TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Gristina, Giuseppe R.
AU  -  Vergano, Marco
AU  -  Orsi, Luciano
T1  -  Medical assistance in dying: just an ethical or legal issue?
PY  -  2020
Y1  -  2020-05-01
DO  -  10.1701/3366.33413
JO  -  Recenti Progressi in Medicina
JA  -  Recenti Prog Med
VL  -  111
IS  -  5
SP  -  316
EP  -  326
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2038-1840
Y2  -  2026/04/15
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1701/3366.33413
N2  -  Summary. According to current vital statistics suicide appears as a growing public health problem in most Western countries. However, suicide is rarely discussed in scientific journals, possibly because of a persisting moral stigma. As a consequence, the diverse bases of suicidal behavior are little understood while the role of Chronic-Degenerative Terminal Diseases (CDTD) has been poorly investigated. In the present study, the topic of suicidality was addressed in a clinical, holistic, perspective in an attempt to clarify how, in some chronically ill patients, the decision to end their own life is taken independently from mental disorders, being conversely, the expression of a rational psychological pattern which copes with the burden of chronic illnesses to become an integral part of their clinical spectrum. An assisted suicide (AS) request should therefore be considered from a clinical point of view and not only as an ethical or legal issue, in fact a holistic evaluation of the patient’s situation must be performed, conferring the decisions making process a further in-depth line of thinking. In this study we first examined the relationship between suicide and CDTD as reported in the medical literature; then we reviewed the psychological theories which allegedly explain suicidal behavior; finally we discussed the possible role of a full-fledged palliative care in preventing suicide and in managing death requests by CDTD patients.
ER  -