ABSTRACT
Suicide occurs in people of all ages and backgrounds, which negatively affects families, communities, and the health care providers (HCPs) who care for them. The objective of this study was to better understand HCPs' perspectives of everyday ethical issues related to caring for suicidal patients, and their perceived needs for training and/or support to address these issues. We conducted a mixed methods survey among HCPs working in mental health in Québec, Canada. Survey questions addressed their perspectives and experiences of everyday ethical challenges they encounter in their practice with people who are suicidal, and their perceived needs for training and/or support therein. 477 HCPs completed the survey. Most participants mentioned encountering ethical issues when caring for people who are suicidal. The challenges HCPs encounter in their practice with people who are suicidal are numerous, including issues related to maintaining privacy, confidentiality, freedom and the therapeutic relationship. The lack of time, resources and professional support to address these issues was emphasized. Most HCPs reported that the training or education they have received does not allow them to address everyday ethical issues related to suicide care. In sum, there is a clear reported need for better training and support for HCPs who are offering care to people who are suicidal in relation to everyday ethical issues they encounter. Implications for practice include providing greater access to training, including access to specialists in ethics to address specific issues. This additional support could alleviate morally distressing situations for HCPs.
Subject(s)
Ethics, Medical , Health Personnel/ethics , Suicide/ethics , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Health Personnel/psychology , Health Personnel/standards , Humans , Mental Health Services/ethics , Mental Health Services/standards , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Suicide continues to be the leading external cause of death in Spain, according to the latest report on deaths by cause of death published by the National Statistics Institute (INE, for its initials in Spanish) in December 20191. According to this report, there were 3,539 deaths by suicide recorded in 2018. Ten people voluntarily ending their lives each day. Málaga province recorded 134 deaths by suicide in 2018, being therefore one of the provinces with the highest incidence in the autonomous community of Andalucía and the eighth nationally.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Suicide/psychology , Adult , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Spain , Stereotyping , Suicide/ethics , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The article analyzes the recent ruling of the Italian Constitutional Court amending article 580 of the Italian Criminal Code, relating to aid and incitement to suicide. According to the first Assize Court of Milan, article 580, conceived in 1930, reflects the fascist culture of its author. The problem of the Constitutional Court was therefore to establish whether a democratic state can still place limits on aid for suicide and in what terms it can do so.
Subject(s)
Suicide, Assisted , Suicide , Humans , Italy , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/legislation & jurisprudence , Suicide, Assisted/ethics , Suicide, Assisted/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
The practice of medically assisted dying has long been contentious, and the question of what to call it has become increasingly contentious as well. Particularly among U.S. proponents of legalizing the practice, there has been a growing push away from calling it "physician-assisted suicide," with assertions that medically assisted dying is fundamentally different from suicide. Digging deeper into this claim about difference leads to an examination of the difference between two kinds of suffering-suffering from physical conditions and suffering from psychological conditions-and therefore leads also toward an examination of whether requests for medical assistance in dying by those suffering from psychological conditions and those suffering from physical conditions should be painted with the same brush. In this article, I aim both to illuminate some of the considerations that ought to be included in discussions related to medically assisted dying and to shed light on what the indirect effects of such discussions can be. I consider some of the reasons commonly given for holding that suicide and medically assisted dying differ fundamentally and then whether the conclusion that medically assisted dying should not be called "suicide" follows from the premises. I ask what else might justify the conclusion that the two acts ought to be called by different names, and I examine possible justifications for accepting this premise, as well as what justifications might exist for emphasizing how the acts are alike. Finally, I argue that we should be cautious before concluding that medically assisted dying should not be called "suicide." We need more evidence either that the two acts are fundamentally different or that emphasizing differences between them is not likely to do more harm than good.
Subject(s)
Suicide, Assisted/ethics , Europe , Hope , Humans , Impulsive Behavior , Mental Competency , Morals , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/legislation & jurisprudence , Suicide, Assisted/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesABSTRACT
La bioética principialista de Beauchamp y Childress se ha hecho con un lugar preeminente en la Bioética actual. No obstante, presenta algunas carencias teóricas importantes: falta de elaboración de algunos conceptos, tendencia al relativismo moral, etc. Entre los múltiples posicionamientos éticos alternativos actuales desde los cuales cubrir tales carencias, pensamos que el más adecuado es la teoría de la ley natural. Esta ofrece una reflexión argumentada sobre el bien y los bienes humanos y sobre su relación con los principios morales generales. Desde tales bienes, dicha teoría sostiene la existencia de acciones que son siempre maleficentes, esto es, acciones intrínsecamente y universalmente malas. El artículo aplica la teoría de la ley natural a temas relacionados con la protección de la vida humana (aborto, eutanasia, legítima defensa y manipulación genética)
Principlist Bioethics by Beauchamp and Childress has reached a prominent status in contemporary Bioethics. Nevertheless, it includes some important theoretical problems: some lacks when defining some concepts, a tendency to ethical relativism, etc. Among the ethical alternative approaches from which such problems can be solved, we think that the most appropiate is the Natural Law theory. It offers a reasoned reflection on the concept of good and on human basic goods and their relation with moral general principles. From such goods, this ethical theory supports the existence of actions that are always maleficent acts, that is, intrinsically and universally evil acts. The article applies the Natural Law theory to issues related to the protection of human life (abortion, euthanasia, self-defense and genetic manipulation)
Subject(s)
Euthanasia/ethics , Suicide/ethics , Suicide, Assisted/ethics , Personal Autonomy , Quality of Life , Bioethics , Abortion, Therapeutic/ethics , AbortionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite decades of research, the rate of death from suicide is rising in the United States. Suicide is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon and, to date, no validated biomarkers that predict suicidal behavior have been identified. Only one FDA-approved drug to prevent suicide exists, and it is approved only for patients with schizophrenia. Although anti-suicide psychotherapeutic techniques exist, treatment takes time, and only preliminary data exist for rapid-acting therapies. DISCUSSION: While more research into suicidal ideation and acute suicidal behavior is clearly needed, this research is fraught with both practical and ethical concerns. As a result, many investigators and bioethicists have called for restrictions on the types of research that individuals with suicidal behavior can participate in, despite the fact that the available empirical evidence suggests that this research can be done safely. This manuscript presents background information on the phenomenology of suicide, discusses the current state of treatment and prevention strategies, and reviews the practical and ethical issues surrounding suicide research in the context of available empirical data. Currently, the causes of suicide are poorly understood, in part due to the fact that very few studies have investigated the acute suicidal crisis. Although some biomarkers for predicting risk have been developed, none have been sufficiently validated. The most successful current interventions involve means restriction. However, while numerous hurdles face researchers, these are not insurmountable. The available evidence suggests that research into suicide can be conducted both safely and ethically.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/physiopathology , Mental Disorders/psychology , Psychotherapy/ethics , Suicide Prevention , Suicide/ethics , Biomarkers/analysis , Female , Humans , Male , Psychotherapy/methods , United StatesABSTRACT
Principlist Bioethics by Beauchamp and Childress has reached a prominent status in contemporary Bioethics. Nevertheless, it includes some important theoretical problems: some lacks when defining some concepts, a tendency to ethical relativism, etc. Among the ethical alternative approaches from which such problems can be solved, we think that the most appropiate is the Natural Law theory. It offers a reasoned reflection on the concept of good and on human basic goods and their relation with moral general principles. From such goods, this ethical theory supports the existence of actions that are always maleficent acts, that is, intrinsically and universally evil acts. The article applies the Natural Law theory to issues related to the protection of human life (abortion, euthanasia, self-defense and genetic manipulation)..
Subject(s)
Bioethics , Ethical Theory , Value of Life , Abortion, Induced/ethics , Double Effect Principle , Ethics , Euthanasia/ethics , Female , Genetic Engineering/ethics , Homicide/ethics , Humans , Male , Medical Futility/ethics , Morals , Pregnancy , Quality of Life , Suicide/ethics , Suicide, Assisted/ethicsABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: The complex concept of rational suicide, defined as a well-thought-out decision to die by an individual who is mentally competent, is even more controversial in the case of older adults. Materials and Methods: With the aim of better understanding the concept of rational suicide in older adults, we performed a systematic review of the literature, searching PubMed and Scopus databases and eventually including 23 published studies. Results: The main related topics emerging from the papers were: depression, self-determination, mental competence; physicians' and population's perspectives; approach to rational suicide; ageism; slippery slope. Conclusions: Despite contrasting positions and inconsistencies of the studies, the need to carefully investigate and address the expression of suicidal thoughts in older adults, as well as behaviours suggesting "silent" suicidal attitudes, clearly emerges, even in those situations where there is no diagnosable mental disorder. While premature conclusions about the "rationality" of patients' decision to die should be avoided, the possibility of rational suicide cannot be precluded.
Subject(s)
Aging , Decision Making , Suicide/psychology , Aged , Ageism/psychology , Aging/physiology , Aging/psychology , Attitude to Death , Depression/complications , Depression/diagnosis , Health Status , Humans , Mental Competency/psychology , Personal Autonomy , Quality of Life , Risk Factors , Suicide/ethicsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Laws allowing assisted suicide and euthanasia have been implemented in many locations around the world but some individuals suffering with terminal illness receiving palliative care services are hastening death or die by suicide without assistance. This systematic review aims to summarise evidence of palliative care professionals' experiences of patients who died by suicide or hastened death in areas where assisted dying is legal and to understand when hastened death is considered to be a suicide. METHODS: AMED, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, PubMED, and Academic Search Ultimate were searched for articles from inception through June 2018. Quality assessment used the Hawker framework. RESULTS: A total of 1518 titles were screened resulting in thirty studies meeting eligibility criteria for this review. Published studies about professionals' experiences from areas with legalised assisted dying includes limited information about patients who hasten death outside legal guidelines, die by suicide without assistance, or if the law impacts suicide among palliative care patients. CONCLUSION: There are a range of experiences and emotions professionals' experience with patients who die by euthanasia, assisted suicide, or hasten death without assistance. The included literature suggests improved communication among professionals is needed but does not explicitly identify when a hastened death is deemed a suicide in areas where assisted dying is practiced. More research is needed to help clarify what hastened death means in a palliative care context and identify how and if assisted dying impacts issues of suicide in palliative care settings.
Subject(s)
Health Personnel/psychology , Palliative Care/standards , Suicide, Assisted/classification , Suicide/classification , Attitude of Health Personnel , Health Personnel/ethics , Humans , Palliative Care/methods , Palliative Care/psychology , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/legislation & jurisprudence , Suicide, Assisted/ethics , Suicide, Assisted/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes physical, emotional, and cognitive changes that impact function and quality of life (QoL). Risk factors for suicidality in MS patients include a high incidence of depression, increased isolation, and reduced function/independence. PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe the epidemiology of depression and suicidality in this population, highlight warning signs for suicidal behavior, provide recommendations and resources for clinicians, and discuss ethical decisions related to patient safety vs. right to privacy. RECENT FINDINGS: Fifty percent of MS patients will experience a major depression related to brain MRI factors and disease-related psychosocial challenges. Nevertheless, depression is under-recognized/treated. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) indicates a suicide risk in the MS population that is twice that in the general population. Given the prevalence of depression and the increased risk of suicide in the MS population, any clinician providing care for these patients must be prepared to recognize and respond to potential warning signs.
Subject(s)
Depression/epidemiology , Multiple Sclerosis/epidemiology , Multiple Sclerosis/psychology , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/statistics & numerical data , Comorbidity , Humans , Patient Safety , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
It is estimated that up to 7500 people develop schizophrenia each year in the UK. Schizophrenia has significant consequences, with 28% of the excess mortality in schizophrenia being attributed to suicide. Previous research suggests that suicide in schizophrenia may be more related to affective factors such as depression and hopelessness, rather than psychotic symptoms themselves. Considering suicide in schizophrenia within this framework enables us to develop a novel philosophical approach, in which suicide may not be related to loss of self-consciousness, thought processing dysfunctions or perception disturbances. The action of suicide may be due neither to persistent hallucinations nor other psychotic symptoms, such as delusional beliefs, but to other underexamined, perhaps rational reasons, such as extreme social isolation, severe depression or emotional withdrawal. This paper does not examine the moral character of suicide. Instead, it argues that we should conceive the action of suicide in schizophrenia as an act that is not necessarily irrational. People with schizophrenia might end their life based on reasons if suicide is the best means to achieve their ends. However, the paper does not support assisted suicide. It aims to provide a better understanding of the reasons why people take their own lives and suggests that understanding can inform effective interventions to reduce high rates of suicide.
Subject(s)
Mental Competency , Schizophrenic Psychology , Suicide/psychology , Humans , Mental Competency/psychology , Suicide/ethics , United KingdomSubject(s)
Ethics, Medical , Euthanasia/ethics , Neoplasms/psychology , Palliative Care , Suicide/ethics , Attitude of Health Personnel , Canada , Drug Overdose , Humans , Neoplasm Metastasis , Neoplasms/complications , Neoplasms/therapy , Neuralgia/drug therapy , Neuralgia/etiology , Neuralgia/psychology , Palliative Care/psychology , Palliative Care/standards , Suicide, Assisted/ethics , Suicide, Assisted/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
No disponible
Subject(s)
Humans , Euthanasia/ethics , Bioethics , Social Responsibility , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
El derecho a la muerte se define desde el olvido de la muerte, característica de la sociedad contemporánea. La defensa de la eutanasia, lejos de ser una contradicción con ese olvido, constituye su constatación. Afirmada como acto altruista y benevolente encubre la necesidad propia de olvidar el sufrimiento y la muerte, y la incapacidad de observar la muerte ajena. Como derecho, el derecho a la muerte se presenta como la prohibición del Derecho y la comunidad de interferir en el acto tanático para sí mismo o para otro. Pero como efecto se instaura un derecho de carácter social e indicación ética que constituye un riesgo para la vida dependiente
The right to death is defined from the oblivion of death, characteristic of contemporary society. The defense of euthanasia, far from being a contradiction with that forgetfulness, constitutes its verification. Affirmed as an altruistic and benevolent act conceals the need to forget suffering and death, and the inability to observe the death of others. As a right, the right to death is presented as the prohibition of the law and the community to interfere in the act of love for oneself or for another. But as an effect, a right of a social nature and ethical indication that constitutes a risk for dependent life is established
Subject(s)
Humans , Right to Die/ethics , Euthanasia/ethics , Death , Homicide/ethics , Ethics, Medical , Suicide/ethics , Right to Die/legislation & jurisprudence , Homicide/legislation & jurisprudence , FreedomABSTRACT
This article provides a review of the ethical considerations that drive research policy and practice related to the genetic study of suicide. As the tenth cause of death worldwide, suicide constitutes a substantial public health concern. Biometrical studies and population-based molecular genetic studies provide compelling evidence of the utility of investigating genetic underpinnings of suicide. International, federal, and institutional policies regulating research are explored through the lenses of the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Trapped between the Common Rule's definition of human subjects, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's protected information, suicide decedent data occupy an ethical gray area fraught with jurisdictional, legal, and social implications. Two avenues of research, biobanks and psychological autopsies, provide tangible application for the ethical principles examining the risks to participants and their families. Additionally, studies surveying public opinion about research methods, especially broad consent, are explored. Our approach of applying the four ethical principles to policy, sample collection, data storage, and secondary research applications can also be applied to genetic research with other populations. We conclude that broad consent for secondary research, as well as next-of-kin at the time of autopsy, serve to satisfy privacy and confidentiality under the ethical principle of autonomy. We recommend ongoing ethical evaluation of research policy and practice.
Subject(s)
Biological Specimen Banks/ethics , Databases, Genetic/ethics , Suicide/ethics , Confidentiality , Genetic Research , Humans , Personal Autonomy , Privacy , Public Health , Suicide/psychology , United States , Suicide PreventionABSTRACT
For decades, our ability to predict suicide has remained at near-chance levels. Machine learning has recently emerged as a promising tool for advancing suicide science, particularly in the domain of suicide prediction. The present review provides an introduction to machine learning and its potential application to open questions in suicide research. Although only a few studies have implemented machine learning for suicide prediction, results to date indicate considerable improvement in accuracy and positive predictive value. Potential barriers to algorithm integration into clinical practice are discussed, as well as attendant ethical issues. Overall, machine learning approaches hold promise for accurate, scalable, and effective suicide risk detection; however, many critical questions and issues remain unexplored.
Subject(s)
Ethics, Medical , Machine Learning/legislation & jurisprudence , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/legislation & jurisprudence , Algorithms , Cluster Analysis , Decision Support Techniques , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Machine Learning/ethics , Probability , Research , Risk Assessment/legislation & jurisprudence , Unsupervised Machine Learning/ethics , Unsupervised Machine Learning/legislation & jurisprudence , Unsupervised Machine Learning/statistics & numerical data , Suicide PreventionABSTRACT
If suicide remains "the only really serious philosophical problem" (A. Camus), historically a certain number of philosophers have legitimized it while others have condemned it. Among the philosophers who admitted that suicide could be a possibility, some showed understanding and others remained more modest. Kierkegaard's philosophical stance, demonstrating that one can never decide for the other where existential problems are concerned, opens a third way. Following him, Michel Cornu coined the expression "ethics of concern". That restlessness, etymologically, can be understood at the same time at the epistemological level (lack of a single constituted knowledge, hence the need to resort to a fully interdisciplinary approach of the "suicide" object), but as a relational attitude as well, namely a restlessness vis-à-vis the other, in other words concern for the other. This concept of concern does not exist in philosophical literature as such, but it has been addressed by philosophers. Therefore, it is essential to begin with a differential reflection on the notions of concern, care and solicitude. Then three "philosophies of solicitude" will be developed, those of Heidegger (concern in itself), RicÅur (concern as reciprocity) and Levinas (concern as responsibility). The monitoring devices, which will be widely discussed in other articles of this special issue, are based on philosophical notions borrowed from Heidegger (thoughtful solicitude), or RicÅur (solicitude) and Levinas (responsibility) or Cornu (ethics of concern). In addition, throughout our text we have mentioned a certain number of tensions inherent to these notions themselves, such as that intrinsic to the term solicitude (both care and concern), or peculiar to the authors' work (substitutive solicitude - thoughtful solicitude for Heidegger), or related to the debate of ideas (solicitude for RicÅur - responsibility for Levinas). Implementing these monitoring devices in clinical practice as well as in the territories will raise other problems, in particular, between benevolence and monitoring, but also between justice and equity, which will be our conclusion.
Subject(s)
Philosophy , Psychosocial Support Systems , Social Behavior , Social Networking , Suicide Prevention , Suicide/psychology , Altruism , Empathy/physiology , Ethics, Medical , Humans , Personal Autonomy , Philosophy, Medical , Preventive Psychiatry , Suicide/ethicsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: International research consistently shows evidence for an association between sensationalised and detailed media reporting, and suicidal behaviour. AIM: This study examined the quality of media reporting of suicide and adherence to media guidelines in Ireland. METHODS: In accordance with the criteria outlined in the media guidelines for reporting suicide, 243 media articles were screened and analysed for quality of reporting of two high-profile cases of suicide and two cases of suicide that became high profile following a period of intense media coverage that occurred between September 2009 and December 2012. RESULTS: A minority of articles breached the media guidelines in relation to sensationalised language (11.8%), placement of reports on the front page of the newspaper (9.5%), publishing of inappropriate photographs (4.2%) and mention of location of suicide (2.4%), while no articles disclosed the contents of a suicide note. However, in the majority of articles analysed, journalists did not refer to appropriate support services for people vulnerable to, and at risk of suicide (75.8%) or mention wider issues that are related to suicidal behaviour (53.8%). Overemphasis of community grief (48.3%) was also common. Nearly all articles (99.2%) breached at least one guideline and 58.9% of articles breached three or more guidelines. CONCLUSION: Overall, adherence to media guidelines on reporting suicide in Ireland improved in certain key areas from September 2009 until December 2012. Nonetheless, important challenges remain. Increased monitoring by media monitoring agencies, regulators and government departments is required. Implementation should be conducted using a pro-active approach and form part of the curriculum of journalists and editors. The inclusion of guidelines for the reporting of suicidal behaviour in press codes of conduct for journalists warrants consideration.
Subject(s)
Mass Media , Suicide Prevention , Suicide , Editorial Policies , Ethics, Professional , Guideline Adherence , Guidelines as Topic , Humans , Ireland , Journalism/ethics , Journalism/standards , Mass Media/ethics , Mass Media/standards , Suicidal Ideation , Suicide/ethics , Suicide/psychologyABSTRACT
Psychiatrists face complex, vexing, and often conflicting issues in assessing and managing patients with advanced medical illnesses who are determined to end their own lives. Substantial differences of opinion exist among psychiatrists regarding the roles they might take with such patients when the patients are decisionally capable and do not have clear-cut psychiatric disorders. Even those with psychiatric diagnoses often possess rational deliberative abilities and may make decisions to hasten death that are not impacted by their psychiatric disorder. How psychiatrists interact with these patients may be influenced by contradictory and even incompatible ethical, psychological, social, cultural, and professional biases. Tensions often exist between patients' autonomous preferences regarding their wish to die and psychiatrists' usual approaches to suicide prevention. To consider these issues, we review some ethical, legal, psychological, social, and clinical concerns; potential interventions; and support for psychiatrists caring for decisionally capable patients with advanced medical illness who wish to end their own lives. Although psychiatrists' work strongly focuses on suicide prevention, harms might result if suicide prevention becomes the only focus of treatment plans for these patients. We recast benefits and harms in such situations and make suggestions for assessing and managing such patients and for potentially offering assistance to families and other survivors. While psychiatrists should carefully think through each case on its own merits and seek consultation with experts, they should not act reflexively to prevent all deaths at any cost. We argue they may, in some cases, honor patients' and families' wishes and even collaborate with them around decisions to hasten death.