Panic attacks and the risk of suicide

Article Abstract:

Panic disorder and panic attacks are characterized by repeated, unpredictable, abrupt episodes of intense anxiety or fear. It has been reported by Weissman et al. in the November 2, 1989 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine that the risk of a suicide attempt is high, 20 percent, in patients having panic disorder. The incidence of suicide has risen in the United States, particularly by the use of firearms. It is suspected that suicide in panic disorder patients is an impulsive rather than a premeditated act. Panic disorder is a recent psychiatric diagnosis which may not be familiar to many physicians. However, since these patients may visit the physician because of the many physical symptoms associated with panic disorder, early diagnosis could identify patients at risk for suicide. It is already known that patients having depression and schizophrenia are at a high risk for suicide. Patients with serious signs of these disorders are generally referred for further evaluation because of that risk. The identification of yet another group at risk offers additional means of suicide prevention. Treatment with medication and therapy can reduce the number and severity of panic attacks, lessening the chances of a suicide attempt.

Care and treatment, Complications and side effects, Risk factors, Suicide, Panic disorders, Panic disorder, editorial, Panic attacks

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Legalized physician-assisted suicide in Oregon -- the second year

Article Abstract:

Almost twice as many critically ill patients committed physician-assisted suicide in Oregon in 1999 as in 1998 but the percentage who do so is still small. Physician-assisted suicide was legalized in Oregon in 1997, and this means that doctors can legally prescribe drugs that patients can use to commit suicide. In 1999, 27 patients did so, up from 16 in 1998. However, this was still less than 10 deaths per 10,000 deaths in the state. Sixty-three percent had cancer, and most had several reasons for wanting to commit suicide.

Statistical Data Included

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Legalized physician-assisted suicide in Oregon--the first year's experience

Article Abstract:

Most of the terminally ill patients who requested lethal medications under Oregon's Death with Dignity Act did so because they were concerned about loss of autonomy and not because of pain or financial loss. This was the conclusion of a study of 23 people who requested lethal medications from their physician after Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide on October 27, 1997. Fifteen died from the medication, six died from the underlying illness and two were still alive. Thirteen of the 15 who died had cancer.

Laws, regulations and rules, Terminally ill persons, Terminally ill, Beliefs, opinions and attitudes

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