Can Mental Health Professional Prevent Suicide?

The first act of suicide probably occurred before the beginning of written records. Historically society’s attitude towards suicide reveals a wide range between a rational one of acceptance, an irrational one of superstition and a hostile one of punishment. Pythagoras argued that since humans were slaves and soldiers of God, they had no right to leave the world without his permission. Socrates felt that in some circumstances it would be permissible and even a necessary for a man to end his own life, Plato supported the general philosophy against the suicide act, with the exception of suicide ordered by state and in extreme cases of poverty and sorrow. Aristotle considered suicide as a cowardly act and an offence against the state.

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