Chapter
When Patients Commit Suicide (IN: The Psychology of Suicide: a Clinician’s Guide to Evaluation and Treatment, edited by E S Shneidman, N L Farberow & R E Litman)
Litman R E
This chapter discusses the reaction of psychotherapists to patient suicide. Therapists often react on 2 levels – personally & professionally. Emotional responses to a patient suicide are examined. Guilt, anger & feelings of personal/professional inadequacy were found to be common. Denial was a common defensive mechanism. A strategy that helped many therapists to work through a patient suicide was to review the case & present it to colleagues with the purpose of learning from the experience.