Philosophy- Philosophy and Psychiatry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Philosophy- Philosophy and Psychiatry - Essay Example Not every suicidal patient survives, even when a psychiatrist does everything in their power. If a patient wants to die, they will find a way. When a person commits suicide, the word means more than just one killing oneself. When suicide: as self-killing was viewed as an act, language only had verbs and verbal nouns with which to name it. Absent the word suicide, people viewed the self-killer as a moral agent, responsible for his deed. By contrast, we now think of suicide as a happening or result, attribute it to mental illness, and view the agents as a victim (patient).1 breaking the spirit of their profession. Psychiatrists are supposed to help suicidal patients. It is true not all patients can be helped, but a doctor, even psychiatrists, are supposed to do no harm. Assisted suicide does more harm than good. The psychiatrist in effect gives up on the patient. Psychological pain cannot be determined with an hundred percent accuracy by anyone other than the patient. It is a psychiatrist job to work with mentally ill people, but they can only see the symptoms, not the actual problem. This is why a psychiatrist should never assist in suicide. The condition under which doctors, and only doctors, may practice euthanasia: the decision to die must be the voluntary and considered decision of an informed patient; there must be physical or mental suffering which the suffer finds unbearable; there is no other reasonable (i.e. acceptable to the patient) solution to improve the situation; the doctor must consult another senior professional.3 In terminally ill patients, a doctor can judge a patients pain and disease. For example, an inoperable cancer spread through out the body can be judged through tests. Doctors can predict how long a patient has to live by studying the proof of the bodys failing, like tumors and other tissue samples. The brain can still be a mystery at times. CAT scans can