Attempted Suicide as Language: An Empirical Study
- 1 May 1970
- journal article
- Published by Royal College of Psychiatrists in The British Journal of Psychiatry
- Vol. 116 (534) , 465-473
- https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.116.534.465
Abstract
It is widely accepted by clinicians that many so-called suicidal attempts' function as a form of communication between the patient and the key figures in his environment, most often conveying an appeal for attention (Stengel et al., 1959, Farberow and Shneidman 1961). Yet little rigorous research has been directed to the communicational aspect of attempted suicide, possibly because the concept of communication is itself complex and difficult to define operationally. One line of enquiry has been to examine the consequences of the act for the patient, his family, and friends (McCulloch 1965). The present study, on the other hand, focuses particularly on attempted suicide as a subcultural phenomenon.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- SOCIAL VARIABLES IN ATTEMPTED SUICIDEActa Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1967
- Self-poisoning. I.BMJ, 1965
- Hospital Management of Attempted Suicide in EdinburghScottish Medical Journal, 1964