The 26 Types Of Suicide (according To Different Criteria)
Death: the end of life and everything we knowthe moment when we stop being who and how we are. Of course, most people do not want to die; However, many see in it a liberation or escape from suffering, or a means to achieve certain ends. Some of these people may decide to end their own lives due to different reasons.
But not all suicides occur in the same way nor do they have the same characteristics or purposes. This is why we can establish the existence of different types of suicide, classifiable according to various criteria.
Suicide is understood as any act or omission carried out voluntarily. with the purpose of ceasing to exist, that is, of taking one’s own life. Generally, the person who decides to commit suicide tends to be going through a period of profound suffering in different important aspects of their life, without being able to cope and being in a state of despair in which the only way out they can see is death.
However, suicide is not always very well delineated, and its definition can vary slightly depending on the culture in which we find ourselves. That’s why, A classification of the types of suicide that exists must take into account cultural particularities that shape this concept in different human societies. For example, in the hospital environment of Western countries, there are practices intended to alleviate the suffering of dying people that, if authorized by them, could be understood as a form of suicidal behavior, although from other cultural perspectives they would not have nothing to do with being included within the concept of euthanasia. These kinds of debates take place in the world of philosophy, and do not obey only scientific criteria.
Possible causes of suicide
The experience of a deep trauma, the diagnosis of an incurable disease, the harassment of other people or the despair and feeling of total lack of control over one’s own life are some of the many aspects that can precipitate in some people the attempt to kill themselves. Although death is sought through these types of acts, for the most part the people who carry them out do not seek death itself but the liberation and cessation of the suffering that something causes them.
At an organic level, suicidal behavior is usually related to a low level of serotonin in the nervous system. There are important risk factors such as the presence of psychopathology (bipolar disorder, followed by addictions, depression, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder are some of the most linked to suicide attempts), sex (although ideation is more frequent in women, men tend to carry out the suicidal act in a greater proportion of cases) and age, impulsivity and despair, the presence or knowledge of other suicides in the close environment or the existence of persistent stressors that cannot be confronted due to the lack of sufficient resources.
The main types of suicide (classified)
The first thing to be clear about is that, to understand the different variants of suicide that exist, we must accept that this is a complex psychosocial phenomenon and that, therefore, there is no single way to distinguish between its typologies.
Therefore, we must take into account different types of suicide that can be classified according to various criteria. These offer us a framework of reference so as not to lose sight of the most important variables when it comes to understanding the risk of suicide, or the reasons why someone has committed suicide or has attempted to do so, among them, some of them worth highlighting are:
Below we will see the most important ones in the field of suicidology.
1. Types of suicide according to motivation
One of the main aspects to take into account when we evaluate a suicidal act is the motive that prompted the person to cause their own death. In this aspect we can find a large number of types of suicide, some of the main ones being the following.
1.1. Suicide wake up call or cry for help
Some people resort to attempting suicide as a mechanism to draw attention to a specific event. or ask for help in the face of events that they are not capable of controlling. It can have manipulative purposes and death itself is not usually wanted unless the problem situation does not change.
1.2. With purpose of death
The objective of this type of suicide is to achieve one’s own death. It is usually planned carefully and meticulously.
1.3. like escape
Most suicides have as their real objective the cessation of suffering and not death itself. Death is seen as the only alternative to the suffering caused by a specific element of reality (for example, harassment or debt), which is why the subject decides to dispose of his or her own life. Generally It occurs impulsively and without great prior planning..
1.4. Finalist
This type of suicide is usually aimed at achieving a specific goal other than death or escape. He tends not to seek his own death but to feign or pretend said search in order to get some kind of benefit. Examples of this are the aforementioned cry for help or revenge, although it can also pursue economic benefits such as the fact that others collect life insurance.
1.5. for revenge
Revenge suicide or paranoid type It is a type of suicide which is carried out with the purpose of causing harm to other people, in order to make someone specific feel guilt and/or suffering.
1.6. Balance
Suicide is considered to be suicide carried out by people who, in the absence of psychopathology and after a prolonged period of time trying to cope with a conflictive and painful situation, decide after taking stock that continuing to live does not imply any type of gain neither for themselves nor for the environment. It is usually observed in cases of the elderly and people with serious limitations.
2. Types of suicide according to the modality or method
People who choose to kill themselves resort to different means to do so depending on the specific intentionality of their action, their need to have control of the situation, the level of suffering they want to suffer or simply the availability of specific means. If suicides and suicide attempts are classified by the method used, we can find different types.
2.1. Soft
These are forms of suicide that in principle do not cause obvious trauma and that tend to cause numbness and little pain. One of the main forms of soft suicide is the ingestion of massive quantities of drugs, such as barbiturates. The person usually takes a more passive role in his or her own death, awaiting the effects of his action.
In addition They imply a greater probability of repentance and salvationand in many cases the effects can be reversed before they cause death.
2.2. Hard
Within this classification are incorporated methods involving greater brutalitysuch as suicide through the use of weapons (whether white or firearms), electrocution, jumping into the void or hanging. They tend to involve a greater probability of death than the soft ones and have a certain brutality.
Compared to soft forms of suicide, they are much more likely to cause some form of suffering. They are also usually methods that involve direct action by the individual when it comes to causing his own death.
23. Strangers
This type of suicide usually causes a high level of suffering before causing death, showing a certain cruelty towards oneself. They are usually carried out in situations of psychopathologyespecially psychotic. Examples of this would be the ingestion of corrosive or sharp substances, drowning oneself or self-cannibalistic practices.
2.4. Masked
These are deaths that are caused by the person themselves in such a way that They can be confused with natural deaths or homicides. They usually pursue a specific intention, such as collecting life insurance from relatives or blaming someone for one’s own death.
3. According to the level of regulation and social integration
One of the classifications made after several studies is the one carried out by Durkheim, who considered suicide an act caused fundamentally by social elements. In this sense, there are four possible classifications, related to the level of integration of the individual in society or its regulation of people’s lives.
3.1. selfish suicide
This is understood as the type of suicide that is carried out when the individual’s social ties are weak and the individual does not feel integrated into society. Not able to feel satisfied due to lack of fulfillment as a social being. He feels overwhelmed, incapable and alone.
3.2. Altruistic
It is about self-inflicted death that occurs due to excess group integration, seeing one’s own death as a sacrifice made for the benefit of the group. The group is valued more than the individual himself.
3.3. Anomic
Anomic suicide is suicide carried out by those people who have insufficient social regulation. The changing and unstable society means that there are no references, modifying the values ​​of the individual and could cause a loss of identity.
3.4. Fatalist
Unlike the previous one, fatalistic suicide is seen as that carried out by individuals subjected to excessive social control and regulation, feeling oppression and helplessness that can lead to seeking death as an escape from such a situation.
4. Depending on the presence of prior planning
Autolysis can also be classified according to whether or not it has been previously planned.
4.1. accidental suicide
This is the type of suicide that occurs by accident. The subject did not really want to die, but his actions created a situation that ended his life.
4.2. Reflective, intentional or premeditated
Premeditated suicide is one in which the person who carries it out has planned in advance both the manner, the time and place of his death. In some cases where the reason is the experience of traumatic events or in which the subject expressed great anxiety, a sudden state of calm and serenity can be observed prior to the act, the result of having made the decision.
4.3. impulsive suicide
Impulsive suicide is one that is carried out without prior premeditation. The subject may have thought about taking his own life previously, but does not carry out this action until a time when you feel highly activated and desperate. It can occur in situations that generate high anxiety, during a psychotic break or during a manic episode.
Trying to take your own life can end up generating different results, depending on whether the attempt is successful or not.
5.1. Non-suicidal self-harm
In this case we are not facing a true suicide attempt. The subject self-harms for different reasons but without said action posing a real risk to their life or without self-harm intended for this fact. Sometimes it can cause death.
5.2. Suicide Attempt/Attempt
A suicide attempt is considered any act carried out voluntarily with the intention of achieving one’s own death without said action being successful in its objective.
5.3. completed suicide
We call completed suicide one in which the person has acted with the aim of killing themselves. and has achieved his goal.
5.4. attempted suicide
This is the type of suicide attempt that has been carried out with the purpose of achieving death, using methods that generally cause the death of the individual. However, the intervention of circumstantial and unpredictable elements, such as the appearance of other people, the rapid action of medical services, poor planning or inaccurate use of the means chosen to kill oneself have prevented it from causing death.
6. According to the involvement of other people
Sometimes suicide involves, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, more than one person. In this sense we can find the following types of suicide.
6.1. Collective or mass suicide
It is a type of suicide in which more than one person or an entire group chooses and agrees to cause their own death voluntarily. The reasons for this may be various, such as fleeing from a terrifying factor or the conviction that such an act can bring them some type of benefit. These types of acts They usually occur in contexts of war situations or in sects.
6.2. Extended
Expanded suicide is based on the idea that an individual decides to take his own life but, in addition, considers the death of others generally linked to him necessary or even compassionate. These other people They have not expressed the intention of wanting to die.
The individual first kills others, who are generally close relatives such as children, partners or family, and then takes his own life. These types of situations usually occur in family environments in which the person who wants to commit suicide considers that those they leave behind will suffer greatly or will not be able to survive without them.
6.3. Assisted suicide or euthanasia
Euthanasia or assisted suicide involves the end of a person’s life through the participation of another person or others, authorized participation and sued by the subject himself or by his close environment in the case of irreversible injuries that do not allow the individual to make a decision.
6.4. induced suicide
It is an act of self-harm with the intention of death that has been provoked or facilitated due to coercion or suggestion that other people have caused the individual to commit suicide. The subject may be threatened or forced to kill himself, or the desire to die may be actively encouraged.
6.5. fake suicide
In this case we are not facing a true case of suicide. It is generally a homicide or murder that has been carried out in such a way that It seems that the subject in question has taken his own life.
