Medical and Legal Aspects of Suicide
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Abstract
The importance and significance of the problem is of universal nature. In the article the definition and the main reasons of suicide are presented. A suicide can be a voluntary, premeditated action; it may turn an impulsive, unexpected act, while in some cases it may be committed under pressure of material or other motives.
In the course of history social attitude towards suicide differed from that of tolerance towards acceptation, then towards despise and even punishment. These changes are illustrated by numerous cases in history, starting with the analysis of attitudes in ancient India, Arabian world, Judaic and old European countries and moving on towards quite recent Soviet and, eventually, present times. The article deals with modern attitudes towards suicides; it analyses suicidal epidemiology in the world and Lithuania, classifies the ways of commitment, and prevention. At present, suicide is interpreted as a highly complex phenomenon which depends on psychological, biological and social factors – those are analysed in detail; the effect of suicide on related people and society is broadly discussed.
A significant part of the article is given to the prevention of suicide. The risk factors are ranked according to their importance, starting with the age of the individual, his/her addiction to alcohol, suicidal behaviour in the past and, eventually, with his/her social position. The assessment of the risk factors in every individual case may be of crucial importance for the prevention of suicide. Also, it presents some typical facts which are of great relevance to medical people, lawyers and others who work towards prevention of suicide. Among those the following can be mentioned: eight of ten individuals inform their closest ones about their intention; a suicide is more frequent in families where there was a suicide before, etc. However, the prevention is far from being effective yet.
Another part of the article deals with the doctrine of liability for negligence of duty of care of mental health in case of suicide. Factors that influence the inability to protect the patient from the suicide, such as negligence of duty, insufficient competence, etc., are analysed. The doctrine of the duty of care is illustrated by numerous instances of legal practice. The factors of the assessment of medical people’s liability in case of negligence are presented, both in case of a suicide or suicidal actions. The main factor among those is the compatibility of actions of the medical person with the established professional standards. We suggest that a close analysis of the actions might be of use for specialists dealing with specific cases of suicides.
Conclusions:
1. Suicide, its prediction and prevention remain acute problems in modern society.
2. Leading towards suicidal actions and assistance in suicide are most complex problems in suicidology.
3. More attention should be paid to the analysis of the liability of specialists of mental health for negligence of duty of care in case of a suicide or suicidal actions.
In the course of history social attitude towards suicide differed from that of tolerance towards acceptation, then towards despise and even punishment. These changes are illustrated by numerous cases in history, starting with the analysis of attitudes in ancient India, Arabian world, Judaic and old European countries and moving on towards quite recent Soviet and, eventually, present times. The article deals with modern attitudes towards suicides; it analyses suicidal epidemiology in the world and Lithuania, classifies the ways of commitment, and prevention. At present, suicide is interpreted as a highly complex phenomenon which depends on psychological, biological and social factors – those are analysed in detail; the effect of suicide on related people and society is broadly discussed.
A significant part of the article is given to the prevention of suicide. The risk factors are ranked according to their importance, starting with the age of the individual, his/her addiction to alcohol, suicidal behaviour in the past and, eventually, with his/her social position. The assessment of the risk factors in every individual case may be of crucial importance for the prevention of suicide. Also, it presents some typical facts which are of great relevance to medical people, lawyers and others who work towards prevention of suicide. Among those the following can be mentioned: eight of ten individuals inform their closest ones about their intention; a suicide is more frequent in families where there was a suicide before, etc. However, the prevention is far from being effective yet.
Another part of the article deals with the doctrine of liability for negligence of duty of care of mental health in case of suicide. Factors that influence the inability to protect the patient from the suicide, such as negligence of duty, insufficient competence, etc., are analysed. The doctrine of the duty of care is illustrated by numerous instances of legal practice. The factors of the assessment of medical people’s liability in case of negligence are presented, both in case of a suicide or suicidal actions. The main factor among those is the compatibility of actions of the medical person with the established professional standards. We suggest that a close analysis of the actions might be of use for specialists dealing with specific cases of suicides.
Conclusions:
1. Suicide, its prediction and prevention remain acute problems in modern society.
2. Leading towards suicidal actions and assistance in suicide are most complex problems in suicidology.
3. More attention should be paid to the analysis of the liability of specialists of mental health for negligence of duty of care in case of a suicide or suicidal actions.
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Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the Association for Learning Technology.
Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
