I believe that in most circumstances we cannot judge a patient’s DNR status and decision making capacity or their willingness to live after a suicide attempt since the patient attempted to take their own life in the first place (a biological behavior deemed by most societies as being not rational). Personally, I know of multiple people who have attempted to take their own life who later are resuscitated and continue to live a long and happy life. I believe that it is not the place of the physician to make this decision based on what the patient may have been feeling or thinking at the time of their suicide attempt. I think that physicians should stand to do everything they can to save that patient and give that patient a second chance to evaluate their decision to end their life. I think the physician should in this case air on the side of caution because if they do not there is no way to say for sure what the patient would have wanted retrospectively. If a patient is saved and are angry that they are still alive, then they can attempt to take their life again. With that being said, if the patient has had multiple failed suicide attempts? Should this patient be allowed to pass and not have invasive interventions to keep them alive against their recurrent wishes? I personally have seen a patient in the emergency room who had attempted his own life multiple times. He had jumped in front of a train twice and had attempted to overdose on acetaminophen on other occasions. Each time, the patient was resuscitated, and his life continued. However, after each attempt, his life situation became worse and worse. The impacts from the trains had left him physically debilitated and in chronic severe pain. He was completely blind and had chronic liver failure. The ever-worsening state of this patient was created by physicians who continued to revivals by physicians. Perhaps after the second attempt at his life by jumping in front of the train the physicians should have taken his intentions more seriously and should have evaluated his deteriorating quality of life. The patient was in the emergency room that day because of an inability to control his pain. He was currently in the process of being shipped to another country that would allow for a physician assisted suicide for him to find a way out of his misery. It was because of this patient that I believe that repetitive suicide attempts should be taken in a different light than that of a single isolated attempt. If this is the patient’s first attempt or first attempt in a long time, then the patient should be given another chance at life, but if they have had multiple attempts, then maybe the patients desire for a DNR should be granted as to do no harm.
I believe that in most circumstances we cannot judge a patient’s DNR status and decision making capacity or their willingness to live after a suicide attempt since the patient attempted to take their own life in the first place (a biological behavior deemed by most societies as being not rational). Personally, I know of multiple people who have attempted to take their own life who later are resuscitated and continue to live a long and happy life. I believe that it is not the place of the physician to make this decision based on what the patient may have been feeling or thinking at the time of their suicide attempt. I think that physicians should stand to do everything they can to save that patient and give that patient a second chance to evaluate their decision to end their life. I think the physician should in this case air on the side of caution because if they do not there is no way to say for sure what the patient would have wanted retrospectively. If a patient is saved and are angry that they are still alive, then they can attempt to take their life again. With that being said, if the patient has had multiple failed suicide attempts? Should this patient be allowed to pass and not have invasive interventions to keep them alive against their recurrent wishes? I personally have seen a patient in the emergency room who had attempted his own life multiple times. He had jumped in front of a train twice and had attempted to overdose on acetaminophen on other occasions. Each time, the patient was resuscitated, and his life continued. However, after each attempt, his life situation became worse and worse. The impacts from the trains had left him physically debilitated and in chronic severe pain. He was completely blind and had chronic liver failure. The ever-worsening state of this patient was created by physicians who continued to revivals by physicians. Perhaps after the second attempt at his life by jumping in front of the train the physicians should have taken his intentions more seriously and should have evaluated his deteriorating quality of life. The patient was in the emergency room that day because of an inability to control his pain. He was currently in the process of being shipped to another country that would allow for a physician assisted suicide for him to find a way out of his misery. It was because of this patient that I believe that repetitive suicide attempts should be taken in a different light than that of a single isolated attempt. If this is the patient’s first attempt or first attempt in a long time, then the patient should be given another chance at life, but if they have had multiple attempts, then maybe the patients desire for a DNR should be granted as to do no harm.