Work-related musculoskeletal injury and suicide: opportunities for intervention and therapeutic jurisprudence
Davis, M.-C.; Ibrahim, J.E.; Ranson, D.; Ozanne-Smith, J.; Routley, V.
Journal of Law and Medicine 21(1): 110-121
2013
ISSN/ISBN: 1320-159X PMID: 24218786 Document Number: 665334
This article presents evidence for the existence of a common trajectory from work-related musculoskeletal injury to suicide. Specifically, it is argued that the pathway from injury to suicide is typically mediated by three critical events: unsuccessful return to work; the development of chronic pain or disability; and suicidal ideation in the context of chronic pain. The moderating influence of systemic factors is also examined, along with opportunities for intervention at the individual and systemic levels, the latter arising from a therapeutic jurisprudence perspective.