¶ … Suicide," an act of suicide is defined as an event when "an otherwise healthy victim has, without any outside pressure, willfully arranged the circumstance that brought around his or her death." The process of clearly defining circumstance and actions that constitute suicide is essential to medical providers, mental health workers and many social service and public providers who are charged with caring for the health and safety of other individuals. Without a clear definition of suicide it can be difficult, if not impossible for these providers to fulfill their ethical and professional obligations to care for sick individuals or prevent crisis or emergency situations that may result from that which is truly suicidal behavior. Doctors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists in health clinics, hospitals, and outpatient settings are expected to care for their patients and make efforts to safeguard their health and wellness. These providers are often required to protect suicidal patients from themselves if they exhibit to do harm to themselves. The process of treating a patient becomes focused on stabilizing their behavior in order to resolve the greater psychological or social issues that are triggering suicidal acts or behaviors. If the definition of suicide or suicidal behavior is too broad providers will be left to intervene and treat patients in situations when medical or mental health intervention is neither appropriate nor productive. If, for example, a patient is terminally ill, suffering in pain, and elects to refuse further treatment that...
While one can argue that a depressed drug addict may be placing himself at risk by ingesting intoxicating substances, a doctor or psychologist will most likely not make a great deal of impact with the individual by using methods intended to for suicide intervention. If the individual does not have the intention to harm himself or and end his life these interventions are simply not applicable or appropriate. Another example offered in the article was that if extreme athletes taking part dangerous activities such as skydiving or bungee jumping. While we know a danger exists with these activities, a doctor or therapist would likely want to explore this person's interest in high-risk activities and ways to assess if their behavior was functional or dysfunctional in the context of their life. Making the assumption that this person is purposely seeking to harm himself can be a potentially huge error, leading to improper treatment. Providers are, thus, given a very clear definition of what does and does not constitute suicide in order to guide their interventions and practice of health and mental health services.
Physician Assisted Suicide in Patients With Unbearable Suffering or the Terminally Ill One of the most hotly debated issues today is physician-assisted suicide. Recently, California became the fifth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, and there is an increasing likelihood that other states will follow suit in the foreseeable future. The purpose of this study is to determine if the factors chosen have any bearing on those who choose to end their
Adolescent Suicide Epidemiological Approach to the Study of Male Adolescent Suicide in Idaho Throughout history suicide has remained an enigma in cultures that are far and different from each other. The act of taking one's life has been a representation of religious beliefs, cultural attitudes, and the answer to pain and suffering. Although suicide is mainly frowned upon in the western world is such countries as Japan and India the act of
dimensions (criteria) and define them in no more than one paragraph each. Safe: avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them. Effective: providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit, and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit. Patient-centered: providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all
Right-to-Die Opinion Order ID: Right-to-Die Opinion Suicide is a very emotionally and morally charged subject to many people. The reason for the discord and divergence of opinions comes from the different perspectives and directions. Some of these motives and viewpoints are based on morality beliefs, religion or a combination of the two. Others are based more on humanity, empathy and the belief that suicide can be a solution to end misery and
All too often, these adolescents end up taking their own lives when their depression gets too painful for them and they have not received the help that they need. Even the medications that are designed to help them get through the depression can sometimes make things worse, as various medications for depression and anxiety carry a risk of suicide when people are just starting or just getting off of
Ethical Issue of Assisted Suicide The American Society of Registered Nurses [ASRN] ( 2010) defines "physician-assisted suicide" as the facility to a patient by a medical health professional of the means of ending his or her own life. Assisted suicide is an issue of great importance to nurses. This issue echoes their values and beliefs as a commonality. In the same time it calls for a clear and precise response as
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