Suicide as a Work Accident

Suicide by definition is a purposeful and intentional act of self-slaughter and, as such, has not the intrinsic characteristics of an accident. The latter is an unexpected, non-intentional act. Nevertheless, in Israel, on various occasions during the last decade, suicide has been accepted by the courts as a compensatable work accident. A series of cases is presented, together with detailed discussion of the role of the psychiatric expert when dealing with this specific medico-legal issue.