Saya Anna, Albanesi Giuseppe, Cichetti Diego, Di Molfetta Matteo, Guarino Yuri, Niolu Cinzia, Siracusano Alberto
Chair of Psychiatry, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 23;15:1466325. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1466325. eCollection 2024.
Currently, there is a lively debate regarding involuntary treatment and the psychiatrist's liability for suicide of patients with serious mental illness. This article aims to highlight the worldwide differences, considering that in some countries suicide is still considered a crime, while elsewhere, access to euthanasia/medically assisted suicide is allowed even for psychiatric patients.
Data have been collected from accredited sites, governmental websites, and databases of organizations. The legislation and socio-cultural contexts of different countries are considered.
This article highlight significant legislative differences, including suicide prevention programs, also due to several sociocultural patterns. The psychiatrist liability is not always clearly described in the legislation of different countries.
What emerges from this study is the gray area of psychiatric patient suicide. Is it possible to make the psychiatrist liable for an unmanageable illness? What are the correct guidelines? When the possibility of coercion is no longer valid to avoid suicide and when does the right to self-determination begin for the psychiatric patient?
目前,关于非自愿治疗以及精神科医生对严重精神疾病患者自杀的责任存在激烈争论。考虑到在一些国家自杀仍被视为犯罪,而在其他地方,甚至精神科患者也可获得安乐死/医疗协助自杀,本文旨在强调全球范围内的差异。
数据收集自认可网站、政府网站以及组织数据库。考虑了不同国家的立法和社会文化背景。
本文强调了显著的立法差异,包括自杀预防项目,这也是由于多种社会文化模式所致。不同国家的立法中对精神科医生的责任并不总是有明确描述。
本研究凸显出精神科患者自杀的灰色地带。让精神科医生对一种无法控制的疾病负责是否可行?正确的指导方针是什么?当为避免自杀而进行强制的可能性不再有效时,精神科患者的自决权何时开始?