Psychologist: Why suicide and medical aid in dying are truly different As a board-certified clinical psychologist for the last four decades who has counseled both patients who were dying and those who wanted to end their life prematurely via suicide, I can tell you unequivocally that there is no comparison between the two. But don’t just take my word for it. Jeff Gardere The American Association of Suicidology, a suicide prevention, medical research association whose membership includes mental health and public health professionals, issued a position statement in 2017 concluding: “[S]uicide and physician aid in dying are conceptually, medically, and legally different phenomena … including intention, absence of physical self-violence, the physician’s assessment that the patient’s choice is not distorted by mental illness, a personal view of self-preservation versus self-destruction, and by the fact that the person who has requested aid in dying does not typically die alone and in despair, but, most frequently, where they wish, at home, with the comfort of his or her family. In fact, we believe that the term ‘physician-assisted suicide’ in itself constitutes a critical reason why these distinct death categories are so often conflated, and should be deleted from use. Such deaths should not be considered to be cases of suicide.”