Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

Results: 31% prevalence of suicidal thoughts, 9% of women possessed a history of suicideattempts in a sample of 77 women, and 75% were aged between 21 and 30 years.Conclusion: Knowing the prevalence of suicidal thoughts among hospitalized women is veryimportant for the organization of mental health services in prisons in order to prevent furthersuicide attempts through intervention in preciptant symptoms.Does Suicide Have to Be Intended?Dennis Cooley, North Dakota State University (dennis.cooley@ndsu.edu)Michael Cholbi recognizes that the standard definition of suicide relied too heavily on a mistakennotion of intention and how intention works in suicides. As Cholbi shows in various examples, aperson does not have to intend his own death primarily for an action of self-killing to be asuicide. Intentionality is sufficient to make the act one of suicide. The result of Cholbi’s work isa fuller understanding of what suicide is, which allows us to evaluate better its morality, andpossibly, devise improved treatments for those who are suicidal. However, I contend thatCholbi's definition should be broadened even further to include other mental states. Instead ofusing the actor's intention or intentionality to determine if an action is suicide or not, I argue thatthe actor's acquiescence in his self-killing is sufficient to do all the work we want done in regardto identifying suicides, talking about their morality, and devising ways to help those who aresuicidal.Physician Assisted Suicide/Death: A Mental Health PerspectiveVolker Hocke, Western University (Volker.Hocke@lhsc.on.ca)Gertrud HockePhysician assisted suicide/death is a controversial topic with multiple dimensions. A discussionof pros and cons requires an in-depth discussion of each dimension. A first dimension focuses onthe person who requests an assisted suicide/death, specifically his relationships, personal history,suffering and motivation to seek this solution. A second dimension is the sphere of the physicianwith his/her personal and professional values. A third dimension explores the interactionbetween society and person on one hand and society and physician on the other hand. A fourthdimension looks at the mental health status of the person requesting the assistance. A thoroughliterature review found that up to 98% of suicide victims suffered from depression prior to thefinal step and that independent of depression, feelings of hopelessness, a sense of loss ofmeaning in life, a perceived lack of social support and a loss of dignity strongly contribute to thedecision to actively end one’s life. Therefore, the question arises as to why changes in the lawshould support the wish to end one’s life rather than fostering suicide prevention by providing380