What is Suicide?

Suicide can be defined as an intentional and deliberate action of an individual that would lead to his or her sudden death. For a death to be counted as a suicide, a person committing an action that would lead to death has to believe that that action is lethal and has to consciously have a desire to die.

                                    Types of Suicides

There are several different types of suicide. The first distinction is between unassisted and assisted suicide. Assisted suicide refers to cases where a person who wants to die requests that somebody else perform an action that would lead to death. The most common form of assisted suicide is medical euthanasia, i.e., when a medical professional intentionally terminates the life of a patient on the patient’s explicit request. Another distinction can be made between individual suicide (only one person kills themselves), double suicides, and mass suicides (when a group of people commits suicide at the same time). Most notorious cases of mass suicides are Jewish rebels who were besieged by Roman soldiers at Masada fortress in 73 CE and decided to kill themselves rather than surrender to the Romans; members of the Peoples Temple cult who poisoned themselves in the Jonestown commune in Guyana in 1978; and members of the Heaven’s Gate cult who committed suicide in southern California in 1997. Double suicides involve a suicide pact. “A suicide pact is an agreement between two or more people to kill themselves. They represent 0.6-4.0 percent of all suicides, with the vast majority being double suicides. Double suicides are quite rare and are generally seen in old, married couples.” (Hacaouglu: 2009).

The third distinction can be made between cases in which a person kills only themselves and cases in which a person kills other people before or during suicide. The most common form of murder-suicide is when a person kills members of his or her family or their lovers or ex-lovers and kills themselves afterwards. Another common case of murder suicide refers to perpetrators of spree killings, such as mass shootings, who either end their own lives afterwards or force the police to kill them. The third common type of murder-suicide is terrorist suicide bombings. The Institute for National Security Studies reports that around the world, 1,855 people were killed by suicide bombings in 2019, and about 31 thousand died from these types of attacks in the 2010-2019 decade (https://www.inss.org.il/publication/suicide-attacks-2020/).

The fourth distinction is between suicidal ideations (suicidal thoughts and wishes), “parasuicides”, suicide attempts, and completed suicides. “Suicidality” is a scientific concept that refers to suicidal ideation, suicidal intent, and suicidal plans. Most people who have suicidal ideations, fantasies, thoughts, or wishes do not attempt suicide. Completed suicides are even less common. If we take the situation in the USA as an example, data from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (the national public health agency) shows that “Suicide was responsible for 49,316 deaths in 2023, which is about one death every 11 minutes. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. In 2022, an estimated 12.8 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.7 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.5 million attempted suicide (https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/index.html). Parasuicides refer to intentional actions (such as not taking life-saving medication or performing dangerous stunts or activities) that can lead to death and are not part of someone's job. Firemen and loggers have a high risk of job-related deaths, but they take all the precautions not to die or injure themselves, while in the cases of parasuicides, individuals intentionally put themselves at the highest risk of dying as possible.

All of before mentioned aspects and forms of suicide are studied by social scientists, and there also specialized interdisciplinary field of Suicidology that studies suicidal behaviour, the causes and demographics of suicides, and suicide prevention. In the continuation of this article, we will focus on unassisted completed suicides that didn’t involve injuring others.    

Although types of suicide differ and should not be viewed as a single form of behavior, most suicides share several common characteristics. Individuals who die by suicide often see death as a way to escape unbearable psychological pain or resolve overwhelming life problems. They frequently experience feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, communicate their intentions or thoughts about suicide to others, and display long-term self-destructive patterns of coping, sometimes referred to as “suicidal careers.”

      Demographic and Regional Differences in Suicide Rates 

Suicide rates vary significantly across countries, cultures, regions, urban and rural areas, racial groups, genders, and age categories. In the United States, white males consistently have the highest suicide rates and account for approximately 73% of all suicides, while white females represent around 17%. Suicide is comparatively less common among Black Americans, particularly Black women, although higher rates are found among young Black males living in urban areas, while rural Black populations show lower rates. Overall, men die by suicide three to four times more often than women. Although male and female suicide rates became closer over the past century, they have recently begun to diverge again. For instance, women’s suicide rates in the US are now about one-quarter of men’s rates, compared with half 50 years ago. Native Americans experience the highest suicide rates among ethnic groups in the country.

In the United States, suicide is among the top ten leading causes of death. Rates are generally higher in sparsely populated regions, especially western states such as Wyoming and Alaska, while states in New England and California report lower rates. Occupational differences are also notable, with manual laborers facing much higher suicide risks. Since the 1980s, suicide rates among young people aged 15–24 have sharply increased.

Globally, suicide rates are extremely low in some traditional societies, including the Tiv of Nigeria and Australian Aboriginal communities. High national suicide rates are found in countries such as Hungary, Russia, Japan, and several Eastern and Northern European nations, while lower rates are common in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. In the European Union, men account for about 77% of all suicides, while age groups that commit suicide most often are those between 45 and 64, accounting for 37%, and over 65, representing 34% of the total deaths. In nearly all countries, men have substantially higher suicide rates than women. In China, suicide risk is especially high in rural areas and regions affected by social disruption and changing family structures.

                     The Predictors and Causes of Suicide 

Researchers have identified a number of factors, known as “predictors,” that increase the likelihood of suicide. However, no single factor can reliably predict suicidal behavior. Most suicides involve “comorbidity,” meaning that several interacting risk factors are usually present, and these may vary depending on the individual and the type of suicide.

Older adults are particularly vulnerable because they are more likely to experience prolonged social isolation, physical illness, depression, emotional distress, and the loss of close relationships. They are also less likely to express clear warning signs before attempting suicide.

Among children and adolescents, the causes of suicide often differ from those seen in adults. Many vulnerable young people are anxious, insecure, and highly driven to gain acceptance and succeed. Their unrealistic expectations can lead to chronic disappointment and emotional distress. Events that may appear minor to adults, such as moving home or losing a relationship, can trigger severe depression in young people. Alcohol and drug use further increase suicide risk among youth. Family relationships also play a major role, as many suicidal teenagers report poor communication and weak emotional bonds with parents. Rigid family rules, controlling parenting styles, alcoholism, mental illness, and long-term family dysfunction are commonly associated with suicidal behavior in adolescents.

Lower socioeconomic status is also linked to higher suicide rates, partly because of greater exposure to mental illness, alcoholism, unemployment, and family instability. Unemployment may increase suicide risk by reducing income, self-esteem, and social connections while increasing depression. Economic hardship in general is often associated with rising suicide rates.

Mental health disorders, especially depression and alcoholism, are among the strongest predictors of suicide. Alcohol can increase impulsive behavior and worsen depression, while repeated depressive episodes often produce feelings of hopelessness that strongly contribute to suicide risk.

Social isolation and lack of emotional support are also significant factors. Marriage and parenthood are generally considered protective because they create emotional responsibilities and social bonds. Suicide rates are typically highest among widowed, divorced, and single individuals. Evidence also suggests that suicide may run in families due to both genetic influences and learned behavior.

Research on sexual orientation and suicide remains limited, but studies indicate that homosexual individuals, particularly gay men, report higher rates of suicide attempts than heterosexual individuals. However, there is no clear evidence that completed suicide rates are higher among homosexuals.

                                       Suicide Methods

The predominant method of suicide for both males and females in the US in 1992 was firearms. The second most common method among males is hanging, and among females, it is a drug or medicine overdose. Females use a somewhat greater variety of methods than males do.

                                    Media and Suicide

Phillips (1974) challenged Durkheim’s view that suicide is not contagious by showing that extensive media coverage of celebrity suicides is often followed by a measurable rise in suicide rates. His research found that front-page reports of celebrity suicides led to increased suicides within seven to ten days, especially when coverage was prolonged, local, or involved celebrities people strongly identified with. Later studies confirmed these “copycat” or contagion effects, particularly among teenagers. According to social learning theory, vulnerable individuals may imitate highly publicized suicides, especially those involving admired public figures. Research suggests that celebrity suicides are far more likely to trigger imitation than ordinary suicides, although the overall increase in suicide rates is relatively small, ranging from 1 to 6 percent.

                     Problems in the Measurement of Suicides

The accurate identification of actual suicides is known as “sensitivity,” while the accurate identification of cases that are not suicides is referred to as “specificity.” Suicide statistics often underestimate the true number of suicides because some authorities may hide or avoid recording suicide as the official cause of death. Nevertheless, sociologist Bernice Pescosolido argues that official suicide statistics are sufficiently reliable and remain the best available foundation for scientific research on suicide. Although reporting errors exist, they are generally not considered serious enough to prevent meaningful sociological analysis.

                      Theoretical Approaches to Suicide

Masaryk's book Suicide as a Mass Social Phenomenon of Contemporary Civilization (in Czech, 1881) is the first sociological monograph devoted to the phenomenon of suicide in the whole world. In this book, he uses statistical data and theoretical analysis to unravel the causes of high suicide rates in modern society. Different factors, such as natural factors, the physical condition of the individual, biosocial factors, political-economic situation, and relations in society, do not have a clear influence on suicides. Masaryk, as a key and decisive factor affecting high suicide rates, singles out the relative individual feeling of lack of meaning in life and dissatisfaction in people, which is not directly related to the real and external condition in which a person lives. The main cause of the high individual dissatisfaction of people in the modern age is the destruction of the worldview promoted by Christianity. Christianity provided a transcendental explanation of morality and social behavior. Modern society and all its institutions have destroyed such a view of the world. This led to the loss of the inner integrity of the individual and the promotion of his pride, arrogance, sense of omnipotence, and ultimately, rebellion against and rejection of God. On a broader level, there was the emergence of general spiritual and social anarchy, family problems, and conflicts between the church and science, art, and the state. The disappearance of individual and social stability and harmony provided by Christianity is the real cause of the increase in suicide rates.

In the book Suicide (1987), Durkheim applies his approach to the study of suicide and shows the practical applicability of his approach to the study of specific social problems. Durkheim rejects approaches to the phenomenon of suicide that explain this act through geographical, biological, or individual-psychological factors. He believes that suicide, and its different statistical rates, can only be explained by social facts. Durkheim uses official statistics, which show that suicide rates remain constant over long periods, to prove that individual factors, as causes of suicide, cannot explain such regularities. Only those factors that do not change over time can explain the statistical regularities of suicide rates, and those are the morphological elements of the social substratum and the moral density of a society.

By analyzing the statistical data, Durkheim determined that suicide rates differ between different European countries. However, he also found significant differences between different populations within the same state. Gender, as well as a person's marital and family status, has also affected suicide rates. Major social upheavals and wars have also had an impact on changes in suicide rates. However, the most important regularity that Durkheim noticed in the statistics was the fact that members of different religious groups (even within the same geographical area) have different suicide rates. Protestants had the highest suicide rates, followed by Catholics, while Jews had the lowest suicide rates. Religious doctrines were not the ones that influenced suicide rates, but it was the degree of internal integration of a religious group. Protestants are characterized by the highest degree of individualism, while Jews, due to their history of persecution and isolated social status, have the highest degree of internal connection and integration.          

To explain the connection between a person's individual situation and the form and degree to which that person is integrated into society, on the one hand, with suicide rates, on the other hand, Durkheim introduces four basic types of suicide: 1) egoistic, 2) anomic, 3) fatalistic, and 4) altruistic. Factors that affect different types of suicide are: the degree of integration of a society, how much and in what way individuals are integrated into society, and the level to which society regulates the individual behavior of each individual. Egoistic suicide is a consequence of insufficient integration of the individual into the everyday life of the society in which he or she lives. Individuals who follow only their own interests and who are therefore not integrated into the wider society are more likely to lose the meaning of life and fall into depression. Protestant religion emphasizes individualism, both in individual religious experience and in individual life choices, while, at the same time, it emphasizes the importance of a person's economic individualism and allows for selfish economic behavior. In addition, individuals who are not married and have no children are also less integrated into society and more prone to selfish behavior.

Anomic suicides occur at moments when there are rapid and significant social changes, which lead to a break in traditional values ​​and norms. The loss of traditional rules of organizing individual life leads to the rise of insecurity in individuals. The desires of individuals are insatiable, and if there is no social control that regulates and limits those desires, individuals can, if they do not achieve their goals, become very disappointed in life, and that leads them to suicide. Both anomic and egoistic suicides are much more common in developed industrial societies because in those societies there is an increase in individualism and a decline in traditional values ​​and control. The altruistic type of suicide is characteristic of individuals who are extremely integrated into society and who are willing to sacrifice their lives to fulfill their duty to society - the best example is the traditional suicide of widows in India during their husbands' funerals. Fatalistic suicide is also characteristic of traditional societies, in which rules and social control prevent individuals from achieving some basic life goals – an example is high rates of suicide among slave populations.

Using the Durkhemian framework, Halbwachs, his student, also studied suicide. Halbwachs believes that Durkheim was wrong to focus on successful suicides. He notes that women are more likely to have "unsuccessful" and men "successful" suicides. He also changes the basis for explaining the differences in suicide rates between Catholics and Protestants and claims that it is not religion, but lifestyle and housing patterns that are crucial. Catholics mostly live in villages where there is greater social integration, while Protestants mostly live in cities, where individualistic values ​​dominate.

Henry and Short (1954) combined Durkheim’s concept of external social constraints with psychological ideas such as internal restraint and frustration-aggression theory. They argued that suicide is most likely when external social control is weak but internal restraint is strong, while homicide is more likely when internal restraint is weak and external control is strong.

Gibbs and Martin (1964) criticized Durkheim for failing to clearly define social integration. They introduced the concept of “status integration,” suggesting that people occupying less common social statuses experience lower integration and therefore higher suicide rates. Later, Gibbs’ studies mainly confirmed this theory in relation to occupational status.

Maris (1981) broadened suicide research by studying the personal experiences of individuals through “psychological autopsies,” involving interviews with surviving relatives, especially spouses. Comparing suicides with natural deaths and suicide attempts, he concluded that suicide usually develops over a long “suicidal career” shaped by interacting biological, psychological, and social factors.

In recent decades, two major sociological perspectives on suicide emerged: Stack’s theory of religious commitment and Pescosolido’s religious networks perspective. Stack argues that suicide prevention may depend less on broad social integration, as proposed by Durkheim, and more on belief in a few key “life-saving” religious principles. For instance, faith in a rewarding afterlife for those who endure hardship may help individuals cope with stressors such as poverty, divorce, or bereavement, thereby lowering suicide risk.

Stack also developed a cultural theory explaining changes in the gender suicide ratio. Initially, as more women entered the labor force, suicide rates among women increased because traditional cultural expectations defined women’s role as being primarily in the home. Working women, therefore, experienced strain, guilt, and role conflict. However, once female employment became more socially accepted, supportive institutions such as childcare services emerged, and women gained greater access to professional careers and financial independence. These developments allowed women to benefit from work through higher income, careers, and social interaction, leading to a decline in suicide rates. At the same time, increased opportunities for women may have reduced occupational mobility for men.

Pescosolido’s religious networks perspective emphasizes the importance of social support rather than religious beliefs alone. She argues that church communities and co-religionists provide emotional and material assistance that can protect vulnerable individuals from suicide. Research by Pescosolido and Georgianna (1989) found that Roman Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism offer strong protective effects against suicide, while institutional Protestantism does not, and Judaism shows only limited effects. Overall, both Stack’s and Pescosolido’s approaches argue that weak social and regulatory ties increase suicide risk.

Jack Douglas used his approach, known as existential sociology, to explain suicides. In Social Meaning of Suicide (1967), he deviates from the classical sociological way of studying suicide, which originates from Durkheim. Douglas believes that the structural-functionalist approach to suicide is not good and that, in methodological terms, it is too much based on official statistics, which are always inadequate. The family of a well-integrated person can influence the coroner not to declare the act as a suicide, while this does not happen in the families of poorly integrated persons who have taken their own lives. In this way, a person's degree of integration affects official statistics, not suicide rates. Douglas also criticizes Durkheim for viewing all types of suicides as the same type of act, because suicides have different social meanings in different socio-cultural circumstances. He believes that it is necessary to study suicide in the context of the situational significance that the person who is prone to suicide gives to his activities. Using diaries, notes, and statements of observers, he shows that the motives for suicide, which can be different, always have social significance for the person who committed suicide.

Sigmund Freud (1917) and Karl Menninger (1938) argued from a psychoanalytic perspective that suicide stems from three underlying motivations: hatred or revenge, described as a “wish to kill”; depression, hopelessness, or melancholia, described as a “wish to die”; and feelings of guilt or shame, described as a “wish to be killed.” Later, Jean Baechler (1979) expanded these categories by introducing “oblative” suicide, associated with sacrifice or spiritual transformation, and “ludic” suicide, linked to risk-taking, ordeals, and dangerous games.

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