Citation

Frati P, Gulino M, Mancarella P, Cecchi R, Ferracuti S. J. Forensic Leg. Med. 2014; 21: 26-30.

Affiliation

Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University of Rome Sapienza, 5, Piazzale Aldo Moro, Rome 00185, Italy; Sant'Andrea Hospital, via di Grottarossa 1035, Roma 00189, Italy. Electronic address: stefano.ferracuti@uniroma1.it.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jflm.2013.10.017

PMID

24365684

Abstract

A year after Mario Monicelli's suicide, the death of another famous person in Italy, Lucio Magri, reawakened the Italian debate on social, ethical and juridical issues in end-of-life decisions. Unlike Monicelli, Lucio Magri decided to end his own life in Switzerland with the help of a physician because his mental illness rendered his life unbearable. Both Monicelli and Magri suffered from a severe depression. The authors analyze the ethical issues regarding the right to die for mentally ill patients and neurological disabled patients, discussing the decision-making autonomy in persons suffering from severe depression. The role of the psychiatry in the management of end-of-life decision requests is considered along with pros and cons of suicide prevention and rationale suicide.

Language: en