Supporting Irrational Suicide

In this essay, we present three case studies which suggest that sometimes we are better off supporting a so–called irrational suicide, and that emotional or psychological distress – even if medically controllable – might justify a suicide. We underscore how complicated these decisions are and how mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Hardcastle, Valerie Gray (Author) ; Stewart, Rosalyn Walker (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2002
In: Bioethics
Year: 2002, Volume: 16, Issue: 5, Pages: 425-438
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Summary:In this essay, we present three case studies which suggest that sometimes we are better off supporting a so–called irrational suicide, and that emotional or psychological distress – even if medically controllable – might justify a suicide. We underscore how complicated these decisions are and how murky a physician's moral role can be. We advocate a more individualized route to end–of–life care, eschewing well–meaning, principled, generalizations in favor of a highly contextualized, patient–centered, approach. We conclude that our Western traditions of promoting reasoned behavior and life themselves may at times be counter–productive.
ISSN:1467-8519
Contains:Enthalten in: Bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/1467-8519.00300