Suicide refers to the act of intentionally taking one’s own life. Self-harm is the act of intentionally injuring oneself. Although self-harm, such as intentionally cutting oneself, can be associated with suicidal ideation, it is also known to be an impulsive behavior used by many as a way of attempting to cope with emotional pain. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control reported that, in 2013, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States for all ages. In 2103, there were over 40,000 suicides in the United States and more than 9 million adults reported having suicidal thoughts at some point during that same year. Suicide has been estimated to cost more than US$50 billion in combined medical and work loss. Self-harm, such as cutting or burning oneself, has increased and hospitals are reporting an increase in the number of adolescents and young adults hospitalized for self-harm. This article addresses the current understanding of suicide and self-harm and provides examples of both of these serious behaviors.
Typically, suicide and self-harm are considered acts of violence against oneself. For example, an individual who engages in self-mutilation is generally focused on self-harm and not likely to act out against others. Although this is also true for most people who commit suicide, there has been an increase in the number of people who commit violent acts against others and then commit suicide. In 1999, one of the deadliest high school shootings in the United States occurred in Columbine, CO, when two high school seniors planned an attack on their school and killed 12 students and a teacher and injured 21 others before committing suicide. Notes from the attackers found after the incident determined that from the outset, the two attackers planned to kill themselves to avoid being taken into custody. This tragic event led to an effort by the U.S. Department of Justice to fund research focused on developing a profile to identify characteristics of a typical school shooter with the hope that future tragedies could be avoided through early detection. Unfortunately, researchers had little success due to large variety of individual differences and motivations that were quite idiosyncratic.
Another similar phenomenon, referred to as a murder–suicide, involves the assailant killing another person then immediately thereafter committing suicide. Police officers are sometimes called to domestic disputes and, upon arrival, find that one spouse (usually the male) has killed his or her spouse (and sometimes other family members), then taken his or her own life. These murder-suicides are generally unplanned and the perpetrator’s suicide tends to be a reaction to guilt and shame following the murder.
Suicide by cop is a term developed by law enforcement officials to describe a phenomenon in which an individual purposefully plans to be killed by the police. This can involve an individual approaching the police aggressively, weapon in hand, and failing to obey police orders to drop his or her weapon. There have been other cases where an individual brandishes a fake gun or purposefully reaches into their pocket despite contradictory orders by the police, knowing that this behavior will lead to being shot. Suicide by cop is more common than many think, with estimates that as many as 10% of police shootings involve suicide by cop. This phenomenon presents a dilemma for police in that some police officers recognize when a person may be trying to commit suicide by cop and become trapped between their sense of empathy for the individual and their responsibility to protect themselves and others against the potential threat. If a police officer is forced to shoot and kill an individual committing suicide by cop, he or she is prone to additional stressors that are even greater than killing a typical armed assailant.
Since the 1990s, U.S. officials have encountered one of the most troubling linkages between suicide and violence. On September 11, 2001, 19 members of an Islamic terrorist group completed four coordinated suicide attacks in which four passenger airliners were hijacked at about the same time. Two of the aircraft were deliberately flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, one was flown into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the fourth was navigating toward the White House when it crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. These attacks killed almost 3,000 people and could not have occurred without the premeditated intent of suicide by all of the terrorists.
Although each of the scenarios listed above demonstrates a link between the commission of violence and subsequent suicide, the motivations to commit suicide differ for each scenario. Consequently, it is difficult to find a common correlate that links the two. For example, a person who engages in suicide by cop may be motivated by a sense of having no way out of a situation, or perhaps has fantasies of dying a dramatic death. Terrorists who hijack a plane or strap explosives to themselves before blowing themselves up in the middle of a crowded area to kill as many people as possible may have a very different motivation.
As researchers try to get a better understanding of suicide’s link to violence and risk, some have looked at violence and suicide from a different perspective. The question is if exposure to violence early in life increases one’s risk for committing suicide. In most cases, it is difficult to determine why a person commits suicide. Even if individuals leave a suicide note describing a precipitating event or set of circumstances, it is hard to know what other factors (e.g., previous traumas, mental illness) played a role in their decision. Some research has found positive correlations between exposure to abuse and community violence and self-harm/suicidal behavior. It appears that, when looking at adolescents who engage in self-harm/suicidal behavior, it is more likely that these adolescents have experienced violence, such as being shot, stabbed, or attacked or witnessing someone else being shot, stabbed, or attacked.
References:
- Miller, L. (2006). Suicide by cop: Causes, reactions, and practical intervention strategies. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 8(3), 165–174.
- Schwab-Stone, M., Chen, C., Greenberger, E., Silver, D., Lichtman, J., & Voyce, C. (1999). No safe haven. II: The effects of violence exposure on urban youth. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 359–367.
- Vermeiren, R., Ruchkin, V., Leckman, P., Deboutte, D., & Schwab-Stone, M. (2002). Exposure to violence and suicide risk in adolescents: A community study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 529–537.