Suicide Case Study

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warnings seriously, as they are one of the most useful single predictors of a suicide” (Corey, Corey, and Callanan, 2011, p. 245). Manual is considered an at-risk youth, so it is important to understand Manuel’s background. Clinton, Clark, and Straub (2010) suggest asking questions about the child’s family, gain some insight in what the family dynamic is like, and also attempt to discover if Manuel has support from the family.
"Off spring of parents who have depression face three to four times increased rates of depression compared with off spring of healthy parents" (Thapar, Collishaw, Pine, & A. Thapar, 2012, p. 1058). For this reason, it is critical for counselors to obtain as much family history in order to conduct a better assessment …show more content…

Corey, Corey, and Callanan (2011) stated that, “…when mental health providers fail to provide adequate assessment, treatment, or follow-up, they are liable for a client’s death if a reasonable standard of care would have likely prevented the suicide from occurring” (p. 241). In other words, if Manuel comes in to therapy and shows signs of depression while vocally stating that he no longer wants to live, yet the issue is not taken to task; yet prior to the next meeting Manuel commits suicide, the counselor is liable for the death of Manuel for failing to report his intent to harm himself. Each state has specific departments or hotlines that they must communicate with in such cases not only to protect the client from harm, but also to protect themselves from potential lawsuits or further legal action by the state, ethical committees, or the family of the client (McWhirter et al., …show more content…

Medical suicide assistance is only legal in a few states in the United States and it only granted on a cases by case bases to patients who are terminally ill. Not every petitioned case is approved, but those who are endure a long process before an “okay” is given. On the other hand, illegal suicide assistance occurs when healthcare professionals, such as counselors are aware of a client’s intent to hurt themselves and either provide the means for the client to do so, or fail to take any action to prevent it (McWhirter et al., 2013, p.

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