For the special doctor-patient relationships and therapeutic models, the psychiatric ethics are more important than other medical disciplines. This paper reviews the psychiatric history and psychiatric misuse, as well as describes the ethic issues in psychiatry which include: doctor-patient relationships, competence, advocacy, autonomy, involuntary admission, confidentiality, resource relocation, informed consent, boundary violation, physical manipulation of the brain, psychiatric research ethics, international ethical declarations and Taiwan mental health law. The differences in the context of the psychiatric ethics in Chinese culture are discussed also. In summary, we suggest all the principal of beneficence, principal of nonmaleficence, principal of autonomy, and principal of justice should be emphasized in the indigenous practice of psychiatry.