A Case of Genital Self-mutilation Committed Before Suicide

Abstract

Male genital self-mutilation (GSM) is a rare, but serious phenomenon. Some of the risk factors for this act are: presence of religious delusions, command hallucinations, low self-esteem and feelings of guilt associated with sexual offences. Other risk factors include failures in the male role, problems in the early developmental period, such as experiencing difficulties in male identification and persistence of incestuous desires; depression and having a history of GSM. We present a case of a suicide wherein the deceased before committing the suicidal act had GSM.

Keywords

• Suicide
• Genital self-mutilation
• Male