[Phenomenological exploration of suicidal ideation]

Sante Ment Que. 1994 Fall;19(2):105-16.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Death fuels the idea of suicide with a strong emotional charge that often turns suicidal tendencies and suicide into one and the same. The idea of suicide, at times linked with depression and personality disorders, is nonetheless full of a meaning which deserves further research. Suicide can appear as a solution to a problem which the idea of suicide helps to identify and resolve. When it is a conscious realization, the idea of suicide can lead the patient to consult. As a danger signal, it allows to determine whether the individual's defense mechanism functions. Also, it attracts attention to a situation, reveals a form of repressed self-hate and even helps in passing from one life state to another, as in transition rituals described by anthropology.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Attitude to Death*
  • Defense Mechanisms
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders / psychology*
  • Models, Psychological
  • Suicide / psychology*
  • Symbolism