Passive Euthanasia in Response to Attempted Suicide: one Form of Aggessiveness by Relatives

A study of 40 people attempting suicide & their relatives. The relatives’ failure to provide care after the suicide attempt (turning-away reactions & do not resuscitate orders, forms of passive euthanasia) was investigated. Relatives said they had the suicidal individual’s best interest at heart but their reactions were really a manifestation of their own psychic conflicts brought on by confrontations with the depressed & suicidal patient.