Spirituality, Religion, and Rational Suicide

Abstract

In this chapter, we will reflect on the influence that religion and spirituality might have on decisions about rational suicide. To illustrate how clinicians might engage patients in conversations about religion and spirituality, we start by introducing a well-known instrument for spiritual assessment in the clinical setting, the PICA Spiritual History Tool. We then review evidence that religious belief and practice may affect patient decision-making related to rational suicide, and offer an extended engagement of assisted suicide from within the context of Christianity, which remains the self-identified religious tradition of over 70 % of the American population. We then conclude with brief recommendations for clinicians around engaging patients in conversations about religion and spirituality in relation to rational suicide. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)