Skip to main content

Relatives’ Experiences in Assisted Suicide Decision-making: Overview of the Literature with Specific Focus on the Swiss Experience

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Assistierter Suizid: Der Stand der Wissenschaft

Zusammenfassung

Switzerland is the only country in the world where assisted suicide (AS) is performed without a specific legislation, within the law, mostly without medical participation. Assisted suicide involves enabling the patient to obtain a lethal substance, which the person wishing to commit suicide then takes without any external assistance. In Switzerland, active euthanasia is against the law, but if certain conditions are met, AS is not prosecuted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Back AL, Starks H, Hsu C, Gordon JR, Bharucha A, Pearlman RA (2002) Clinician-patient interactions about requests for physician-assisted suicide: a patient and family view. Arch Intern Med 162(11):1257–1265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beder J (1998) Bereavement after physician-assisted suicide. A speculation based on theory. Suicide Life Threat Behav 28:302–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Boom F van den (1995) AIDS, euthanasia and grief. AIDS Care 7(2):5175–5185

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosshard G, Ulrich E, Ziegler SJ et al (2008) Assessment of requests for assisted suicide by a Swiss right to die society. Death Stud 32:646–657

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown MA, Stetz K (1999) The labor of caregiving: a theoretical model of caregiving during potentially fatal illness. Qual Health Res 9(2):182–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callahan J (2000) Predictors and correlates of bereavement in suicide support group participants. Suicide Life Threat Behav 30(2):104–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter SM, Little M (2007) Justifying knowledge, justyfing method, taking action: epistemologies, methodologies and methods in qualitative research. Qual Health Res 17:1316–1328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cvinar JG (2005) Do suicide survivors suffer social stigma: a review of the literature. Perspect Psychiatr Care 41(1):14–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dees MK, Vernooij-Dassen MJ, Dekkers WJ, Elwyn G, Vissers KC, Weel C van (2013) Perspectives of decision-making in requests for euthanasia: a qualitative research among patients, relatives and treating physicians in the Netherlands. Palliat Med 27(1):27–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Dees MK, Vernooij-Dassen MJ, Dekkers WJ et al (2011) ‘Unbearable suffering’: a qualitative study on the perspectives of patients who request assistance in dying. J Med Ethics 37:727–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobscha SK, Heintz RT, Press N et al (2004) Oregon physicians’ responses to requests for assisted suicide: a qualitative study. J Pall Med 7:451–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer S, Huber CA, Furter M et al (2009) Reasons why people in Switzerland seek assisted suicide: the view of patients and physicians. Swiss Med Wkly 139:333–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamondi C, Borasio GD, Limoni C, Preston N, Payne S (2014) Legalisation of assisted suicide: a safeguard to euthanasia? Lancet 384(127):61154–61155

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamondi C, Pott M, Forbes K, Payne S (2015) Exploring the experiences of bereaved families involved in assisted suicide in Southern Switzerland: a qualitative study. BMJ Support Palliat Care 5(2):146–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamondi C, Pott M, Payne S (2013) Families’ experiences with patients who died after assisted suicide: a retrospective interview study in southern Switzerland. Ann Oncol 24(6):1639–1644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzini L, Dobscha SK, Heintz RT et al (2003) Oregon physicians’ perceptions of patients who request assisted suicide and their families. J Palliat Med 6:381–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzini L, Goy ER, Dobscha SK, Prigerson H (2009) Mental health outcomes of family members of Oregonians who request physician aid in dying. J Pain Symptom Manage 38(6):807–815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzini L, Harvath TA, Jackson A et al (2002) Experiences of Oregon nurses and social workers with hospice patients who requested assistance with suicide. N Engl J Med 347:582–588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey JH (Hrsg) (1998) Perspectives on loss: a sourcebook. Brunner-Mazel, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnstone MJ (2012) Organization position statements and the stance of “Studied Neutrality” on euthanasia in palliative care. J Pain Symptom Manage 44:896–907

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan JR (2001) Is suicide bereavement different? A reassessment of the literature. Suicide Life Threat Behav 31(1):91–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimsma KG, Leeuwen E van (2007) The role of family in euthanasia decision making. HEC Forum 19(4):365–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Knieper AJ (1999) The suicide survivor’s grief and recovery. Suicide Life Threat Behav 29(4):353–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Ness DE, Pfeffer CR (1990) Sequelae of bereavement resulting from suicide. Am J Psychiatry 147(3):279–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldham RL, Dobscha SK, Goy ER, Ganzini L (2011) Attachment styles of Oregonians who request physician-assisted death. Palliat Support Care 9:123–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Heide A vd, Koper D et al (2003) Euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions in the Netherlands in 1990, 1995, and 2001. Lancet 362:395–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Starks H, Pearlman RA, Hsu C et al (2005) Why now? Timing and circumstances of hastened deaths. J Pain Symptom Manage 30:215–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss A, Corbin J (1990) Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage, Newbury park

    Google Scholar 

  • Sveen CA, Walby FA (2008) Suicide survivors’ mental health and grief reactions: a systematic review of controlled studies. Suicide Life Threat Behav 38(1):13–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swarte NB, Lee ML van der, Bom JG van der, Bout J van den, Heintz AP (2003) Effects of euthanasia on the bereaved family and friends: a cross sectional study. Br Med J 327(7408):189

    Google Scholar 

  • Swiss penal code of 21st December 1937. (revised 1st February 2009) RS 311.0 art.1142009

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner B, Boucsein V, Maercker A (2011) The impact of forensic investigations following assisted suicide on post-traumatic stress disorder. Swiss Med Wkly 141:w13284

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner B, Keller V, Knaevelsrud C, Maercker A (2012a) Social acknowledgement as a predictor of post-traumatic stress and complicated grief after witnessing assisted suicide. Int J Soc Psychiatry 58(4):381–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner B, Müller J, Maercker A (2012b) Death by request in Switzerland: Posttraumatic stress disorder and complicated grief after witnessing assisted suicide. Eur Psychiatry 27:542–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zala M (2005) Chronique d’une mort volontaire annoncée. L’expérience des proches dans le cadre de l’assistance au suicide. Academic Press Fribourg edition, Fribourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziegler SJ, Bosshard G (2007) Role of non-governmental organisations in physician assisted suicide. Br Med J 334:295–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Gamondi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Gamondi, C. (2017). Relatives’ Experiences in Assisted Suicide Decision-making: Overview of the Literature with Specific Focus on the Swiss Experience. In: Borasio, G., Jox, R., Taupitz, J., Wiesing, U. (eds) Assistierter Suizid: Der Stand der Wissenschaft. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Deutsches, Europäisches und Internationales Medizinrecht, Gesundheitsrecht und Bioethik der Universitäten Heidelberg und Mannheim, vol 46. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-52669-9_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-52669-9_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-52668-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-52669-9

  • eBook Packages: Social Science and Law (German Language)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics