SUICIDE

act of voluntarily or intentionally taking one's own life. Because this definition does not specify the outcome of such acts, it is now customary to distinguish between fatal suicide and attempted, or nonfatal, suicide. Throughout history, suicide has been both condemned and praised by various societies. It is condemned by Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and attempts are punishable by law in several countries. The Brahmans of India, however, tolerate suicide, and the theoretically voluntary suicide of an Indian widow (suttee), now outlawed, was highly praised at one time. In ancient Greece, convicted criminals were permitted to take their own lives, but the Roman attitude toward suicide hardened toward the end of the empire as a result of the high incidence among slaves, who thus deprived their owners of valuable property. The Japanese custom of seppuku (q.v.; also called hara-kiri), or self-disembowelment, was long practiced as a ceremonial rite; samurai were granted the privilege of punishing themselves in this way for wrongdoing, and it was also used to escape the humiliation of failure, to shame one's enemies, or to demonstrate loyalty to a dead master or emperor. (Compulsory seppuka was outlawed in 1873.) Buddhist monks and nuns have also committed sacrificial suicide by burning themselves alive as a form of social protest. Since the European Middle Ages, Western society has used first the canonic and later the criminal law to combat suicide. Following the French Revolution of 1789 criminal penalties for attempting to commit suicide were abolished in European countries, England being the last to follow suit in 1961. But many of these countries and numerous U.S. states also adopted laws against helping someone to commit suicide. The change in the legal status of suicide, however, has had no adverse influence on the suicide rate. The permissiveness of modern society, which implies greater tolerance of deviant behaviour, may be partly responsible for the increase in suicidal acts, especially of self-poisoning by means of prescription drugs. Society's attitude toward suicidal behaviour has grown less moralistic and punitive. There is now a greater readiness to understand rather than to condemn, but a tendency to conceal suicidal acts still persists. A fatal suicidal act tends to cause grief reactions and guilt feelings on the part of those who may feel that they could have prevented it by caring and loving more than they did. If the act is nonfatal, it serves as an appeal for help and may give rise to efforts at reparation; it may lead to an improvement in the relationship to the person who attempted suicide. Conscious or unconscious expectation of these responses is one of the factors underlying suicidal acts. A number of theories have been developed to explain the causes of suicide. Psychological theories emphasize personality and emotional factors, while sociological theories stress the influence of social and cultural pressures on the individual. Social factors such as widowhood, childlessness, residence in big cities, a high standard of living, mental disorders, and physical illness have been found to be positively correlated with suicide rates. The decline of suicide rates in wartime has been related to the turning of aggression toward the common enemy and away from oneself. The greater closeness of human relations in wartime also tends to reduce the social isolation that is regarded as the most important causative factor in suicide. No single approach can be expected to succeed in substantially reducing the incidence of suicide, but early recognition and treatment of mental disorders are important deterrents. Since the 1950s special centres and organizations for the prevention of suicide have been created in many countries. Most of them are not under medical direction, though all of them have medical consultants. The telephone is commonly used as a means of communication between lonely and desperate individuals in need of support and advisers who are available day and night. There is evidence that this kind of service may help to avert suicidal acts.