Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T02:12:51.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Japanese Psychiatrists' Attitudes toward Patients Wishing to Die in the General Hospital: A Cultural Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

Douglas Berger ,
Yoshitomo Takahashi ,
Isao Fukunishi ,
Takashi Hosaka ,
Mary Alice O'Dowd ,
Yutaka Ono ,
Tomifusa Kuboki  and
Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Douglas Berger
Affiliation:
is currently a visiting researcher at the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
Yoshitomo Takahashi
Affiliation:
is a researcher at the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
Isao Fukunishi
Affiliation:
is Director of the Department of Clinical Psychology at the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
Takashi Hosaka
Affiliation:
is a lecturer of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
Mary Alice O'Dowd
Affiliation:
is Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Yutaka Ono
Affiliation:
is Lecturer of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Tomifusa Kuboki
Affiliation:
is Professor of Psychosomatic Medicine in the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Tokyo University Branch Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Affiliation:
is Assistant Center Director at the Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 1961 in Japan, the son of a hospitalized man suffering from severe pain after a stroke mixed a cup of milk with insecticide and arranged for his unsuspecting mother to give this to the patient, who had requested that his son assist him in dying. The son could not endure his father's condition and killed him in order to show his love.

Type
Articles
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , Fall 1997 , pp. 470 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Kyokai, Nihon Songenshi (Japan Society For Death With Dignity). Songenshi (Death with Dignity) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Kodansha, 1990.Google Scholar

2. Hoshino, K. Euthanasia: current problems in Japan. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1993;2(1):45–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

3. Anonymous. Doctor free in case of mercy killing. Asahi Evening News 1995 03 28:1(col 5).Google Scholar

4. Anonymous. Doctor gets suspended term for mercy killing. Mainichi Daily News 1995 03 29:1(col 1).Google Scholar

5. See note 2, Hoshino, 1993.Google Scholar

6. Takeo, K, Satoh, K, Minamisawa, H et al. , Health workers' attitudes toward euthanasia in Japan. International Nursing Review 1991;38(2):45–8.Google ScholarPubMed

7. Kito, K. Nihon ni okeru songenshimondai nitsuite (Dignified death in Japan). Kokoro No Rinshou A Ra Karuto (Clinics of the mind a la carte). 1993 12:39–42.Google Scholar

8. See note 4, Anonymous 1995.

9. Anonymous. Euthanasia in Japan: mixed feelings [News]. Annals of Oncology 1994;5(1):5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10. Domino, J, Takahashi, Y. Attitudes towards suicide in Japanese and American medical students. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior 1991;21:345–59.Google Scholar

11. Takahashi, Y, Berger, D. Cultural dynamics and the unconscious in suicide in Japan. In: Leenaars, A, Lester, D, eds. Suicide and the Unconscious. Northvale: Jason Aronson, 1996:248–58.Google Scholar

12. See note 7, Kito, 1993.Google Scholar

13. See note 9, Anonymous 1994.

14. Takahashi, Y. Recent trends in suicidal behavior in Japan. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 1995;49(Suppl 1):S105–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

15. See note 14, Takahashi, 1995.Google Scholar

16. Sullivan, MD, Youngner, SJ. Depression, competence, and the right to refuse lifesaving medical treatment. American Journal of Psychiatry 1994;151:971–8.Google ScholarPubMed

17. Asukai, K. Suicide and mental disorders. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 1995;49(Suppl 1):S91–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

18. Pokorny, AD. Prediction of suicide in psychiatric patients. Archives of General Psychiatry 1983;40:249- 57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

19. Schaffner, KF. Philosophical, ethical, and legal aspects of resuscitation medicine, II: recognizing the tragic choice: food, water, and the right to assisted suicide. Critical Care Medicine 1988;16:1063–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

20. Ganzini, L et al. , The effect of depression treatment on elderly patients' preferences for lifesustaining medical therapy. American Journal of Psychiatry 1994;151:1631–6.Google Scholar

21. Brown, JH et al. , Is it normal for terminally ill patients to desire death? American Journal of Psychiatry 1986;143:208–11.Google ScholarPubMed

22. Chochinov, HM et al. , Desire for death in the terminally ill. American Journal of Psychiatry 1995;152:1185–91.Google ScholarPubMed

23. See note 7, Kito, 1993.Google Scholar

24. See note 16, Sullivan, and Youngner, 1994.Google Scholar

25. See note 20, Ganzini, et al. , 1994.Google Scholar

26. Cohen, JS et al. , Attitudes toward assisted suicide and euthanasia among physicians in Washington State. New England Journal of Medicine 1994;331:89–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

27. See note 20, Ganzini, et al. , 1994.Google Scholar

28. See note 22, Chochinov, et al. , 1995;152:1185–91.Google Scholar

29. See note 11, Takahashi, and Berger, 1996:248–58.Google Scholar

30. Ching, JWJ et al. , Perceptions of family values and roles among Japanese Americans: clinical considerations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 1995;65(2):216–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

31. Berger, D. On the practice of medicine and on the culture and customs in Japan. Tokai Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine 1985;10(6):637–45.Google ScholarPubMed

32. See note 20, Ganzini, et al. , 1994.Google Scholar

33. See note 16, Brown, et al. , 1986.Google Scholar

34. See note 22, Chochinov, et al. , 1995.Google Scholar

35. See note 20, Ganzini, et al. , 1994.Google Scholar

36. See note 22, Chochinov, et al. , 1995.Google Scholar

37. Berger, D. Suicide evaluation in medical patients: a pilot study. General Hospital Psychiatry 1993;15(2):75–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

38. Berger, D. Suicide risk in the general hospital. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 1995;49 (Suppl l):S85–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

39. Swartz, CM, Stewart, C. Melancholia and orders to restrict resuscitation. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1991;42:189–91.Google ScholarPubMed

40. See note 37, Berger, 1993.Google Scholar

41. See note 38, Berger, 1995.Google Scholar

42. See note 20, Ganzini, et al. , 1994.Google Scholar

43. See note 16, Sullivan, , Youngner, 1994.Google Scholar

44. See note 5, Takeo, et al. , 1991.Google Scholar