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Challenges and obstacles on suicide
Challenges and obstacles on suicide
Compare and contrast two different types of suicide
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Suicide pact is a challenging issue in forensic practise, in which two or more persons mutually agree and execute to end their lives together by pre-determined methods (1,2). These events are, however, very rare as the incidence is less than 1% among the suicides (3,4). The individuals in suicide pact may be spouses, lovers, or friends; lover pacts are typical in Japan, spouse pacts are typical in Dade County and England, while friends pact frequency is the highest among Indians (5). The preferred means of suicide chosen by the pact-victims are gunshot, hanging, poisoning and drowning which are less painful, and cause immediate death (6,7). It is a difficult task for a forensic pathologist to establish a case of suicidal pact and to differentiate
it from homicide-suicide pact, in which a person kills someone and then kills self. A multidisciplinary approach i.e. meticulous examination of scene of crime and thorough autopsy examination including toxicological analysis are needed to retrace the sequence of events and, to determine the cause and manner of death. We here report a case of suicide pact where a couple committed suicide by jumping from the terrace of fourth floor with their wrists bound together. They left behind a suicide note which cited death of their only child as the reason for their harse decision. Choosing a violent method, such as fall from height, for committing suicide in pact is not yet reported in scientific literature.
Karmen is a 50-year-old married who told her psychiatrist that she was considering suicide through overdosing on Advil. She complains of severe back pain that has left her with a “poor mood”. She talked about the injury for a long period of time. When doctors did not validate her injury, she described feeling abandoned. Karmen had gained weight and was upset about that. She did not take making suicidal comments seriously and often just used them as a threat towards her husband. She craved the attention of the doctors, and was flirtatious with the person who interviewed her. Karmen’s husband said that she talked about suicide on a regular basis. Karmen became sexually active early in life and has always gone for older men.
Both Brittany Maynard and Craig Ewert ultimately did not want to die, but they were aware they were dying. They both suffered from a terminal illness that would eventually take their life. Their worst fear was to spend their last days, in a state of stress and pain. At the same time, they would inflict suffering on their loved ones as their family witnessed their painful death. Brittany and Craig believed in the notion of dying with dignity. The states where they both resided did not allow “active voluntary euthanasia or mercy killing at the patient’s request” (Vaughn 269). As a result, they both had to leave their homes to a place that allowed them to get aid in dying. Brittany and Craig were able to die with dignity and peace. Both avoiding
When a death occurs suddenly, unexpectedly and from unnatural or unknown causes, a forensic scientist has the duty to gather and analyze evidence to determine whether the victim died from a previously undiagnosed disease or infection or from a homicide, suicide or accident (Lurigio, 2009). When considering suicide as the probable cause of death, we are looking at the act of intentionally killing oneself through one’s own effort or with the assistance of another (Sever, 2009). The resolution of the manner of death by a forensic pathologist as suicide is based on a series of factors which eliminate natural causes of death, homicide and accident (Geberth, 2013, p.55). The cause of death is also determined by the medical examiner in conjunction with the crime scene investigator; however, it can only be determined after a thorough investigation is concluded. Therefore, in the complicated process of doing a death investigation there are several mistakes that should be avoided, which are discussed in Geberth’s article, Seven Mistakes in Suicide Investigation (2013). Mistakes in doing any death investigation affect the integrity of the evidence in determining the cause of death and in its admissibility in court.
Hiroeh, Urara, Louis Appleby, Preben Mortensen, and Graham Dunn. "Death by Homicide, Suicide, and Other Unnatural Causes in People." The Lancet 358.9299 (n.d.): 2110-112. Web.
Marker and Hamlon. “Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Frequently Asked Questions.” International Task Force. 2009. .
Range, L., Campbell, C., Kovac, S., Marion-Jones, M., Aldridge, H., Kogos, S., & Crump, Y. (2002). No-suicide contracts: an overview and recommendations. Death Studies, 26(1), 51-74.
I hid my face as I sat desperately alone in the back of the crowded church and stared through blurry eyes at the stained glass windows. Tears of fear and anguish soaked my red cheeks. Attempting to listen to the hollow words spoken with heartfelt emotion, I glanced at his picture, and my eyes became fixed on his beloved dog. Sudden flashes of sacred memories overcame me. Memories of soccer, his unforgettable smile, and our frequent exchange of playful insults, set my mind spinning. I longed only to hear his delighted voice once more. I sat for what seemed like hours in that lonely yet overcrowded church; my tears still flowed, and I still remembered.
I currently live in a big household with my father, mother, roommate, and seven siblings. This household gains low-income and is hard to deal through the struggles. There are several issues that were hard to manage such as not being able to afford personal items for me and my siblings. We were not economically sufficient since we had utilities bills and medical bills to pay. All the medical bills includes the surgery for my sister that was born with a cleft plate, surgery for my mother tumor that had to be removed, and my dad therapy for his back pain since he works extremely hard in construction and always comes home in aching pain. Also, all my siblings have asthma and are constantly in the emergency room do to sudden asthma attacks. We have to pay for the asthma treatment for everyone of them.
A mother finds her 17 year old teenage son hanging from the rafters of their basement. To hear of this occurrence is not rare in society today. Every 90 minutes a teenager in this country commits suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. The National suicide rate has increased 78% between 1952 and 1992. The rate for 15-19 year olds rose from two per 100,000 to 12.9, more than 600 percent. (Special report, Killing the Pain, Rae Coulli)
Today's society is now introduced to one of the most controversial issues; assisted suicide. Just like in other controversial arguments, there are many people that feel that it is wrong for people to ask their healthcare provider to end one's life; while others feel that if the person is terminally ill and has given their will to die, that they can be assisted in suicide. Though both sides are reasonable many people believe that people should not take part in helping someone take their own life, assisted suicide should be legal because, it plays a factor of conquering one’s feelings, gives an option to those whom are terminally ill or in immense pain, and every human
The term forensic toxicology is defined as examination of all aspects of toxicity that may have legal implications (James & Nordby, 2009 p. 61). In the past, poisoning was one of the most popular forms of murder. There are countless natural substances in the world that when ingested into the body in high doses, can become lethal to the human body. What made this form of murder so famous is that most poisons mimic common medical diseases, leading physicians to believe a victim died of natural causes (Ramsland, n.d.). Aside from murder, this forensic discipline is also essential for determining accidental deaths and suicides.
Suicide is a sad story many people are reluctant to approach. But when somebody nearest to them kills themselves, they feel the compelling guilt of trying to understand the motive behind the death. It is a complex and rather devastating subject. Many who kill themselves can never come back to tell us what happened and why it did. Suicide takes an emotional toll on it's survivors and wreck havoc in the wake of the surrounding victims. What causes suicide is a probing series of many theories, and yet not one definitive answer. The prevention of suicide is also difficult to pinpoint, but only because the intent is unknown. The importance of researching the motives of the suicidal is essential to modern humanity as a whole, because in the era we live in, suicide rates are climbing faster than ever. Understanding the driving force behind suicide is what can help the field of social science to save the conscience mind of many people from self-destruction - and save their lives, and the emotions of their loved ones.
The concept of suicide has always been the controversial debate topic among the philosophers. Since the birth of Christianity in Western world, committing a suicide is generally accepted as the act of immorality and the transgression of our duty toward God. By mid-16th century, David Hume, a Scottish philosopher, questions this traditional duty-based ethic of suicide. As he
Suicide, it's not pretty. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's the
Often times when I heard the word "suicidal" I was curiously caused the person to do it. Growing up, I heard that people decided to commit suicide was because they "wanted attention, they wanted the easy way out, they were weak, they couldn't handle life, etc." Personally, I have significant people in my life that have felt like they wanted to commit suicide. So, this topic honestly is a difficult, yet, emotional one to discuss.