Suicide Theories.
There are many different theories surrounding suicide. This essay shall briefly describe Durkheim's Sociological Theory of suicide and Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory. Psychological autopsies shall then be discussed which have contributed to Shneidman's shared characteristics of suicide. Suicide victims and prevention will also be discussed.
Durkheim's Sociological Theory of suicide identifies three different types of suicide - egoistic, altruistic and anomic. Egoistic suicide victims feel that they have too few ties to society and community. They feel alienated from others and cut off from the social supports that are important to keep them functioning adaptively as social beings. Altruistic suicides are responses to societal demands. Individuals feel part of a group and sacrifice themselves for what they take to be the good of society. Some altruistic suicides are literally required as the only honourable recourse in the circumstances. Anomic suicide is triggered by a sudden change in a person's relation to society. Anomie can pervade society in disequilibrium, making suicide more likely.
Freud's psychoanalytic theory of suicide had two major hypotheses. The first being his theory of depression which basically views suicide as murder. The second being based on thanatos, the death instinct. Freud identified that normal individuals can control their death instinct and direct it outward. Suicidal individuals on the other hand may turn this death instinct inwards which could result in the individual taking their own life.
A psychological autopsy is an investigation into the death of an individual which is usually a suspected suicide. Psychological autopsies were pioneered at the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Centre. It involves analyzing information from crisis phone calls and interviews with relatives and friends of those who are thinking about suicide or those who are believed to have committed the act. The purpose of the autopsy is to determine the actual mode of...
Reviews of: "Suicide Theories."
:
Suicide is devastating for everybody. Loss of a life should be taken very seriously. I am glad this essay explains theories on this subject. Well done.
More Depression, Stress & Suicide
essays:
Suicide and Teens
... contemplating suicide (U.S Public Health Services, 1999). Today's commercial media also has an enormous sociological and psychological effect on adolescents today. Many factors including superficialities in commercial industry and other social influences ...
Teen Suicide.
... Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud developed some of the first psychological theories of suicide. He emphasized ... larger group. Durkheim found suicide was more likely when a person lacked social bonds or ... almost every suicide attempt. The victim feels very depressed and everything seems to be going ...
Male Depression: A position paper analyzing the symptoms of male depression and detailling how it can be worse than female depression by society's standards.
... that suicide is much more "acceptable [than treatment], easier than having others others see me as being weak." Although women are at a greater risk for depression, sociologically and psychologically, depression ...
Suicide
... disease of depression and family problems. Ninety percent of teen suicide victims have at least one diagnosable, active psychiatric illness at the time of ... commit suicide (Brown). Suicide affects teens of all races and social standing. Boys commit suicide more often than girls do. It could be because ...
Suicide prevention program proposal
... subtle warning signs that are present before an attempt occurs. Personal accounts of families who have lost loved ones to suicide will be read to the class. The purpose of this is to make students understand the consequences of a completed ...
Suicide Research Paper
... reasons; cultural, social or physiological which may be underlying causes for suicide. At ... on death, considering the options of life seems overwhelming. Today autopsy reports assume ninety to ninety-five percent of suicides are borne of mental illness and temporary psychosis (Jamison 200 ...
Understanding and Treating Suicidal Adolescents from a Counselor's Perspective
... Abnormal Psychology, 2nd Ed. Toronto: Prentice Hall. Home Box Office. (2003). HBO documentaries [online] Retrieved October 30, 2003 from http://hbo.com/suicide ... client not to feel ashamed and that these feelings can be successfully dealt with. (Mental Health Evaluation, 2001). As a counselor ...
Suicide - This is a feature aritcle on suicide and the psychiatry view of it
... can not hurt those around him. Yes, we all know suicide hurts a family emotionally (and some might say psychologically), however many times it also hurts them financially. Not only ...
Interesting.
This's really an interesting issue.
0 out of 1 people found this comment useful.