Is a psychiatrist/psychologist responsible if there patient commits suicide?

Answer 1

That would depend on the situation, and whether the therapist knew the patient was in imminent danger of doing harm to himself. I would ask a lawyer.

Answer 2

No he is not especially if he is giving the person medication to stop psychosis. He is doing the best that he can to help the person but the person just probably didn't respond therefore they usually will change the medication. I don't see how a psychologist could be responsible if someone co mitts suicide because they can only talk to the person. There are not allowed to prescribe medication only a psychiatrist can do that. If you or a friend are thinking about committing suicide please don't do it. Call the nearest suicide hot line and talk to them. If that doesn't work please go to the nearest hospital with a psychiatric floor and get help now. God Bless you.

Answer 3

This is more complicated than might appear at first glance. To begin with, there's a difference between a psychiatrist (who has first had to train as a fully-qualified medical doctor) and a psychologist (who ought to have had some university training and perhaps certification, but in some countries *anybody* can call themselves a psychologist and there are no sanctions that can be applied.

So under certain circumstances a psychiatrist could be held to have a contributing responsibility if, for example, s/he had prescribed the wrong drugs - I doubt it could be complete responsibility, but to have made some contribution by means of negligence so clear-cut that it was definitely contrary to the existing body of medical knowledge. For example, if a psychiatrist stopped prescribing lithium (a well-known and often very effective drug used in bipolar disorder) or severely changed the dose, the relevant medico-legal establishment would have good cause to investigate, at least.

However, if you turn your attention to the 'softer' therapies offered by some psychiatrists and psychologists - for example Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or Freudian psycholoanalysis (I'm picking examples at random) it would be much more difficult to prove, legally, a clear causal line between the professional's behaviour and the patient's suicide.

But responsibility runs wider than that; there is such a thing as conscience. One may feel morally responsible (or *not* feel morally responsible) if you have the feeling that you should have been more perceptive, tried a different approach, allowed personal feelings to influence one's judgment, etc. Then there is unlikely to be any case that you could take to court; there are so many other intervening variables - how much help did the patient have available? how many signals could one have missed? - that 'proof' to a legal standard isn't available but good professionals would nonetheless give themselves a hard time thinking about whether they could have done any better.

I write as a psychologist (not, as it happens, a clinical psychologist) and there have been two or three times in my life when I've been really concerned about a client's mental well-being and have worked as hard as I could to ensure their safety, and thank God I've never had to worry about whether I ought to have done better; and I sometimes think that there have been times when I've helped someone who was heading towards the darker side. I was also once treated by a fundamentalist Christianist psychiatrist whose behaviour towards people he didn't like makes me wish that his professional body could be induced to take action against him.

But, summarising, any professional in the area of mental health works in a climate of low and distorted feedback, in which concepts like 'responsibility' and 'proof' would be difficult to demonstrate to the standards required by the laws of medicine.

I hope that helps. It was meant to clarify a difficult issue.

Answer 4

No. The professional can't make the decision for suicide for the person. They do that in their own mind. Not unless the phy. is an evil person and tells the patient that that's the only way out. Unethitical.

Answer 5

I would really think not. a person that commits suicide will do it regardless,they need to love themselves deep within and I believe its a selfish move.The people that are left behind are the ones that suffer. They have to put up with the explaining,the quilt and all the rest of the bs that goes with this tragic situation.

Answer 6

No one is responsible but the patient. Personally ,I lie to my shrink alot. I tell him things are fine even when I feel they are NOT because I just want to get out of there sometimes. Smile and Nod. He believes me so how could it be his fault if I actually drove off that cliff instead of applying the break.

Answer 7

How can they be? They are not with the person twenty four hours a day protecting them. If a person wants to commit suicide, eventually they will find a way.

Answer 8

You don't know much about suicide do you? Suicide is an addiction, like cigarrettes or alcohol. It's the answer to all of your problems. The more you think about it, the more the idea takes form and takes over. Most people who really want to do it, eventually do. My brother committed suicide. He was so happy just before he did it because he knew he problems were soon to be over. He gave away his pet, packed up his apartment, gave away his possessions and then killed himself. No one is responsible for someone who is hell bent on suicide.

Answer 9

I imagine there have been some therapists who failed to help their patients in some way, but don't think they are responsible for suicide.

Answer 10

The only person responsible for suicide is the person who makes that choice.