ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with psychologists' present knowledge on the risk of suicide in patients with heart and lung conditions, disorders or the gastrointestinal canal, kidney conditions, rheumatological disorders, endocrinological disorders, and others. In heart disorders, studies on suicide risk have been engaged in estimating whether medication used for reducing the level of cholesterol in the blood, could induce an increased risk of suicide and other types of violent deaths. In 1990 North and colleagues reviewed the literature on ulcerative disorders and mental disorders. Many of the studies on the subject had considerable methodological flaws. From 1994, A. M. Riether and E. Mahler describe an increasing number of reports on liver transplant patients attempting or committing suicide. In their report, the authors describe four cases of liver transplant patients attempting or committing suicide. They advocate that prior to transplantation, utmost attention should be given to the psychic problems in potential recipients of transplants, and that the patients consecutively receive adequate treatment.
