Educacion in the face of suicidal risk, a bioethical need

Abstract

Suicide-risk management is an important component of medical practice especially in the assessment of patients with suicidal tendencies, the clinical treatment of whom should focus on them and their support network. The choice of a specific therapy depends not only on the judgment of the suicidal patient’s actual risk in psychiatric terms, but also on other patient-related issues. These dangerous behaviors can be lessened if we manage to understand suicide as a public health problem likely to be prevented, in which both individuals and groups can be involved. The principles of medical ethics, as applied to the assessment of this kind of patients, may serve both teachers and students as a decision-making guide and support.