Study: Availability of Legal Suicide Does Not Increase The Desire For Suicide

A new study is out that refutes the suggestion of some opponents to the “right to die” that legal suicides results in an increase in suicides. The theory is that, if people are given the lawful opportunity to commit suicide, more will do so under the same theory as finding a parking space in Manhattan (you should park even if you do not need one or your meeting is across town because when will you ever see an open space again in your lifetime?). The new study from Switzerland found no such correlation in terms of increasing the desire to commit suicide.

The study by Frontiers in Psychology for Clinical Settings admittedly had a small study population of only 33 patients suffering from the motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the study found no increase in the desire of the patient’s to commit suicide.

It seems suicide is not as much of the impulse-buy item as sometimes suggested. That is probably because you have to die to use it. Of course, none of this addresses the main argument of patients: that they have a fundamental right to terminate their own lives.

It is not clear if that result is the same with the marketing song below:

Source: Wired