Abstract
Patient suicide is a tragic and not infrequent event. The psychiatrist has an important role in the aftermath of a patient suicide, both in communicating with the patient's family, other clinical staff/colleagues and the authorities, as well as encouraging and participating in discussion about the patient's care. He/she must also monitor his/her own reactions to the suicide because failure to do so may have a significant impact on his/her mental health and his/her ability to function professionally. Clinical services should have written guidelines giving advice to staff on good practice following the suicide of a patient. The psychiatrist has an important contribution to make to the process of discussion, reflection and enquiry that must follow a patient suicide, so that lessons are learned that can benefit other patients and the best standard of clinical practice is maintained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 44 - 49 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | The Psychiatric Bulletin (United Kingdom) |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2002 |
