Assisted Suicide Does Not Create Greater Grief and Depression in Family Members.

Oregon Health & Science University won't get much credit for this study, sharing a state where Death with Dignity is legal and all (see Oregon Health Plan get creamed for denying Barbara Wagner a medicine that wouldn't have saved her life anyway, thus, by state association, colluding with the "culture of death" crowd), but I do think the results of this study prove two things: that Death with Dignity doesn't put undue emotional stress and burden on the family of participating loved ones; and that Oregon does lead the medical industry in end of life care and research.

Published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, the study shows the results of a survey of 95 families of Death with Dignity participants and 65 families of those dying with cancer or other terminal illnesses. Signs of grief and depression after the death of their loved ones were compared. Both groups exhibited similar grief and depression.

“Grief following the death of a loved one can be persistent, painful and debilitating,” said Linda Ganzini, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine and lead author of the research paper. “Prior studies on suicides indicate high levels of shame, guilt, stigma and sense of rejection in surviving family members. However, until now, little was known about mental health outcomes in the family members of a patient who receives physician aid in dying. Based on our research, we know that family members of loved ones who pursue physician assisted suicide do not have different prevalence and severity of depression and prolonged grief compared to the general population.”

via Robert Glen Fogarty at Tech News Watch