The impact of patient suicide on rural general practitioners.

This survey of 152 rural general practitioners (GPs) studied the impact of patient suicide on their professional and personal lives. The response rate was 79%, with the average GP encountering a patient suicide every three years. The reactions of GPs to patient suicide were similar to those expressed by other health care workers. Factors that lessened the effects of patient suicide were identified and most GPs indicated their preference for a support system to be established to facilitate GPs in dealing with the aftermath of practice suicide.