Terminal mental illness: resident experience of patient suicide

Suicide prevention efforts are a major focus of psychiatry residency training. Residents are taught to identify suicide risk factors, monitor for suicidal ideation, and develop crisis stabilization plans for patients at risk for self harm. In contrast, training and support for dealing with suicide completion is often lacking. Although suicide remains a predictable outcome for many patients with severe mental illness, this topic may be avoided or reviewed only with residents who are directly affected by patient suicide. The purpose of this paper is to present a psychiatry resident's experience of dealing with a patient suicide and identify obstacles to developing this aspect of training. Options for "preventative" training in helping trainees deal with this unfortunate outcome of mental illness will be reviewed.