Dr. Roy Baumeister, psychologist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio
has outlined a theory of suicidal death. The following questions and answers are based on
his research and ideas.
Why do people attempt or commit suicide? A desire to escape from painful thoughts,
emotions and self-awareness motivates the vast majority of suicides from psychological
causes. Personal or family honor motivates other types of suicide, but these are rare in
our culture.
How does a person get to a suicidal state of mind? Baumeister outlines six steps on
the way to suicidal thinking.
1. A current situation falls far below a persons expectations. There are either
unrealistic high expectations or recent setbacks, specific failures and stresses - or a
combination of both. If expectations are low, setbacks won't produce suicide. If events
are unusually bad, risk of suicide increases. It is the scope of difference between
expectations and events that causes the problem. Societies that emphasize individual
pride, shame, and self-awareness have higher rates of suicide.
2. Personal blame is assumed for disappointments. This is especially true when the
self-blaming person believes their undesirable shortcomings are permanent and are likely
to cause future difficulties. A person may compare their behavior unfavorably with past
levels of higher performance or believes he or she cannot live up to what other people
expect.
3. A painful state of mind is created when a person judges themself as inadequate,
incompetent, unattractive or guilty. Feelings of low self-esteem and powerlessness are
common. Suicidal people see others in a favorable light in contrast to their own harsh
assessment of themselves.
4. Bad feelings result when they unfavorably compare themselves against their own
standards. The most common emotions are depression and anxiety, though anger may also be
present. They fail to redefine a setback in a more positive light or make the changes
necessary to meet a new reality.
5. In an attempt to escape from bad feelings, people try to stop meaningful thought. An
individual hopes to feel better by either ceasing to feel emotion, ceasing to blame
oneself for recent events or ceasing to be aware of self. By refusing meaningful thought,
they stop all three. This results in emotional emptiness and numbness, something like
boredom.
When negative emotions and thoughts break through, increasingly stronger means are
tried to stop or block them. Suicide edges closer and closer as a solution for unbearable
feelings.
6. Avoiding meaningful thought lowers inhibitions which makes suicide attempts easier.
Avoiding thoughts about social and religious norms, obligations to others and desires for
the future removes internal barriers to particular actions. Actions no longer have the
meaning they once did.
What does a person do to stop meaningful thought? They become passive about long
term goals and important decisions. They stop striving and avoid decisions,
responsibilities and planning. Their behavior becomes more aimless, mindless or impulsive.
They show a lack of emotion - especially positive emotion. They are either bored or
vaguely unhappy.
- Focus is on the present, on immediate tasks and details and on concrete situations.
- Taking meaningful, constructive action is resisted. They stop trying new things and are
unwilling to explore alternatives.
- Reasoning become rigid. They avoid new thoughts, ideas or interpretations.
- Wishful thought, irrational thought or fantasy is preferred. Fantasy allows the mind to
escape the immediate present and is an alternative to dealing with the real meanings in
one's life.
When people achieve a low level of thinking and emotions, they are less rational and
have reduced inhibitions. Death in the short run seems preferable to emotional suffering
and the painful awareness of being inadequate. Long range implications of death are not
considered because of the short term focus. Preoccupation with suicide or a suicidal plan
gets the person involved with "here and now" details and techniques while
eliminating the need to think about the future. The past doesn't matter either because it
has nearly ended and will no longer cause grief, worry or anxiety.
What are the more positive ways of reacting to trauma? A long term response to
trauma involves searching for higher meaning to explain changed situations. Religion
and/or belief in oneself helps to show the way to find new meaning and consolation in
misfortune. Instead of retreating from thought and bad feelings, a traumatized person can
actively try to understand the new circumstance and place it into a larger, more hopeful
context.
How can a suicidal person be helped? Intervention can be directed at breaking any
link in the chain that leads from disappointment and failure to a suicidal attempt. A
traumatized person can be helped by learning to have realistic expectations, take blame
off themselves and build self-esteem, search for higher meaning about setbacks, see the
future in a more positive light, reacquaint themselves with their normal fears and beliefs
about death, accept family responsibilities and other duties, strengthen family ties and
social bonds, be more effective in managing negative feelings and take a more meaningful
perspective on their own actions.
Suicidal people need to think, talk and face themselves and the problem rather than
retreating into a self-defeating attempt to shut down their minds and emotions.