Mental Health Professionals and Assisted Death: Perceived Ethical Obligations and Proposed Guidelines for Practice

Werth, James L.

doi:10.1207/s15327019eb0902_6

Cited by 28 publications

(57 citation statements)

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“…The results indicating support for rational suicide are particularly interesting in light of the ACA (1995) ethical guidelines that promote clinical involvement, at all costs, in instances in which suicide is a possible outcome (see also Werth, 1999b). Again, these findings provide valuable insight into the beliefs and attitudes of therapists regarding rational suicide and may be useful for ACA to consider as individual states continue to grapple with the issue in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Rational Suicide: An Empirical Investigation of Counselor Attitudes

Rogers

Gueulette

Abbey-Hines

et al. 2001

Jour of Counseling & Develop

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This study investigated attitudes of mental health counselors toward rational suicide. Over 80% of respondents were moderately supportive of the idea that people can make well‐reasoned decisions that death is their best option, and further, they identified a consistent set of criteria to evaluate such decisions. Additionally, analyses revealed that as the scenario moved from client, to friend, to self, rational suicide seemed to gain in acceptability for these professionals. Implications for training and practice in light of the apparent responsibilities with suicidal clients defined in the 1995 American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Rational Suicide: An Empirical Investigation of Counselor Attitudes

Rogers

Gueulette

Abbey-Hines

et al. 2001

Jour of Counseling & Develop

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“…55 These guidelines may ultimately influence national associations or organizations to develop codes of ethics in discussing rational suicide by the individual.…”

Section: 54mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…65 Further, it is suggested that not discussing these options may be disrespectful of a patient's needs and shirking professional responsibilities. 55 From a holistic existential therapy perspective, exploration of existential coherence-how one coheres to the external world-is encouraged. 68 The innermost layer of existential coherence deals with the core question of whether one wants to live or die, and it is believed that suicidal crises arise from people questioning whether they wish to accept responsibility for their lives.…”

Section: Discussing Suicidalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide: Rationality and Responsibility for Life

2014

Can J Psychiatry

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Objectives: Death by suicide is widely held as an undesirable outcome. Most Western countries place emphasis on patient autonomy, a concept of controversy in relation to suicide. This paper explores the tensions between patients' rights and many societies' overarching desire to prevent suicide, while clarifying the relations between mental disorders, mental capacity, and rational suicide.Methods: A literature search was conducted using search terms of suicide and ethics in the PubMed and LexisNexis Academic databases. Article titles and abstracts were reviewed and deemed relevant if the paper addressed topics of rational suicide, patient autonomy or rights, or responsibility for life. Further articles were found from reference lists and by suggestion from preliminary reviewers of this paper.Results: Suicidal behaviour in a person cannot be reliably predicted, yet various associations and organizations have developed standards of care for managing patients exhibiting suicidal behaviour. The responsibility for preventing suicide tends to be placed on the treating clinician. In cases where a person is capable of making treatment decisionsuninfluenced by any mental disorder-there is growing interest in the concept of rational suicide. Conclusions:There is much debate about whether suicide can ever be rational. Designating suicide as an undesirable event that should never occur raises the debate of who is responsible for one's life and runs the risk of erroneously attributing blame for suicide. While upholding patient rights of autonomy in psychiatric care is laudable, cases of suicidality warrant a delicate consideration of clinical judgment, duty of care, and legal obligations. W W W Suicide : rationalité et responsabilité de la vieObjectifs : La mort par suicide est généralement vue comme un résultat indésirable. La plupart des pays occidentaux mettent l'emphase sur l'autonomie du patient, un concept controversé relativement au suicide. Cet article explore les tensions entre les droits des patients et le désir ardent de nombreuses sociétés de prévenir le suicide, tout en clarifiant les relations entre les troubles mentaux, la capacité mentale, et le suicide rationnel.Méthodes : Une recherche de la littérature a été menée à l'aide des mots clés suicide et éthique, dans les bases de données PubMed et LexisNexis Academic. Les titres et résumés d'articles ont été étudiés et jugés pertinents si l'article abordait les sujets du suicide rationnel, de l'autonomie ou des droits des patients, ou de la responsabilité de la vie. D'autres articles ont été repérés dans des bibliographies et par des suggestions des réviseurs préliminaires du présent article. Résultats :Le comportement suicidaire d'une personne ne peut pas être assurément prédit et pourtant, diverses associations et organisations ont mis au point des normes de soins pour prendre en charge les patients présentant un comportement suicidaire. La responsabilité de prévenir le suicide tend à être imposée au clinicien traitant. Dans les cas où une personne est capable ...

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“…For ACA, the only involvement on EOL issues that was identified was signing onto an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in 1995 for the two "assisted suicide" cases that were before the U.S. Supreme Court at the time (i.e., Vacco v. Quill, 1997;Washington v. Glucksberg, 1997) and even this was documented in published articles (Cohen, 2001;Werth, 1999a;, not on the Web site.…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

End‐of‐Life Care: An Overview for Professional Counselors

Werth

Crow

2009

Jour of Counseling & Develop

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Although "End-of-Life Care for Terminally Ill Clients" is a section of the ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association, 2005), neither the Code nor the counseling literature provides much direction for counselors who work with clients who are dying and with the clients' loved ones. The authors provide counselors with an overview of the issues that may be relevant when working with such clients.

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Mental Health Professionals and Assisted Death: Perceived Ethical Obligations and Proposed Guidelines for Practice

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

Rational Suicide: An Empirical Investigation of Counselor Attitudes

Rational Suicide: An Empirical Investigation of Counselor Attitudes

Suicide: Rationality and Responsibility for Life

End‐of‐Life Care: An Overview for Professional Counselors

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