Depression treatment denied by therapist

[Joojee]

Dear Doctor:
Can a psychiatrist deny treatment to a depressed patient based on philosophical difference on right to end one's life?

My husband, who has had depression for years and does not know how to cope with it, went to see a therapist for the first time and things went well until he asked a question on a patient's rights. He has a phobia that if he said something that could be misconstrued that he is "crazy" or might hurt himself, the doctor may commit or institutionalize him without his consent. The therapist asked him if he ponders hurting himself (she tried to avoid the "S" word) and he said no. But he also said that philosophically he believes it's one's right if they want to end their life if they are in the vegatative state and lost quality of life. The therapist was freaked out and ran to consult the senior therapist/psychiatrist three times. She then finally told him that they cannot treat him if he holds that belief!
My husband was shocked and reiterated that he was not talking about him having a suicidal thought. It's just his belief in general, like he believes abortion is not immoral. Anyway they firmly said that they cannot give him treatment.

My question is can they do that? Is it legal to deny a person mental health treatment because of philosophical differences on suicide? I do think it's totally unethical on their part.
So they are letting my depressed husband untreated not caring what will happen to him after all the talk that their work is to not let people commit suicide! What a hypocrite.
Anyway, we live in a small town with limited number of psychiatrists or therapists. My husband is even more depressed and helpless now.  I cannot believe this happened to us. My husband refused to seek help for a long time and finally when he collected enough courage to get help and they told him this.
Did they do this to protect themselves on malpractice or some kind of liability?
Thanks very much for your answer and advice

[STARLA GRRRL]

Definately---seek the assistance of an attorney. What has happened is WRONG, and your husbands thoughts on euthanasia should have had NO bearing on his therapy whatsoever. How dare they do this to you! Maybe it was a big misunderstanding...but if so, it was on THEIR part, not your husbands.
How assinine and ridiculous. Just another factoid that serves to lessen our trust in the entire mental health community.
You go and see an attorney, and then you do what you need to do to wake these people up and let them know that what they did was wrong and completely unethical.
God bless.

[Rion]

Maybe the doctor that talked to your husband mis-relayed what your husband said when he/she talked to the head doctor?  This definitely sounds like there is just some miscommunication going on. Eeks.

[Joojee]

Thanks very much for your answer and advice. My husband went back to the clinic to get his medical record and ask the therapist to put in writing why he was refused the treatment. The lady at the front desk was very surprised that this happened and asked him that he should see another therapist. But he said the main authority who made this decision is a psychiatrist who supervises all therapists in that clinic, so that is not an option.
What surprised me the most is this guy (I was told) is supposed to be the best psychiatrist in southern Illinois. My husband's main doctor recommend him to my husband. We will probably seek a legal counsel, not sure what kind of lawyers to see though--malpractice lawyers?
Thanks again for your advice.

[Mazzcm]

Find another therapist immediatlly. This ones a moron.
Sometimes it takes a few tries to find a therapist that "works" for you/your husband.
I myself, went through 3 b4 finding one I liked.
Good Luck, but don't stop therapy if he's even hinting, (by using hypothetical sitiations) about suicide.
Good Luck

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I am surprised and shocked by this story. Is it possible that this is not a medical clinic, and the people working there are in training?  If that is the case, there would be some explanation, but even then it sounds totally unreasonable to me.

I suggest you talk to your doctor about this, and if he can't help, you might want to consult the local medical society.

Your husband deserves treatment so don't let this peculiar policy hold you back from finding competent treatment near you.