Attitudes of medical doctors towards suicide and criminalization of attempted suicide in Ghana

Abstract

Attitudes affect willingness to provide help for suicidal persons. Consequently, attitudes of key health professionals such as nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and physicians have been examined. Although physicians are a key group in the management of suicide attempters, to the best of our knowledge, no study has examined their attitudes towards suicide. This study therefore examined 15 (10 males,5 females) medical doctors' attitudes towards suicidal person, what they perceive as risk factors for suicide and their views on the law that condemns attempted suicide. The methodology was qualitative and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results showed that the majority expressed empathic attitudes towards suicidal person (with only 5 condemning the act on the basis of religious values). Further the medics ' perceptions of the risk factors for suicidal behaviour fell within the biopsychosocial model (depression, loneliness, relationship distress, joblessness etc) more than the biomedical. Consistent with their empathic attitudes toward suicide, the majority of medics (11 out of 15) supported a repeal of the criminal code predicated on a "sick view" of the suicidal person as someone who needs help more than "a criminal "who must be prosecuted. The implications of the findings towards decriminalizing suicide in Ghana are addressed.