The idea that suicide may be an acceptable, rational option is rarely presented in professional literature. However, recent events and developments forcefully demonstrate that mental health professionals can no longer ignore the possibility that people can make a rational decision to die. After introducing the concept of rational suicide, the book explores the changing views of suicide over the centuries. Common arguments against rational suicide are examined and rebutted.

When should we try to prevent suicide? Should it be facilitated for some people, in some circumstances? For the last forty years, law and policy on suicide have followed two separate and distinct tracks: laws aimed at preventing suicide and, increasingly, laws aimed at facilitating it. In Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws legal scholar Susan Stefan argues that these laws co-exist because they are based on two radically disparate conceptions of the would-be suicide. This is the first book that unifies policies and laws, including constitutional law, criminal law, malpractice law, and civil commitment law, toward people who want to end their lives. Based on the author's expert understanding of mental health and legal systems, analysis of related national and international laws and policy, and surveys and interviews with more than 300 suicide-attempt survivors, doctors, lawyers, and mental health professionals, Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws exposes the counterproductive nature of current policies and laws about suicide. Stefan proposes and defends specific reforms, including increased protection of mental health professionals from liability, increased protection of suicidal people from coercive interventions, reframing medical involvement in assisted suicide, and focusing on approaches to suicidal people that help them rather than assuming suicidality is always a symptom of mental illness. Stefan compares policies and laws in different states in the U.S. and examines the policies and laws of other countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including the 2015 legalization of assisted suicide in Canada. The book includes model statutes, seven in-depth studies of people whose cases presented profound ethical, legal, and policy dilemmas, and over a thousand cases interpreting rights and responsibilities relating to suicide, especially in the area of psychiatric malpractice.

This book provides a comprehensive view of rational suicide in the elderly, a group that has nearly twice the rate of suicide when chronically ill than any other demographic. Its frame of reference does not endorse a single point-of-view about the legitimacy of rational suicide, which is evolving across societies with little guidance for geriatric mental health professionals. Instead, it serves as a resource for both those clinicians who agree that older people may rationally commit suicide and those who believe that this wish may require further assessment and treatment. The first chapters of the book provides an overview of rational suicide in the elderly, examining it through history and across cultures also addressing the special case of baby boomers. This book takes an ethical and philosophical look at whether suicide can truly be rational and whether the nearness of death in late-life adults means that suicide should be considered differently than in younger adults. Clinical criteria for rational suicide in the elderly are proposed in this book for the first time, as well as a guidelines for the psychosocial profile of an older adult who wants to commit rational suicide. Unlike any other book, this text examines the existential, psychological, and psychodynamic perspectives. A chapter on terminal mental illness and a consideration of suicide in that context and proposed interventions even without a diagnosable mental illness also plays a vital role in this book as these are key issues in within the question of suicide among the elderly. This book is the first to consider all preventative measures, including the spiritual as well as the psychotherapeutic, and pharmacologic. A commentary on modern society, aging, and rational suicide that ties all of these elements together, making this the ultimate guide for addressing suicide among the elderly. Rational Suicide in the Elderly is an excellent resource for all medical professionals with potentially suicidal patients, including geriatricians, geriatric and general psychiatrists, geriatric nurses, social workers, and public health officials.

This text brings together spokespersons from several different disciplines who can present their arguments for or against rational suicide as a viable concept and, consequently, a realistic option. The pros and cons of the discussion format bring the readers to search for their beliefs, and the final decision of acceptance or rejection of the concept is left to each individual reader.

The idea that suicide may be an acceptable, rational option is rarely presented in professional literature. However, recent events and developments forcefully demonstrate that mental health professionals can no longer ignore the possibility that people can make a rational decision to die. After introducing the concept of rational suicide, the book explores the changing views of suicide over the centuries. Common arguments against rational suicide are examined and rebutted.

This guideline provides all the information needed for self - determined dying by helium resp. noble gases. In addition to basic information, there are tips on obtaining all the items needed (a "buyers guide" is included) and detailed information about the technical construction will be given. It is an updated and expanded edition of the chapter "Helium" of the 2017 published manual "Self-determined Dying - Manual for a Rational Suicide" by J. Dueber

The aim of this book is to establish the rationality of electing to commit suicide in order to avoid the degeneration that can occur in advanced age, especially when one is suffering from a terminal disease. As well as discussing the philosophical questions the book offers some practical advice.