SelfhelpMagazine

by Darien S. Fenn, Ph.D. & Linda Ganzini, M.D.

Oregon passed a referendum (the Oregon Death With Dignity Act) which specified that a physician may prescribe lethal medication for the purpose of hastening the death of a terminally ill person. The Act survived numerous legal challenges and became state law in October of 1997.

To address concerns that many terminally ill people may also suffer from a psychiatric disorder, such as depression, the Act bars suicide assistance to any person who, in the judgment of the attending physician, may be suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder which may impair judgment.

To determine how psychologists felt about this role and to study the practical problems in making such judgments, researchers surveyed 625 licensed psychologists in the state.

According to the research, Oregon psychologists have varying degrees of comfort with suicide and assisted suicide, which the survey data suggest, may be influencing their choice to work or not to work in the area of hasten death requests.

While a surprising large percentage of respondents (82%) said they would consider assisted suicide for themselves under certain circumstances, for other respondents, opposition surfaced in predictable ways.

One third of the respondents indicated that performing such evaluations was outside of their practice area. Of the remaining 275 psychologists, 60 percent said that they would perform a competency evaluation if asked to do so by an attending physician.

Seven percent said they would refuse to perform such evaluations, and 33 percent would refuse to perform the evaluation but would make a referral to a colleague who did such assessments.

Opinions on the proper role for the psychologist after the assessment was completed varied widely. The majority (62 %) of those who said they would perform the evaluation also reported that they would provide the assessment to the referring physician and then take no further action.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) said they would support the patient in obtaining a lethal medication, while the remaining 10% reported that they would work with the patient or others involved in the case to try to prevent the suicide.

Other issues raised by the survey respondents include the need for assessments at multiple points in time and mandatory psychotherapy or trials with antidepressants. However, Oregon's experience to date shows that a substantial fraction of the people who have made requests for hastened death have not lived through the required 15-day waiting period.

Reference:

"Attitudes of Oregon Psychologists Toward Physician-Assisted Suicide and the Oregon Death With Dignity Act," Darien S. Fenn, Ph.D., Oregon Health Sciences University & Linda Ganzini, M.D., Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol. 30, No. 3.

This information received from the American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC.