The motivation behind extended suicide

Abstract

The investigation of motivation of suicidal behaviour in cases of so-called extended suicide is of great importance from a forensic-psychological viewpoint. The initiator of such action is often a person suffering from endogenous depression. The motives behind successful suicide are generally not known. This paper aims to demonstrate the motives behind the successful suicide, less frequent in our conditions, of two family members – a father and a son. The case has been thoroughly analysed by morphological methods with the help of additional laboratory tests. At the centre was a suicide letter which was hidden in a very unusual way and which was elucidated only thanks to autopsy of both persons. The manner of realisation – hanging – was among the most frequent in the region and in the state too. The men were not under the influence of any toxic substances. The motivation behind the suicide was an escape from hard living conditions.

Keywords

• successful extended suicide
• suicide motivation
• autopsy