Physicians, Assisted Suicide, and Christian Virtues

The debate about physician-assisted suicide has long been entwined with the nature of the doctor–patient relationship. Opponents of physician-assisted suicide insist that the traditional goals of medicine do not and should not include intentionally bringing about or hastening a patient’s death, whereas proponents of physician-assisted suicide argue that this practice is an appropriate tool for doctors to relieve a patient’s suffering. In this article, I discuss these issues in light of the relevance of a Christian account of the doctor–patient relationship. I argue that Christians typically object to assist suicide independently of the doctor–patient relationship. I argue that a focus on the Christian virtues of charity, compassion, and humility helps to explain why doctors should not assist their patients in suicide.

A Typology of Male Prisoners Making Near-Lethal Suicide Attempts

Background: Prisoners are at high risk of suicide. Aims: This study aimed to develop a typology of prison suicide. Method: We interviewed 60 male prisoners who made near-lethal suicide attempts in prison to obtain quantitative and qualitative data regarding psychiatric, psychological, social, and criminological factors. We analyzed this information to develop a typology to classify suicidal prisoners and validated it by having a prison psychiatrist independently rate each interview transcript. Results: We developed a typology of five subgroups: attempts that (1) were due to a prisoner being unable to cope in prison, (2) were motivated by psychotic symptoms, (3) had instrumental motives, (4) were ”unexpected” by the prisoners themselves, and (5) were associated with withdrawal from drugs. The interrater reliability as measured by Cohen’s was good to excellent at 0.81 (p < .001), 95% CI (0.69, 0.93). Conclusion: With further validation in other samples, this typology may assist suicide prevention initiatives in prisons as well as other forensic institutions by informing the assessment and formulation of suicide risk.

Motivations for Preventing versus Assisting Suicide

The motivations of those seeking to prevent and assist suicide are conceptualized as defensive styles of repression versus sensitization adopted to deal with personal suicidal desires.