psychiatric practice, especially in situations involving suicide risk, involuntary admission, and institutional responsibility.
Psychiatry & Psychotherapy · Ethics
Davide
Zani.
I work at the intersection of psychiatry, ethics, law, and lived experience. My interests include coercion, autonomy, suicide care, forensic mental health, and medical training.
01 / Profile
About me
I am a medical doctor specialising in adult psychiatry and psychotherapy in Switzerland. I graduated from the University of Brescia (Italy) with a degree in Medicine and Surgery and, alongside my clinical work, I am currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Ethics at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine (IBME), University of Zurich (UZH). My doctoral research focuses on the ethical and legal aspects of coercion and autonomy in psychiatric care.
My clinical and academic interests include forensic psychiatry, bioethics, psychiatric epidemiology, postgraduate medical education, cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy, and the assessment and treatment of complex psychiatric conditions, including personality disorders, dual diagnoses, and adult neurodevelopmental disorders.
In addition to my medical and academic work, I maintain a strong interest in the fine arts and value creative expression as an essential component of human experience.
I actively seek collaboration in multidisciplinary and international teams, with a commitment to integrating scientific rigour, ethical reflection, and humanistic perspectives.
02 / Areas of inquiry
Research interests
Suicide, autonomy, and decision-making
How should clinicians respond to suicide risk while respecting autonomy? My work examines decision-making capacity, the limits of protective intervention, and the moral weight of uncertainty in clinical care.
Philosophy of psychiatry
How psychiatric categories shape clinical reality, moral responsibility, and the ways suffering is recognised or dismissed.
03 / Ongoing questions
Current work
Research focus
I am developing research on how psychiatric coercion is justified, normalised, limited, and potentially replaced by more proportionate and non-coercive clinical approaches.
04 / Background
Education & experience
Education
- 2023–present
PhD candidate in biomedical ethics
IBME · University of Zurich · Switzerland
Research focused on mental health care and coercion.
- 2023–2024
Biomedical ethics scholarship
University of Zurich · Switzerland
- 2022–2023
Cognitive behavioural psychotherapy
vfkv Munich · Germany
Curriculum for physicians.
- 2021–present
Postgraduate training in psychiatry and psychotherapy
PDGR & WBV · Switzerland
FMH adult psychiatry and psychotherapy training programme.
- 2014–2021
Medicine and Surgery
University of Brescia · Italy
Combined Bachelor's & Master's Degree, Human Medicine and Surgery · 110/110
Experience
- 2026–present
Resident physician · General internal medicine
Medizinisches Center Scaletta · Chur, Switzerland
Primary care clinic.
- 2025–2026
Forensic psychiatry · Outpatient care
Psychiatrische Dienste Graubünden PDGR · Cazis, Switzerland
Resident physician, then deputy consultant psychiatrist. Clinical work in correctional facilities, psychiatric expert reports, and research in forensic psychiatry and clinical ethics.
- 2024–2025
Adult psychiatry · Outpatient care
Psychiatrische Dienste Graubünden PDGR · Cazis, Switzerland
Psychotherapy and day-clinic group therapy.
- 2021–2023
Adult psychiatry · Inpatient care
Psychiatrische Dienste Graubünden PDGR · Cazis, Switzerland
Gerontopsychiatry, addiction psychiatry, psychotherapy, and emergency psychiatry.