A lot of suicidal people I've worked with have asked me this question and, frankly, I don't have a
very good answer. In a way, I'm glad I don't. But since I imagine you may have asked yourself
this same question, I'm going to share with you what I have told others.
First, it is not for me, a psychologist, to say whether you have a right to die. There is nothing in my training or background or personal experience that gives me any special knowledge about the subject. I am not a minister or a priest or any kind of church authority. I am not a judge. If anything, I have been trained to save lives, not to help people end them. At least from a legal point of view, I think I can give you a partial answer: No, you do not have an absolute right to kill yourself.
At this moment in the history in America and most other countries it is still against the law to attempt suicide and if you try it, unpleasant legal consequences may follow. Although it rarely happens now, not so long ago people were put in jail for attempting suicide. But in the last few decades suicide has become less of a crime and more of a symptom that something is desperately wrong with people who try it and that, if given some help, they will give up the idea and get on with living.
Frankly, there is a great deal of confusion about this right-to- die business. On the one extreme are those people who argue no one has a right to die under any circumstances and, on the other extreme, are those who say all of us have a right to die any time we so choose, including by suicide.
Most of the right-to-die debate centers around the issue of whether a person who is terminally ill or very old and sick and not expected to improve with sometimes painful treatments, has the right to refuse medical care and/or request medical assistance in dying.
There are groups of people organized to push for legislation that would permit physician-assisted "death with dignity" for those who are terminally ill. And there are those opposed to any form of self-or other-assisted suicide under any circumstances. While some might disagree, it seems to me that the goals of both groups are humane and none, so far as I know, argues for the right to suicide if you are young and healthy. Perhaps if we could all look forward to competent medical care and sophisticated pain management at the ends of our lives, this debate would evaporate. So unless you have recently gotten the word that you are terminally ill and about to die sometime in the near future, I'm going to assume that you are thinking about suicide for different reasons.
You might ask, "What happens if I attempt to kill myself and don't succeed?" Every state and most countries have some kind of involuntary-treatment law that permits a judge, on the basis of professional testimony, to put you in a hospital for treatment and to prevent you from making further attempts on your life. The government must prove you are mentally ill and therefore need treatment, but it can generally do this without all that much trouble. You lose, however temporarily, your civil rights when this happens.
Here is a word of caution: For a lot of reasons I won't bore you with, you can't always count on the system to respond perfectly. If you make an attempt on your own life and fail, consider this: Sometimes the police will investigate and take whatever action they think is necessary. They may take you to a hospital, or they may not. They may let you go on the promise you won't try to kill yourself again. They might even take you to jail, especially if you endangered someone else in your attempt.
If you go or are taken to a hospital by friend or family or the police, sometimes the doctors will treat you and let you go home. Sometimes they will admit you to a psychiatric ward in the hospital. Or, if they do not have a psychiatric ward, they may make arrangements to send you to a state mental hospital. It depends on the hospital and how the system works in your town or area.
Sometimes, if the doctors think you need inpatient psychiatric care and you are unwilling to go voluntarily, they will put you in a psychiatric facility even if you do not want to go.
First, it is not for me, a psychologist, to say whether you have a right to die. There is nothing in my training or background or personal experience that gives me any special knowledge about the subject. I am not a minister or a priest or any kind of church authority. I am not a judge. If anything, I have been trained to save lives, not to help people end them. At least from a legal point of view, I think I can give you a partial answer: No, you do not have an absolute right to kill yourself.
At this moment in the history in America and most other countries it is still against the law to attempt suicide and if you try it, unpleasant legal consequences may follow. Although it rarely happens now, not so long ago people were put in jail for attempting suicide. But in the last few decades suicide has become less of a crime and more of a symptom that something is desperately wrong with people who try it and that, if given some help, they will give up the idea and get on with living.
Frankly, there is a great deal of confusion about this right-to- die business. On the one extreme are those people who argue no one has a right to die under any circumstances and, on the other extreme, are those who say all of us have a right to die any time we so choose, including by suicide.
Most of the right-to-die debate centers around the issue of whether a person who is terminally ill or very old and sick and not expected to improve with sometimes painful treatments, has the right to refuse medical care and/or request medical assistance in dying.
There are groups of people organized to push for legislation that would permit physician-assisted "death with dignity" for those who are terminally ill. And there are those opposed to any form of self-or other-assisted suicide under any circumstances. While some might disagree, it seems to me that the goals of both groups are humane and none, so far as I know, argues for the right to suicide if you are young and healthy. Perhaps if we could all look forward to competent medical care and sophisticated pain management at the ends of our lives, this debate would evaporate. So unless you have recently gotten the word that you are terminally ill and about to die sometime in the near future, I'm going to assume that you are thinking about suicide for different reasons.
You might ask, "What happens if I attempt to kill myself and don't succeed?" Every state and most countries have some kind of involuntary-treatment law that permits a judge, on the basis of professional testimony, to put you in a hospital for treatment and to prevent you from making further attempts on your life. The government must prove you are mentally ill and therefore need treatment, but it can generally do this without all that much trouble. You lose, however temporarily, your civil rights when this happens.
Here is a word of caution: For a lot of reasons I won't bore you with, you can't always count on the system to respond perfectly. If you make an attempt on your own life and fail, consider this: Sometimes the police will investigate and take whatever action they think is necessary. They may take you to a hospital, or they may not. They may let you go on the promise you won't try to kill yourself again. They might even take you to jail, especially if you endangered someone else in your attempt.
If you go or are taken to a hospital by friend or family or the police, sometimes the doctors will treat you and let you go home. Sometimes they will admit you to a psychiatric ward in the hospital. Or, if they do not have a psychiatric ward, they may make arrangements to send you to a state mental hospital. It depends on the hospital and how the system works in your town or area.
Sometimes, if the doctors think you need inpatient psychiatric care and you are unwilling to go voluntarily, they will put you in a psychiatric facility even if you do not want to go.
